Deficit draft

Deficit theory: In 1975, Robin Lakoff published a theory based around the common phrases that make women’s language so distinctively different. She made the statements that are more polite in the way they address people for example: “Would you mind …” or “I’d appreciate it” in comparison to men who are usually more abrupt in and less polite. Lakoff examined women’s use of tag questions and politeness to come to the conclusion that when women use this language, they are showing signs of uncertainty and making themselves seem to have inferior status.  Another theorist who studied deficit language features was Jespersen. Jespersen defined male language as the standard whilst women’s language was seen as deficient. This theory brought up a lot of division between men and women as this theory brought up ideas that women’s language was inherently ‘wrong’ and or had something  that made it use men’s language as a sort of ‘benchmark’

These techniques identified in the deficit theory could be used in real life texts for example, advertisements for food produce where a little girl asks her mother politely for something to eat and the little boy asks in a less polite manner yet receives his first as the polite manner showed an inferior side and therefore lead the boy to get his way first as the stereotype that men have a more intimidating language and tone than women was made clear in this advertisement.

I looked at a female advice column from ELLE magazine and I began to notice the polite language the women in need were using to ask for advice without sounding like they’re hassling the columnist. I looked at a male advice column called ‘Ask the Dad’ which is mainly a column based around males who need advice with the occasional polite female cry for help. I began to see that the column from ELLE magazine began with the advice seeker’s question which began by quickly addressing the problem. “How can I stop people from constantly interrupting me?” 

Grouping texts on graphilogical features.

Texts A,B and C use overt and covert graphilogical features as you are able to identify subconsciously what the text is about without the image but it aids your understanding and makes the context seem clearer. The images are prominently placed which instantly makes them capture your eye. In text C, there are proper nouns used to represent the characters in the picture and you look to the text to identify the characters in the picture to gain a understanding of what and who the text involves. This text shows a use of a standard graphilogical feature as you would expect to find imagery in a children's story book. In text B, there are imperative verbs like 'pour' and 'heat' to show importance of certain instructions. By following these strict instructions the reader is expecting to have a result that is exactly like the picture. Therefore the image is used in a standard graphilogical way as recipes are known to have pictures in for the reader to follow. Text A's use of an image is non standard. We can tell this by type of text as it's a poster. There does not necessarily have to be imagery in a poster so it is not specifically required yet it links with the other texts as it is just aiding the readers understanding.

My target is to become familiar with a larger variety of terminology and be able to pick up on these when analyzing a text. 

To try and meet my target I am going to find any genre of text and highlight any terminology i find. I will use resources I have received in class and my notes to try and identify and learn new terminology that I can use to analyse any kind of text. I also will use online resources to try and work on the basic terminology to go over things I learnt years ago. 

Texts

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V57lotnKGF8  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "I have a dream"
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKa4g3YkQmU Educating Essex "What is pi"
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDhRfvxzhVM Interview with Ellie Goulding on BBC breakfast 2013
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuKGddDnT1M Outnumbered "Karen's take on Politics"
5. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/16/banning-slang-harris-academy-alienate-young-people The Guardian "Banning slang will only further alienate young people, innit"

Synthetic personalisation

Synthetic personalisation is the way in which advertising and other forms of communication use personalized language such as the second person to persuade and entice viewers. This advertisement uses words like "your" and "you" which are second person pronouns to involve the reader and make the product seem as if it's important to the reader. The use of the word "imagine" creates an image in your head and makes the reader begin to picture themselves holding the item and how the item would benefit their lifestyle. In the advertisement, the use of the words "At last" has the effect on the reader that they have been waiting for this new phone and that the phone is like no other therefore making it sound more desirable to the reader.

In my investigation I was looking at how my use of 'slang' varies for who I am talking to. I began by analyzing 5 texts between me and a member of my family and I began to notice how the register was kept formal. There were no abbreviations in words such as "Okay"or "Because" and I realized we had similarities in the way we typed. I then look at a 5 texts between me and my best friend and I found that we both used emoticons/emoji to liven up our texts and make jokes between us. I also found with my best friend that we sometimes wrote in capitals to express how we feel. It has become a natural instinct to shorten words and lengthen the sound of the word by adding more of the last letter on to the end for example: "helloooo" if i'm in a good mood. When I compared both of these examples I found that I use formal language when communicating with a relative rather than using slang as they would probably not understand it or not use it back. Where as, with my best friend I found that using slang language was an easier, more entertaining way to communicate seeing as I wouldn't verbally speak in that way. I concluded that I use different language styles for who I am communicating with to make the conversation easier between us. I vary the register for who I am talking to depending on the topic of the conversation and how close my relationship is with them.

Opening to a Technology blog

theguardian 

TECHNOLOGY BLOG

Is society being brainwashed by the simplicity of Twitter? 

As 50 percent of 100 million users log into Twitter every day, are we heading towards a society obsessed with pointless updates and virtual popularity?


Twitter's highly recognizable logo. Photo: Google Images.

Bethany Jefferies
theguardian.com, Monday 14th October 2013

140-character updates about your choice of breakfast cereal to your "followers" seems to be a norm to 100 million active Twitter users across the world. With millions having their own personal accounts, it's no wonder it's worth roughly £7.3 billion. There are many reasons people feel the need to tweet obsessively. These reasons can range from anything such as seeking celebrity acknowledgment to complaining about the weather which surprisingly not, can drive some people crazy. Thankfully you can choose who you follow and you are not forced to follow back anyone who follows you.

Twitter has become one of the leading social networking sites over the years and it's found it's way onto pretty much every website someway or another by allowing you to share whatever you are viewing on one page directly to your twitter account in one simple click. This begs the question: Is Twitter becoming a little bit too involved in our lives?