Tuesday, 10 December 2013


Text analysis for question 4 – FA cup final modern vs. old  


In terms of lexical choice text J uses many more jargon terms such as ‘silverware’ because of the ever increasing audience in football. This is mainly down to the advance in technology, increasing the ease to which a text can be distributed and the advanced popularity of football between the two texts. Technology has allowed more people to read and watch football over the years, the vast majority of people have a TV or the internet which will allow them to read and watch football. The fact that text J is an internet article means people had to independently search for it out of their own choice. This allow the text to be more specific, using more jargon terms, as there is a larger pragmatical understanding between the writer and the audience. Text I does also have a smaller use of jargon throughout.It uses jargon phrases such as 'to bring the cup to manchester' and 'the city team.' These phrases are jargon terms but appear understandable to non football supporters. People can suggest that a cup represents a trophy and that the city team is one of the ppposing teams because they are obvious. The development of new jargon terms over the years changes because of the development of technology. 

When investigating grammar there is a clear difference between the use of emotive language and the tone of voice. When specifically looking at the contrast in the loosing managers quote there is an obvious difference in tone of voice and emotive language. For example the older quote offers ‘congratulations’ to the opposition whereas the modern day quote says ‘I’m sorry we couldn't see it through to the death of them.’ Text I offers complements for the opposition whereas text J takes responsibility for the loss explaining it was down to his own team being not good enough.  In terms of power, today we are more concerned that someone else is getting creditied. Not conceding that the other team was better, like text I, maintains coercive power. It appears slightly aggressive and withholds a reward of the other team receiving congratulations. Perhaps in the past we were more gentlemen like an accepted defeat offering power to the other team. The tone of aggression in the modern text fits in with a semantic structure of war and a battlefield. Using phrases like ‘to the death of them’ shows how concerned we are with maintaining power today. This could be related to the vast increase of money in football. Today winning a major trophy is financially rewarding in many ways and in text I this may not be the case explaining the gentlemen like behaviour when conceding defeat.   

Looking at the contrast in layout and graphology there is a clear difference in discourse structure between the two texts. The older text J uses headings and sections with little white space in-between. The closed in typography and lack of white space represents the fact that at the time printing was a privilege and cost a lot of money. Printing had only recently come about and it was a lengthy expensive process to complete. This links to the fact that it is a souvenir piece and that is made to be kept and looked after for a long time. Text I is also set out using quotes, this contrasts with the modern text J which uses up to date time sections. The advance in technology has allowed these live updates to be completed so people can get live commentary on the game. People using text I would receive it two to three days after the actual game. The modern day text J acts as an ephemera to be read at a certain time and then discard. The idea that text I is a souvenir text also suggests that a smaller number of people will read or have one. Text J is widely available. It is free to read on the BBC sport website whereas text I will cost a considerable amount of money. This is only possible because of the advance in technology allowing sports news to be distributed cheaply.  Good - however, I think because you are of a generation that takes technology for granted, ensure you do not miss the obvious - eg... most recent postings are at the top.