How Are Young People In Britain Represented In The Selection Of Articles Found?

In the media, young people are often portrayed in many different ways, and seen as unlike adults.

In The Independent, there was one article titled ‘Why are teenagers so moody?’ This title immediately portrays teenagers as the overly, constantly moody stereotype that most adults see teenagers as already. Another thing they mention in the article is ‘the volatile nature of teenagers’ emotions’, which suggests that all teenagers have unstable and unpredictable emotions.

Secondly, The Guardian wrote an article titled ‘MPs – Don’t ignore social media as the next generation of voters are watching it closely’. This title suggests that the young people of this day and age are considered as the generation of social media and it also portrays young people as being obsessed with and always using social media. In the article, they mention that ‘once it might have been deemed an angsty teenage issue to worry about how many followers on Twitter you had’. This sentence suggests that social media is the only thing teenagers are interested in and that any teenage issue is ‘angsty’ and not considered a proper problem. The article also stated that ‘an ICM survey showed that 65% of those aged 18-22 didn’t even know the name of their local MP’, which portrays all young people as oblivious to everything unless it’s on social media and it’s as if they don’t look anywhere past their phones.

The Guardian also wrote an article titled ‘Male, female or other: young people, how do you define your gender?’ This suggests that young people are more comfortable discussing gender and that it is a more frequent thing to ‘define’ your gender differently amongst young people today. The article also stated that ‘young people are increasingly questioning gender norms’, which portrays young people as being more comfortable to go against gender norms and that it is a more common occurrence amongst young people today to be genders other than just male or female.

The Daily Mirror wrote an article titled ‘Facebook granted patent for post-scanning software that identifies slang before it becomes popular’. This title suggests that however much teenagers are portrayed as over obsessed with technology, social media is making an impact on society, as they are trying to appeal to young people and be popular.

Lastly, The Independent wrote another article about young people titled ‘From the mouths of teens’ which suggests that all young people talk in a way that is different to the rest of the world. In this article they state that ‘adolescence is the life stage at which people most willingly take on new visible or audible symbols of group identification. This suggests that young people can easily pick up the fast-paced language of ‘text-speak’, slang and symbols, and that they find it easier to understand.

According to these articles, teenagers are portrayed as moody, angsty and technology-obsessed, but are also more open to new ideas and breaking society’s ‘norms’. The articles also show that mainstream broadsheet newspapers (such as The Guardian and The Independent) are less understanding of today’s’ youth as they are mostly writing about how they are different to everyone else, whereas mainstream tabloid newspapers (such as the Daily Mirror) are more open to today’s youth as their articles often appeal to young people and this generation.

My Idiolect

My idiolect is made up of many different communities of practice, such as my Family, College, Job, Dance School and the Media. All of these communities of practice change the way I speak and the types of words I use depending on the situation I am in and the type of people I am interacting with.

The first community of practice that I am part of is my family. Within my family I have discovered that my accent changes depending on which family members I’m around. For example when I’m around my family members from Norfolk my accent becomes predominantly more Norfolk as I feel completely relaxed around them to not have to adjust my accent to sound more formal etc. But I have also noticed that when I’m with my family that come from Scotland, I tend to pick up on certain words/phrases that they say such as they say ‘uhhuh’ instead of ‘yes’. I also noticed that I pick up on their accents slightly as well. I think this is because I don’t see them very often and because their accents are so strong and different to mine that it means I pick up on it more easily. There are also certain words which I only use within my family and tend to change when I’m talking to anyone else because if not they wouldn’t understand what I was saying. For example in my family we call a ‘dummy’ a ‘gubby’, but around my friends I would use the word ‘dummy’ as they probably wouldn’t understand what a ‘gubby’ was. There are also names that I call my family members which I only call them when I’m with them because other people wouldn’t understand the reference. For example, I call my stepdad ‘Uncle Budge’ when I’m around him because that’s what I’ve always called him before he became my stepdad, but I have to call him ‘stepdad’ when talking to other people because if not people may think he is my Uncle. Another example of this is that fact that a nickname for my youngest sister is ‘Moo’ because ever since a young age we’ve called her ‘Maisie Moo’. But around other people I have to call her ‘Maisie’ so they know who I’m talking about.

Another community of practice that I am part of is my college. At college I have noticed that when I am speaking to my teachers I speak more formally and with a higher prestige. I tend to drop my Norfolk accent slightly and think abit more about what I am going to say before I say it. I think that I do this because all throughout my life I have been taught to talk more politely and formally to teachers and other people with more authority than me, and so it has become second nature to speak this way to teachers. I have also noticed at college that around my close friends I automatically use a lower prestige and use a lot of slang such as using the word ‘like’ unnecessarily and using words such as ‘cos’ etc. I think I do this with my friends because I feel relaxed and comfortable around them so I feel no need to not talk how my true self would naturally.

The next community of practice that I am part of is my dance school. My language tends to change at my dance school purely because many words used in dancing terminology mean a different thing to what they mean in the ‘real’ world. For example the words ‘turnout’ and ‘pointe’, although they may be spelt differently in dance terms, probably the saying of the word means something completely different outside of dancing. There are also many terms used on stage that I learnt whilst being in a Pantomime which also mean something different to what they do outside of performing arts. For example the word ‘flat’ in the ‘real’ world refers to the surface of something or a place to live, but in the performing arts world it is a part of the set/scenery. Whilst doing the Pantomime I also noticed that because all of the cast and crew spend so much time in close proximity with each other, they tend to pick up vocabulary off of each other.  For example I have noticed that I have picked up the phrases ‘not a chance’ and ‘absolutely’ from people I did the Pantomime with.

Another thing that influences my idiolect is the media. For example when I was younger I used to watch a lot of American television on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, which I realised led to me saying American phrases or pronouncing certain words in an American way. For example I used to pronounce the word ‘mall’ as ‘mɔ:ll’ (the American pronunciation), rather than ‘məll’ (the British pronunciation). I have also noticed that because I now watch a lot of youtubers online, I have started to pick up some of the things that they say as well. I think that this happens because we are watching people that we tend to look up to or admire, and so we subconsciously pick up on things that they say and start to say them ourselves.

The last community of practice is a workplace. I have not personally experienced working in a workplace where I would meet new people and customers etc, but my mum told me about her job. When my mum worked in a bank she noticed that she talked to customers in different way depending on where she was working. For example when she was working in a branch in Gorleston she would find herself talking with a lower prestige because the types of customers she would have to talk to would be older and less qualified. Whereas when she was working in a Norwich branch she would get more business customers and so she would find herself talking with a higher prestige to them. I think that she did this because, like I mentioned earlier, we are taught all our life to talk more

formally to people who seem to have a lot of authority, and so when customers are wearing suits etc, they seem to have authority and so we use a higher prestige when talking to them.

Rhetoric Terminology

Alliteration - When two or more syllables with the same sound group are repeated next to it.
Antistrophe - When the same words are repeated at the beginning and end of a sentence/phrase.
Archaism - When a phrase/sentence uses words/phrases that are considered to be old or outdated.
Catachresis - When words are either misused or used for rhetorical effect.
Hypallage - When the expected order of a phrase or sentence is reversed.
Litotes - An understatement.
Paradox - A statement which is seems contradictory but in reality expresses a possible truth.
Polysyndeton - When many conjunctions are used closely together.
Synchysis -  An alternating word sequence of the form A-B-A-B.
Anacoluthon - A construction involving a break in grammatical sequence, e.g. It makes me so - I just get angry.
Antithesis - The placing of a sentence or one of its parts against another to which it is opposed to form a balanced contrast of ideas.
Assonance - the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in neighbouring words.
Chiasmus - A reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases, e.g., “He went to the country, to the town went she.”.
Hyperbaton - The use, especially for emphasis, of a word order other than the expected or usual one, e.g. “Bird thou never wert.”.
Metaphor - Referring to something as something else.
Paraprosdokian - A figure of speech with an abrupt twist or change at the end.
Praeteritio -Pretended omission for rhetorical effect.
Synecdoche - Understanding one thing with another; the use of a part for the whole, or the whole for the part.
Anadiplosis - The rhetorical repetition of one or several words; specifically, repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next.
Aporia - Expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should think, say, or do.
Asyndeton - Lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.
Climax - Arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of ascending power.
Hyperbole - Exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect.
Metonymy - Substitution of one word for another which it suggests, e.g. He is a man of the cloth.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

The Birthday Party: Harold Pinter

How does Pinter play with our expectations of conversations to show power in characters’ relationships?

 In the play ‘The Birthday Party’ by Harold Pinter, most of the conversations are slightly awkward and stiff, making them seem unnatural. But this does mean that it is easy to see which characters’ have power within relationship. For example, in the relationship between Meg and Petey, Petey’s short responses to Meg’s petty ramblings show that he has power in the relationship because he can quickly end conversations and doesn’t feel as though he has to carry on the conversation. Whereas Meg feels as though she has to carry on the conversation and tend to Petey all the time, showing she is weaker and without power in the relationship. Another example is the relationship between Goldberg and McCann. In the relationship, Goldberg talks a lot and extends his sentences so that he is talking for a longer time, symbolising that he has power over McCann as he talks the most. But this could also symbolise that he has less power as he may feel as though he has to talk for a long time every time he talk because if not he wouldn’t get to talk at all. Lastly, another example of power in a relationship is in the relationship between Stanley and Goldberg. In this relationship Goldberg shows power by interrogating Stanley and making their conversations awkward and uncomfortable.

LEXIS MINI INVESTIGATION HOMEWORK

The group of proper nouns that I've chosen to analyse are 'Disney Movies' because, let's be honest, who doesn't love a bit of Disney? Below is a video that lists the 20 Disney movie titles that I have chosen to analyse, along with some snippets from each film and some cheerful background music - to get you in the mood.

(Song credit - Happiness - www.bensound.com)

To start with, I have placed the proper nouns into different groups of similar titles.
The first group is titles beginning with 'The', such as:

'The Little Mermaid' and 'The Lion King'.

Using 'The' as a determiner at the beginning of the title makes the title flow better as it sounds less aggressive than just saying 'Lion King'. It also makes the titles stand out as it emphasises the main focus of the film. For example, in the title 'The Little Mermaid', using a 'The' accentuates that the movie is about a mermaid.

The second group is movies which are names after it's main character, such as:

'Aladdin', 'Pocahontas', 'Mulan', 'Tarzan', 'Cinderella', 'Alice in Wonderland', 'Peter Pan', 'Pinocchio', 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves', 'Bambi', 'Dumbo'.

Naming a movie after it's main character often makes it very difficult to know what the film is about from just the title. This often means that a sense of mysteriousness is sometimes added to a title, which makes the movie seem more intriguing and makes people want to see it purely to see what the movie is about.
But, in some cases the name of the main character may also give off clues to what cultural background the movie has, for example, the name 'Aladdin' is Arabic, and it's movie is set in Arabia. Another example is that the name 'Mulan' is Chinese, and it's movie is set in China.

The third group is movies with titles including mythical/magical related words, such as:

'The Little Mermaid', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Alice in Wonderland', 'Enchanted' and 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'.

Including a mythical/magical related word makes the movie seem like its going to be intriguing and mysterious. This makes people want to see the movie because they want to know what it is about. Movies with magical words in their titles also draw in the attention of children because of their fascination with fairy tails.

The fourth group is movies with one word titles, such as:

'Aladdin', 'Pocahontas', 'Mulan', 'Tarzan', 'Cinderella', 'Bambi', 'Dumbo', 'Enchanted', 'Tangled', 'Pinocchio', 'Brave' and 'Frozen'.  

These short and snappy titles make the movie very easy to remember and so people are more likely to remember the movie for longer and increase it's popularity, and also people are more likely to remember to go and see the movie at the cinema. These one word titles are also very vague as to what the movie is actually about, much like the movies named after their main character. Also, these vaguely titled movies are also often coupled with an equally mysterious trailer, such as the trailer for 'Frozen' which gave no indication that the movie was based of 'The Snow Queen' by Christian Anderson.

The last group is titles that are made up of a single adjective, such as:

'Tangled', 'Enchanted', 'Brave' and 'Frozen'.

These adjectives provide a short, snappy and easy to remember title for their movies. They also give a more appealing, modern and unique title to a movie which normally would've had a more long winded name, much like 'Tangled' replaced 'Rapunzel', and 'Frozen' replaced 'The Snow Queen'.

The first movie title I'm analysing individually is 'Aladdin'. It's etymology gives a lot of insight to what the movie is about and where it is set. The origin of the name 'Aladdin' is Arabic, and so we know that the movie is set in Arabia. This origin also gives off a sense of mysteriousness and magic to the buyer when they read the hear the title of the movie, which could draw them into buying the movie or paying to see it at the cinema.

The title, 'Beauty and the Beast' immediately gives off a mythical essence from the noun 'beast'. But the title also could attract younger girls who have developed positive and wishful connotations towards the adjective 'beauty'. The etymology of the word 'beauty' and 'beast' also give us an idea of where the movie is set, as both words originally come from Latin and old French, suggesting that the movie is set in France (which it is). Although the conjunctions and determiners in the title make is flow nicely and make sense, it also drags out the title and could possible be seen as long-winded. Lastly, the title creates an oxymoron by using two words which are commonly seen as the opposite to each other.

Another movie title is 'The Little Mermaid', which sounds mythical and mysterious because of the word 'mermaid'. Mermaids are mythical creatures that we only hear about in fairy tails, and so this magical element of the title could draw in the younger generation, especially those who love all things magical! But the title is also quite vague, and makes us think 'who is this mermaid and why is she 'little'?', which makes us what to see the movie to find out. Lastly, using the determiner 'the' adds clarity to the title by emphasising the main focus of the movie.

'The Lion King' also uses a determiner at the beginning of it's titles, making the title stand out more. Also, both 'lion' and 'king' and both nouns, so when put together they sound more powerful. The word 'King' aslo has very powerful connotations as we associate the word with someone in charge of a country.

The movie title 'Tarzan' is very vague, as unless you know the story of the real Tarzan, then it gives off no signs of what the film is going to be about, but this could lead to more people wanting to see it so they could find out what the  movie is about. The same goes for the title 'Mulan'. Both titles are also short and snappy, and so makes it easy to remember them and more convenient than a longer title.

The etymology of the name 'Pocahontas' is that it comes from a Native American background, and so we can gather that the movie will be about Native Americans. The title is also short and unique, and although a unique name may be hard to remember at first, once it is stuck in your head it will be very hard to forget. Also, as it is such a unique name, the movie is most likely to be the only thing you associate with the word in the title.

The title 'Frozen' is made up of an adjective, which has many different personal connotations depending on who the person reading the title is. To many people, the word 'frozen' simply means that your food been in the freezer, or that you are extremely cold. So it is hard to know anything from just the title about the movie except that it is about something cold. Whereas titles like 'Brave', 'Enchanted' and 'Tangled' all give some ideas as to what their movies are about or are based on.

The movie title 'Cinderella' gives off connotations of cinders and dirt, as the word 'cinder' is in the title. We can guess that the title is a name, but other than that is is quite vague, as it doesn't give any other hints as to what the movie is about other than maybe some cleaning or housework is involved from the word 'cinder'. The same goes for the title 'Peter Pan', as we can guess that it is a name but there aren't many other connotations as to what the movie could actually be about just from the title.

Both 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' include a name and a word with a magical connotation. These enchanting words draw the attention of younger people who love all things magical and fascinating. The titles also include conjunctions and determiners which make the titles flow and make sense, but could also make them seem dragged out.

The title 'Sleeping Beauty' is a classic old title that gives away the whole essence of the movie, the title is quite self-explanatory to what the movie is actually about. (There's a beauty, and she's sleeping, in case you hadn't guessed)

Another movie title is 'Lady and the Tramp', which creates another oxymoron, very similar to 'Beauty and the Beast'. The oxymoron was created by the fact the the word 'lady' is very feminine and clean, but is it paired with the word 'tramp' which reminds us of all things dirty and is not at all feminine.

Lastly, the titles 'Bambi', 'Dumbo', and 'Pinocchio' are all short and snappy titles named after the main character of the movie. As I have said before, these short titles are very vague and don't give away much of what the movie is about, which makes people want to go and see it purely to find out what it is about.

Overall, I think that over time Disney has managed to change their titles of their movies to suit the time periods that the came out in. For example, the first movie that they released was 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' which is very traditional and tells you plain and simple what the movie will be about. This is because in the time period it was released in, people would only go and see a movie if they knew what it was about, and they often had no trailers to tell them any information. Whereas the most recent movie on my list that Disney have brought out is 'Frozen', which is short and snappy, suiting a modern era where there is little patience and time in anyone's lives. It also is very vague, which helps to draw in people who get intrigued and curious very easily.