Similarly in text 14 the graphology used is simple, this reflects the restaurants ideology of food being ‘served with a minimum of fuss’. The typeface of the headings for menu are in bold black writing and there is use of abbreviation, instead of the commonly used heading ‘Main menu’ it simply says ‘Menu’ this show again reflect the idea of no fuss and also makes it more informal and therefore less corporate and more customer friendly. The menu highlights two specific parts of the menu using text boxes this is the ‘champagnes & prosecco’ and the ‘Sunday lunch’ section this is because the restaurant wants to draw attention to the most expensive parts of the menu, in order for people to spend more money. The menu is also primarily in black and white, the simplicity of them menu shows that the food of The Modern restaurant speaks for itself and is of high quality.
In text 14 Norman uses humour and the use of hyperbolic phrases and superlatives to emphasize on his dislike his experience at ‘The Modern’, Norman states the restaurant is ‘the last place on earth anyone vaguely sane would choose for their final meal and that includes death row’ this is definitely an exaggerated statement to make, there are also a lot of connection made with death and the finalisation of things Norman uses phrases such as ‘Last place on earth’, ‘Final meal’ and ‘death row’ at a semantic level it can be seen that Norman is doing this to achieve humour and show how bad the experience was. On the other hand pragmatically it can be seen that Norman makes several death related comments throughout the article for example he writes about his near death experience stating ‘not quite dying recently on the m6’, near the end of the article he states ‘we risk our lives In service, too’. Norman is clearly distressed by his near death experience and this also reflects how he feels toward the entire evening, in fact he spends majority of the article talking about this rather than the food itself. This adds a sombre tone to the article and although his experience has nothing to do with the food, it will make the reader feel more inclined to also disliking the restaurant which is how Norman wants them to feel. Norman also uses superlatives in his review he states ‘wincing at the worst glass of wine’ the use of the superlative ‘worse’ creates a dramatic effect as it Is a bold statement to make it emphasizes just how much he hated the wine, the approximate of the letter W also adds to the effect of dislike.
Whereas text 13 uses hyperbolic phrases to exaggerate on the food of ‘The Modern’ text 14 relies upon the use of heavy pre-modification to make its menu more appealing to buy. For Example the most expensive dish on the menu is described as ‘oven roasted 8oz Cheshire rib eye beef, red wine caramelised onions & marrowbone with beef dripping chips’, this dish is very intricately described using a lot of descriptive linguistics, the beef is not just an ordinary piece of beef is Cheshire beef that weighs presicley 8oz , the onions have been caramelised is red one and the chips are not just simple chips they have been dipped in beef giving them that edge over all other chips that you can purchase. The use of pre-modification makes the food seem of much higher quality than it probably is this will lure the customer into buying the dish and not feeling guilty about emptying their pockets, as this expirence is one not to be missed. Conversely the menu’s high use of pre-modification is mocked in Norman’s review he states ‘a hotpot of slow-braised mutton shoulder & cuan oyster with pickled heritage beetroot (Lancashire hotpot in English)’ this shows that the menu is perhaps a little prentencious and not actually like what it says on the menu.
Both text 13 and 14 use personal pronouns to build a relationship between them and the audience, for example in text 13 Norman writes in the heading ‘so you won’t have to’ similarly in text 14 it says on the menu ‘our commitment’ and ‘we’ll leave the carving up to you’ by using these personal pronouns the readers of the article and the customers of the restaurant are able to feel more connected to Norman and the restaurant and consequently more likely to purchase dishes from ‘The Modern’ and listen to Norman’s advice.
In conclusion both text 13 and 14 were able to persuade and inform their audience of the experience they had to offer, Norman’s review through the use of humour and a blunt approach is able to show how bad the quality of the food at ‘The Modern’ really is and persuade people not to eat there and the menu of ‘The Modern’ through its detailed linguistic techniques was able to persuade people that their food was worth paying for.
by
hebah96 (student)
