Toksvig Article: Sandi Toksvig finds linguistic treasures in the 'Urban Dictionary'
Throughout the article it is clear that Sandi Toksvig has a very descriptive attitude and it is communicated well through the text. She cleverly manages to express her descriptive view through the text, so that it suits the GRAPE.
As a newspaper, especially the Telegraph, you may assume that the articles that are published will be serious and will have a very prescriptive attitude; Toksvig expressing a descriptive attitude seems like it shouldn't fit, due to the audience most likely being people with prescriptive attitudes, but it does. She uses informal phrases like "a funny old thing" which suits the genre and audience. Along with this the phrase isn't criticising language, and isn't saying if something is right or wrong. She's suggesting that language is a bit unpredictable and that that is good, it's just the way that it goes. She also does this when she writes about a complaint she received from a woman at a Q&A. The woman appeared to have a very prescriptive attitude to language compared to Sandi Toksvig. And when Toksvig doesn't criticize her, it shows her descriptive attitude.
Later on she states that language is always evolving and "has never been one person's preserve". She says that as it is always evolving, it will never stay the same and she sows this when talking about the Oakland School Board in 1996. It shows that there's increasingly more words being added to languages and dialects, and even in this case, new languages/ dialects.
Another way that she suits the GRAPE is by adding humour to the article. She talks about a joke website which changes language into a comical language, which definitely suits the purpose to entertain; along with keeping the audience interesting. She also adds humour by including all of the different languages for "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year", then she ended on a humorous end by wishing the audience "Merry Christmas" in Danish.
One point in her article that could be considered questionable is when she talks about the Urban Dictionary. It is a very modern idea and also very descriptive which could make the audience not want to read it. The Telegraph newspaper doesn't usually talk about things like the Urban Dictionary and so it is questionable as to whether it is suitable. Personally, I think it is okay as she is talking about a topic which links to the purpose of the article.
I particularly liked your discussion of "funny old thing". Remember to say 'context' and not 'GRAPE' in the exam. REmember to throw as much terminology at quotes as you can and then show how the techniques suit the GRAPE.
ReplyDelete