A
critique of plain style in daily life
The plain style has just as much
practical use as the official style, owning to the ease of its communication method. Whereas the official style labors to obscure
details through complex sentence structure and syntax, the plain style by
contrast works to provide as much information as possible using almost the
complete opposite structure. In doing
so, it becomes the perfect medium to report and comment on current events and
pop culture phenomena.
In scrutinizing an example of plain
style, I selected an article on a completely frivolous topic; the “controversy”
surrounding the decision of Vogue magazine to place Kanye West, a music
entrepreneur and performer, and his fiancée Kim Kardashian of reality
television fame on its cover. The
article, entitled “Will Kim and Kanye kill Vogue?” was written by Keli Goff and published on the
Daily Beast website under the heading of Entertainment. The Daily Beast is a
website founded in 2008 with the goal of providing “breaking news and sharp
commentary” and attracts nearly 15 million unique visitors each month,
according to the website.
The author, Keli Goff, writes for a
number of different web forums, including The Washington Post, The Root and the
Huffington Post. By contributing to a
variety of news sources, the author must be conscious of writing to appease the
varieties in audiences for each website. At the same time, articles published on the
internet have spectators that cannot be foreseen by the author. While this may
not be a conscious factor in using elements of the plain style, the wideness of
the article’s potential readership make it imperative that the language used be
both descriptive and plain to paint the best picture and entice reader to
peruse this particular article rather than a dozen others on the same
topic. In using the plain style, the
author is expanding the audience by allowing people of all educational
backgrounds to participate in the communication process by reading the article.
As an activity system the article
sets and achieves strange goals. The
goal of the article is to express criticism of a rival publication, Vogue Magazine.
The Daily Beast website is not only seeking to inform its loyal readership of a
story that is being discussed at large in pop culture, but to provide a
commentary on the situation. By
mentioning Vogue, Kanye and Kim, the article also draws in fans of Vogue
magazine, fans or detractors of either Kim or Kanye, and those who don’t
understand the issue or who the players in the situation are but are drawn to
the level of discourse the state of affairs has created in the larger societal
discussion. This allows the Daily Beast
as well as Goff to expand their audience to those that would not normally be
inclined to frequent the writings of either. Because the placement of Kim and
Kanye is a contentious issue, the article additionally draws in both devotees and
detractors who would not have had exposure to the site or the author in any
other manner.
The writing of the piece is over-all
simple. The Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease
test provided as score of 66.3 which means it is best understood by students
between the ages of 13 and 15.
Predictably, the article also received a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of
7.4, with the average grade level achieved only eighth grade when factoring in
all of the various measures. This is yet
again a reflection of the extent to which the article must strive to appeal to
the greatest number of readers. In
addition, this is neither a scholarly article nor topic so the plain style is
the best manner to convey the ideas of the article.
One of the key ideas expressed by
the piece is the far reaching lack of popularity of this cover decision, and
the number of people who feel compelled to say so in a public forum. Most of
these opinions are direct quotes from Twitter so they are by their nature plain
language owning the character limit. The use of Twitter also incorporates an additional
activity system; the newly relevant social media site. Without Twitter, there
would be no opportunity create and fan the flames of this hullabaloo. The 140 character limit enforced by Twitter
creates an almost obvious need to use plain style as is a waste of the limited
space to communicate in anything other than plain style.
While this article highlights what
may be considered a shallow topic, it does address interesting concerns in the
entertainment world. It is highlighting
a caste system when viewing various celebrities and their place in providing
entertainment. Kim Kardashian, as a reality star hungry for fame, is not
considered a fashion icon. Vogue
magazine is a holy relic to many who view fashion as a serious enterprise. By
placing her on the cover this magazine, and the additional gossip that exists
regarding how the decision was made, those who regularly participate in the
activity system that is Vogue magazine feel both insulted and betrayed. This
also accounts for the level of vehemence associated with the Twitter rants against
the cover.
When looking at the plain style in
everyday life, it lends itself most readily to the story of the day type of reporting:
an informative piece of writing that chronicles either facts or opinions that
are presented as facts. In our fast past
culture, the plain style provides the important job of proving information
without commentary and allows news and opinions to be presented in an easy to
understand manner that is quick and accessible for the largest possible
audience.
