Grouping texts:
Grouping 1 - imperatives
Texts C,D,E and F all have imperatives in them. Text C is a stronger inclusion since it is a label from a sparkling water bottle, therefore it features many imperatives such as 'consume', 'keep cool' and 'see bottle neck'. Text C also has mitigated imperatives which are weaker since it says 'please return' and 'please check'. Text E, a leaflet persuading and informing about 'blueislands.com' also has imperatives; 'just visit' and 'see website for details'. They want you to be persuaded to apply for the chance to win a holiday. By writing 'win a luxury trip to Jersey' which is also an imperative 'win', it makes the reader feel addressed so more people would try to win it. Text D which is a conversation on iMessage between two friends is a weaker inclusion, this is because it has a cloaked imperative. 'I needed reassuring' is said by person C as they are wanting person S to reassure them, so subtly hints at it as opposed to saying 'reassure me' which would come across much more demanding. My last text, which is also a weaker inclusion is text F, an email from the Royal Bank of Scotland early career team. 'We would like you to participate in the next stage of our selection process...' This is also a cloaked imperative because rather than saying 'do the next part' they phrase it to make the person it's addressed to feel like they have a choice, when really they don't because if they don't take part in the next stage they won't get the apprenticeship, and if the person didn't want it, they wouldn't have applied for it in the first place.
Grouping 2 - formality
All three texts, A, B and F have different levels of formality. Text D is very informal as it features many colloquialisms, 'gunna' instead of 'going to' which is also elision. Also missing out the word 'are' when saying 'what time we going tomorrow' is elliptical construction. This happens a lot particularly with younger people over iMessage and instant messaging because it is easier and since it is semi-synchronous (because it's not spoken however people read it almost straight away) it is much quicker to do so in order to get a quicker response and as person S is 'about to go to bed' they may be rushing to get a reply. Text F is the complete opposite to text D as it is very formal. Written by the early career team of the Royal Bank of Scotland, it is expected to be formal. 'This message is as follows; Dear Sophie', this is not something you would see in a conversation between friends since it is over email and therefore would have been thought through and re-read a few times before initially sending, this Is synchronous text. Text A which is a mini saga, I also think is quite informal because it says the phrase 'daft old woman', the use of the lexis daft makes the text feel informal because it is a slang term, and due to it being positioned as the very first word of the mini saga, the rest of the text is read in a rather informal tone. Furthermore because it has to be written in exactly 50 words they use elision 'could've' instead of 'could have' which is more informal, so that they can fit it in.
Grouping 3 - lexical field
My last grouping is lexical field, the three texts A, C and E include different lexical fields. Text A, which is a mini saga has a lexical field of bereavement as it features the words 'grave', 'lost' and 'pining' which all relate to bereaving someone's or something's death. The word 'weak' makes you think that someone is grieving so much that they physically and mentally become weak and that it breaks them down. Text C which is a wrapper from around a cranberry and raspberry sparkling water bottle has a lexical field of being healthy because of the words 'mineral' and 'natural' and informs you of the 'nutrition information'. These words relate to being healthy because the words 'natural' amd 'mineral' have connotations of purity and freshness. Using such words make the product more appealing and appetising to shoppers because they will see it as being good for them, despite all the sugar in it to make it sparkling and sweet. My last text to include in this grouping is text E; a travel leaflet from 'blueislands.com', it has a lexical field of holidays as it contains the words 'island', 'hotel' and 'luxurious' makes you imagine a sunny holiday which would help to persuade the target audience, most likely a couple as it's for a two night stay at a manor house and doesn't advertise any children's activities. 'A world away in just an hour!' also makes you imagine a different world and makes you think you can't find a holiday like it, implying that it's 'out of this world'.
Good range of groups.
ReplyDeleteWhen you talk about the imperatives in C, contrast the expectations of what is needed for politeness - why is "see bottle neck" acceptable unmitigated but "please return" needs the politeness premodifier? Show the different uses rather than considering mitigation as making those aspects a weaker inclusion. Show how the language is suitable for the GAP before moving on. differentiate between the techniques used in different imperatives rather than lumping them in together and saying what they do generally - mine the quotes. The weaker inclusions are analysed in more depth as you are justifying their inclusion more effectively and include subtler GAP comments.
I'm afraid you can't group on different levels of formality (use the term register). You can only group if they include formal elements or you could do an informal group that use colloqualisms, dialect, elisions etc. But the paragraph is good and you use a range of terminology with some sensitivity to the context within the text i.e. where in the text something happens, with a good link to an additional relevant asect with the discourse marker 'furthermore'.
You CAN group on different lexical fields as the technique is the use of a distinctive lexical field and they are bound to be different. Link the lexical choices in with the effect on the audience. Try and tentatively establish a narrower target audience, rather than generally talking about 'the audience' - see what you can tell for the product/genre and the language used.