Introduction to Textual Analysis Seminar practice 3
Activity 1: Discuss the metaphors below: 1. The light flows into the bowl of the midnight sky, violet, amber and rose. 2. In capitalism, money is the life blood of society but charity is the soul. 3. Think now: history has many cunning passages and contrived corridors. 4. This job is the cancer of my dreams and aspirations. 5. Her eyes were fireflies.
Activity 2: Text filtering
• Our constant and powerful need to understand what’s around us leads us to try to make sense of anything that’s presented to us as a text. • To illustrate this idea, read through the following:
Allow the fruit to steam in its own juice for a further 15 minutes. So she hated it when that infuriating Keith Scott seemed to go out of his way to suggest that her heart wasn’t in the affair. That’s why we created ‘Portfolio’, a brand new concept in saving. Put them into a fireproof dish with the water, and a tablespoon of the sugar. She knew that he loved her —in a calm settled way rather than any grand passion—and that he would make her a good, kind husband. Ensuring that the lid is tightly sealed, put the dish into a preheated oven, Gas Regulo 6. So that way, you can have your cake and eat it too. Pour over the top, and serve with double cream, Melodie Neil and Jed Martin were old friends. Mix juice with the brandy, mulled wine, and rest of the sugar. We do, too. Wash and core the apples, taking care to remove all pips. In short, when she became engaged to him she knew exactly what she was doing. Spoon out the cooked apples and arrange them attractively in rounds on a serving plate. Do you feel that you never get a fair slice of the capital cake? Slice finely. Portfolio is a high interest investment account that makes your money work for you, while still giving you instant access to your capital. Reduce temperature to 3 after 10 minutes.
1. Could you read any of it in any way that worked and made sense? 2. If you could, that proves that you were already looking for patterns within the text. 3. In fact, the text you have just read contains statements in random order from three completely different sources. 4. With your knowledge of this, try to put the original texts back together. 5. Divide up the statements then, within each text, arrange the statements in order, so that they read naturally.
Text A: Romantic fiction Melodie Neil and Jed Martin were old friends. She knew that he loved her—in a calm settled way rather than any grand passion—and that he would make her a good, kind husband. In short, when she became engaged to him she knew exactly what she was doing. So she hated it when that infuriating Keith Scott seemed to go out of his way to suggest that her heart wasn’t in the affair.
Text B: Advert Do you feel that you never get a fair slice of the capital cake? We do, too. That’s why we created ‘Portfolio’, a brand new concept in saving. Portfolio is a high interest investment account that makes your money work for you, while still giving you instant access to your capital. So that way, you can have your cake and eat it too.
Text C: Recipe Wash and core the apples, taking care to remove all pips. Slice finely. Put them into a fireproof dish with the water, and a tablespoon of the sugar. Ensuring that the lid is tightly sealed, put the dish into a preheated oven, Gas Regulo 6. Reduce temperature to 3 after 10 minutes. Allow the fruit to steam in its own juice for a further 15 minutes. Spoon out the cooked apples and arrange them attractively in rounds on a serving plate. Mix juice with the brandy, mulled wine, and rest of the sugar. Pour over the top, and serve with double cream.
Activity 3: Rewrite the text in the passive voice: They drove the car quickly away from the scene of the crime. They had blown open the safe, shot the security guard and left him for dead. A bystander called the emergency services and a passing motorist comforted the guard until they arrived. I took a group of 40 people and surveyed their attitudes to alcohol. I found that most of the people surveyed drank more alcohol per week than the level that the government recommends. If you take out a mortgage, the building society will repossess your house if you do not keep up the monthly payments. You must let the building society know if you are going to make late or reduced payments at any time.
Possible rewrite: The car was driven quickly away from the scene of the crime. The safe had been blown open, the security guard had been shot and left for dead. Emergency services were called and the guard was comforted until their arrival. A group of 40 people were surveyed on their attitudes to alcohol. Most of the people surveyed were found to drink more than the recommended level of alcohol per week. If a mortgage is taken out, the house will be repossessed if monthly payments are not kept up. The building society must be informed if late or reduced payments are going to be made at any time.
Activity 4: Critical thinking
Different newspapers report events in different ways, and their use of actives and passives can be significant for the point of view given to the reader. In Text: Pit bull attack (1a and 1b), newspaper reports from the Guardian and the Daily Star respectively, the attack on a man by pit bull terriers is described with particular use of the active and passive voice. What are the main differences in their use in the two newspapers? Why are there these differences?
Text 1a Man critical after pit bull attack A man was critically ill in hospital with facial injuries last night after being savaged by two pit bull terriers. Police shot dead one of the dogs. Frank Tempest, aged 54, of Lincoln was attacked as he walked home from work. Police warned people to stay indoors as 20 police officers, six armed, hunted for the dogs. One animal was shot and the other caught and destroyed. Describing Mr Tempest’s injuries, a police spokesman said: ‘You wouldn’t recognize it as a human face—it is positively horrendous.’ Police said the owner of the dogs could not be prosecuted as both were dead. Dame Janet Fookes, Conservative MP for Plymouth Drake, said the Government should introduce compulsory dog registration. Guardian, 9 May 1991
Text 1b HORROR ATTACK! By Martin Stote COPS shot two savage pit bull terriers yesterday after they gored a man’s face to shreds. The escaped devil-dogs tore into shift worker Frank Tempest, 54, as he walked home at dawn. Shocked witnesses said the hell hounds RIPPED OFF his nose, MAULED his ear and TORE skin off his Face. The dogs ambushed father-of-four Frank, then dragged him screaming along the road as he struggled to fightthem off. Police sealed off the street and warned terrified neighbours to stay indoors as the marauding dogs savaged acat to death.mThen six police marksmen with automatic rifles blasted the dogs, believed to be a bitch and her pup, with ahail of bullets. One pit bull was shot dead, the other wounded and trailed for an hour before being killed. Both had escaped from a house close to despatch loader Frank’s home in Monk’s Road Lincoln. Police refused to name the owner last night and said he would NOT face prosecution. Daily Star, 9 May 1991
Commentary The main difference between the two newspapers is that the Daily star emphasises the actions and the ways in which one person or (animal) does something to another. The report in the Daily Star is therefore more instantaneous; it is as if people imagine things being directly enacted before their eyes. Many of the verbs, moreover, are not just ‘active’; they are also mainly verbs of violent physical action: shot, gored, ripped off, mauled, tore, dragged, savaged, blasted. Such choices sensationalise the story, involving the reader and giving the story more impact.
Activity 5 • Work with a partner. • Write a sensationalist report about an event of your own choice. Establish the scene, the context and think of a title. • Pay attention to the fomulation of the title (via lexical choices), and pay additional attention to various cohesion strategies in your text.