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The keywords in the expressive function are attitude or feeling”, the question one has to ask is what signs does the communicator use to convey his / her attitude about the matter in question”. The Conceive function refers to the message that is intended to influence the recipient and persuade him or her to adopt a particular point of view. In an advertisement intended to convert people to a particular brand / product these signs for example usually take the form of attractive models. When it comes to the conceive function, the keywords are persuade, influence / convince.
The question here will be what signs in the message plays a conceive role”. The poetic function relates to the form or the how’ of a message, it is generally directly related to the nature of the medium. Each medium has its own way of expressing a particular message the message might be the same but it would take on a different form in television as opposed to the rented media. In order to find the poetic function one has to establish which signs are used and how they are used to express the content of the communication in a particular way.
The peptic function refers to those signs in the message that are specifically intended to establish contact with the recipient. In visual communication the peptic function would refer to the things in an image that immediately attract the attention of the viewer in printed media such as signs would be the layout and typography used and in language we would be referring to usage’s such as cries of ay, shock or anything else intended to draw attention of the listener or reader to something specific.
The key words here are contact and one has to be able to establish which sign in the message are specifically intended to attract the attention of the recipient. Metasyntactic in simple terms are the signs in the message that are intended to throw further light on explaining or emphasizing the subject matter being communicated. In visual communication such signs would be the linguistic text such as captions to the photograph. The intention here is to make certain that the viewer understands the photograph or television image. In language it would be intonation, gestures and physical attitudes.
In order to establish the metasyntactic function one needs to look for signs in the message that is principally intended to explain the message and make it more accessible to the viewers. 2. 2 Application to visual to visual example The following functions of a sign were discovered. Referential, the photograph represents a scene where a group of what seems to be workers are protesting against something. One can conclude this based on their facial expressions that it is a serious protest and by the boards that they are holding.
Expressive , it is clear that the photographer felt a certain way ( perhaps touched) by what he saw and wanted to take a photograph to capture the scene for others to see what has happened , perhaps to raise awareness. He could also have chosen to take a photograph of this particular group because their facial expressions were stronger than the rest of the people protesting. Connotative, the message is to raise awareness of what the protesters are protesting for and the aim is to influence others to act with or to create awareness in order for the viewers to adapt a particular view.
Once again one can conclude this based on the facial expressions and signs. Poetic function, the chosen medium is a photograph that captures the moment as it happened which shows the event as it happened and this immediately draws the attention of the receiver to take a closer look. Peptic function , we are immediately attracted by the boards / signs that the protestors are holding as well as their facial expressions in the photograph immediately we want to know more about what these protestors are protesting against.
Metasyntactic function , there is no explanatory caption to the photograph except stating that the hotheaded has given permission for this photograph to be printed this could mean that he perhaps wanted the photograph to speak for itself as we can roughly make out by the signs that there are holding up. 3. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS : NARRATIVE AND ARGUMENT 3. 1. 1 The three kinds of rhetorical practices are forensic, pietistic and deliberative. Forensic (or Judicial) focuses on past actions, it either seeks to defend or accuse someone and it tends to focus on topics of Justice and injustice.
The main focus is proof and examination of evidence through which it seeks to make the audience redeposit to the position and person it is attacking or defending. A basic example of this is law and order during a court procedure. Pietistic (or demonstration) focus on the character or reputation of the person and attempts to persuade the audience to admire them for their goodness or dislike and reject them for their dishonor. Deliberative argument encompasses deliberating about possible future actions in relation to their desirability / undesirability.
It seeks to persuade or dissuade the audience in relation to a future course of action. The arguer seeks to induce or dissuade the reader. 3. 1. The three kinds of rhetorical practices are forensic, pietistic and deliberative. Forensic argument focuses on past actions and can be understood as the term suggests as the practices in court of law. It either seeks to defend or accuse someone and it tends to focus on topics of Justice and injustice. The focus is proof and examination of evidence through which it seeks to make the audience predisposed to the position and person it is attacking or defending.
Pietistic also known as demonstrative it focuses on the character or reputation of the person or persons and attempts to persuade the audience to admire them for heir goodness or dislike and reject them for their dishonor. Deliberative seeks to persuade or dissuade the audience in relation to a future course of action for example a coffee shop advertisement that encourage people to come to their coffee shop because they offer EX. which is better than any other coffee shop who offers similar EX.. 3. 1. 3 The three modes of persuasion as Aristotle identified are ethos, pathos and logos.
An ethic argument invokes the personal character and quality of the speaker. This is effective when the person has first-hand experience which works o persuade the audience or where it is assumed that they are trustworthy. For example the late Nelson Mandela whose stature was that of an ethical person. A pathetic argument seeks to induce a particular mindset among the audience. Through pathos or an appeal to emotion they can be moved to pity , fear or even guilt as the arguer tries to get them into the kind of mindset that will make them open to the line of argument.
Similarly an audience can be swayed by emotions of love, pity etc. To behave in new ways by flattering the audience as reasonable and intelligent. For example John will never steal from the cash register. If he did, he will be fired from work and will be sent to Jail. Who will now finance the needs of his family? His wife does not have a Job. He has three little kids who need the guidance of a loving father. Without John by their side, they will grow fatherless and, God knows, they may turn into homeless kids.
John should not be suspected of committing the crime. Logistic argument is dependent on the logic or proof provided. An appeal to logos relies on two kinds of arguments either inductive or deductive in a deductive argument an assertion is made by making a series of statements. (Logos using a deductive argument) Chris was alone in the office at 8 o’clock in the evening. The crime took place at around 30 minutes past PM. Therefore, there is reason to become suspicious that Chris stole the money from the cash register. Logos using an inductive argument)Chris has a previous theft record in the city police. He said the other day that he barely had any money left in his bank account and that he had no money to buy food. The security cameras also reveal that he was inside the store premises the night the crime took place. Therefore, there is reason to become suspicious that Chris stole the money from the cash register. 3. 1. 4 A deductive argument is an argument that is intended by the arguer to provide a guarantee of the truth.
An inductive argument is an argument that is intended by the arguer merely to establish or increase the probability of its conclusion. 3. 1. 5 The types of inductive arguments are symptomatic argument, argument by analogy or argument of a causal relationship. However in all cases they relate to the particular context and propose that the argument is plausible. In a symptomatic argument an individual example is used to illustrate a wider example, terms such as typical” or characteristics” indicate this form of inductive argument.
An argument by analogy draws on a comparison to make a point and will use words like accordingly’ and similarly’ for example describing a group of people as rats thus implying that they should be treated as such. An argument of causal relationship assumes a cause – effect relationship and is the form of argument frequently used when attributing responsibility to the media for some social problem. 3. 2 Application to visual example (Please see Appendix A) The following rhetorical practices were found: a) Forensic: The advertisement is about stopping cruelty towards elephants.
It is aimed at part of the audiences who hunt elephants for their tasks and parts of the audiences who buy the ivory illegally. B) Pietistic: The advertisements aim is for the audiences to be aware of cruelty and abuse of elephants and to reject cruelty towards elephant’s cruelty, giving the audiences to admire both the model in the advertisement as well as PETA for taking a stand against such actions. C) Deliberative: The aim of the advertisement is to persuade the audience who buy ivory, elephant kin or any parts of an elephants to stop.
As well as to make parts of the audience who aren’t fully aware to be fully aware of the cruelty. Of persuasion were found: The following modes a) Ethos: The speaker which is PETA as well as the model is seen as people / organizations that are passionate about stopping the abuse of elephants thus showing their personal character. B) Pathetic: The advertisement plays on changing the mindset of the audience as well as on the emotions of the audience, for elephant lovers to feel pity and sad for what is happening and for elephant hunters and people who buy elephant parts to feel guilty and ashamed. ) Logistic: The advertisement is a deductive argument as it is telling us what is happening to elephants (beaten, abused) the premises are intended to provide strong support for the conclusion which is to stop the abuse against elephants. The advertisement provides a valid argument against the cruelty of animals this is further achieved by the model in chains to show the severity of the situation.
Inductive argument: Deductive and a) Deductive: If you buy any elephant related body parts or are involved in cruelty towards elephants. ) Inductive: The advertisement gives reason as to why cruelty towards elephants should stop and this is further illustrated by the model in chains just to show the severity of the situation. The following types of inductive arguments were picked up. A) Symptomatic argument: The advertisement indicates that perhaps only the natives are killing elephants but different skin groups kill elephants. ) Argument by analogy: the advertisement shows a woman in chains and it immediately crabs our attention as we are able to put ourselves in her shows because we are human and sometimes we don’t do this with animals because we onto think of them as having the same feelings as what we would have. C) Argument by causal relationship: Regarding stopping animal cruelty the media has done their bit in promoting the stopping of animal cruelty and the advertisements have been very graphic and it has to some extend made people more aware of what’s happening to our animals. Although the poaching hasn’t stopped more people are aware of what is going on. . NARRATIVE ANALYSIS 4. 1 New Girl is an American sitcom that premiered on Fox on September 2011. The series revolves around quirky teacher Jessica Day who moves into a loft with three an, Nick, Schmidt and Winston. Jessica best friend Ace and old friend of the flat mates Coach also makes a regular appearance in the sitcom. The sitcom is a combination of comedy and drama elements and shows the characters who are in their early thirties deal with relationships and career choices. For the narrative analysis I have chosen season three, episode one titled All in”.
The episode picks up right where New Girl Season two left off where Jessica and Nick realize that they in fact have feelings for one another and end up acting open it without the knowledge of the others and Ace after breaking up with Schmidt agrees o an arrange marriage and then ends up calling off the wedding on the day of her wedding because she realized that she in facts still have feelings for Schmidt. My chosen episode opens up with Nick and Jessica deciding to go all in with their relationship which causes them to run away to a small Mexican town in Mexico where they camp out in Jessica car.
When they run out of resources Nick comes up with the idea to steal food from a local beach resort which gets him arrested, sending Jessica into a state of panic. Meanwhile, Schmidt makes a decision about Ace and Elizabeth and comes to the conclusion that since he started dating Elizabeth first that he would stay with her. When he goes to Ace to break up with her, he cannot bring himself to break up with her. Thus he ends up dating both woman at the same time. Later Ace stops by the loft and Winston unknowingly almost lets slip Schmidt secret (as Schmidt forgets to mention to Winston that he couldn’t break up with either woman. Meanwhile Jessica enlists Winston and Schmidt to help her get Nick out of Jail , Jessica is worried that they might not be able to get him out of Jail and popes he finds a friend in Jail that would keep him safe. Eventually after paying several hotel workers that were no help, Jessica recognizes the security guard that arrested Nick and trades her car to be able to free him. However instead of wanting to leave nick is worried if they leave Mexico things wouldn’t work out and wants to stay and work in the hotel , Jessica convinces Nick that although things will be hard but they will make it work.
They somehow manage to get another car and head across the border back home, but before Nick and Jessica make it back inside their loft they start arguing but their passion quickly goes room fighting to romance while Winston and Schmidt look on with disgust. 4. 2 Exposition introduces the reader to the two basic components that make up the story which are the principal characters and the space or environment that they occupy. Every narrative must have an exposition, but it isn’t always located at the beginning.
The problems to be resolved in the narrative are usually stated in the exposition. In New Girl” we are introduced to the lead characters, Nick and Jessica. They are in a car talking about getting away for a few days and thus decides to go to Mexico. Climax occurs when conflict in the story reaches its peak, while the climax is considered to be the most concentrated moment of the narrative it doesn’t signal the end in television programs as a number of small climaxes can be found and this is mainly to heighten interest in the narrative to ensure that the audience returns to the program.
In New Girl” there are more than one climaxes we see Nick getting arrested in Mexico sending Jess into a state of panic as she has no idea as to how she will be able to get him out of Jail , we also see her searching endlessly for the security radar that took Nick. We also see another climax when Ace arrives at the lift surprising Schmidt , here we see Winston almost ruining Schmidt secret ( which is that he is dating both girls without them knowing).
Later we also see Nick being quiet serious about wanting to live in Mexico forever because he is worried that they relationship wouldn’t last and wants Jess to stay with him, surprising everyone. Resolution follows from the climax where the enigmas posed at the beginning of narrative are resolved. In New Girl” we see that Jess successfully convinces Nick to mom home and explains that all we be fine , the team manages to free Nick and they all head successfully across the border.
We also see that Ace finds out about Schmidt secret and leaves him Denouement brings about closure to the narrative by rounding out the story. If a narrative ends without a resolution and denouement then we have an open narrative and in such a case the climax is referred to as a cliffhanger which is a device used to attract the audience to the next episode by using strong elements of suspense. In ‘New Girl we see upon arriving at the loft that Nick and Jess starts arguing but heir passion for one other takes over thus stopping them from fighting with one another.
We can thus see that they will be alright thus giving the viewer’s closure regarding their relationship. 4. 3 Vladimir Props Narrative model was initially used when Vladimir analyzed hundreds of Russian folk tales. He broke up fairytale into sections and through these sections he was able to define the tale into a series of sequences that occurred within Russian fairytale. The model usually consists of an initial situation after which the tale taking 31 functions, he used this method to decipher Russian folklore. Propping function Events in New Girl Initial situation Jess and Nick are introduced.