Analysis

The text we are looking at is a text taken from wheretostay.com. It is an overview of a touristic place. This is explicitly said in the text: "overview:" "why (to choose) Antigua and Barbuda". This shows us it is trying to convince the audience to go to this place, by giving information about the place.

Which is the audience that is trying to convince? The same as any other reference webpage: just any person who is looking for a place to go on vacation. This is shown in the links it shows, showing things to do and photos of the place. This elements are meant to give all the information possible about the place to convince this people.

This is, obviously, a non-fiction text, as it gives real information about a real place at a real time; this needs no longer explanation.

The piece shows good aspects of Antigua and highlights the bad things of Barbuda. This content is meant to make Antigua look better in contrast. "[Antigua] fascinating, must-see historical site called..." "[Barbuda] is wild, wooly and barely inhabited [...] (a little airstrip) consists of one tiny cement block structure". The reason for giving contrast is that after looking at a little thing, middle things look big.

The use of specific language is an example of the formality added to the text. We see this in phrases like "visitors of many stripes [...] choices are varied [...] undulating fields [...] winding roads...". The effect of this words in the text is that it makes it look more professional and serious. More than just a referential text, a real information article.

The lack of informal features is something to be expected, as any informal phrases could make possible consumers think that this article has poor seriousness and could be written by anybody.

The rethorical devices used also help to archieve this objective of giving seriousness to the text. Hyperboles like "nation's better known hotels, the largest and most developed tourist destination, etc" gives the author the idea of something huge and amazing; what the author is trying to get into the reader's mind.

The author uses separated information in each paragraph. We can see this just at seeing how do they start: "Islanders claim their home has... The long reach of the british empire... Barbuda, the smaller island... The most popular attraction.... Among but a handful of hotels....". Easy understanding is the effect that this causes. In fact, he points out ideas of interest and makes the article entertaining, avoiding at all costs being monotone and boring, keeping the eyes of the reader in the piece.

The author describes each place exposing all the good and positive things and hides negative ones. There isn's evidence in the text of insects that are there, criminality, political or economic present problems, prices.... Through language, the author creates the image of the perfect location for a vacation. After doing this, he shows the reality of the twin island, and after this he returns to the main island. This deviation is meant to take the mind of the author to another place showing a different reality. The bad things of a place where the reader isn't going, adding another good aspect to Antigua: it isn't barbuda.

In conclusion, the piece of text tries to add all the formal, artistic and contrasting effects to make the text more convincing. People reading this article are convinced that this is a formal, realistic and confident source of information to follow, but the lack of negative aspects and the absence of a "pros and cons" paragraph is really suspicious. Personally, I think this kind of text should be found in the webpage of a local hotel and wouldn't be weird as they need to bring people to themselves, but that its location is in an "objective" webpage that is informing about different places to go, is not correct at all.

Activity

1. What is Harold Laswell’s Chain of Communication’s Model?
2. What does the theorist Marshall McLuhan’s mean by stating that “the Medium is the Message”?
3. Refer to Jurgen Habermas’ “Public Sphere as a Platform for Advertising”
4. What is the connection between Self-Presentation & the Celebrity Image?

1. A graphic description of how does the media affects us and gets to do this
2. Using a cetain medium "like the newspaper v/s internet" you can archieve different things, and the author will use the one that fits it more.
3. People share their ideas. If the ideas of someone important are being shared seriously, people get convinced by this person. Also, industries owners can hear what people need, in order to create it and sell.
4. Ads create the idea that for example women need to be slim and beautifull in order to be succesfull

Image comment

This image its a reflexive image. All we know about the world we live in is brought to you by the televition, internet, or news. All of this is presented by big companies that control the information, and decide what to put on their articles and what to don't. This way, they can "control" what you know.

Activity page 188

1. Its adding sense  to what he is doing. Makes it look stronger and easier to understand.

2. By doing this he gives contrast and gives more strength to his arguments.

3.  Uses examples, adds emphasis to his ideas. By using "and", he gives continuity and convinces more.

4. After the examples. He uses this to add the effect of people feeling identified by what he is saying.

FOA Analysis

My task was about the aspects from the language used in advertisement and how the images and hidden messages make us know things.

Title of Work/Text	Author	Text Type
Bernardo Cienfuegos	Bernardo Cienfuegos	Interview

    Aims of the task: My main objective was to show that advertisement can give persuading messages that create necessities for people through hidden images and well picked words. Also, to understand how a simple advertisement need to work.

    The success in understanding this was archived. The psychological and visual effects from ads were exposed and explained through clear examples and explanations. Some ads had their hidden elements analyzed and their way of working was exposed.
   Of course, the language used in the presentation was formal and was used to show and explain how language is used in ads.

Analyzing an ad

Advertisement puts a lot of effort in convincing people to buy products. Which strategies are used by graphic designers to attract people's attention?

Problem and Benefit: The piece of ad will propose you a problem that you didn't had before hearing at the ad, and will offer a solution.


Bandwagon effect: Use something that people like to do, and use it to build an ad. For example: for a cinema, the slogan being "wanna see a movie?", for a restaurant "eat good", that kind of things.


Testimonials: Using people recomending the product. Ex: Dentists recommending a dental paste or a tooth brush.


Celebrities: Using famous people in the ad to enchant the reality of the product and make people subliminally think they will be as good as the person they are looking at if they buy the product.


Association: Link two things, the product and something people like.

Register and Style

This two items are contained in how two people from different places speak.

Register: Formal or informal, would determine if you are talking formally to a superior, your boss, your teacher, etc. Will be informal if the person you are talking to is at your "same level", like your best friend, your brother, etc.

Style: every person has its own way of saying things, his own choices of words for each situation, etc. This is called style.