Investigation into the Judgements of Slang
Language Investigation into the Judgements on Slang Ben Rutter ........................................................................................................................... Introduction Whenever we open our mouths, judgements are made on our social class, intelligence and even personalities. These judgements are based on various speech elements, such as our accent, dialect, vocabulary and use of slang. It is the latter that this study is based on. The particular type of slang I intend to focus on has recently emerged alongside a new speech pattern known as Multi Ethnic Youth Dialect. (MEYD) My aim is to investigate whether there is a correlation between slang use and negative judgements made on the user. Secondly, as slang is frequently compared to Halliday's Anti-Language hypothesis, I intend to see if it can rationally be seen as such. I also wish to investigate whether specific lexical items a slang user deploys will affect the judgements. Much of the slang used takes origins from gang and drug culture and as a result my hypothesis is that if speakers use slang that holds its origins in these backgrounds, people are likely to extend the negative attributes that are assigned to gang members and drug users and thus label the speakers as violent drug users. I also hypothesise that users of slang will be judged more negatively than non-users of slang.
Analysis of a historical newspaper article - White Slavery in London, Annie Besant, 1888
Read the following extract carefully. It is taken from "White Slavery in London", an article written by the activist Annie Besant in 1888 for the workers' newspaper Link. Here Besant describes the working conditions at the Bryant and May match factory in London and calls for a consumer boycott in support of the women employed there. How does the writer present her thoughts and feelings about aspects of Victorian life? How far is the extract similar to and different from your wider reading in Victorian literature? You should consider the writers' choices of form, structure and language, as well as subject matter. (45 marks) A very bitter memory survives in the factory. Mr. Theodore Bryant, to show his admiration of Mr. Gladstone and the greatness of his own public spirit, bethought him to erect a statue to that eminent statesman. In order that his workgirls might have the privilege of contributing, he stopped 1s. each out of their wages, and further deprived them of half-a-day's work by closing the factory, "giving them a holiday." ("We don't want no holidays," said one of the girls pathetically, for needless to say the poorer employees of such a firm lose their wages when a holiday is "given.") So furious were the girls at this cruel plundering, that many went to the unveiling of the statue with stones and bricks in their pockets, and I was
Analysis of Rhetoric in "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Enns The author of any novel has a vital role in the portrayal of his subject to the audience. Author Jon Krakauer is no exception to this principle. In his 1996 novel Into the Wild, Krakauer masterfully manipulates the elements of rhetoric in order to convince his audience that his subject, the elusive Chris McCandless, was not merely a crazy, arrogant and ignorant kid and that McCandless’ quest for truth in the wild is the same quest that every man goes through. Krakauer writes under the assumption that the majority of his audience has a negative perception of McCandless, seeing him to be one of the “others,” a category of crazy adventures whose suicidal predispositions lead them to meet their fate in the wild. Krakauer contradicts this through the use of different rhetorical appeals- to logos, pathos, and ethos. He uses emotions and logic in order to prove to the audience that no, Chris McCandless was not who the audience believed him to be and that there is much, much more to the story than a single gravestone in the Alaskan wilderness. The most obvious rhetorical appeal in this novel is Krakauer’s appeal to logos, which he establishes through the use of factual evidence. When describing McCandless’ family history and past achievements, Krakauer notes that “… Chris graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, where he’d been a columnist for, and editor
Explore how Tim Collins addresses his troops in a motivational speech
Explore how Tim Collins addresses his troops in a motivational speech Tim Collins utilises many effective language devices to motivate and inspire his troops in the speech. First of all, you can see he emphasises unity through his word choice: he says "We are going into Iraq". In the transcript the word "We" is in bold which means that he put emphasis on it through his tone of voice which again reinforces unity further. This gives a sense of unity and empowers the troops through a sense of security which is gained by the feeling that they are all in this together. He also extensively uses emotive language : He is sensitive towards his troops' feelings and emotions as he says "those of them who do not wish to go on that journey we will not send them" this shows that he cares for his troops. However, it could be argued that he is isolating those who are not going as he uses "them" when he could have said "us" saying "those of them" makes it sound as if he is isolating them. He demands his troops are "magnanimous in victory". The use of the complex emotive word "magnanimous" shows how he reminds them to act respectfully thus emphasising he also cares for the Iraqis. Collins uses quite a complex word when he could have just used a simpler adjective such as "noble": It could be argued that the high complexity of the adjective "magnanimous" mirrors the level of nobility and
Representation is governed by perspective. For this reason composers will attempt to manipulate their construction of events and characters, to bring to the fore of public discussion, their own esteemed perspective. This becomes evident in texts of, T
Conflicting perspectives essay Representation is governed by perspective. For this reason composers will attempt to manipulate their construction of events and characters, to bring to the fore of public discussion, their own esteemed perspective. This becomes evident in texts of, "The Justice Game," by Geoffrey Robertson, Bill Maher's, "Real Time," and Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech. It is the ability of these esteemed composers to represent texts which are palpable to the forms and features of their craft that allows them to influence their audience response on their perspective. In his "Michael X, on death Row," chapter, Robertson uses techniques which give the appearance of objectivity, but actually uses them to persuade the audience of his own opinion on the inhumanity of the death penalty. This is demonstrated through Robertson's portrayal of the conflict between 'Michael X' and the Trinidad State, to mirror the larger issue of the conflict between human rights and corrupt government power. Robertson attempts to persuade his audience on the need to abolish the death penalty through positioning his defendant "Michael X," as the victim. Robertson demonstrates this with positive imagery writing "Michael smiled at me for the first time in the trial and said 'you see for them you represent hope'". The powerful and emotive tone used by Robertson to convey
