Past Paper Question
(unfinished)
Language Change - Text C is the opening to a pamphlet written in 1745 by a man only identified as A.W. Esq. entitled 'The Enormous Abomination of the Hoop-Petticoat, as the Fashion Now Is, and Has Been for about These Two Years Fully Display'd: In Some Reflexions Upon It, Humbly Offer'd to the Consideration of Both Sexes; Especially the Female.
The text draws upon a range of language ideas and theories, leading to ideas of diachronic change involving the topic, the grammar, the graphology and the lexical choices. Gender theory, in respect that it is a female topic written by a male and the masculinity of the language used, additionally influential power is created and utalised throughout the text to persuade the audience in agreement with his view about the changes within fashion.
The title alone appears outdated, flouting the maxim of quantity, today we see shorter, more concise titles maybe influenced by the growing culture in which time is money and attention spans are shorter, especially for pamphlets. As supported by the 'Plain English Campaign' which awards 'Crystal Mark' to highly accessible documents (frequently used by government boards - including HMRS). On the contrary, this could be purposefully chosen to create a satirical tone, as if its an overview of the argument about to be displayed. This highly hyperbolic title in modern day would likely be cut short at the 'Hoop-Petticoat'. As a shortened title it would appear effective, with the pun of 'enormous' and exaggerated 'abomination' which again seems outdated in today's society. The title seems to be mitigated by the later clauses; 'humbly offer'd' the first clause appears certain in its view and yet this appears to soften it, making it more of a proposal (lightly linking to Tannen's proposals vs orders).
The text seems similar to what we'd recognise today as a blog (affordances of modern day technology), in the respect that its a prestigious rant about fashion. Supported by the anonymous nature of the author's name, 'A.W. Esq', the use of 'Esq' imposes influential power (Waering). It uses persuasive devices to connect with his audience, as a blogger would. For example, 'I assure the Courteous Reader, upon my honest word' this incorporated synthetic personalisation with the presumption that the reader would be courteous (possibly lightly imposing 'building the consumer' that the reader would wish to be regarded as courteous, influenced by the expectations of women at that time). He tries to create a character behind the voice and build a personal relationship of trust with the reader, which would be required to persuade them of his view, 'upon my honest word', it could even be said to be a cloaked imperative ('trust me'). He goes on to explain that he is not influenced by being a Quaker or a Methodist, inferring that his opinions are not dictated by a religious entity. Yet, later he preaches the importance of Christianity and that he wished it held more importance and took more time within people's lives. Within today's pamphlets it would seem exclusive to speak of the author's religion as it would reduce the audience pool, but in 1745 it was likely that most readers would've been Christian anyway - appealing to the mass audience.
The use of the long 's' stands out ......
Language Change - Text C is the opening to a pamphlet written in 1745 by a man only identified as A.W. Esq. entitled 'The Enormous Abomination of the Hoop-Petticoat, as the Fashion Now Is, and Has Been for about These Two Years Fully Display'd: In Some Reflexions Upon It, Humbly Offer'd to the Consideration of Both Sexes; Especially the Female.
The text draws upon a range of language ideas and theories, leading to ideas of diachronic change involving the topic, the grammar, the graphology and the lexical choices. Gender theory, in respect that it is a female topic written by a male and the masculinity of the language used, additionally influential power is created and utalised throughout the text to persuade the audience in agreement with his view about the changes within fashion.
The title alone appears outdated, flouting the maxim of quantity, today we see shorter, more concise titles maybe influenced by the growing culture in which time is money and attention spans are shorter, especially for pamphlets. As supported by the 'Plain English Campaign' which awards 'Crystal Mark' to highly accessible documents (frequently used by government boards - including HMRS). On the contrary, this could be purposefully chosen to create a satirical tone, as if its an overview of the argument about to be displayed. This highly hyperbolic title in modern day would likely be cut short at the 'Hoop-Petticoat'. As a shortened title it would appear effective, with the pun of 'enormous' and exaggerated 'abomination' which again seems outdated in today's society. The title seems to be mitigated by the later clauses; 'humbly offer'd' the first clause appears certain in its view and yet this appears to soften it, making it more of a proposal (lightly linking to Tannen's proposals vs orders).
The text seems similar to what we'd recognise today as a blog (affordances of modern day technology), in the respect that its a prestigious rant about fashion. Supported by the anonymous nature of the author's name, 'A.W. Esq', the use of 'Esq' imposes influential power (Waering). It uses persuasive devices to connect with his audience, as a blogger would. For example, 'I assure the Courteous Reader, upon my honest word' this incorporated synthetic personalisation with the presumption that the reader would be courteous (possibly lightly imposing 'building the consumer' that the reader would wish to be regarded as courteous, influenced by the expectations of women at that time). He tries to create a character behind the voice and build a personal relationship of trust with the reader, which would be required to persuade them of his view, 'upon my honest word', it could even be said to be a cloaked imperative ('trust me'). He goes on to explain that he is not influenced by being a Quaker or a Methodist, inferring that his opinions are not dictated by a religious entity. Yet, later he preaches the importance of Christianity and that he wished it held more importance and took more time within people's lives. Within today's pamphlets it would seem exclusive to speak of the author's religion as it would reduce the audience pool, but in 1745 it was likely that most readers would've been Christian anyway - appealing to the mass audience.
The use of the long 's' stands out ......
There are a number of good ideas here - work on planning for longer to ensure you make the best of them. Looking closely at how power is created and linking to Wareing, Tannen and the religious audience is really worthwhile, so structure it in stages with close analysis of a cluster of quotes and spending longer evaluating the relevance of theory. You need to be more tentative and offer alternative interpretations. Check 'building the consumer' although the drive of that idea is good.
ReplyDeleteYou need a whole paragraph on comparable modern texts such as blogs and linking to modern satire.
You will get a C if you don't ensure at the planning stage that you have tentative interpretations in context, clusters of quotes with several terms per paragraph, a range of theory evaluated as to its relevance and a strong structure that guides the reader. Cover fewer points in more depth and get more wider reading in - there is no close analysis yet of how language has changed with wider reading examples for contrast and nothing yet about the growing desire for standardisation that is reflected in the publication of Johnson's dictionary and Lowth's Grammar around that time, which you can see in the use of variant spellings and punctuation that were not yet the modern standard versions.