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Problem pages
- 1. Problem Pages Rob, Georgina & Sophie.
- 2. Hypothesises O Problem pages have evolved over time as society has become more expressive of taboo issues. Such as: affairs, drug use and money issues. Henceforth, we expect to see the topics of the problem pages changing and becoming more freely expressed. The lexis has become more colloquial and the grammar more simplistic this overall has made the length more condensed, unlike with the 1930’s where language was more Latinate and more complex.
- 3. Similarities O Both of the texts will be anonymous. O Both have people who are seeking advice on a specific matter. O Both have a problem/solution format. O Both have a wide range of topics.
- 4. Differences O Now, the topics can be more taboo. O Now, people can get better help, as the advice given can be more targeted and specific due to how society has evolved. O Now, the language is more colloquial. O Now the sentences are more simplistic and less complex. O Back then the articles were more long winded due to the complexity of the sentences. O Now it is likely that a woman will be responding to these types of queries e.g. Dear Deidrie.
- 5. Methodology O After discussion, we decided that we would use a “Dear Graham” problem page. We chose this piece because he is a man and stereotypically today we think of an ‘Agony Aunt’. O We toiled with many ‘Dear Deirdre’s’ but because none of them had a date and we didn’t have a subscription to some websites, so we felt that “Dear Graham” was the best example as it met all of our criteria.
- 6. Comparison of the two articles O The overall qualitative impression is that the article from the 1930’s was more Latinate and polysyllabic considering its lexis. However, in contrast the Graham Norton one from 2010 was more colloquial and less complex in terms of sentence structure and vocabulary.
- 7. My Wife Is Uncultured-Can I Improve Her? O It is evident from this text that with the help of www.folk.uib.no/nfylk/concordle/ that the most commonly used words are pronouns such as “you”(3), “her”(3) and “she”(4). O One feature that was most intriguing was the use of words that may be considered archaic such as “wean”, “dross” and “attainments”.
- 9. Continuation… O A further point, was that the word “gay” has significantly changed its meaning in society. However, after the turn of the 20th century it declined in usage
- 11. Continuation… O It is also evident that this article is targeted towards a woman. O This deeply contrasts with the second article, which is about men.
- 12. Dear Graham Norton-My Husband Is Too Fat! O The words used most frequently again are pronouns such as, “him”(3), “he’s”(3) and “you”(2). Thus, so far nothing has changed. O However the other more frequently used words such as “ideas”, “take”, “school”, “pay” and “try” are all simple and monosyllabic.
- 16. Women in the 1930s O During WW1 women had to take up the role of men as their husbands went to war O When the men returned they retook their jobs meaning that only 1 in 10 married women worked in the 1930s O Women mainly worked in factories doing manual labour or fruit picking on farms
- 17. Divorce in the 1930s O Today 42% of marriages end in divorce. O After the 1858 marriage reform act divorce was too expensive and it wasn’t until 1921 that divorce started to become more common. O Divorce was seen as taboo and the woman in particular was often to blame
- 18. Conclusion O It is evident that writing has evolved over the decades. O Initially we expected language to be more Latinate in the 1930’s, but overall more complex now, due to society being more educated as a whole. O We expected there to be more colloquial phrases and jocularity in the more recent text.
- 19. Evaluation O We felt that the investigation went well but the topic of ‘Problem Pages’ had its issues *pun intended*. Some articles you had to subscribe to, some did not have dates and most only displayed the headlines and not the whole text. O To improve we would have needed access to more subscription websites such as www.thesun.co.uk. O Some texts had formatting problems which made analysis difficult.
- 20. Bibliography O www.googleimages.co.uk O www.buzfeed.com O www.tumblr.com O www.go.galegroup.com O www.photobucket.com O www.telegraph.co.uk O www.dailyedge.com O http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/timeline/1930.shtml O http://www.striking-women.org/module/women-and-work/inter-war-years- 1918-1939 O http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/divorces-in-england-and-wales/2010/stb- divorces-2010.html O https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/divorce-further- research.htm O http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/divorces-in-england-and-wales/2011/sty- what-percentage-of-marriages-end-in-divorce.html O http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03025/TELEGRAPH_MEDIA_PA_3 025365a.pdf
Editor's Notes
- After discussion, we decided that we would use a “Dear Graham” problem page. We chose this piece because he is a man and stereotypically today we think of an ‘Agony Aunt’. Thus, we felt that this could be used as a good comparison piece due to the differences between the two texts. We toiled with many ‘Dear Deirdre’s’ but because none of them had a date and we didn’t have a subscription to some websites we felt that “Dear Graham” was the best example as it met all of our criteria. Not only that but we found his pieces to be of a more serious nature rather than laughable situations. We also found that finding pieces was reasonably hard as some of the websites did not contain the whole articles, only the emboldened headlines. Thus, we had to only rely on pieces where the whole text was clearly legible and present.
- The overall qualitative impression is that the article from the 1930’s was more Latinate and polysyllabic considering its lexis. However, in contrast the Graham Norton one from 2010 was more colloquial and less complex in terms of sentence structure and vocabulary. Hence, suggesting that over the decades, the style of written language has changed profoundly, leading to a more simplistic way of communicating
- It is evident from this text that with the help of www.folk.uib.no/nfylk/concordle/ that the most commonly used words are pronouns such as “you”(3), “her”(3) and “she”(4). However, the word “literature” was also a commonly used word. One feature that was most intriguing was the use of words that may be considered archaic such as “wean”, “dross” and “attainments”. Thus, suggesting that language has changed and now these words have almost been omitted from our current language in replacement of something else.
- Before, when this article was written in the 1930’s it was considered to mean light-hearted and care free. Whereas now it is considered to be to an extent an insult as it depicts a person, preferably a man who is homosexual. This does prove to be an interesting subject as in the 1930’s the term “gay” was recognised and it was known as the meaning we know now, however after the turn of the 20th century it declined in usage, possibly due to the fact the meaning of the word was changing significantly.
- This shows the usage of a selection of different words (nouns, adjectives) that were chosen from the 1930’s text “My Wife Is Uncultured-Can I Improve Her?” It is interesting as you can clearly see that the words “attainment” and “cultivate” are mostly considered archaic now, as not many people use them. In contrast the noun/adjective depending on use, “gay” has become more frequently used due to the awareness of ‘gay rights’ over the last 30 years.
- Could this be that men expected more of women? Or could it be that men held more power in society and that women were more likely to obey their partners? This deeply contrasts with the second article, which is about men. It criticises men and this shows that women may have more power now than they did in the 1930’s as it was still a ‘male dominated’ world when compared to now.
- This article overall is more colloquial, however in terms of pronoun use, not much has changed over the decades. However the other more frequently used words such as “ideas”, “take”, “school”, “pay” and “try” are all simple and monosyllabic. Thus, suggesting that our style of communicating through written language is more simplistic and less complex when compared to the 1930’s.
- It is clear to see that the noun “school” has drastically improved in popularity since after 1900 due to the fact more people were becoming aware of education. This could also be because there are now different types of schools and with a developing country after the death of Queen Victoria, society realized how imperative education was for the future of the next generation.
- Sentence length is decreasing, this could suggest that people are more direct now, use less euphemisms and archaic phrases. Could also show that our language is more simple. The Gunning Fog Index has decreased which supports that our lexis is less complex now, when compared to the 1930’s. This could suggest that the readers are less educated now or that the people who write in are less educated now as society must be aware that these articles are not taken seriously. Furthermore, this suggests the reason why there is a comedian answering the question, as it is a humorous article. The average syllabus length has also decreased which shows that we must be using less Latinate words when writing when compared to the 1930’s. Language has become more colloquial and simplistic, to fit our lifestyle.
- The average number of words used has decreased. This could be because the audience who write in and read the articles have a busy life and do not have the time to write long, laborious questions. Also that the publishers have to pay more per word in the magazines, so questions and answers must be short and snappy.
- However due to formatting restrictions this limits the amount of words that can be used, which is why the 1930’s article was more long-winded and contained more babble. We expected there to be more taboo and comedic phrases in the more recent text, due to the idea that these ‘problem pages’ now, are predominantly used to entertain. Rather than a serious issue.