Problem: Find 3 or more instances of people talking to things they have no business talking to (babies, plants, inanimate objects, and pets). Tell me what was said, what the situation was when it was said (where, with whom, etc.), and whether you think the speech was really directed at the thing. Who else might this speech really have been for? Since any of the recipients of the speech I've listed above are NOT likely to engage in conversation, why do we talk to them? The answer is usually not to socialize babies into the language, while this is an outcome of talking to them, or because we truly believe our pets understand us, which I'm sure many of you will want to claim. Resist that urge and ask yourself why else might we say something to an object or animal that can't theoretically respond or understand? Use the ideas from the Robert's article in analyzing the instances you collect.