Because A is an autobiographical speech, Louise’s utterances are predominantly in the declarative form (‘I am from er mixed race background’, ‘He pretty much taught ma mum to to cook’). Text A as a semi-spontaneous speech also shows frequent use of simple contractions such as ‘and’, ‘so’ and ‘but’ (‘…but I was brought up in Yorkshire’, ‘and erm they met when he came to Yorkshire’, ‘so erm I’m used to quite a mix’), an indication that Louise is making up the words as she goes along.
There are also non-fluency features present in A which indicate that it is transcribed speech. For example, Louise frequently uses the filler ‘erm’ (‘erm ma mum’s, ‘including erm food as well’), as well as reformulations (‘had a h quite a high opinion of him’, ‘he also taught to how to make’). Contractions such as ‘what’s, ‘I’ve’ and ‘they’ve’ have been used to speed up speech as well. Prosodic features are also present in Louise’s speech as seen in the word stress of ‘diverse’ and ‘bizarre’ to emphasise a certain point.
In contrast, B as a literary text is presented through the eyes of Madeleine, the protagonist as the first-person narrator, with frequent use of the pronoun ‘my’, ‘me’ and ‘I’. This is done with the purpose of giving readers an internal view of the distant way in which Madeleine’s father, GrosJean, treats her and her mother (‘What affection he showed was given to the fishing boats…’), enabling them to experience these events through her eyes. Like Louise, Madeleine’s parents come from different backgrounds, as seen in the text’s opening declarative that ‘My mother was from the mainland’, followed by the noun-phrase ‘half an islander’ that Madeleine uses to describe herself. However, unlike A, Harris’ use of Madeleine’s perspective allows readers to see the way in which her mother fails to adapt to life with GrosJean in Le Devin (‘She was ill-equipped for life in Les Salants’), possibly because of differences between the two. In particular, the stark contrast between Madeleine’s parents’ personalities can be seen in the Harris’ use of juxtaposition, with her mother described as ‘a woman who…externalised everything’, as opposed to GrosJean, whose ‘greeting was a nod’. Such differences, complimented by Grosjean’s preoccupation with his boats (‘he spent more time with his ‘ladies’ than with anyone else’) and his lack of affection towards his own family (‘he never named a boat after any of us’) causes Madeleine’s mother to leave the island, as seen in ‘If he had, maybe she would have stayed’. Unlike text A, which shows the positive effects of a mixed background on Louise, B shows how such differences can be detrimental to a household, causing relationships to fail as Madeleine’s mother leaves her husband.
Harris’ lexical choice also contributes to the purpose of B, that is, to establish the characters in the novel. This is seen in the nouns (‘talker’, ‘singer’, romantic’) and verbs (‘wept’, ‘ranted’, ‘laughed’, ‘externalised’) used to portray Madeleine’s mother as a person who is outgoing and sociable, as opposed to the silent and distant GrosJean, as seen in adjectives such as ‘incapable’, ‘monosyllabic’ and ‘bleak’. Harris also highlights GrosJean’s preoccupation with his boats, through the use of verb phrases such as ‘shaped the wood’, ‘stitching the sails’, and ‘turning the graceful lines’, as she presents the meticulous way in which he takes care of his fishing boats. However, such care is not extended to his family, and Madeleine likens his ‘conversation’ to his ‘work’, with the implication that her father is more affectionate towards his boats than his own family. Such affection is also seen in the simile ‘his hands on their smooth worm hulls as sure as a lover’s’, with Madeleine using the noun ‘ladies’ to present her father’s devotion towards his boats. In B, the couple’s differences and GrosJean’s fixation on his boats cause the breakdown of their marriage with the verb phrases ‘would have stayed’ and ‘fell out of love’ showing how Madeleine’s mother leaves her husband. Ultimately, B is different to A as the lexical choice in B shows how distance and a lack of communication leads to the breakdown of a relationship, whereas, in A, the close relationship maintained between Louise’s parents can be seen through her lexical choice.
In terms of syntax, B as an extract from a novel is a carefully crafted text, in contrast to the looser syntax seen in A. This is seen in the use of asyndetic listing as Madeleine describes her mother (‘She was a talker, a singer, a woman who wept, ranted, laughed, externalised everything’), which reflects her talkative and outgoing personality, as well as the simple sentences (‘My father had little to say even at the start’) used to emphasise GrosJean’s introverted personality. Because Harris wishes to describe GrosJean’s careful concern for his boats, she also uses complex, multi-clausal sentences (‘He worked…moving…I liked…watching…shaped…soaking…turning…stitching’).
On the other hand, C, as an autobiographical text uses Lee as the first-person narrator. Similar to B, readers are allowed an internal view of Lee’s memories, particularly as he recalls his mother (‘Equally I remember her occasional blooming…’). Unlike A and B, Lee’s focus is solely on his mother, both on her bouts of confusion and moments of calmness. In particular, Lee uses the simile of ‘like a roosting of ravens and doves’ to describe his mother and ‘the pattern of her confusions’ throughout the years, with its implication that such confusion came by frequently. However, Lee’s tone is also that of admiration when he recalls his mother playing the piano in ‘Equally I remember her occasional blooming, when she became secretly beautiful and alone’, as he describes his mother’s quiet radiance through the use of the noun ‘blooming’ and the adjectival phrase ‘secretly beautiful’ during her moments of peace, even as he admits that ‘She did not play well’. The tranquil atmosphere established in the text as his mother plays the piano can also be seen in his use of alliteration (‘Solitary, eyes closed, in her silks and secrets’, ‘twilit tenderness’, ‘peak of that private moment’), as Lee describes his enchantment when hearing his mother’s piano playing. At the end of the extract, a tone of wistfulness can be seen in ‘I wanted to run to her then, and embrace her…But somehow I never did’, with Lee regretting his decision of not approaching his mother. Although C is similar to B in that two different personalities are presented in both texts, C shows how two such personalities are present in a single person, that is, Lee’s mother, whereas the differences in personality are emphasised through Madeleine’s parents.
In terms of lexis, C as an autobiographical text is in the semantic field of memories (‘recapture’, ‘years’, ‘remember’). More importantly, however, is the way in which Lee uses contrasting lexis to describe his mother. This is seen in the use of abstract nouns ‘gaieties’, ‘frisks’, and ‘squalor’, as well as the metaphor of ‘pulling at broken strings’ to present his mother’s agitated state of mind and her years of hardship, in contrast to adjectives such as ‘quiet’, ‘alone’ and ‘beautiful’ during her private moments when she is composed. Lee’s fondness for his mother’s piano playing can also seen in the contrasting adjectives of ‘brash yet melancholy’ and ‘coarse yet wistful’, as well as the noun phrase of ‘sounds of peace’ as opposed to ‘disturbing’, perhaps because he finds his mother to be more at peace in such private moments, despite her lack of skill. Although dynamic verbs such as ‘stumbled’, ‘trembled’ and ‘tearing’ are used to present the clumsy way in which she plays the piano, Lee’s admiration for his mother’s composure during such times is still seen in laudatory adjectives such as ‘golden’, ‘moving’ and ‘beautiful’, as well as the simile ‘as soft as water’. Similar to B, C as a crafted text uses more sophisticated lexis to address the topic at hand as compared to A as semi-spontaneous speech. However, A is similar to C in that there is a focus on Lee’s experiences with his mother, while the purpose of B is to establish the characters in the novel.
In terms of syntax, test C, like B is a crafted text, and when compared to A, is more organised. Similar to B, Lee uses asyndetic listing to reflect his mother’s excitable personality (‘Her flowers and songs, her unshaken fidelities, her attempts at order, her relapses into squalor, her near madness…’). However, he also uses periodic sentence structure (‘Solitary, eyes closed, in her silks and secrets…that the man should have returned to her’) to emphasise his mother’s tranquillity as she plays the piano. Because Lee wants to describe the way in which his mother plays the piano, he also uses complex sentences (‘She did not play…stumbled…trembled…carried…rippling) with several clauses to establish a sense of continuity.
