Analyse the text (Reid, 2007) in terms of its cohesive systems. Look for the various cohesive chains that operate throughout the text - minor ones as well as major - and check the cohesive links from one sentence to another.

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The Question:

Analyse the text (Reid, 2007) in terms of its cohesive systems. Look for the various cohesive chains that operate throughout the text - minor ones as well as major - and check the cohesive links from one sentence to another. Then, in an essay of about 750 words, explain the cohesive systems of the text and their contribution to its overall meaning.

The Essay

Journalist use simple cohesive devices of repetition and synonymy to link information within the context of their stories to provide an ease of comprehension and improved lexico-grammatical flow. By analysing the article by Tim Reid (2007) “Mystery of the vanishing watch in President’s timeless moment”, I will explain how the author uses cohesive systems, chains and links to contribute to the overall meaning of the story. I will expose the exophoric and endophoric referencing and the use of word sets that link the story together and how this is achieved.

Analysis

Firstly, the opening sentence contains an exophoric reference as it says, “It is standard tourist advice”, which may or may not be common knowledge to the reader, yet the author assumes the reader knows this and therefore simplifies the information provided. Further examples of exophoric references are found beginning with the reported video showing the watch disappearing from the Presidents arm leaving the reader to accept there is a video or allowing them to do their own research. With the inclusion of “the US Embassy” the author is relying on the reader to know there is an embassy in Tirana; this is a typical assumption. Also, the reader is expected to know that Mr Bush’s approval rating is higher in Fushe Kruje than in the US and the stolen watch will cause a “potentially tricky diplomatic dilemma”. All these examples are referenced outside the story with limited or no referencing.

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The first paragraph defines that the story is about pick pockets and the President of the United States.  In the second paragraph, the writer begins by referring to George W. Bush which, although could be an endophoric reference to the first paragraph, assuming euphorically that the reader knows that Bush is the President of the US. The writer does not provide a direct correlation to the two references. In the second paragraph, Bush is referred to as “the leader of the free world which is generally accepted as being synonymous with the US president. This is subjective and provides no ...

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