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ENG 2601 Assignment 1

Applied English Language Studies : Further Explorations (University of South Africa)

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MARQUERETTE BEZUIDENHOUT: 61000671 ENG2601 ASSIGNMENT 1: UNIQUE NUMBER: 696158

MARQUERETTE BEZUIDENHOUT
STUDENT NUMBER: 61000671

ENG 2601:
APPLIED ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES –
FURTHER EXPLORATIONS

ASSIGNMENT 1

8 MARCH 2018

UNIQUE NUMBER: 696158

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MARQUERETTE BEZUIDENHOUT: 61000671 ENG2601 ASSIGNMENT 1: UNIQUE NUMBER: 696158

INDEX:
QUESTION 1: Page 3

QUESTION 2: Page 5

QUESTION 3: Page 6

QUESTION 4: Page 9

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Page 10

DECLARATION REGARDING PLAGIARISM: Page 11

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MARQUERETTE BEZUIDENHOUT: 61000671 ENG2601 ASSIGNMENT 1: UNIQUE NUMBER: 696158

QUESTION 1:

In a discursive essay of approximately 500-600 words show how genre and register
contribute to writer bias. Your arguments must be supported by specific textual
references.
The following questions can be used in establishing the relevant issues as well as to
structure you essay in a logical and coherent manner:
• What is the context of each text?
➢ Do the two texts have the same structure?
➢ Do the texts belong to the same genre?
• What style of narration is depicted in the two texts?
• What specific language features, language strategies and rhetorical devices are
used in the texts to convey the message?
• How do the style, structure and linguistic features influence meaning and enhance
purpose in the texts?
• Does the author have an ‘agenda’?
• Does the article carry authority and/or conviction?
• Who is the intended audience?

NB: do not limit your discussion to the identification of the similarities and differences, but
discuss how these enhance meaning.
(35)

When reading an article, the reader can clearly see that the genre and register used,
contributes to writer bias. The word genre refers to a category of literature which shares
recognisable features, conventions or textual properties. (Horne et al., 2017:34). Register
refers to features of a written or spoken text that identify it as belonging to a specific type of
linguistic activity or a specific field or discourse. (Horne et al., 2017:34).

Both Articles discuss what fracking is. Article 1 discusses the impact fracking has on the
environment, whereas Article 2 discusses the benefits South Africa’s economy can get from
fracking. Both articles fall under the genre “newspaper articles”. The articles have a lot of
similarities in structure, but they do differ in some features. The most noticeable difference is
the lay-out of the articles. In Article 1, the paragraphs are divided into subheadings, and
certain information can be found under their specific heading. Article 2 has no sub-headings
and the information is divided into paragraphs. Both articles are written in a chronological
order, which helps the reader to understand both the positive and negative aspects, as well
as the causes and effects. (Kissnet, 2009)

In Article 1 the most noticeable rhetorical device used is the use of the rhetorical question:
“Can we really afford to waste vast amounts of water in a water scarce area such as the
Karoo?” A second rhetorical device in Article 1 is the use of Parallel structures in the
sentence: “Local communities in the Karoo are angry and concerned. This is parallel
because angry and concerned are two opposite emotions that are felt. In the sentence:
“Angry because they…” the use of anaphora is noticeable because starting the sentence
with “angry” emphasises how angry the local communities are. (Horne et al., 2017:9).

In Article 2 hyperbole is used in the sentence: “The production of commercial … as a major

breakthrough in the oil …, because the word “major” emphasises and exaggerates the effect
this breakthrough has. (Horne et al., 2017:9).

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In Article 1 the author’s agenda is to explain the effect fracking has on the environment and
make South African citizens aware of this negative impact. The author of Article 2’s agenda
is to discuss the benefits of fracking for South Africa’s economy.

I argue that Article 1 carries authority as the statements are backed by facts, whereas Article
2’s statements are merely opinions as can be seen with the use of the word “regarded”, thus
Article 2 does not carry as much authority as Article 1.

The intended audience for the articles can be argued to be the citizens of the Karoo, as the
fracking site is there, as well as environmentalists and economist, because they will weigh
out the pros and cons for the environment and the economy.

In the abovementioned articles the genre and register contribute to writer bias. In article 1
the writer is clearly biased as he only discusses the negative effects of fracking, with no
mention of the pro’s. In contrast to the writer of article 1, article 2’s writer is biased in regard
to the pro’s of fracking, and hardly mentions the cons if it. Clearly both writers are biased in
their opinions as both only write about their point of view, without regarding “the other side”.

In the above essay, we can clearly see how the genre, register and language features
contribute to writer bias.

(569 words)

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QUESTION 2

Read article one only and write a response of no more than 2 paragraphs (approximately
250 words) in which you discuss how the structure of the article enhances meaning.

(15)

When reading an article, the structure of the article contributes to the meaning of the article,
which can be seen in article one.The first and most noticeable structure feature is the
subheadings within the article. This makes the reading of the article easier, and the reader
can find specific information easier, when looking at the headings. Another text structure
evident in the article is cause and effect. We can easily see this structure as the article first
explains what the issue is and what fracking is (the cause). After that the main concerns are
explained (the effect). This can also fall under the problem and solution text structure. The
headings “What’s the Issue?” and “What is fracking?” is the problem, and the heading “what
can you do?” is the solution.

Another text structure feature that can be seen in the article is description. The article
describes where the fracking will take place and how big the fracking site will be (In the
Karoo, for an area of 90, 000 kilometres). It also describes what exactly ‘fracking’ is, as well
as the effect fracking has on the community. The text is also structured in a form of
chronological order, even though words such as “first, then etc.” is not regularly used, it does
follow a chronological order, because it starts with the cause and then continues to what a
possible solution may be. The chronological order can also be seen in the sentence
“Secondly, fracking ….”.(Kissnet, 2009)

(246 words)

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QUESTION 3

Identify the cohesive devices in the passage and explain their function within the corpus of
the passage, including the linking of paragraphs.
(25)

In the English Language, there are two main types of text cohesion: Grammatical cohesion
as well as Lexical cohesion.

Lexical cohesion relates to the choice of words and vocabulary in a text. Therefore, lexical
cohesion refers to the way words are used to create cohesion within a text. There are four
types of lexical cohesion, namely: Repetition-, synonymy-, antonymy- and collocation
cohesion.

Grammatical cohesion refers to grammatical elements that are used to tie a text together.
The four subcategories of grammatical cohesion are namely: Reference-, substitution-,
ellipsis-, and conjunctive cohesion.

(Horne et al., 2017:44).

Lexical cohesion

Repetition cohesion

In the text, that has to be analysed, a lot of different cohesion devices are present. The first
cohesive device, from the group of Lexical cohesion, is Repetition cohesion. Words that are
repeated within the text are:

• “Normally”
• “the Sun”
• “eye-blink reflex”
• “intensity”
• “Filters” and
• “Observe

This makes the text lexically very cohesive, due to the many repetitions that link the
sentences.

(Horne et al., 2017:44).

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Collocation cohesion

Another lexical cohesion device that is present in the article, is collocation cohesion. This
refers words that tend to appear together in certain contexts. The collocation cohesion that
appears in the article is the following:

• “sun” ; “solar”; and “photosphere” as they all pertain to the Solar system and all three
words belong to the same semantic field.
• “Stare at the Sun” – “eye-blink reflex”, as when staring at the sun, one immediately
exhibits an eye-blink reflex.
• “partial phase of an eclipse” –“crescent phase”, as both terms refer to phases of the
sun.
• “aluminized Mylar” – “coated plastic”, as Mylar is made of a coated plastic.
• “popular” – “inexpensively”, because most of the time an item that is very popular, is
relatively not expensive (inexpensive).

(Horne et al., 2017:46).

Synonymy:

This occurs when words that have similar meaning are used in a text. Synonymy that occurs
in the text are as follows:

• Look – observe
• Aluminized – coated plastic

This links the paragraphs as words with similar meanings are used, as to avoid repetition,
which makes the reading of the passage easier.

(Horne et al., 2017:45).

Grammatical cohesion

Reference cohesion

Apart from lexical cohesion devices, there are also grammatical cohesion devices present in
the article. The first grammatical cohesion device visible in the article is Reference
Cohesion.

In the sentence, “Normally, one is not tempted to stare at the Sun, the eye-blink reflex
normally prevents this.” The phrase “prevents this” refers to staring at the sun.

Another example of Reference Cohesion is in the following sentences:

“As long as these Mylar filters are undamaged, without creases or pinholes, they are safe to
look through. Unfortunately, they are now often distributed in the form of eyeglasses, which
may tempt people to stare at the Sun through them.”

The phrases “…they are safe to look through.” and “…they are now distributed…” both refer
to the Mylar filters. The phrase “which may temp people to stare at the Sun through them”
refers to the eyeglasses.
(Horne et al., 2017:48).

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Substitution:

The second Grammatical cohesion present in the article is Substitution, which is when one
word is substituted for another, in order to avoid direct repetition.

In the sentence “Normally one is not tempted to stare at the Sun, the eye-blink reflex
normally prevents this. In this sentence, the words “to stare at the Sun” is substituted with
the word “this”. If the sentence was written as “Normally one is not tempted to stare at the
Sun, the eye-blink reflex normally prevents staring at the sun”, the sentence would have
been cluttered, and we would have unnecessarily repeated words. In writing the sentence
the first and original way, it is easier to read.

(Horne et al., 2017:48).

Conjunction:

This refers to using linking words to link sentences, but also to indicate how the items should
be linked.

In the sentence “Solar filters made of aluminized Mylar, which is a coated plastic, are very
popular and are available inexpensively”. The word “which” is used to link the two sentences.

(Horne et al., 2017:50).

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QUESTION 4

Identify and discuss the use of rhetorical devices in the creation of meaning in the above
passage.
(25)

In the above passage several rhetorical devices are used to create meaning.

The first rhetorical devices that can be seen in the passage is the use of Description and
Imagery.

Hitler makes use of this rhetorical device in the sentence “Once I stood amongst you. For
four and a half years of war I was in your midst. And through diligence, learning – and, I
have to say, hunger – I slowly worked my way up.” Description and Imagery is used because
Hitler describes what his life was like before this, and in doing this makes the listeners
imagine what his life was like.

An Anecdote can be defined as a short and interesting story taken from a past experience.
The above sentence also makes use of the rhetorical device Anecdote. The sentence tells
about a past experience, which in the context of the speech, is relatively interesting. The use
of this rhetorical device creates meaning within the passage, as the listeners can relate to
what Hitler is saying, as they share certain life experiences. They may also find the fact that
Hitler suffered the same way as them, particularly interesting, and this may make them more
willing to listen to his point of view.

By using the word “millions” the rhetorical device called Hyperbole is used. The use of
hyperbole means that exaggeration is used for effect. By exaggerating how many other
German workers there are, it creates the effect that a lot of workers are affected by the
speech. When a listener thinks that not a lot of people will be affected, they will not care as
much, because not a lot of worker’s life’s will be affected, but when it is thought that the
speech is directed to “millions” of people, the severity of the situation will be realised, and the
listeners will pay closely attention. This emphasises how important the meaning of the
speech is to the workers. The use of hyperbole is also evident in “greater right”, as Hitler is
emphasising that he has more right to do what he is doing than anyone else. This creates
meaning in the passage to justify why Hitler is doing what he is doing.

In using “the whole people” as hyperbole, Hitler is creating the effect that everyone, every
single man and every single woman is supporting him. This creates the effect that when one
person doesn’t support what Hitler is doing, he will feel that his feelings are wrong, as he
does not feel the same way as the others. This makes the audience more willing to support
Hitler’s views, as they do not want to feel left out.

(Horne et al., 2017:9).

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Horne, F., Zindela, N., Makoe, P., Thoka, B., Kekana, T., Chokwe, J. and
Ndlangamandla, C. (2017). Applied English Language Studies: Further exploration. 1st
ed. Pretoria: University of South Africa, p.34.
2. Horne, F., Zindela, N., Makoe, P., Thoka, B., Kekana, T., Chokwe, J. and
Ndlangamandla, C. (2017). Applied English Language Studies: Further exploration. 1st
ed. Pretoria: University of South Africa, p.9.
3. Kissnet, E. (2009). Teaching Text Structure. [online] Slideshare.net. Available
at: https://www.slideshare.net/elkissn/teaching-text-structure [Accessed 25
Mar. 2018].
4. Horne, F., Zindela, N., Makoe, P., Thoka, B., Kekana, T., Chokwe, J. and
Ndlangamandla, C. (2017). Applied English Language Studies: Further exploration. 1st
ed. Pretoria: University of South Africa, pp. 44
5. Horne, F., Zindela, N., Makoe, P., Thoka, B., Kekana, T., Chokwe, J. and
Ndlangamandla, C. (2017). Applied English Language Studies: Further exploration. 1st
ed. Pretoria: University of South Africa, pp. 45
6. Horne, F., Zindela, N., Makoe, P., Thoka, B., Kekana, T., Chokwe, J. and
Ndlangamandla, C. (2017). Applied English Language Studies: Further exploration. 1st
ed. Pretoria: University of South Africa, pp. 46
7. Horne, F., Zindela, N., Makoe, P., Thoka, B., Kekana, T., Chokwe, J. and
Ndlangamandla, C. (2017). Applied English Language Studies: Further exploration. 1st
ed. Pretoria: University of South Africa, pp. 48
8. Horne, F., Zindela, N., Makoe, P., Thoka, B., Kekana, T., Chokwe, J. and
Ndlangamandla, C. (2017). Applied English Language Studies: Further exploration. 1st
ed. Pretoria: University of South Africa, pp. 50
9. Horne, F., Zindela, N., Makoe, P., Thoka, B., Kekana, T., Chokwe, J. and
Ndlangamandla, C. (2017). Applied English Language Studies: Further exploration. 1st
ed. Pretoria: University of South Africa, p 9

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MARQUERETTE BEZUIDENHOUT: 61000671 ENG2601 ASSIGNMENT 1: UNIQUE NUMBER: 696158

DECLARATION REGARDING PLAGIARISM

NAME: Marquerette Bezuidenhout

STUDENT NUMBER: 61000671
ASSIGNMENT TOPIC: ENG2601 Assignment
ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: 2
UNIQUE ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: 696158

I declare that this assignment is my own original work. Where secondary material has
been used (either from a printed source or from the internet), this has been carefully
acknowledged and referenced in accordance with departmental requirements. I
understand what plagiarism is and am aware of the department’s policy in this regard. I
have not allowed anyone else to borrow or copy my work

Signature: M. Bezuidenhout
Date: 7 April 2018

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