Analysis

The reflective piece “The Tertiary Experience,” entails a flashback of my

Grandfather Joe and how his college experience was. He found the best way to do
this was by telling it in a form of a story because it would be more interesting and
it would allow the reader to somewhat place themselves in this scenario. The
tertiary experience was written using rhetorical questions, and descriptive imagery
as the language registers.
Registers refer to a unique tone or style used in literary work. It is a perceived
attitude and level of formalities associated with the different varieties of language.
They can scale from formal to informal. In face-to-face communication, the
listener can quickly deduce the speaker's attitude by observing the speaker's tone of
voice, facial expressions, and overall body language. This is impossible to achieve
in writing. To transmit or disguise attitudes, the writer must use specific aspects of
discourse. It is then up to the reader to assess the writer's attitude, tone, and
formality level accurately. Throughout the story, it can clearly be seen how much
of a learning experience it can be going to college and that it’s not only about
doing school work all the time but also a place to make friends and partake in
many events. It can also be a problem for some persons as it can also be seen that
person could not attend college because of financial issues which is the issue most
persons tend to face. There were also some cases of Dialect variation as some of
Joe’s friends were of different nationalities.
In conclusion, the writer has clearly defined his objective in delivering the
information about whether Tertiary education is a blessing or a curse. And also that
language registers and dialects were effectively used throughout the reflective
piece.