Paper 1 Question 2 (Page 8)

  The text that we were given shows many examples of form, structure and language which shape the overall message and purpose of the text. The author of the text is trying to explain his exploration of life in rural America and in this excerpt we learn of Joe's Country Store and the people that run the store. The text does a great job of describing the store and the mood that is seen throughout the store and the family that runs it.

The form of this text is very unique as it is a text from Roads to Quoz, An American Mosey by William Least Heat-Moon, and simply tells a story of what William Least Heat-Moon was experiencing while exploring rural america. This would explain why the text had used an informal tone throughout the text because he is just describing exactly what had happened. For example when William had said “My fare in such a grocery is often the sandwich of several names: in western Pennsylvania people may call it a zeppelin (after the shape of the stubby loaf).” This shows the informality that is used throughout the entire text in order to describe the author's experience. The author had used an informative tone in order to get the story across because he was trying to tell other people what it is like in rural america. The author had also written this text in first person because he was describing his own experience and was able to use descriptive imagery as he had come across the store.

The structure of this text is divided into four large paragraphs, all of which have lots of imagery to describe the scene. This also allowed the author to put some quotes and conversation that had occurred while they were in the shop. For example the author said “'You might be interested in this,' she said, and handed me a pamphlet of historical highlights of the village. 'We've got pictures too, if you want to see them.'” This not only shows the quote but also shows the text being informal as she says ‘We’ve got’ instead of ‘We have’ or any other formal way of talking. The text is also in chronological order in order to describe the entirety of Joe’s Country Store. The text uses strong imagery such as describing the ‘slant front glass case’ which the family had served sandwiches from as soon as the author had entered the store to ‘mud and stink’ that Old Man Susquehanna had left behind.

The language used throughout the text had been used in order to show imagery. For example the author had said “and into my short loaf Pat stuffed green peppers, banana peppers, pepperoncini, pimiento olives, Greek olives, sliced tomatoes, chopped lettuce, two kinds of sharp cheese and a good shot of black pepper held in place with olive oil and vinegar.” This shows the level of imagery the author had used to describe his sandwich. The author had also used  multiple quotes in the text in order to explain what they had said to him upon his arrival. The author had also used a lot of long sentences in order to describe each scene. For example the author had said “To everyone's sorry, that's what he did in the historic hotel, the lone building once giving Lanesboro the appearance of a village rather than a mere collection of several houses around a general store.” These types of sentences allow the reader to feel a deeper understanding of the author's point of view. The author had also used a very informal tone in the language he had used by describing the history of objects, when it was not needed.

Shooting an Elephant (Page 7)

Shooting an Elephant Analysis

The use of form, structure and language is a huge part of how this text is written and helps deliver and tell the story that the author was trying to tell. The author is trying to tell the story of shooting an elephant, however the narrator does not want to but ends up going through with it anyways. This shows a very sad and depressing mood for the narrator.

The form used in this text is that of a short story which shows various types of brief imagery in order to describe the scene to the reader without going into too much detail. An example of this is “The rifle was a beautiful German thing with cross-hair sights.” This quickly puts an image into the readers heads of what the gun looks like without overly describing it. The short story was also written informally by showing what the narrator had thought while they were questioning whether to shoot the elephant and also what they thought after they had shot it. This was seen when the narrator had said “When I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick,” this shows what the reader had experienced when they had shot the gun using words like ‘bang’ and ‘kick’ to describe it. The story was also written in chronological order to possibly build suspense at the beginning if the narrator was going to go through with shooting the elephant.

The structure of the text had used very long paragraphs in order to explain each scene that had happened without breaking each scene into pieces. For example in the third paragraph the author had thoroughly described how the elephant had reacted to each time he was shot. They had done this in depth for each shot that the narrator had taken in hopes of putting the elephant out of its misery. The story is also structured as a short story to tell the story without going too in depth about the details. There is also repetition in this story because the narrator repeats ‘I fired again into the same spot.’ The author had repeatedly said each time he had fired in order to transition from what the elephant was feeling at the time to the next. The structure of this short story also builds suspense at two different times to get the reader more interested in the story. The first time the author had built suspense was before he had shot the elephant and was questioning whether to shoot it or not. The second time the structure had built suspense was when the elephant would not stop breathing and he repeatedly tried to put it out of its misery without luck.

The language used in this text is that of an informal short story that describes what was happening in the narrator's head without going too far in depth. The use of modal verbs in this text also show the tone because it makes the tone seem more sad and regretful for the narrator. For example when the narrator said “It was obvious that the elephant would never rise again,” shows that the narrator had no hope that the elephant was going to survive. This language also shows the depressing tone that is throughout the story as the narrator has no hope that the elephant would survive after the first shot and shoots it many more times to put it out of its misery. Another example of the depressing tone was when the narrator said “It seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying there, powerless to move and yet powerless to die.” This shows the depressing and hopeless tone that is spread throughout the story.

Paper 1, Question 1(Page 6)

1. 
   

Jamaica Takes Home the Gold Medal in the 100m Sprint

After a hard fought and close race, Usain Bolt wins a Gold medal for Jamaica in the men's 100 meter race in this year's Olympics. This is the first time Usain Bolt has ever taken home a gold medal and shouldn’t be his last. Usain Bolt is an up and coming runner who runs for Jamaica, which he was born and raised in. 

At the beginning of the race it had looked as if Richard Thompson, who was running for Trinidad and Tobago, was going to win the race because of an incredible start from the runner. However, Usain Bolt had stayed behind the lead runner for the beginning of this sprint, but had overtaken him later on in the race. As Bolt was running we can see that he repeatedly looked over his shoulder at the other runners. 

Other than Usain Bolt the rest of the runners were all remaining the same speed. These runners include Richard Thompson, Walter Dix, who was running for the United States, Churandy Martina, running for the Netherlands, Michael Frater, running for Jamaica, Marc Burns, running for Trinidad and Tobago and the other American runner, Darvis Patton. 

2. 
   

The article that i have written is very different from the autobiographical extract from Usain Bolt based on the different perspectives, however they are very different in form, structure and language. I am going to analyse these differences between the newspaper article that I have written and the autobiographical extract from Usain Bolt. 

The first topic I am going to talk about is the form of the articles. In the newspaper article we can see that it starts off with the most important information that most readers will want to know. The article then goes into more depth and detail about the race, for example the newspaper says “At the beginning of the race it had looked as if Richard Thompson, who was running for Trinidad and Tobago, was going to win the race because of an incredible start from the runner.” This is where the newspaper starts to go into more depth about the events of the race itself. 

The extract from Usain Bolt's autobiography goes over the race in the order that the events had happened and also starts by mentioning how much he thinks while he is running. He explains the events of the race as what he is thinking about while the race is going on. For example he says “Wow! How did he do that?! Now I can’t see where I am in the race, because he’s blocking my view of Asafa on the other side.” This shows exactly what Usain Bolt was thinking while he was racing.

The second topic I am going to describe is the structure of the two articles. The newspaper article is divided into the important facts in the first paragraph. For example in the first paragraph it says “After a hard fought and close race, Usain Bolt wins a Gold medal for Jamaica in the men's 100 meter race in this year's Olympics.” This is giving off the most important information to the reader right away, like most newspapers are formatted to. Then in the second paragraph it describes the events of the race in detail and describes how the race started and ended. 

The autobiography is divided up into many different paragraphs each with their own description of the events of the race. This is also structured in chronological order in order to make the most sense. For example the text says “I could feel my momentum building, my longer stride taking me past Thompson, and once I’d cleared him, I could see the rest of the line.” This is showing the events that had happened in the way that they had unfoiled and how Usain Bolt had seen them.

The language used in both these texts are very different. In the newspaper it tries to use a formal and professional tone to describe the events of Usain Bolt's first gold medal. The newspaper uses descriptive words to describe the point like in the sentence the newspaper says “At the beginning of the race it had looked as if Richard Thompson, who was running for Trinidad and Tobago, was going to win the race because of an incredible start from the runner.” This is an attempt at a professional and formal tone for a newspaper article. 

The language used in the autobiographical extract is somewhat informal as it shows what Usain Bolt is thinking. For example the autobiography says “Like Stockholm, yo. Remember Stockholm. Do not panic. Get through your drive phase and chill. Chill, chill, chill. Thompson hasn’t pulled away. He’s right there in front of you.” This is an informal tone that shows the panic and belief he had while he was racing.