Analysis of the Representation of Power in the News

‘How are different genders and sexualities in Britain represented in the selection of articles found?’ 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3422060/Gender-madness-Trans-girl-Demi-boy-Inter-sex-Government-survey-asking-13-year-old-s-pick-25-genders-absurd-dangerous.html

 In this article by The Daily Mail, the author discusses their opinion on the added genders to the list of 'female' and 'male'. Some of the phrases and words used in this article express the authors negative opinion on this matter and clearly they do no want this extra list of genders to come out to the world and is trying to get the audience to disagree to the 25 genders possible. 

 According to this article, there is a new questionnaire being designed for young people (13-18 years old) to state their gender and whether they are comfortable using gendered toilets or whether they want unisex ones. The author: Damian Thompson, clearly does not agree with this as he states 'This sounds like the stuff of science fiction', almost comparing the people going on with this as aliens or 'abnormal', which is certainly discriminatory.

 By using phrases like 'science fiction', 'this is loopy feminist drivel' and 'infiltrated by a new generation of feminists', Thompson opposes this idea and tries to claim his power over these 'hardline feminists' by stating his qualifications in the article and by being the author of this newspaper article, he thinks he has power over this woman and this idea, but really, he's just ranting about his loss of power because his opinion is finally being opposed and being put forward to the new generation as wrong. 

 Of course it is wrong to label people and what they are, especially with derogatory words but when you aren't in your own body or you don't feel right, you feel you are something specific. You can't help what you are, so why is the sexuality of somebody more accepted than their gender? Because somebody is born some way doesn't mean they have to live like that forever, it's the same with sexuality, you may not realise it until later on in life, but just because you have one set of reproductive organs doesn't mean you have to live by them.

 Sometimes you have to think, no wonder people feel natural as other genders, feminists being looked down upon like this and the female gender is still being put down as the lower ground. On the other hand, males have people like Damian Thompson representing them, which isn't the most positive reinforcement of the male gender. 

 http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/10/15/did-the-daily-mail-really-just-compare-an-out-mp-to-ginger-beer/

Also, in The Daily Mail, other authors haven't been the most supportive of sexuality either, Quentin Letts also wrote in one of his articles, a derogatory slang phrase for queer/ gay: 'ginger beer', used to describe a bisexual MP who had come out in confidence to the public after divorcing his wife and being with a male.

 It's not just The Daily Mail either, celebrities around the world are having to keep apologising for their words towards homosexuals and other gendered people, for example, Manny Pacquiao had to apologise for comparing homosexual people to animals, seeing as they can determine one sex from another, so 'homosexuals are worse than animals'. Obviously, the human stereotype of animals is dirty and rough, so when compared to an animal, you can imagine how the public felt about this. It's understandable.

 In my opinion, I believe that same sex marriage shouldn't be called a civil partnership or even same sex marriage, it's just marriage, it's no different to any other marriage, so why does it need a label? I would also argue that The Daily Mail are incredibly biased and they seem to enjoy opposing human rights, only people like Donald Trump or Hitler would agree with this newspaper.

Magazine Adverts

Analysis of JCQ poster

JCQ Poster Analysis

 The graphology of this poster represents its power and authority over the reader mainly because of the big piece of branding at the top of the poster. This well known examination board company hold all their authority over everybody below them, seeing as they have the authority of bringing a student out of an exam and removing them from any future ones and can even press charges if any rules are broken. This is Deontic modality and instrumental power.

 Second of all, this poster uses repeated imagery in order to make sure that the ideology has been sent across. These are also to catch the eye of someone walking past or looking around and it also works from a distance, so someone across a room can see it. 

 The title in itself is showing its authority through its demeaning word choice. Using the buzzword 'warning; means that the students will automatically follow the orders of the poster as they have been warned to follow it. On top of this, the title even shows direct mode of address as it straight up says 'to candidates' pointing out its primary audience. The secondary audience is the group of teachers and exam leaders that will put the poster up and around the school and exam room, this is seen when you look at the bottom of the poster where it says 'copies of this poster must be displayed in a prominent place both inside and outside each examination room'.

 The text is set up into numerical values, a list with just numbers to divide them up, like a recipe. But then inside part 2, the text is set up into four bullet points as a subsection. This shows precise, formal and authoritative talk in the poster. 

 Finally, throughout the poster, there are words in bold. These words are modal verbs and it consists of 'must' and 'must not' mostly. These modal words show instrumental power over the reader and the person that this poster is targeted to, as this is what they have to do otherwise if they misbehave they get sanctioned and maybe even removed from the exam. This may cause the exam board to tell the other exam boards this, meaning that the student ruins everything with just one form of malpractice.

Analysis of Tesco Coupon

Tesco Coupon Analysis

 First of all, the most invasive way that this coupon exaggerates authority and power is through the repetition of the branding and the logo of Tesco itself. Especially considering the colour of the logo. The colouring of the logo is the only form of colour on the back of this coupon as the rest of the text is fully black and just a wall of text, rather than spread out. Finally, the logo is repeated three times, excessively big. Three is supposed to be the magic number within advertising, as if Tesco is marking their power and territory using this advertising convention. 

 The purpose of this text is to prevent the liability, to be precise, to protect the company, to be targeted at the customer and to be clear, meaning no complaints, and the way that this text does this is repeated throughout most coupons. This piece of text is here in fine print in order for the information to be there, but because the customers don't really care about it, they don't read it. But when something goes wrong, Tesco can always say that it was on the back of this coupon. This text is written in a way that it'll stop any confusion, much like a legal document, where everything has to be clear, and the style of writing and the language used in this proves that.

 The way this block of text is presented is in unconventional bullet points, as if it were a list or recipe, telling you what to do. Although it is visually unappealing, this block of text is designed to take up little space as to fit on the back of this coupon, fitting all the right information in.

 The language in this text is fairly simple as so the customer can understand it, there are few words to instruct the target audience and the sentences are shortened and simplified so they are quick to read and straight to the point. Finally, in the text there are a lot of modal verbs and imperative verbs, telling you what to do and the outcome of it, so the customer (demographic) can easily understand the instructions.

Analysis of Passport Leaflet

Passport Leaflet Analysis

 The graphology on this leaflet shows connotations of many different things, such as the main image. The main image holds the target audiences focus when they first look at the leaflet as this is on the front cover. This is because of the denotation of the word 'PASSPORT' in big, capital letters, taken straight from a close up image of a passport. This shows authority and genuine connotations as this is the first thing the audience sees and because of the logo, the font and the image of an official passport, this leaflet proves its identity as genuine. On top of this, on the front cover, the title is in capital letters, in white on a dark background, to stand out and grab the attention of the consumer, so they know what they are reading quickly. Also, the font of this title is sans-serif, comparing this to the font of the logo above, it shows a more relaxed tone compared to the authoritative company that holds power over this leaflet and the information inside of it. Coming to the logo, it holds the crest that is similar to the one on the passport, branding the leaflet to belong to the foreign and commonwealth office, along with the serif font beneath it, suggesting royalty and importance as well as the non-English language in among the crest. Finally, at the bottom of this font cover, you can see the website that the company is assuming the consumer is going to go to, as well as follow the road sign looking arrow symbol that is next to it, suggesting moving on to the next page. 

 Overall, the way the leaflet is set out, using different aspects of mise en scene(colour, layout, house style). The page is split up in different ways, with a dark background behind the titles and light backgrounds behind the adverts and behind the main block of text. As well as this, there is a block of colour behind the logos and the website in order to make these stand out too. Altogether, these blocks of colour and backgrounds make the leaflet look geometrical and informative.

 On the second page, with the main block of information, it is split up into bullet points and using imperatives in order to tell the audience what to do, giving them instructions, as they have consequences and must be obeyed otherwise the person will not be able to go on holiday or abroad if these rules are not followed. Also, the second section is bullet pointed and under the title of 'INSURANCE' which then links this page to the back side of the booklet, in which there is a Halifax advert which is advertising travel insurance(obviously the highest bidder!). 

 Finally, on the back page, there is a repeat of the design from the front cover, as there is a repeat of the logo and branding and also a repeat of the website that was at the bottom of the page. On top of this is the repeat of the arrow, but bigger next to the feedback section, showing the power this simple symbol has over the demographic, just because of where the leaflet was made. On top of this, the logo does not have to be this big, but to show its authority and demand over the reader, it is quite a bit larger than it needs to be. Finally, the repeat of the website throughout the text also shows massive authority over the reader, shoving the idea and reminding the reader what they are and where to find them, so they won't forget.

Should schools ban street slang?

Should schools ban street slang?

 Some people have started arguing that schools and the younger generation are being encouraged to speak informally and use taboo language when speaking to adults and their friends. This could be a problem for the generation as it is placing this stereotype on them and creating the idea that all young people are the same and behave this way just because they are in school. However, schools around the nation have been discussing whether to ban street slang from the premises of any educational building.

 Slang is a mixture of shortenings, abbreviations, taboo language and other informal uses of lexis. This 'street slang' tends to only be used in social groups, such as teenagers and pupils when talking to their friends, as to develop a certain grounding and understanding among the group, as if to separate them from other people, as they know the people in their social groups will understand them. This is where the problem of schools come into the situation, some young people have been using street slang whilst talking to adults such as teachers, parents and other older people which is considered disrespectful. 

 When young people call out to their teachers as if they are their 'buddy' or 'bestie' this can cause a problem of respect and disregarding of the teacher, and the teacher may take offence to this. This however could be solved through other solutions than banning the slang completely, such as putting rules against taboo language and swearing, giving detention to the disrespectful young people and to send letters home to parents if it carries on, as the children that are constantly using this need to be taught a lesson without completely restricting them of their own way of communicating.

 On the one hand, very young adults swearing and using street slang can become a very judgmental thing as others will believe that this child had been brought up by their family to swear and be rude to their peers and this child would be looked down upon. This problem has also caused a large stereotype along with the ideology that 'all teenagers are dangerous', which doesn't help, meaning that adults and elderly people can become scared of teenagers just because of their accent and the way they speak. In contrast to this, getting used to this could be the way past this problem, but some people just won't accept anything but the Queen's English.

 On the other hand, banning street slang altogether would stop the problem within school but the problem could get worse outside of school. It is the same situation as banning illegal drugs and their usage in the law, because you have banned it, people are more likely to use it and/or keep it a secret, people will still carry on doing it, even if it is banned, and maybe even get worse. This could revive the high prestige of the teachers in school but it would also be demoralizing the young people and depriving them of their rights and freedom of speech. 

 As well as this, if everybody sounded the same and used received pronunciation constantly, it would remove the unique set of language and identity behind a person, making everybody the same and as if they were in some sort of army or group of surveillanced people. The language barrier is changing over time and it always has been, some people believe that the Queen's English is all fully English, but it is not, some words and part of our language is from Latin, Anglo-Saxons and the French, This proves that this could just be another step in our language and the way we speak.

 I believe the best way to stop children and young adults from treating their teachers and peers like crap would to put some rules on the language they can use in school, for example, stopping them swearing at their teachers. Even though they may swear in their friend groups, they would understand the boundaries as to not hurt their friends feelings or anything similar. I also believe banning street slang completely would be the wrong thing to do because some people are brought up with it and are used to it, most people would understand when they need to code shift and talk with a higher prestige. Some people even bother with changing their accent because of this, sometimes accommodation theory comes into this because of the way some people converge their speech closer to the other person, such as in interviews or when talking with a teacher or headmaster. We need to stop stereotyping the idea that all young people are like this and they are all disrespectful and punishing them for it, we need to deal with the problem where it is, otherwise it will not work.

My Idiolect

My Idiolect by Eleanor Williams

 It is quite difficult to define what my idiolect is exactly. This is because my spoken language depends on where I am, how I am feeling and who I am speaking to, such as social groups, multiplex's and regional groups. However, there are a lot of features of my idiolect which distinguish me as a person, making my voice different and more recognizable individually to my audience, no matter who I am talking to or how I am feeling.
 My accent is influenced greatly from where me and my family around me come from. Because my family are French and come from Calais, I can sometimes have a different style of speech to those who are English speakers. Although I can speak fluent English, it is my accent that can be quite different at times. Although the French language can be quite similar to the English language in ways, the phonology tends to be more consistent of fricatives rather than harsh sounds like plosives which the English tend to use more. For example, whilst the English say /ch/ I say /sh/, so instead of saying 'chocolate' i say 'shocolate'. this is because I was taught to read with flowing expression through received English, so i would read and say the words how they were written and say them in almost old English, making the words flow and sound more poetic. This was also affected by my mother who tended to have a nasally accent and used quieter fricatives rather than loud plosives. Once I had moved to England on the other hand, I started to learn to pronounce every phoneme because of the stereotype of the English language being 'posh' and of high prestige, meaning I never dropped my 't's and still don't to this day.

 Estuary English is also common among English speakers, including me, as I tend to mess up 'l' vocalization, where words such as 'milk' are pronounced as 'miwk'. Another thing I tend to do is using diphthongs like making 'buy' into 'boi' and 'pint' into 'point' just because of the Norfolk/ London accent I have got myself accustomed to.
 My idiolect is then also affected by a lot of different things on top of being geographically different, such as things like the media, jobs I have had, my friends and my places of education. For example from the internet I have gotten phrases such as shortenings much like 'wtf', 'ty', 'brb' and 'lol' which i have ended up saying as part of my speech too, no matter how hard I try to avoid it. I also tend to use 'like' and 'literally' excessively in sentences as fillers for when I am interrupted or not sure what to say. As well as this, I have included code shifting into my idiolect because of the different jobs I have had in the past. This is due to face threatening acts (FTA) and politeness when addressing a customer (the more polite you are the more likely you are to get money from it, because being rude is an expectancy these days). This means that I have started using 'ty' when around my friends and family but 'please' and 'thank you' when at work.
 My family background also influences my idiolect. For example, I call my mother 'mumma' when I am with my family and then 'mum' when I am with my friends. Some words such as taboo language aren't allowed to be used inside the house (by me) as far as I know, because of the face value behind the words and the intent that could be behind them, these include things like saying 'shit' or 'fuck' when accidentally stubbing your toe on the lounge cabinet. On the other hand, I do tend to use quite a lot of blasphemy recently such as 'Jesus Christ' when I am shocked at something, but I never use 'oh my god' unless it really is a dire situation as I prefer to use 'oh my gosh'. Sometimes I will use French phrases to say good morning or thank you, especially when talking to my mother, I will say 'bonjour' and 'merci beaucoup'. As well as this, because I am very interested in the Japanese language, I tend to use lexis from there too, such as yes and thank you, 'hai' and 'arigato', but these tend to be to only very close family members or friends. If I am happy I tend to use this variety of language in my informal speech.