Too much talk for one planet (CB) Flashcards
GAP
G- Multimodality : online + printed newspaper article
A- Guardian readers (targets a well educated, affluent, digitally-savvy, liberal audience) Fans of CB +Private Eye mag , those with
an interest in satire
P- serves a multitude: express opinion on media oversaturation while reconciling on his contribution. Entertain +Amuse, self- reflect on nature of modern journalism and the pressures experienced when writing for an online audience.
How does the article deviate from or conform to Genre conventions?
- headline/ sub-heading structure give concise overview of central argument (align opinion piece) as an anchor for his viewpoint
- engages with contemporary issues
- deviates hyperbole or extreme examples (doesn’t align with evidence driven tone of a trad article)
- informal lang
Context (3 points)
- Climate Debate growing prevalent topic of conservation in society.
- growing awareness of overwhelming nature of modern communication (social media superficiality)
- rise of digital platforms as the main method of communication (decline of thoughtful discourse).
Authorial context
-Public persona versus private life; finds celebrity a distasteful concept; married to Konnie Huq – but keeps it private
Pattern 1 - Green Debate metaphor for social media
Voice: Frustration , critical
‘Too Much …. ‘ - ADV Phrase, trivial superficiality of social media discourse,
‘one planet’ , ‘word’ - conveys sense of suffocation, hyperbolic present it as a global issue of sig.
‘emissions’ ‘vast cloud’ draws parallels to climate debate, equates danger of social media with cc
Conflict: Reconciles with toxicity of media and his contribution.
‘View myself as yet another factory mindlessly pumping co2 into a toxic sky’
Voice: Reflective, honest
‘myself’ - reflexive pronoun, confessional tone= vocalizes his concern for his personal sense of responsibility ,
link to ‘felt i was contributing’…
‘mindlessly’ - adverb triviality of media, cohesive with headline, toxic sky metaphor pervasive damage
conflict: attempting comment on the cultural landscape of toxic media but has to acknowledge his part.
Pattern 2- Colloquial, informal lang.
‘Jabber’ ‘Blah’ ‘ugly bitch’ ‘go home bitch’
- subverts genre conventions, downward divergence accommodation theory - reflects pointlessness and some cases expletive, crude lang on social media.
appeals to broader audience.
conflict: civility vs chaos breakdown of decorum.
Pattern 3: Self dep voice
Anecdote: ‘intense flurry of activity’ ‘by which I mean four people asked me’ disclosure of unhindered honesty minimizes the potential view seen as hostile later when uncomfortable truths about media pollution.
appeals to satire genre trust and builds engagement and complicity - more likely to listen to view.
Pattern 4- lexis of sm hypothetical situation to illustrate point
‘weatherman’ - innocuous, politically neutral, serve wider message anyone can be attacked through a misjudgment.
incrementally increasing numeral ‘86 outraged columns’, ‘95 blogs’, ‘ half a million tweets’ - increased outrage media backlash, cancel culture.
It happens every day. Every day, a billion instantly conjured words. ‘Events and noise, events and noise x 3)
anadiplosis adds emphasis to the relentless pervasive social media damage
triplet repetition meaningless and verbose nature of social media discourse.
Conflict: need for authenticity and engagement
Pattern 5: self dep about his age and understanding
‘age of steam’ voice of nostalgia, resistant and discomfort, ‘outmoded belief ‘changed beyond measure’ ‘sitting grumbly in a spaceship’ - metaphor for modernity, outdated
generational disconnect and unable to change to the communication landscape so frustrated.
Pattern 6: women
vulnerability of women, unable to free speech, imprecise examples lack specificity applicable to all.
voices on present online
Conflict: gender based hostility and cultural tolerance of disproportionate abuse.
In other words, i’m reducing my carbon emissions.
cyclical structure cohesive
clear his personal responsibility, lower threat.
