Language and Technology Article

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10971949

Geoffreys Monlogue

Geoffrey is a medium height man with a slightly aged face. He is sat in an armchair next to the fireplace, his hands are on his lap. It is a late Sunday evening and the room is merely lit by a small light in the far corner.

Another week. Another service. I think this one went OK, (laughs coldly) well that's what Susan said, as if i didn't see her creep through the slightly ajar door with only ten minutes left of the hour long service with hair like she'd rushed out of bed and forgotten to brush it and her lips pursed as though she had too many things on her mind. I would like to know what it was that bothered her so much. I couldn't be bring myself to question her though. I knew she felt like she was forgotten at church, like a tree in a forest, she blended into the background. She fits the 'vicars wife' look and she knows that, does she despise that? I wouldn't know. We barely talk now. Small chat now and again "cup of tea?" "have you shut the window?" you know, that chat... the kind where you speak just to break silence or only when actually necessary. Things haven't been the same as they used to.

(Takes a sip of hot beverage before placing it back on the coffee table next to the armchair) I can see Susan's health deteriorating, it's hard to watch. The bags under her eyes are growing and her cheekbones are becoming more pronounced. Her skin's transparent. But then, what can I do? when it comes to dinner she sits there her face blank, moving the food around the plate as though she is creating some depressing abstract art more than actually eating it. We sit opposite each other but the dinner is anything and everything but romantic. An awkward silence clouds the dining room to the point where the mist is so thick I have to leave the room and 'make a drink' or 'pop to the loo.' 

I mean, there is a little discussion, we're not prisoners in our own home. But the chat isn't free flowing, it's cut and chopped as though she's scared of what will come out her mouth if she talks too much. 

(Geoffrey stands up and slowly walks over to the lamp) Well I better be off to bed, I'll once again ask God to help Susan with whatever issue that is succumbing her to sadness. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more light than darkness, right now I am in a tunnel and I cannot see the end, but maybe soon. Maybe. I should be the one sorting this out. I can't rely on God to save whatever is left of this deteriorating relationship. I need to ask her. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I shall ask her. (Geoffrey reaches down to the power source of the lamp and switches it off, the whole stage falls to darkness)

'The Woman Who Walked Into Doors'

The monologue 'the woman who walked into doors' portrays a woman who is faced with physical abuse and is desperate for it to end. Her desperation is shown by the repetitive nature of the monologue repeatedly saying 'ask me' especially in the last three sentences, they show a triplet 'Ask me. Ask me. Ask me.' this highlights her despair, want to get it out and discomfort from keeping it all in, this also shows that that is what she desperately wants and thinks about a lot. The constant repitition causes the reader to start to feel her desperation and an almost anger that the doctors aren't doing as she wants.

The monologue also short sentences throughout the whole monologue: 'Ask. No. Ask me.' This could show she can't think straight and the desperation is causing her thoughts to go from one to another. The bluntness of the short sentences causes a bigger emotional impact making the reader immediately feel sorry for her.

The concrete noun 'curtain' is used. She talks about being 'behind the right curtain' by using the word 'right' she could mean that she wants to be behind a curtain in the doctors as they talk to her about the constant abuse  she is on the recieving end to - 'the right curtain' -  rather than hiding it away with 'curtain' being a metophorical interpretation of hiding something.

In the monologue a lot of imperatives are used 'ask me about it' this could show that she needs to have some power and control over someone/something as in her day to day life she lacks that. It could also show her anguish over the fact they are not asking so she feels the need to tell them to so she can let it out. Another imperative used is 'look at the burn' this again shows her wanting control and power but also a slight confusion as to why they haven't seen it and asked about it.

Travel writing

One moment you'd be zooming down the runway, the next you'd be flying above icy mountains that had white glitter sprinkled on top of them. The vast difference from the view of English greenery and houses on houses on houses to pure white mountains with fairy-tale like chalets dotted across them and groups of ever-green trees was, alone, amazing.

It's like entering a new world, one where snow doesn't cause schools and shops and everything in the country to shut down, but one where locals are used to their surroundings being glazed in ice and snow during the winter months, where ski's and/or snowboards are a common item within households.

Up high in the Swiss mountains a blanket of snow stood on anything and everything, however it wasn't bleak nor was it desolate, the charming chalets powdered among the paths that were really just snow carved out by a snowmobile, made a warming and slightly festive sense to it.

The chalet we stayed at was called 'Chalet Du Duck' purely because small ducks were carved into the woodwork of the porch and the railing running up to the second floor. It was owned by my dads friend and was a spacious size acquiring 5 bedrooms, a hot tub and a heated room exclusively for ski boots which was perfect after a day of throwing yourself down ski runs and testing your ability of balance.

Of course, skiing wasn't a chore. It was thrilling. First you would get the ski lift up to the highest part of the mountain then you'd pick your route down. On black runs (the steepest of the colour coded) they could almost be a vertical drop or a field of moguls that would cause your skis to go wild winding around and over.

As the holiday drew to an end, we hesitantly had to break away from the story book and draw it to an end, maybe next year we'll return.

Analysing a style model

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4loXAQpqrELdUZrNzNta3FScGs/edit?usp=drive_web

A bed among the Lentils

From the opening stage directions it describes Susan as 'thin and nervous' this connotates the impression that she is frail and vulnerable, perhaps from prior experiences we may learn in the monologue, it could also highlight that she is ageing or ill healthed. The added 'and probably smokes' is indefinite which could underline that she always seems stressed or weighed down with worry and needs an aid to help her relax. Another part of the opening stage directions tells us she is in an 'upright chair' which could repeat or stress that she is unable to relax and be comfortable.

Susan speaks with clear sarcasm and bitterness, this reflects her attitude to being the vicar's wife. The bitterness highlights her sour attitude to attending church every time "why is the vicars wife expected to go to church at all" shows this. She also dislikes how people assume she believes in God just because she fits the stereotype. Her sullen attitude could reveal that is of an older age as she sick of constantly living by what is expected of her. However the monologue shows she is of a higher social class as she uses complex language showing she is well-educated and a she speaks with standard English dialect and accent.

To make the monologue seem like spontaneous speech Bennett has used a slightly informal tone with sarcasm "I'm glad I wasn't married to Jesus" could show a quick after-thought that is just spontaneously announced in a short sentence. Also the monologue includes a lot of long sentences where the text flows like normal conversation as you would naturally speak, however there are also parts where she is thinking where there are more pauses as someone typically would whilst in thought "But no. Not a word. The subject's never discussed." The repetitiveness is additionally an aspect of spontaneous speech as it isn't thought over as if they are going over what they are thinking out loud.

Armstrong and Miller

This sketch shows two RAF pilots speaking in received pronunciation but the phonology of the speech is stereotypical British teenagers slang which is very contradictory to the accent in which they are using. This creates humour in the piece and the writer of the text assumes that the audience is British and/or understands the sarcastic use of the teenage slang. 

The language includes slang such as 'two-faced' and 'vexed' which the older generations most probably didn't use and, along with the old time setting of the speech, the pragmatics of the piece could be to show how language has changed through generations. Slang words are used very often in the speech, exaggerating the conflicting accent and therefore causing a comical piece. 

The lexis of the text it uses a lot of fillers such as 'like' and 'right' which are very common amongst natural speech of teenagers nowadays and also highlights the fact that this piece is meant to be informal, the exaggerated use of them causes humour and once again shows in a comical way how different typical British teenagers speak. 

Graphology

The Article written by Charlie Brooker uses some visual elements such as a picture of the judges off of the TV show 'The Voice,' this links to the text as it talk in detail about the show, particularly the judges. The picture is effective as it breaks up the writing and makes the article look less daunting than an article with nothing but text causing more people to be drawn to read it as the purpose of an article is to gain readers and for them to enjoy the text. There is also a title which has been written in bold writing which draws your attention to read that first, I think this is effective as it stands out and entices you in to the article with the use of negative language, 'die,' making readers feel obliged to read the article to find out what is so un-enjoyable about the show, also, making readers read this first gives a good impression of the text as humour is used showing that this article isn't serious. The text is paragraphed so the writing is split into long and short paragraphs which makes it seem more interesting to read, this can attract readers to be more likely to read it as the differentiation makes it visually less boring.

An Introduction To Me

I've only ever broken one bone in my body. Not a toe or a finger, not my ankle or my foot but my arm; I was three nearing four years old and my dad had just set up a new swing in our garden, he had trekked up to the shops to cushion the floor with bark and ensure it was all safe to go. Like a usual three year old a new swing was easily very exciting and i was straight on it.

From what I remember after a few goes I decided to pluck up the courage and stand up on the swing, obviously that wasn't exhilarating enough as I made a split second, in the moment, choice to jump off. It would have been gymnastic award winning if only the swing wasn't beginning to swing backwards as I jumped causing me to fly in an almost horizontal position leaving one of my arms tucked underneath me. Through shock, at first I didn't feel much of the pain so I jumped straight up and began to cry. Due to my lack of age my mum thought I had just taken a fall and bruised my arm so she sat me in the lounge to calm down. After an hour I still found it very difficult to move my arm as whenever I tried to an intense pain would shoot up it, that's when my mum decided I should go to the hospital.

My grandad offered to drive me and my mum to hospital so we could get dropped off rather than batteling for a parking space miles from where we need to be, whilst my grandma came over to look after my six year old brother as my dad was at work, however following a phone call he was quickly in the car to meet us at the hospital.

One of the things I can remember about the hospital, after waiting around for a while, is getting the x-rays. Placing my arm palm down was ok and those x-rays were taken with ease but then the doctor asked me to turn my arm over and that hurt more than anything so those x-rays, to my delight, were never taken.

A small break was found on my right arm so then I was taken to a small room where I sat on my dads lap and had a cast added to keep my arm in the same position until it healed, it was like paper mache going from my hand up to just past my elbow.

A few days later I had to return to get another part of the cast, this bit could be in all different colours and there was a room full of them in which you could pick from. Due to me having to be a bridesmaid at a wedding in a few weeks my mum passed on her verdict that I should get a light colour or white to go on top but despite that, much to my mums misery, I picked a bright neon yellow which obviously wasn't very suitable and was probably the worst colour to pick!

Luckily when the day came a beige cover was made to disguise my neon yellow cast and everything went smoothly. You can see that in all of the photos my arm is either behind my back or hidden behind whoever I was standing next to!

After a few weeks my arm was fully recovered and the cast was removed with big scissors, nowadays you wouldn't even be able to tell it was ever broken!