Write an analytical
commentary on the language features of Text @. In your response you should
comment on the: contextual factors affecting or surrounding the text; social
purpose and register of the text; stylistic and discourse features of the text. Refer to at least two subsystems in your
analysis.
The text is published in the magazine of ‘The Big Issue’,
targeting those seeking information regarding greeting etiquette. It has a
primary function to provide advice on life-style issues as well as specific
advice on interpersonal greetings. The secondary function is to entertain the
readers as it provides a mocking response that seeks to inject some humour into
the potentially awkward social situation. The text has an overall casual and informal
register which helps to create rapport between the two letter writers and
between the life-style consultant and the audience of The Big Issue.
Specific Framework
Published in a magazine, the letter writers draw upon
discourse features associated with the situational context, that is a letters
page which consists of a question and answer format. The formulaic terms – Dear Quick Fix and Dear
Sacred Saluter – signify compliance with standard letter writing discourse
features. In terms of the social purpose,
the first letter writer, Sacred Saluter, encourages their audience to
understand the degree of frustration that often occurs in specific cultural
contexts such as greetings (“…”) Contrastingly, Sacred Saluter appears to adopt
at times an air of gravitas – “….” – but this is undercut by her confession and
the simple, declarative sentence that ends her letter – “Quick Fix can’t help
you.”
Sacred Saluter – purpose – words – sentences
(style/register)
In terms of social purpose, Sacred Saluter’s question is to
ascertain what the correct greeting etiquette style is in Australia because he
has noticed differences from his country of origin. One particular discourse feature that is
intrinsic to a personal letter is Sacred Saluter’s anecdotal evidence – “I recently
moved to Australian from Europe and I’m
really confused” (line 4). Sacred
Saluter uses bracketed simple sentences as an aside – (“I bumped into my
neighbour” at Line ). The use of the subject pronoun “I” appears more
confessional in tone thus reducing social distance between the letter-writer
and readers of The Big Issue. In this
case, inference is required to
understand that the speaker originates from a country with different cultural
norms and behaviours and that especially when greetings, this can lead to
considerable offence/humiliation/pain. (….)
Stylistically, standard syntax and some complex sentence structures are evident.
For example, Sacred Saluter uses a bracketed simple sentence in lines 8-10, “I
bumped into my neighbour”, which formally expresses the awkward social
situation that, they believe, could be resolved through a national standard
greeting.
Quick Fix – social purpose – humour – style
(words/sentences)
Quick Fix’s social purpose – to express the fact that Australians do not have a set greeting method which leads to awkward social encounters — is achieved through the domain field of greetings. This is evident in the nouns on Lines 16-17: the handshake, the hug, the wink (17) as well as the use of jargon related to greetings: “the wave” line 17 etc… . . This formal reference and use of the proper noun – the “National Standard” (14) — is ironically undercut through other lexical choices that provide humour such as the parallel noun phrases modified by an adverbial phrase, “ too stiff” line 16, From a stylistic perspective, the use of metaphors – “rogue operator” in Line 6 — describes the social consequences of those members of the public who do not subscribe to rules of etiquette.
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