Froggy Mary

“Froggy Mary’s green face was just as yours when you are drinking sour milk, which was under the sun during weeks: her toothless mouth was always open and let its tongue to escape, catching flies of every sizes; her glassy eyes were like tennis balls and stared at you as if you were an especially succulent insect, about to be eaten by her; there were membranes between her fingers; and do you think that is all? No way! She was bold! Just like a frog, a bold frog! She lived in a hut next to a muddy swamp with her froggy parents and froggy brothers and sisters, who seemed also like toothless, glassy-eyed, webbed-fingered, bold frogs. Even though Froggy Mary’s appearance was disgusting, her depths were golden, just like the crown she would wear afterwards: she took care of her little froggy brothers and sisters, grinded flies to feed them, and defend them against cruel children croaking at them «¡Let my little frogs alone, you pretty jerks!» Froggy Mary helped her froggy dad to sweep the swamp mud and her froggy mother to make false hair to hide their boldness. But Froggy Mary did not even suspect what future had arranged for her”.  

The effect caused by the use of different sentences: simple, compound and complex, and its moods, makes reading more attractive as words are structured depending on what they are trying to communicate: a description in this specific case. Then that is why declarative sentences are essential, to introduce facts about Froggy Mary’s appearance and family. Sentences moods may show doubt or be rhetoric devices, such as interrogative ones; express surprise or give a command, as exclamatory and imperative sentences do, respectively. These are not effects achieved using just words, it is necessary also to use the graphical marks inherent to each of those.

The Canterville Ghost's Grammar and Syntax analysis

Introduction

• Oscar Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish writer, playwright and poet, from Victorian age.
• The Canterville Ghost was written by Oscar Wilde and published by first time in February 1887, in the magazine The Court and Society Review.
• He became one of the London’s most popular playwrights in 1890s.
• The Canterville Ghost tells the story of an American family, the Otis, who buy Canterville Chase an old haunted castle where its first owner’s phantom remains.
• The grammar and syntax analysis of this short story, The Canterville Ghost, will be based on its fifth chapter, when the first encounter between Sir Simon and Victoria Otis, is produced. The text was taken from Short Stories, Oscar Wilde, adapted by Paolo Bertinetti and Brian Hodgkiss, from Black Cat editorials.

The Canterville Ghost, Fifth Chapter



The Canterville Ghost



A few days after this, Virginia and her curly-haired cavalier went out riding on Brockley meadows, where she tore her habit so badly in getting through a hedge, that, on their return home, she made up her mind to go up by the back staircase so as not to be seen. As she was running past the Tapestry Chamber, the door of which happened to be open, she fancied she saw some one inside, and thinking it was her mother's maid, who sometimes used to bring her work there, looked in to ask her to mend her habit. To her immense surprise, however, it was the Canterville Ghost himself! He was sitting by the window, watching the ruined gold of the yellowing trees fly through the air, and the red leaves dancing madly down the long avenue. His head was leaning on his hand, and his whole attitude was one of extreme depression. Indeed, so forlorn, and so much out of repair did he look, that little Virginia, whose first idea had been to run away and lock herself in her room, was filled with pity, and determined to try and comfort him. So light was her footfall, and so deep his melancholy, that he was not aware of her presence till she spoke to him. 'I am so sorry for you,' she said, 'but my brothers are going back to Eton tomorrow, and then, if you behave yourself, no one will annoy you.'

New technology texts

Here is presented a mind-map that summarize the main kinds and features of new technology texts:

 

E-Text analysis

Text C 

">>JillyB<JillyB@postchat.co.uk wrote:
>>>how have the holydays been treating everyone?
>>>lots of lounging about I trust.

Jimbo@postchat.co.uk
>>Lounging and som blowing-of-the-gift-money shopping today. And
>>I don't have to be back at work until January 5!

Geoff<Geoff@postcht.co.uk wrote:
>I am doing the very same! I got a new BOOK! Off to read it!
>Jimbo, what day you wanna hang out? Tues, Wed or Thurs? Not free Fri or Sat or Sun!!!"

In the text, many features common to new technology texts are illustrated, such as the use of capital letters and exclamation marks to emphasize the message which the author is trying to communicate. Geoff wrote, through his e-mail direction: "I am doing the very same! I got a new BOOK!" As Geoff use those prosodic spellings, his exciment is graphically shown, trying to manifest the way he would say the same if he were talking with someone personally. Capital letters make a word written with those, to highlight between the others.

 The abbreviation of words, also a common characteristic of media texts, is presented through the next passage: "Tues, Wed or Thurs? Not free Fri or Sat or Sun!" These abbreviations are used in e-mails and mobile phones text messages; in this case they point to days of the week, instead of saying Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...

The use of contraction, in phonetic spelling, in our daily life is represented in the next quotes: "What day you wanna hang out?" and "I don't have to be back at work until January 5!" In the first case Geoff tries to produce the sound of the oral combination between words want and to, with the contraction "wanna". The auxiliary verb do, is missing, then grammar is not use in a proper way. In the second one, Jimbo combines words do and not, whose contraction is don't.

As a conclusion, there is a non standard way of writing trough these new media texts promoted by new technologies, due to the use of the features that characterize those: capital letters, exclamation marks, abbreviation and contraction of words. Even though, there is carelessness for the proper use of grammatical elements (such as syntax) this emerging way of writing is useful if you want to communicate a message fastly and put a bit of expression on it.

Shaina Pali dies at Berlin Zoo, two weeks after Knut

 

Shaina Pali

Shaina Pali, a six-year-old Indian elephant, became the second young animal dead in two weeks after the sudden death of the most famous polar bear, Knut. Then is reasonable to ask, are keepers from Berlin Zoo taking care of the animals on their charge properly? Apparently, they are not.

Elephants in captivity live up eighty years, but Shaina’s exceptionally premature death was attributed to a herpes infection. However, as African elephants were not affected by these diseases, Andreas Ochs, the Berlin Zoo veterinary, refused the possibility of them affecting the Indian ones. Unfortunately, Shaina was who had to pay this negligence.

Since 1998, Berlin Zoo has already lost two elephants due to the same herpes infection: Kiba and Kiri, his offspring. Even though, there are seven remaining elephants, Ochs states there is no possibility of another unexpected death among any of them.

A necropsy practiced to Knut showed it was suffering from encephalitis, a pathology originated by an indeterminated infection, which may relate Shaina’s death with Knut’s, even there are necessary more exams. Definitely, Berlin Zoo requires a more effective supervision from Government, to avoid these fatal circumstances.

Bias

News Title

How safe are nuclear reactors in U.S.?

Source
http://video.foxnews.com/

Main points:

·        United States is concerned about its nuclear reactors by the events in Japan

·        Radiation reaches highest rate yet near Japan nuclear plant.

·        Test suggests radioactive water is leaking into the sea.

·        More than 90 nuclear reactors are located in the east of U.S.

Bias detected:

·        Maria Korsnick, omitted that U.S. is the country with more nuclear reactors of the world, and a nuclear problem in US would occasion a huge disaster.

·        Maria Korsnick stated that U.S. is prepared to affront a nuclear disaster, but really we can’t affirm this, because the reaction of the people is unpredictable, so it’s just a point of view.

·        When Maria Korsnick says: “I feel very strongly we would pass regular tests”, that’s also a point of view: to be optimist.

·        The image showed in the video is also a bias.