The text I am analyzing uses graphology a lot to make the article interesting to the reader. The first thing that stands out are the big titles on the left hand page as they are a block font. This gets across to the reader that this is important informations as it tells the reader what they will find in the article. For example the title here says ‘the freshest tour in town’ which is backed up by a logo of the ‘NME Radar Tour’ so this tell the reader what the review on the other page is about. Another use of graphology are the pictures that assist the writing and the reason for the pictures being there is to try to make more out of what they have written about so that they can have a more varied audience and it isn’t just exclusive to people that were there. Also because the audience are teenagers to early 20’s they will want the pictures so they can picture what it was like. So by having the pictures there they can read about how the gig sounded and pair it with the pictures of what it looked like. Once looking past these two main parts of the graphology that stand out instantly there are even more uses that are deeper into the article. The next thing you can notice is the subtitle that leads into the article as it stands out more because it is bigger than the rest of the text and is an italic font. Which connotes to the reader a more relaxed attitude to the article and it creates a flow that leads straight into the main text. The colours used in the main article are simple with a white background and black writing on top this makes the article less in your face and gives it a more formal style. This links back to the audience as they aren’t going to want something that looks tacky and garish. Although the use of pink for the ‘main event’ and ‘big mouth’ column still attract the readers interest as it stands our more because of the plain background. I think this is a much more subtle way of provoking interest and manages to remain effective without the article needing to look over the top. The ‘big mouth’ column and the quote break up the article and stop it from looking over powering with text. This is effective at making the reader want to read it as it looks more pleasing on the eye and has different aspects of interest. The overall graphology of the article makes it seem relaxed which can present to the reader that the actual text is in a relaxed tone. This is presented through the overlay of everything, like pictures and text, and this presents a flow to the article and puts certain areas more in your face.
The words that I have highlighted in yellow are the different types of phonology I have recognized in my text. Although this text isn’t a conversation there are some features of normal speech that appear. Fro example there are fillers with the use of ‘er’ and pauses with the use of ‘...’. These features are used to add an informality to the text and for it to relate to the reader as if someone is talking to them in conversation. This is effective because it means people are more likely to want to read it because it’s an easy read. This also relates to the audience as it focuses on teenagers to early 20’s so the features of normal speech appeal to them because they make the text seem simple and this relates to the way in which they talk. Another form of phonology that is used are rhetorical devices like alliteration with the example of ‘drunken debauchery’ ‘frosty fashion’ term-time tear up’ and ‘joining the jaunt’. These are used in the text to make it flow and to link certain things together so that they make more of an impact. Another rhetorical device that is used is repetition with an example being ‘through and through’. This is used to get the point across to the reader and in this example is to show to the reader that ‘it’s freshers through and through’ and is repeated so they get the point. Another rhetorical device that has many examples in the text are onomatopoeic words. For example ‘frosty’ ‘giggly’ ‘thunderous’ ‘freshest’ ‘shattered’ ‘scream’ ‘crash’ ‘crisp’ and ‘hiss’. A lot of these words are used in this text to create impact in different areas and in this example this is also used to create atmosphere and present to the reader as if they were at the gig. It also adds a more dramatic side which relates back to the audience as the age range of the audience are stereotypically likely to enjoy something more if it has added drama.
The text I am looking at is a magazine article and it is a music review of three bands on tour. The purpose of this text is to entertain readers with the stories of the tour and to inform them on what the bands were like live. The article is written in the form of a factual story as it follows the events through in chronological order explaining to the reader what happened. It starts with an introduction into what is going to be discussed then leads into the middle section which tells us all the information about the two days of the tour. It then ends with a triumphant feel and an almost happy end to the factual story , and then the final sentence predicts what is next to come in the tour. The management of speech throughout the article is mainly done by the reviewer with added snippets from other people quoting what they have said. The structure goes in chronological order as it goes through each event as they happened. This is done to make it more realistic for the reader to imagine being there and keeps the whole article flowing.
I have marked on the lexical choices in blue on my text. The lexical choice in this text makes it clear to the reader it is a music review through words like ‘venue’ ‘headliners’ ‘ballistic drums’ ‘tribal beat’ ‘orchestral krautrocky tip’ ‘icons’ ‘frontman’. This is effective because it keeps the same feel to the whole article and creates and atmosphere for the reader. Other words that are used to add to the atmosphere are ‘escapist world’ ‘whooping hordes’ ‘mayhem’. This creates the atmosphere of a different world in the music and captures the reader in. I think these specific words were used as they are all strong and have an emphasize in the text. The lexical choice also gives a specific image through words like ‘flashy glam stomper’ ‘picture of composure’ ‘vogueing’ ‘stage garb’. These words give the performers a stage presence and give them an image of perfection. This is effective on the reader because they then feel as if the performers have a higher status. The lexical choice here shows that the text is informal as phrases such as ‘term-time tear up’ and ‘deliciously overwrought’ show an informal use of language. This shows a relation back to the audience as it’s for teenagers and early twenties they don’t want to read a formal text, they want it to relate to the language they use. In this article there are slight bits of text on the pictures that add a bit of humour to it. I think this is effective as it gives the reader something to think about with the image and adding a bit of humour makes it a light read. This also adds another bit of entertainment for the reader if they can laugh at it as well as the other uses of lexical choices then it captures the audience in.
In this article one of the main semantic fields is the semantic field of musical terms. This particular semantic field makes it clear to the reader that the article is on a gig review and it gets them into the atmosphere of being there. Some examples of this semantic field are ‘venue’ ‘headliners’ ‘ballistic drums’ ‘tribal beat’ ‘orchestral’ ‘frontman’ ‘whooping hordes’. Already just from hearing these words you can tell that they create an impact on the reader and leave them with the feeling of actually being at the show. Some of these words also have connotations of their own like ‘ballistic drums’ creates a sound in your head of this incredible drum rhythm almost like no other. Then words like ‘orchestral’ and ‘tribal beat’ create a different atmosphere as if the music has these stripped back roots to classical music but with the contrast of a big tribal sound. Another semantic field in this article is one that uses powerful words to create an impact like ‘term-time tear up’ ‘revolution’ ‘icons’ ‘escapist world’ ‘picture of composure’ and ‘mayhem’. These all create the impact of a new history being created right at this moment and that these artists are the start of it. This creates a drama which links back to the audience who want to read about something dramatic and exciting. Especially words like ‘term-time tear up’ and ‘mayhem’ that create the feel of rebellion and anarchy that instantly draws a teenage audiences attention as they don’t want to miss out on this kind of thing. Also words like ‘revolution’ and ‘icon’ have a powerful force of creating a new age that all young people would want to be part of.
On my article I have marked the pragmatics on in pink highlighter. In this article the spoken interaction isn’t done in the standard form of conversation and is more quotes from what people have said. So even though in most of these instances we can’t see the question that is asked we can still clearly see the politeness in the response. We can see this through compliments ‘I loved it so much’ and through language such as ‘please’. There are also features of co-operative speech with enthusiastic responses and elaborating on the question that was asked. Even though this article isn’t a conversation so the need for speech isn’t necessary it is still effective because of the fact that it gives the reader an insight into what the artists think. So it creates a better connection for the reader and make it more interesting for them to read. Also the questions asked to other people that went to the show give the reader other people’s opinions that may interest them and even convince them to see these artists. As these utterances are only short in length we cannot really notice any implied relationships from them, as the only ones that are apparent are obvious ones between band members. Also again because of the length of the utterances there aren’t really any topic shifts and the topic loops all link back to the same thing.
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