Txting is killing language. JK!!! - John McWhorter

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_txtng_is_killing_language_jk

An ode to the hoody analysis

The writer, in the introduction, uses techniques to entice and entertain an adolescent audience, as a primary purpose. The tone is very informal and light-hearted. The lexical choice of “Arrgh” has an informal register, as it would usually be spoken and is not something typically found in a formal piece of writing. The secondary purpose of this introduction, I would argue, is to engage the reader. The writer knows that there is less of a chance that an audience of 18-25 year old male students will read the whole article and stay engaged, if it fails to engross them by starting with a formal, informative tone.

The audience of this article is 18-25 year old male university students and most likely to be living in a city. Lexis such as “co-op” and “cold kebab” implies this because they are most common within cities. The mention of “hangover” twice in the article, heavily suggests the audience is teenagers. However, the writer has said “friends are absent” and this suggestion of shared accommodation increases the age of the audience to university students. The proper noun “Nokia” dates this article as from the 90s and during this time, it wouldn’t have been as common for working class teenagers to have gone to university. This indicates that the audience would be middle class students. The writer has used male stereotypes and a male persona of the hoody to show that it is aimed at a male audience.

Examples of personification are used, “our best friend” and “no lavishing is required to keep him happy” when referring to the hoody.  This is the writer talking directly to the reader and creating a relationship between the hoody, the reader and the writer themselves, in order to make the audience engage and identify with the article. The masculine pronoun, “he”, is also used to give the hoody a male persona and give the audience a consolidation of the stereotypical, male ‘relationship’ they have with their hoody. This is emphasised by the fact that the hoody has been given more of an identity than the person wearing it. The writer speaks of the hoody not needing “ironing, folding, coat hangers” etc. Illustrating that men are untidy and reinforces the male stereotype that the writer has been building up and makes the readers connect with the article.

The personification of the hoody is used to show that it will always be there for you. Whilst also requiring no “lavishing of attention” in order to “keep them happy”. Implying that a hoody is better than a girlfriend as it requires virtually no maintenance, no emotional commitment and yet it will always be “patiently waiting to be called into action.” The writer describes it as “an undemanding presence always willing to serve and asking so little in return.” This description of the hoody would immediately resonate with a stereotypical male audience.

The simile, “mouth drier than a nun’s chuff” helps a young audience into connecting with the article. This ensures that they continue reading, even later when the register changes to serious and formal with a political message.

The writer uses the metaphor, “the weather is an enemy to our cause”. This has been used because the writer wants the audience to identify with the writing, and for them to relate to the stereotypical adolescent feeling of being an ‘outsider’.

Third person pronouns such as “our” and “we” are used in order to give the reader a sense of belonging. The writer has tapped into the common teenage identity of feeling like an ‘outsider’ and used this to persuade the audience that they are not alone and the writer is on the same side. The writer then uses the rhetorical question, “Are we going to stand by and watch these pen pushing, mackintosh wearing, jag driving pompous politicians deny us our essential piece of clothing because they feel threatened by them?” This technique has been used to provoke the reader into feeling passionately about the negative, unfair social connotations of wearing a hoody and prepares the audience for when the tone and register of the article later changes and the informal and humorous lexis is replaced by more formal and academic lexis.