Investigating how language has changed in children's literature; in relation to interaction between children and characters of authority in a boarding school setting.

Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Introduction

Stories of children at boarding schools have always been a popular genre choice amongst both young and young adult readers. They emulate scenarios that children can identify with, more specifically the relationships between the students and their teachers/head teachers. As a result the language used must convince the reader thoroughly of the role that the author has intended that character to play. The purpose of my investigation is to explore the language devices used in modern literature using books sparring over 40 years; to analyse language change and the use of certain language features in relation to power.

Table 1: Books chosen for comparison

Hypothesis: There will be the greatest difference in language between Tom Brown’s School Days and Harry Potter—the author will favour shorter, simple sentences, and use more modern terms. There will also be a decrease in the frequency of adjective use in speech exchange but not in initial description, as the texts become more modern. The students will gradually use more colloquial speech patterns, but the formality of the authoritative character’s speech will remain the same. The relationship between student and teacher will have steadily become more familiar over time between pupil and teacher; this shift in status demonstrates the changing social perception of authoritative figures in modern society from an austere distant relationship to a more supportive role. This shift will be demonstrated by the presence of features such as personal pro-nouns and directives. There will be noticeable differences between the language used to describe female authoritative characters compared to male, but similar language will be used to reflect power.

Methodology

I selected books I believed that I could draw a parallel between; books based around boarding schools (Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone is mixed, while the other three texts are single sex schools). I intend to analyse the first description of the authoritative characters/teachers to see how the author uses language to establish the feeling of power and status, and how this has changed over time. To further investigate this I will analyse an interaction between the teachers and the lead character. I chose extracts based on similar contexts—a personal meeting. I plan to use acknowledged frameworks (Table 2) to support analysis of the extracts.

Table 2: Acknowledged frameworks

Initial description of ‘The Doctor’ [Thomas Arnold] by ‘East’ [p125– 126 Tom Brown’s School Days]

“ The tall gallant form, the kindling eye, the voice, now as soft as the low notes of a flute, now clear and stirring as the call of the light infantry bugle, [….]

It was not the cold, clear voice of one giving advice and warning from serene heights to those who were struggling and sinning below, but the warm, living voice of one who was fighting for us and by our sides, and calling on us to help him and ourselves and one another. And so, wearily and little by little, but surely and steadily on the whole, was brought home to the young boy, for the first time, the meaning of his life — that it was no fool's or sluggard's paradise into which he had wandered by chance, but a battlefield ordained from of old, where there are no spectators, but the youngest must take his side, and the stakes are life and death. And he who roused this consciousness in them showed them at the same time, by every word he spoke in the pulpit, and by his whole daily life, how that battle was to be fought, and stood there before them their fellow-soldier and the captain of their band — the true sort of captain, too, for a boy's army — one who had no misgivings, and gave no uncertain word of command, and, let who would yield or make truce, would fight the fight out (so every boy felt) to the last gasp and the last drop of blood. Other sides of his character might take hold and influence boys here and there; but it was this thoroughness and undaunted courage which, more than anything else, won his way to the hearts of the great mass of those on whom he left his mark, and made them believe first in him and then in his Master.”

Initial description of ‘Miss Loy’ by ‘Cynthia’ [p39 – School Girl Chums]

“ “There’s Miss Loy, in the blue frock, coming in last.”

I looked eagerly towards the dais, and I was instantly attracted by what I saw.

Miss Loy was surprisingly young! I remembered Daddy’s words, and fully endorsed them as I looked at the head-mistress of one of the most important girls’ schools in England. Her hair was of shining gold, and, though it was swathed in a sort of turban round her head, it rippled into curls on her forehead. Her eyes were large and intensely blue, like those very vivid forget-me-nots which grow by the riverside. She wore a blue frock too, of a very soft pastel shade, very simply made, with a broad collar and old lace; and she looked much too pretty and jolly to be a disciplinarian – to use Daddy’s pet word.”

Initial description of ‘Miss Potts’ by ‘Darrell’ [p2 – First Term at MT]

“ The gay voices sounded all up and down the platform. Darrell looked for her mother. Ah, there she was talking to a keen-faced mistress. That must be Miss Potts. Darrell stared at her. Yes, she liked her – she liked the way her eyes twinkled – but there was something very determined about her mouth. It wouldn’t do to get into her bad books.”

Initial description of ‘Albus Dumbledore’ by JK Rowling [p12 – Harry Potter TPS]

“ Nothing like this man had ever been seen in Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man’s name was Albus Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore didn’t seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, ‘I should have known.’

1. Discourse

In order to analyse these texts effectively, their context must first be taken into account. All are taken from the initial chapters’ narrative texts (the exception being the description of “The Doctor”).

All are based on the ‘boarding-school’ genre, though are not entirely identical as Harry Potter is more fantasy, while Tom Brown’s School Days is based on real events i.e. the headmaster who is described in the initial description was a real man, and the text is based on true facts, as the author did himself attend ‘Rugby School’. Much of the book is based on these experiences, though the character ‘Tom’ is loosely based on his brother, rather than himself.
The content of Harry Potter and Tom Brown’s School Days means that their audience is slightly broader than Malory Towers or School Girl Chums which are most likely to be aimed at a female audience as they are based is in female boarding schools. This affects language, vocabulary and the generic slang used.
All four texts were written with the intended audience to be similar ages of the children they are about. The age range was is similar in Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, ranging from around nine to fifteen year olds, and this can be seen from the simplicity of the lexis and the story being easy to follow. In comparison, Tom Brown’s School Days (based on the context of the story) is likely to mainly be directed at a male audience, but the elevated lexis and complex sentence structure narrows it to a slightly older teenage age group.

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2. Grammar

From the initial analysis of Figure 1 it can be seen that sentence construction in the description of characters has altered from Tom Brown’s School Days (1857) to Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (1997).

Figure 1 – Comparison of sentence type in initial description of character

Given the bulk of the text in Tom Brown’s School Days, and as a result of such long and complex sentences, the author relies heavily on description and imagery to aid fluency ...

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2. Grammar

Figure 1 – Comparison of sentence type in initial description of character

Given the bulk of the text in Tom Brown’s School Days, and as a result of such long and complex sentences, the author relies heavily on description and imagery to aid fluency as there are no paragraphs breaks. For example, the initial description of “The Doctor” is entirely comprised from long compound, complex sentences, using imagery to create a sense of cohesion continuing to create the image of the battle-field in the readers’ mind. This was common to many narrative books of this time period (1850’s).

There is a slight change in the next earliest text (School Girl Chums) as the sentence type is varied. Although Rhodes seems to favour longer compound, complex sentences in comparison to the more modern texts, simple sentences are also used to express exclamation from the characters, “Miss Loy was surprisingly young!” while the descriptions are given large amounts of detail.
Further change is evident when comparing the previous two texts to the description of “Miss Potts” in Malory Towers. Types of sentence are not generally varied in this extract; the majority of the paragraph is comprised of short simple sentences, except when Darrell is forming her first opinion of the teacher, “Yes, she liked her – she liked the way her eyes twinkled – but there was something very determined about her mouth”. The use of dashes replaces the use of commas, and this gives an impression of an ‘afterthought’, to increase the feeling of the reader, that we are hearing exactly what Darrell is thinking and feeling. The author generally changes between long, compound and short, simple sentences to convey shock; a technique that has been adopted by later authors of children’s literature.
J K Rowling follows the same technique and uses a wide range of sentence types and lengths within her description of “Dumbledore”. Sentence length is varied, beginning with a simple sentence, then the majority of his appearance is described using more complex sentences, and the first paragraph then ends with a declarative simple statement. Rowling uses these techniques in order to vary speed, to make the text a little more interesting. The important facts are expressed in the simple sentences to avoid any chance of them being lost in a long complex sentence; “This man’s name was Albus Dumbledore”. Cohesion is maintained by referring to the new character by name, following the use of personal pro-nouns.
The syntax within Tom Brown’s School Days comes across as archaic (due to the use of complex sentences) with word order not following the conventions which most modern literature follows today “one who had no misgivings, and gave no uncertain word of command, and, let who would yield or make truce, would fight the fight out”. This feature is not present in either ““Miss Potts”” or “Miss Loy’s” descriptions, but appears again in the description of “Dumbledore” and it is likely that Rowling has used this in order to change the focus position in the sentence. Descriptions of certain features are rearranged; His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half moon spectacles and his nose very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.

Given the context of all these texts (in that they are written to entertain) modifiers play a strong part in the initial descriptions of these characters. From Figure 2 it can be seen that there is a greater use of adjectives in earlier books. Generally there are a range of modifiers to keep the reader interested, and support the formation of their own mental image of these characters.

Figure 2 – Number of adjectives in the initial description of character

There are both pre-modifiers and post-modifiers within “Dumbledore’s” description; “long robes, purple cloak. His blue eyes were light, bright […].” Depending on the context, certain modifiers are more heavily ‘themed than others (in the description of “Miss Loy” they are much more ‘feminine’; “very soft pastel shade.”)

It seems that the number of modifiers used relates to the importance the author places on the character i.e. the author spends much less time describing “Miss Potts”, as she does not play as great a role as “Dumbledore” in Harry Potter.

3. Semantics

Looking first at the earliest extract (“Initial description of ‘The Doctor’”) there is a range of vocabulary used here with origins from Latin, and French and Middle English, which is unsurprising given that this was a common style for the 1850’s.
It could also be speculated that the use of words with many different linguistic roots are used as the context of the book is based on a grammar school for boys where much emphasis will be have been placed on a good knowledge of languages such as Latin. Example: “but a battlefield ordained from of old” The word ordained comes from Middle English ‘ordeinen’, from Old French “ordener”, “ordain” and from Latin “ordinare”. The use of so much Latinate vocabulary means it comes across as a very poetic and emotive description, and unlike the other three descriptions, gives only a sentence focused on appearance.
In the same way the elevated lexis increases the feeling of formality within the piece. The rest of the excerpt is dedicated to an in-depth portrayal of the headmaster’s personality, but the way in which he is described, albeit in a fairly romanticised way, puts across the ‘The Doctor’ as a much liked “disciplinarian” – “Other sides of his character may take hold and influence boys here and there”.
There is a surprising jump in the etymology of words chosen between the description written in 1857 and the extract taken from the 1922 School Girl Chums. although there are still a variety of words now deemed archaic or have at least narrowed (e.g. “frock”), generally Anglo-Saxon/Norman words are used, with just a few Latinate words incorporated in Cynthia’s own dialect (this is to be expected as the character ‘Cynthia’ is intended to come across as a stereotypical public school girl, who has a slightly elevated lexis e.g. “endorsed”).
The field of reference within School Girl Chums is dramatically different to that of the description of “The Doctor” (where generally war and soldier parallels are drawn) and this results in the feeling of a much lower status; all terms and modifiers used are ‘soft’ and ‘light’ giving the headmistress a very delicate description e.g. “Rippled into curls” and “swathed in a sort of turban” most emphasis for description is placed on how aesthetically pleasing the headmistress’s appearance is.
By 1946 it would appear that the use of any Latinate vocabulary has all but disappeared (within the description chosen) and ““Miss Potts” is described in very basic terms, only phrases are used to illustrate her status, rather than specific vocabulary – “it wouldn’t do to get into her bad books” . The main noticeable difference between this and the most modern text is the change in meaning of certain words – most obviously the use of the word “gay”. Given the changes in political correct speech, and the acceptance of homosexuality, this word now has completely different connotations.
In the same way as the 1946 introduction in Malory Towers, within the description of Harry Potter’s “Albus Dumbledore”, much of the text is written in a lexis which stems from Anglo-Saxon etymology and some French (example: Amuse- from amusant). The lack of Latinate vocabulary could be traced back to the intended audience in both these later texts (children from nine to thirteen years). By keeping the lexis relatively simple, the books are easily read by a much wider audience. (Although it is worth noting here that J K Rowling does in fact use Latinate vocabulary throughout the series but generally to name characters, or spells – the distinction being here, that the understanding of the words is not paramount to the understanding the plot.).
The formality however in J K Rowling’s first description reverts to the similar structure used by Thomas Hughes. The formality is unsurprising, given the nature of the passage being an initial introduction of an unknown character. As a result there is no obvious colloquial language, and although the author attempts to create the impression of direct dialogue with the reader; she maintains the role of ‘story teller’.
Due to the fact that “The Doctor’s” character is not technically new when this description is written (as he has been mentioned and been present in previous chapters) more focus is given to describing his personality. This is dissimilar in all other texts; therefore descriptions of their appearances are made first as it is a first impression. In relation to field of reference for example in the description of “Dumbledore”, terms used are mystical and echo the theme of the story i.e. the world of magic and wizardry – “long robes”, “purple cloak”, and “half moon spectacles”. Similar connotations are given by the actual story – his role is not explained, just his bizarre appearance in the backdrop of this suburban neighbourhood.

4. Phonology

It would seem that, the more modern the text, the less techniques are used in the initial description; possibly intended to give the reader enough information to keep them interested (while not revealing too much). Therefore there is no rhyme or puns which could deviate from the description.
The earliest text – Tom Brown’s School Days, the description is not taken from the beginning of the book and so more time can be taken describing this character and there are several techniques used in this description, which continues the slight poetic feel to the extract. Repetition in the first line, and comparative extreme/emotive imagery all adds to this effect; “now as soft as the low notes of a flute, now clear and stirring as the call of the light infantry bugle” and “and the stakes are life and death.”
In Malory Towers, School Girl Chums, and Harry Potter, the description is there in order to give the reader an idea of the character, through their aesthetic features. No excessive rhymes, alliteration or puns are needed which could distract from the first impression.
The authors rely on conjuring a mental image for the reader, rather than using any specific phonological features to make the extract more entertaining, for example in School Girl Chum’s: “like those vivid forget-me-nots which grow by the riverside.” and in Harry Potter, any phonological features are used merely to put emphasis on “Dumbledore’s” bizarre appearance: “high heeled, bucked boots”

5. Graphology

Over the time periods, these extracts follow a certain pattern. The description of “The Doctor” seems to conform to the graphology that would have probably been the norm for that time period (1850’s). The length of the paragraph is very different to most of the children/young adult’s literature around today. Other than when there is speech, or a dramatic turn of events, most chapters comprise of just a few exceptionally long paragraphs. The extract does align with the general narrative structure, in relation to punctuation, other than the use of dashes, which seem to only appear in the earlier texts.
The extract from School Girl Chums contains similar graphology to the earlier texts, no pictures, and formulaic layout in relation to paragraphs and sentence structure. Similarly to the Tom Brown’s School Days extract the paragraphs are extensive, due to the complex sentences, before line breaks.
As we move more towards later literature the length of paragraphs begins to decrease, following with the currently recognised formulaic layout. Punctuation in both Malory Towers and Harry Potter is standard, and the only noticeable similarity between this text and the older extracts is the use of “-” in place of commas or parentheses (not shown in this initial description of “Dumbledore” but present later on in the text).
The only anomaly in graphology is present in Malory Towers; unlike the other books, there are pictures included sporadically in the book, which indicates the book might be for a lower age range, and acts as visual aids to add to the story. There are no illustrations within the other books, and this may be due to the fact that the books/authors are relying on the readers using the text to create images for the reader themselves.

Speech extract from Tom Brown’s School Days [Chapter 7: Setting to the Collar p134—135] :

“That's the library door," said East in a whisper, pushing Tom forwards. The sound of merry voices and laughter came from within, and his first hesitating knock was unanswered. But at the second, the Doctor's voice said, "Come in;" and Tom turned the handle, and he, with the others behind him, sidled into the room.

The Doctor looked up from his task; he was working away with a great chisel at the bottom of a boy's sailing boat, the lines of which he was no doubt fashioning on the model of one of Nicias's galleys. Round him stood three or four children; the candles burnt brightly on a large table at the farther end, covered with books and papers, and a great fire threw a ruddy glow over the rest of the room. All looked so kindly, and homely, and comfortable that the boys took heart in a moment, and Tom advanced from behind the shelter of the great sofa. The Doctor nodded to the children, who went out, casting curious and amused glances at the three young scarecrows.

"Well, my little fellows," began the Doctor, drawing himself up with his back to the fire, the chisel in one hand and his coat- tails in the other, and his eyes twinkling as he looked them over; "what makes you so late?"

"Please, sir, we've been out big-side hare-and-hounds, and lost our way."

"Hah! you couldn't keep up, I suppose?"

"Well, sir," said East, stepping out, and not liking that the Doctor should think lightly of his running powers, "we got round Barby all right; but then -"

"Why, what a state you're in, my boy!" interrupted the Doctor, as the pitiful condition of East's garments was fully revealed to him.

"That's the fall I got, sir, in the road," said East, looking down at himself; "the Old Pig came by -"

"The what?" said the Doctor.

"The Oxford coach, sir," explained Hall.

"Hah! yes, the Regulator," said the Doctor.

"And I tumbled on my face, trying to get up behind," went on East.

"You're not hurt, I hope?" said the Doctor.

"Oh no, sir."

"Well now, run upstairs, all three of you, and get clean things on, and then tell the housekeeper to give you some tea. You're too young to try such long runs. Let Warner know I've seen you. Good-night."

Speech extract from School Girl Chums [Chapter 16: ’Hilary Turns Chauffeuse’ p264– 265]:

“Now, Hilary and Cynthia, I want an explanation.” She began at once. “I conclude that you have an explanation of the fact that you were seen driving in a large car towards Blue-haven with a gentleman. Was it your uncle, Hilary?”

“No, Miss Loy. He was a stranger—he told us his name was General Barton—and we found him by the roadside with his arm bleeding, and he couldn’t drive the car, so we bandaged his arm, and I drove the car for him. “

“You drove the car?” Miss Loy’s tone was incredulous.

“Indeed she did, Miss Loy, and splendidly too,” I chimed in, anxious that Hilary should get her meed of praise.

“Well, I should like to know a little more,” said Miss Loy, rather helplessly. “Sit down both of you, and tell me exactly what took place.”

[….]

After reading the note she said quietly,

“Well, I gather you both behaved in a very sensible and proper manner, and I am glad you kept your heads and knew what to do in a case of emergency. I confess I’m glad I didn’t know Hilary was driving a car on the highroad, or I should have felt decidedly nervous; but as she had it to do, I am pleased she did it efficiently”

“Then you’re not vexed with us Miss Loy? We really couldn’t help being late.”

“Vexed with you?” She smiled. “Of course not. Why should I be? I think you did the only possible thing in the circumstances, and I expect General Barton is very grateful to you both. Now you are much too late for chapel, so run and take off your things, and then you can write your letters. I suppose you will have a lot to say this week to your people.”

Speech extract from Malory Towers [Chapter 13: ‘Half-Term at last!’ P82-83]:

“ She went to Miss Potts about it, looking worried. ‘Miss Potts,’ she began, rather timidly, for the mistress was correcting papers and looked very busy, ‘Miss Potts, excuse my interrupting you, but can I ask you something?’

‘What is it?’ said Miss Potts, running her blue pencil across a line of writing.

‘Well – it’s about the form order,’ said Darrell. ‘Am I really so low down as that?’

‘Let me see – what were you? Quite a long way down,’ said Miss Potts, pulling the list to her and looking at it.

‘Yes, that’s right. I was surprised and disappointed, Darrell. You did so well in the first two weeks.’

‘But Miss Potts,’ said Darrell, and then stopped. She didn’t know quite how to say what she wanted to say. She wanted to say that she had much better brains than at least half the form, so why was she so low? But somehow that sounded conceited.

However Miss Potts, who was very quick minded, saw her difficulty.

‘You have come to ask me how it is you are nearer the bottom than the top when you could so easily be among the top ones?’ She said. ‘Well I’ll tell you, Darrell. There are people like Alicia, who can play the fool in class and waste their time and everyone else’s and yet still come out well in their work. And there are people like you, who can also play the fool and waste their time – but unfortunately it affects their work, and they slide down to the bottom. Do you understand?’

Speech extract from Harry Potter [Chapter 17: ‘The man with two faces’ p222-223]:

“ ’Good afternoon, Harry,” said Dumbledore.

Harry stared at him. Then he remembered. ’Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He’s got the stone! Sir, quick-!’

‘Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times.’ said Dumbledore. ’Quirrell does not have the Stone.’

‘Then who does? Sir I-’

‘Harry, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out.’

Harry swallowed and looked around him. He realised he must be in the hospital wing. He was lying in a bed with white linen sheets and next to him was a table piled high with what looked like half the sweet-shop.

‘Tokens from your friends and admirers.’ said Dumbledore, beaming. ‘What happening down

in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a lavatory seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it.’

Comparison between extracts involving exchanges between lead characters, and characters of authority

The first thing I considered within the extracts was their context. In Tom Brown’s School Days, School Girl Chums and Malory Towers the characters were all going to the headmaster/mistress for a personal meeting dependant on the plot. This affects the exchange between the two characters, and the language techniques employed. For example, when analysing the relationship between teacher and main character(s) through the language used, I looked at who spoke first as whoever begins the dialogue is acting as the initiator i.e. immediately establishing a certain status. In School Girl Chums, and Tom Brown’s School days, the characters had been sent to the head, and so the Headmaster/mistress is the first to speak, both asking for an explanation. Roles are reversed in both Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone and Malory Towers; “Harry” is being visited by “Professor Dumbledore” and “Darrell” is approaching “Miss Potts” with an enquiry, which changed the focus in relation to power.

A further aspect of context (in relation to language and power change over time) was the influence of school culture. There are generally unspoken codes that students do not interrupt teachers, and that conversations should be conducted in a prescribed manner. These are unspoken rules, but have known repercussions if broken. Personal style and manner have to be modified to adhere to these. Given the higher level of formality in the time period in which Tom Brown’s School Days was written, it was expected to be reflected in the students speech.

Based on my hypothesis, it was anticipated that “The Doctor” would be a disciplinarian given the social context of male boarding schools. However, the headmaster begins with a very friendly, colloquial (for the time period) greeting, followed by what comes across as a polite request, “Well, my little fellows […] what makes you so late?” a question used to elicit the required information. The way in which he talks to the boys gives a sense of empowerment and the language used implies co-operation and shared standards; ““The Oxford coach, sir,” explained Hall. “Hah! Yes, the regulator,” said The Doctor”

In comparison, Miss Loy demands her answer, “Now, Hilary and Cynthia, I want an explanation.” And the use of the second person pro-noun “you” in her speech makes the conversation sound confrontational as it begins.

Although the “The Doctor” in Tom Brown’s School Days is respected, he also is feared, and so it was assumed that he would dominate the conversation; which is evident to some extent in the data presented in Figure 3. However, it is likely that the students’ near-equal role is based on their out-going personalities.

Figure 3 – Word count demonstrating conversation dominance

Figure 3 also demonstrates that “Miss Loy” dominates the conversation, but the author omits the explanation of their story, avoiding repetition. It is likely that this influenced the word count, however, it seems that after hearing their brief excuse, she then begins a monologue which neither girl interrupts, to conclude the point she is making.

Similarly in Malory Towers, “Miss Potts” dominates the conversation, the majority being a monologue, rather than an exchange. At this stage, just as in the other two books, the relationship is still clearly formal, as reflected in the conversation in School Girl Chums, where “Darrell” refers to her teacher correctly, (as do the other characters in the other books: ‘Sir’ / ‘Miss Loy’). However, she has gone to the teacher on her own initiative, even though it is clear she doesn’t know how to articulate what she wants to say. The author demonstrates this with pauses from the character, and uses it to further strengthen the personality of the authoritative character.

The extract from Harry Potter demonstrates the biggest change, albeit in a completely different situation. The relationship between “Harry” and “Professor Dumbledore” is very different to the other books. They are very close, and “Dumbledore” is put across as an almost ‘father’ figure. As a result, there is not the same status difference, so although Harry has a certain level of respect, it does not prevent interruptions during the conversation.

“’they have been extremely worried’

‘But sir the Stone -’”

“’I arrive just in time to pull Quirrell off you -’

‘It was you.’”

One of the general changes to note in language is the lexical choice, all the young student characters use more colloquial formations of certain words i.e. features are noticeable such as contractions, elision and ellipsis. They adhere to the prescribed rules of the ‘teen-language’ of the time period.

Harry Potter— “I couldn’t have kept him off the Stone much longer”

Darrell— “It’s about the form order, am I really so low down as that?”

Cynthia— “Then you’re not vexed with us, Miss Loy?”

East— “That’s the fall I got, sir, in the road.”

The Head teachers tend to remain more formal in their lexical choice:

Professor Dumbledore— “Calm yourself dear boy, you are a little behind the times.”

Miss Potts— “You have come to ask me how it is you are nearer the bottom than the top when you could so easily be among the top ones.”

Miss Loy— “Now you are much too late for chapel, so run and take off your things, and then you can write your letters.”

The Doctor— “Well now, run up-stairs, all three of you, and get clean things on, and then tell the housekeeping to give you some tea.”

One aspect that can be seen to change chronologically is the choice of words, and those which are now deemed archaic. The extract from Tom Brown’s School days, contains more advanced lexis, and much more accentuated syntax and sentence structure, ‘interrupted the Doctor, as the pitiful condition of “East’s” garments was fully revealed to him.’ The way the headmaster refers to the boys as ‘Little fellows’ demonstrates a change in language over time, this description would never be used on boys of a similar age now, as it would come across as condescending or patronizing. The word ‘vexed’ in the place of ‘angry’ or ‘unhappy’ in School Girl Chums is a phrase which is more or less completely out of use today, and much of the language in “Cynthia’s” and her friend’s vocabulary fits with a stereotypical image of girls at private boarding schools, for example “Indeed she did , Miss Loy […] and splendidly too.”

It is slightly more difficult to analyse “Darrell’s” own lexis from the extract chosen, but the rest of the book shows that the language has not moved forwards in the 20 year (or so) gap between Malory Towers being written, and School Girl Chums being published. The same can be said for “Miss Potts” language.

Although “Harry Potter’s” lexis shows the greatest change, as it is the most modern, “Professor Dumbledore’s” speech still retains a slightly archaic feel. This could be due to the fact the character is supposed to be very old, and therefore his lexis would not be as modern as the younger characters in the book.

Invariably, the language choices depend on context, and situation. The largest change is between the young boys in Tom Brown’s School Days, ‘“Hah! You couldn’t keep up, I suppose?” “Well, sir” said East, stepping out, and not liking that the Doctor should think lightly of his running powers, “we got round Barby all right, but then-”. Here, the young boys response is mitigated and indirect. In contrast “Harry Potter’s” own speech direct, almost blunt; “‘You got there? You got Hermione’s owl?’”. The majority of his questions are comprised from declaratives and exclamatory remarks.

In order to provide a clear context each author has employed a range of techniques. These are represented in Figure 4, where it can be seen the earlier the text, the higher the importance placed on background description.

Figure 4 – Number of adjectives in the speech exchange

Conclusion

There were a number of variables within this investigation which may have influenced the hypothesis. For example, the variance in extract length affected some of the graphical results obtained, i.e. when looking at conversation dominance. Also, the context of the extracts for selected for speech exchanges were not identical, for example in Tom Brown’s School Days; there was not the same level of direct conversation between lead and authoritative characters as other texts. In the extract from Malory Towers, lexical choice is elevated, and much of the vocabulary is archaic. This is most likely due to the nature of the school and the role of girls in this time period. Not only is it a private boarding school for girls, but there was much more emphasis on female etiquette and politeness. As a result, when seeing “Miss Potts”, “Darrell” is described as ‘timid’ and does not talk easily to her superior. This is similar in the Tom Brown’s book as again it is a private school, however, the roles of boys differed rather dramatically, and although boys were expected to show respect, the characters are intended to be mischievous, resulting in a different lexical choice when confronted with authority i.e. they use slang, such as “the Old Pig” and “the Regulator”.

Further more, although Harry Potter was written in more ’modern’ times, the language is not as modern as the time period. This is due to the setting of the plot, much of the ‘wizarding world’ is still what many would today find old fashioned, and the authoritative figure is also rather old himself. Taking this into account however, the lead characters language still leaves enough to be a comparison, as “Harry” is a ’modern child’.

My graphical and analytical results have proved parts of my hypothesis. From Figure 1 it was evident that the older books used mostly complex sentences, fitting with the general theme of those time periods. Sentences were much longer, broken up with conjunctions or punctuation. Paragraphs were much longer and only broken by speech. Although this enabled the author to give an extended description it resulted in a more specialized reading age. It is likely that later literature contains a higher percentage of simple sentences, as it is intended for a broader audience.

I constructed two graphs in order to look at adjective use (Figures 2 and 4). The results in Figure 2 show that over time there seemed to be a decrease in the use of adjectives in the initial descriptions. However, this was dependant on the importance of the character at that point in the book e.g. “Miss Potts” was not necessarily important immediately, so a very short description was given. Figure 4 then addressed the frequency of adjectives in the speech exchange. This demonstrates a common feature in modern literature, where fewer adjectives are used to maintain children’s attention and concentration by reducing deviations from the plot line. This suggests that they rely on the content of the character’s speech, enabling the reader to construct a mental image as the characters speak. In comparison to this, the older books use descriptions much more readily in between more involved exchanges, to explicitly describe the way in which the speech is being delivered.

I hypothesised that there would be a greater level of familiarity between the student and authoritative character in more recent texts. In my analysis of the word count between the characters in Figure 3 it does not at first appear to support this hypothesis. On further analysis of the speech exchanges, it became clear that the initiation of the conversation, and its content gave a clearer indication of status and power within the relationship. In relation to language and gender, women tend towards the use of modal tag questions for confirmation within a conversation – however this technique was not employed by the female authoritative figures suggesting that they felt their position of power was secure.

Overall, these texts do suggest a change in the use of lexical and syntactical choices in order to reflect the shifting approach of society to authoritative figures. The language used in children’s literature in each time period echoes what would have been the commonly accepted dialect for both the children and teachers. The modern text demonstrates that while there is an unchanged set of cultural norms within education, how children interact and speak with authoritative figures has become less formal.

References

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone—1997—JK Rowling

Malory Towers: First Term at Malory Towers—1946— Enid Blyton

School Girl Chums—1922—Kathlyn Rhodes

Tom Brown’s School Days—1857—Thomas Hughes

The New Penguin English Dictionary; first published 2000.

http://www.literature.org/authors/hughes-thomas/tom-browns-schooldays

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hughes/tarnold.html

http://ww.wikipedia.org

Origins from The New Penguin English Dictionary; first published 2000.

Teacher Reviews

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Katie Dixon

5th of Sep 2013

***** 5 STARS An outstanding piece of independent research. The investigation is logically structured, the visual graphs are easy to read. The writer consistently works toward answering the questions in the hypothesis and consistently closely analyses language, form and content using a wide range of appropriate terminology to discuss various techniques. Well written and intelligently argued - this is an interesting and outstanding piece of individual research.

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