English commentary creative writing. I based the beginning of my story on a physical but also mental journey a man goes on while he is on his own hitchhiking home.

In order for me to write a story about hitchhiking I had to do some research into the topic. I found a book called “round Ireland with a fridge” by Tony Hawks which really inspired me and helped me grasp the language technique to use in order to entertain. To think in with Chaucer and the way he writes I have used stereotypes in my writing, for example I have does the typical blond as being stupid and naive. I have also used the idea about how the people in Chaucer went on a journey. The man I write about goes on a journey by himself from Lancashire back to Bristol, in which he also finds himself and learns a lot more about the world around him.

I wanted to portray the man as a typical Bristol lad, with a slight arrogant edge. In order to do this I had to use a slight sarcastic tone of voice which I hoped would also entertain the readers. I also used phonetic lexis to help create an idiolect of the man.  I used a Bristol accent and changed words like “alright” to “ite” and also “ya” instead of “you”.  Which changing his dialect to fit his accent I also done this with other characters in the story, for example the Yorkshire girl he meets. For instance when she says “Wheor are yee headin” creates a sense of her accent to the readers.

The language I used was very informal and personal. It was from the point of view from a man writing himself so the tone was very calm but at times comical. The structure was the usual story telling layout, with several small and large paragraphs, with a wide range of short sentences to add emotion and feeling to the man. “Okay, maybe not.”(after a line about wanting to fulfil his life) is an example of the idiolect I used from him, and shows the way he comes across as a simple man but with a funny entertaining side.

I also linked my writing to The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I did this by using the disaster of the father in the road as a starting point of describing the man and his journey hitchhiking with so little and all by himself.