The PB&J of Sports News

Dana O’Neil’s article for ESPN.com on Kevin Ware’s injury is a strong showcase of plain style because the story is simplifying a very complex injury and situation. The article could have used much medical jargon, or described the injury in vivid detail, but didn’t. I would argue the plain style is used for this wide ranged audience because of the ESPN activity system, which is owned by Disney.

Though some of the sentences may seem longer in Dana O’Neil’s article. The syntactical structures of many of her sentences are simplistic to follow and use the rhetorical devices of clarity to get her point across. The article is about Kevin Ware’s brutal injury that took place during Louisville’s game on Easter Sunday. Anyone that has seen the replay video, knows that the description of how Ware’s injury took place could be describe in a multitude of ways. Even the descriptions that were more detailed in O’Neil’s article were still clear and to the point. It was actually impressive to see that the readability was so low for a story that could have been filled with medical jargon or even diction that was on a higher reading level. The average grade level for O’Neil’s article was a sixth grade reading level in comparison to the national average of seven. ESPN does this because it believes in a family friendly product for its audience because of the nature established by Disney.

I personally thought O’Neil did a good job of utilizing short answer quotes that got the message across well. I feel that’s something many journalistic writers attempt to incorporate into their pieces because space and time at a minimum for how many sports stories get published on ESPN.com. Not mention the audience of mostly males, who in general are probably going to simply watch the video rather than read the article. This male audience can range anywhere from ten year olds to elderly men toward the end of their life. Such a wide range can make writing difficult for articles like this because you have a population that includes children that can be less comprehensive to a particular story like this. I think it’s interesting that the sentences may be longer unlike the plain style, but in fact are very easy to follow and usually in a chronological order. Or in a way that provides descriptive roles the person follows and creates develops disinctio. The syntax though for many of these longer sentences used many comas, which creates a slower pace and is a form of parallelism. ESPN chooses to lower the article’s reading level for this particular story to relate to the number of families watching the game on Easter. If the story becomes too creative or presents too much jargon, then the younger audience is excluded and wouldn’t understand the event that took place. Plus the story is uplifting, which coincides with the Disney and ESPN motto of “a happily ever after” or at least potentially.

Journalism also uses metabasis, and does so very well in O’Neil’s article. It states the message of most importance and tells the less important details toward the end. The article isn’t about the outcome of a game so the concrete statistics aren’t present like in other sports news articles, but even the time in between when Ware’s mother saw the injury to when he called her and told her not to worry is mentioned. There is little to no ambiguity present and every sentence is made to get the point across to the audience. The only question I have is whether or not these types of things are done because they know they have a wide range of education level for their audience? Where do you draw the line to exclude a certain age group or insult a higher reading level?

I feel ESPN does this to not necessarily insult, but to simplify for a young audience that viewed the incident seeing that the game took place on Easter. A holiday associated with family and spending it with them. The game was seen on CBS too, and after the incident CBS even refused to show the replay because of the large national audience. Parents don’t want their kids seeing something as gruesome as that, and it is understandable for ESPN to keep the situation on a positive note rather than scaring a potentially younger audience.

I also think the use of a simple quote as a title for the article embodies plain style in so many ways. The readability average grade level score for this article was a six point one, which is lower than the seventh grade reading level for the average American. The average words per sentence were close to thirteen, but the simplicity behind each word was what really brought down the score. Not to mention the he said she said quotation that goes into sporting news stories and makes things easy to follow.

I notice too, the writing at the beginning of the article is statements rather than quotes and uses the quotes to reemphasize the statement, but not necessarily use repetition. I’d like to say it’s a form of analogy that caters to the original statement. Journalistic use of active voice is very much present too, and lets the reader know exactly who said what or did to the other person. The article also uses no medical jargon, which is a surprise for such a brutal injury. There could have been numerous locations to discuss the specifics of the surgery in language that would or could be at a higher reading level.


The plain style is definitely present in O’Neil’s article. The article maybe not the perfect model for plain style, but surely close in terms of getting the point across and utilizing a wide array of plain style rhetorical devices. The activity system of ESPN being a source of the story played a role in the use of plain style because Disney, which promotes a family experience when it comes to sports, owns ESPN. O’Neil follows this activity system and portrays the plain style for the most part, and I’m sure Lanham would be proud.






-Scott Schell

CNN: An Unbiased Beacon of Light in a Dark World of Blandish

            Same-sex marriage is a controversial topic that has grabbed everyone’s interest over the past few years.  The Supreme Court has recently heard arguments over the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which states that legally married same-sex couples cannot enjoy the same financial and other benefits that their heterosexual couple counterparts can, in the case United States v. Windsor.  This case has been equated to Brown v. Board of Education, as a modern day trial on social inequalities.  Many have demanded for a positive change for homosexuals, but others are still set in their ways and believe that allowing gays the same rights that heterosexuals are entitled to would be blasphemy.  Numerous texts have been written on this subject, particularly recently as it has become the center social issue.  I have chosen to review an article from CNN.com on the subject in the light of the Plain Style to examine how it acts within its activity system.

            Same-sex marriage has been written about in an immeasurable amount of contexts.  Government documents written in the official style, the bible written in the creative style, among many others, all try to extract some type of truth as to how to answer this present what type of morality and legal approaches should be ensued.  The article “Same-Sex marriage and DOMA: 5 things we learned from oral arguments” by Bill Mears the CNN Supreme Court Producer, tries to offer some explanation to all of the arguments in a way that is very reader-friendly.  It appeared on the website on March 28, 2013.  Similarly to the topic of abortion, virtually every person has a hard-set opinion on gay rights.   Today it is largely accepted that a person is born gay, it is not a choice that they make.  With that being the case, gay rights affect the young and the old, the politically active and the more reserved, the gay and the straight.  With this amount of people interested in the topic, the activity system for the article is quite large. 

It is a commonly accepted fact that no news source is without its biases.  It is near impossible to write on current events without expressing some individual opinion, whether intentionally or not.  FOX News is considered overwhelmingly conservative, a machine for right-wing propaganda.  Many democratic politicians have boycotted FOX sponsored events.  In 2007, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, and John Edwards dropped out of FOX News-hosted presidential debates resulting in them having to be cancelled. MSNBC is on the other end of the spectrum, and is considered to have a liberal bias.  Republicans own the majority of news outlets so some people consider the idea of liberal-biased news to be bit of joke because of mass is deferential to Republicans.  Even so, MSNBC presents itself on a left-leaning stance and promotes Democratic values.  It was obvious in the 2012 presidential campaign that Obama was shown in a positive light while Romney was shown negatively.  One red-hot dispute occurred in 2009 when photo shopped pictures were used of Sarah Palin in promotion of her book.  MSNBC later apologized but it goes to show how filthy news outlets can fight in promotion of their ideals.  CNN is considered to be one of, if not the most, unbiased sources for news although it is leaning more towards the left.  It of course has a political agenda like any other news source however it makes a full effort to be moderate.  It is a front-runner in international news as well as national and is considered to be credible.  I will be demonstrating how “Same-Sex marriage and DOMA: 5 things we learned from oral arguments” is presented in an unbiased nature.

The article does not reveal any sense of trying to persuade the reader’s opinion in one way or another on if same-sex marriage is “good.”  Its goal is not to boast one side of the argument over the other but to rather inform the reader of the current situation within the courtroom.  The term “same-sex” marriage is used instead of “gays” or “homosexuals.”  The word “gay” has seen a whirlwind of changes in connotation.  The LGBT community has tried to reclaim the word in recent years from being used as a playground word for something that is unpleasant and vile to a term that is more of a demonstration of pride for one’s sexual orientation.  This new, proud, connotation is relatively liberal.  “Homosexual” however is used in a more conservative sense.  By using “same-sex” instead of the other two options, the article is able to convey a sense of being unbiased.  This is done in the hopes of appealing to a larger activity system.

            The average American does not have time to keep up on every government or social issue as thoroughly as they would like to so they look to social media and online databases for a quick synopsis of current issues instead.  A mother may look at this article in between dropping off and picking up their child from soccer practice.  Or perhaps a high school student whom is fighting the idea within himself if he could possibly be gay.  Whatever the case, any person in America with access to a computer could be compelled to read this article.  The group who would be reading this is a bit smaller then America though.  CNN readers are people who want the least biased report possible, as I discussed it in relation with other news sources.  People who access news from the web tend to be in their mid twenties to forties.  The comments on the news article reflected this idea and also showed the range of opinions on the subject.  They follow norms of civil manor; I did not detect any arbitrary personal attacks by one commenter on another.  This reflects the idea that the readers have some sort of education as it takes educated and mature people to have a civilized discussion about such a heated topic without resulting to harsh language and arbitrary insults.  I have listed two very opinionated comments that demonstrate the type of person to read this article:

The video placed at the head of the article also gives insight into the specific type of person who would continue on to read it.  It is taken from the CNN show “The Situation Room.”  “The Situation Room” is a modern way of presenting the news.  As FOX News and talk radio broke the mold CNN developed new, more upbeat ways to inform viewers.  The show gives a very laid back vibe with the host and his guests standing around a table discussing the events.  Furthermore, the ticker on the bottom of the screen lists a news story about Justin Bieber.  These attributes indicate a targeted younger audience.  The elderly crowd presumably prefers the news that they are used to that is styled in much more of a professional manner.  The mediating artifact supports my hypothesis that primarily 25 to 40 year olds hoping to gain a glimpse into modern news coverage view this article.  This is still considered to be a huge audience.  With such a large activity system appealing to such a diverse crowd, the article must act in an oversimplified, accessible way.  The easiest approach in doing so: the Plain Style.

            The Plain Style is characterized as being the most clear and straightforward style to write in.  It can be found everywhere: job manuals, medical information, bus schedules.  Journalism and news reporting generally embody most of the characteristics.  The article “Same-sex marriage and DOMA: 5 things we learned from oral arguments” proves that it will follow the Plain Style guidelines right off the bat in its visually appealing style.  The paragraphs are quite short, only two or three sentences, and the points of the article are represented in a list form.  The “5 things we learned” are indeed listed one through five.  According to a readability calculator, the average words per sentence are 15.6.  The Plain Style promotes short, less complex sentences.  While these sentences aren’t overtly short, the ideas within are still simple, and made even more understandable through smart use of commas.

            The article proves itself to be credible through the use of quotes.  By quoting the speaker of the House and justices of republican and democrat points of view, the author establishes his credibility by not promoting his preconceived notions of which party is right and demonstrating proof on the subject.  The author does quote Chief Justice John Roberts on his argument that President Obama has overstepped his bounds by declaring DOMA unconstitutional and refusing to have the Department of Justice defend it.  Instead, the House Counsel is.  The Chief Justice is indeed accurate in his point that it is not up to the Executive branch to decide what laws the Congress has put into place are constitutional or not, that is the Judicial branch’s duty.  This is a very moderate point to make for a news agency that is supposedly extensively pro-Obama but then again the author understands that if readers wanted a biased, left or right leaning analysis of what is going on they would read an article from FOX or MSNBC.  The author fully understands his position at CNN as a representative of the moderate and works to account the recent events in an unbiased, yet informative way.

            An active voice is used in order to articulate clearly what the facts of the article are.  Some solid examples I found were, “Wednesday’s memorable remarks came from Justice Elena Kagan,” “Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia have been known to dominate especially high-profile debates,” and “He pointed out.”  By identifying the doer of the action, the sentence becomes clearer and more emphatic.  The entire article is written in this way, there is no questioning what exactly is being said or the making of verbs into nouns supported by the to-be verb as there would be in the Official Style.  The Official Style also boasts speaking in the third-person whereas the Plain Style supports the more understandable and identifiable first and second persons.  In the introduction of this piece the author writes, “Here are five things we learned from arguments in this case.”  By using we (the first-person) the readers find themselves more easily associating with what is written and thus feel a bigger impact. 

Having the reader understand what is written is the most important key, even if that means oversimplifying the text.  An example of oversimplification comes at the beginning of the article.

A simile is a tool that is common to the Creative Style but in its use here it is an effective way of illustrating to the reader exactly what is being said.  However, the use of this metaphor is almost insulting to the reader because of how sophomoric it sounds.  The motive behind the activity system is to be educated on this important social issue, not to be patronized with allusions of a picky child.  The Supreme Court’s decision on this case is likely to hold for a substantial number of years.  Once the Court makes a decision on a controversial and widely publicized issue they do not typically revisit it until the dust has settled many years later.  A whole community of peoples lives could be extensively changed, the legal binding of the culminating point in two peoples love could become a possibility for all or the idea could be stripped away.  DOMA and Prop 8 are very real issues that are being discussed and to equate them to a picky eater is to take away some of the magnitude of the situation.  This opening statement may justifiably insult the activity system that includes gays and their allies. 

            The reader must also question what was left out of the article in the thoughts of sparing them from being overwhelmed by a technical standpoint.  It is clear that no jargon of the law area is used.  This was smart on part of the author because the activity system includes so many divisions of labor and to assume that extensive terminology is common by all would be presumptuous to say the least.  The largest, most technical word used in the whole article is “adjudicated,” and even most adults can figure the meaning in the context.  The end of the article gives the reader an idea of what is to come next in the process of the court, all of which can be explained in very technical ways with specific jargon, however it spells out step by step what will happen using very simple language.

            This article gives you a clear sense of what is happening in the law world of same-sex marriage and gay rights.  If someone tried to deduce the current state of affairs from lawyers’ notes or had waited until the Court’s official opinion, they would be mystified as to what was going on.  CNN offers their audience a leisurely way to keep up with current affairs through their well-executed use of the Plain Style in an unbiased way.

By: Erin Perry

Plain Style: A Small, Good Thing, or Something Else?

Raymond Carver’s short stories are often written in the Plain Style, simple sentence format. His work appears not only to be an economy of words, but also an economy of clarity and conciseness. In an interview with The Paris Review, Carver said, “If the first draft of the story is forty pages long, it’ll usually be half that by the time I’m finished with it. And it’s not just a question of taking out or bringing it down. I take out a lot, but I also add things and then add some more and take out some more. It’s something I love to do, putting words in and taking words out”. Carver is not aiming to create a simple, easy to follow instructional manual for his readers – he’s creating fictional works which are read by a variety of individuals. I focused on the story, “A Small, Good Thing,” which has a Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease of 91.2, and an average Readability Grade Level of 4.3 (or readable by someone in the fourth grade). But with such a low readability score, it becomes important to ask whether Carver’s story is really that simple. Does Carver use the Plain Style to simplify a story, or does he skillfully use the simple language of the style to create the illusion of a simple story that is layered with meaning?

The following excerpt is a paragraph from the story which exhibits the Plain Style:

She pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wheel for a minute. She listened to the ticking sounds the engine made as it began to cool. Then she got out of the car. She could hear the dog barking inside the house. She went to the front door, which was unlocked. She went inside and turned on lights and put on a kettle of water for tea. She opened some dog food and fed Slug on the back porch. The dog ate in hungry little smacks. It kept running into the kitchen to see that she was going to stay. As she sat down on the sofa with her tea, the telephone rang.

“She pulled into the driveway and cut the engine,” gets straight to the point, it isn’t complex at all. She, being known, is the character Anne, who pulls into the driveway. Two sentences are combined through coordination, and both are equally straightforward. The “who kicks whom” of the Plain Style is clearly at work. The rest of the paragraph follows a similar pattern. “She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wheel for a minute.” It takes an active voice, even though it occurs in the past tense. “She listened to the ticking sounds the engine made as it began to cool.” There isn’t any jargon present; she simply hears ticking sounds, but she does not jump to a complex mechanical conclusion. The engine is simply beginning to cool. Furthermore, there is something else present, a staccato that is built through parallelism that puts Anne as the focal point of the paragraph.

I have no delusions that a fourth grader would not be able to understand and read the above paragraph fluidly. The reading level is appropriate for the content, but it isn’t necessarily appropriate for comprehension of the underlying meaning of the story. The paragraph echoes an earlier section of the story, when Anne’s husband returns home.

He pulled into the driveway and parked. His left leg began to tremble. He sat in the car for a minute and tried to deal with the present situation in a rational manner. Scotty had been hit by a car and was in the hospital, but he was going to be all right. Howard closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face. He got out of the car and went up to the front door. The dog was barking inside the house. The telephone rang and rang while he unlocked the door and fumbled for the light switch. He shouldn’t have left the hospital, he shouldn’t have. “Goddamn it!” he said. He picked up the receiver and said, “I just walked in the door!”

This is another example of parallelism, which displays the similarly internal aspects of husband and wife, even at distinctly different points of the story, in a very similar way. These sentences also carry the plain style, because they use simple language that is direct in order to avoid abstractions. The sentences, as a whole, are not very complex either.

Beneath the surface of this story, however, is a much more complex network of meaning. This is a story that I was not introduced to until I was in my third year of college, and while I have read it two times since, I still cannot say that I comprehend the meaning of the story in full, because there are so many parts at work. The story is built on understanding what is not stated, just as much as understanding the information that is given. In the following section, the reader can see this working directly within the story: 

“I’m afraid we need some more, he said. “Nothing to be alarmed about. We just need some more pictures, and we want to do a brain scan on him.”

“My God,” Ann said.

“It’s perfectly normal procedure in cases like this,” this new doctor said. “We just need to find out for sure why he isn’t back awake yet. It’s normal medical procedure, and nothing to be alarmed about. We’ll be taking him down in a few minutes,” this doctor said.

Through the stated information, the reader discovers that the doctors are uncertain of the condition of Scotty, but they are quick to reassure the mother that there is “nothing to be alarmed about.” In fact, “It’s a normal medical procedure,” likely one that would be followed in any similar situation. But the information that isn’t stated, the idea that there is something much deeper going on that the doctors do not understand, is an important factor. It also speaks to the level of human connection and disconnection that can occur in everyday occurrences, based on the fact that doctors are in a very high tension position where they cannot always answer in absolutes, but are often coerced into the attempt based on patient’s questions.

In the context of classroom discussion, the Plain Style use in this way may not pose a significant issue. The text conveys complex ideas through the construction of simple sentences, and reveals further ideas by digging beneath the surface meaning of the story. Seeing the Plain Style used in this way, however, calls into question how it can be used outside of the classroom to similarly mask meaning beneath words and sentence structures that are easy to comprehend. Barrack Obama, in his 2009 Inaugural Address, said, “We are the keepers of this legacy,” in reference to the legacy built on our “enduring convictions” and “sturdy alliances,” since the time of the founding fathers. When plain language is used in this way, by those with any measure of power, the simplistic nature sets aside all other attachments that are not referenced. It can be argued that historically we have made poor decisions, but by using this style, those poor decisions are then overlooked in favor of those which assert more flattering attributes. 

The direct, non-abstract language of the plain style was similarly used, as it often is in politics, by George W. Bush when he announced, “Terror must be stopped. No nation can negotiate with terrorists.” But as with Raymond Carver, it is necessary to look at what the Plain Style does not clarify in its use. “Terror must be stopped” may not be written in the active voice, but it is written very plainly. Statements such as this do not fill in to what extent we will go to stop “terror” from taking place, and avoid defining exactly what “terror” is. Even if these are points referenced elsewhere in such a speech, the Plain Style can present problematic gray-areas in understanding, in the same way that one can be confused through the complexity of the Official Style. Just because we know who is kicking whom, or avoid the seeming excesses of the Official Style in favor of the Plain Style, it does not mean that we are being clear with readers. Plain Style use in such a way can be raise issues for all involved in the activity system, and in this case, all of those who reside in the United States. 

While some such as Lanham may argue that the Plain Style is used to express language in a clear and understandable way, the end result of Plain Style usage is not always something that is clearly understood. Carver’s construction of “A Small, Good Thing,” brings into question the level to which we understand a story that has been written at a Readability Grade Level of 4.3. The consequences of not understanding, in this instance, yield few troubles for those in an activity system, unless it revolves around grades. When plain language is applied more universally, however, the issue of understanding becomes incredibly important to multiple activity systems. If the goal of the Plain Style is to be clear and concise, then those using it have an obligation to make their meaning just as clear as the language they are using to construct it, rather than masking it through the style. 

MM 

Creative Prose in Song Lyrics: A Critique

The word ‘incubus’ is defined as “a male demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women.” The origin of the word dates all the way back to 2400 BC in Mesopotamia. It is also the name of an American rock band. When asked why they chose the name, lead singer Brandon Boyd responded, “we were 15 and the name had ‘sex’ in it.”

The band has come a long way since those adolescent days. Incubus has reached multi-platinum sales and released several successful singles. They first became mainstream in 2001 with their hit single “Drive,” which some may be fairly familiar with.

            Their influences include Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine, among others. Their musical genre has always been hard to pinpoint. It has been described as “alternative rock,” “alternative metal,” “art rock,” “heavy metal,” “electro,” “funk,” “funk metal,” “jazz,” “hip hop,” “pop,” “rap metal,” “techno,” “thrash metal,” “post grunge,” and “trip hop.” Throughout the course of the band’s success, all eight of their albums have songs that have at least one of these genres. I would say that they are very experimental as well, but one common thread rings true for almost all of their songs: they are about love. This concept is what drew me to the band in the first place, back in 2002. I was very drawn to their poetic prose that was produced in a non-conventional way.

I wanted to look more in depth at a song called “Oil and Water” from one of Incubus’ more recent albums, titled “Light Grenades,” released in 2006. This song has always had very personal meaning to me and I felt I needed to explore its’ contexts.

I first looked at the album title itself. I thought of it as an oxymoron. Grenades are explosive and heavy, physically and metaphorically. They cause heavy damage. After a bit more research, I found that lead singer Boyd indicated in an interview that the title came from his concept of wanting “change” and the “redefining of weaponry,” the ‘going against the grain’ mentality that is the band. I believe his intention with the album title was to blast grenades of light in order to make change. Of course, this is all interpretive. What do you think?

“Oil and Water” was released as the third single off “Light Grenades.” It was not as successful as the other two previously released singles from the album, “Anna Molly,” and “Dig.” However, it reached number eight on the Billboard Alternative Rock chart and number 28 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

Here are the lyrics from AZ lyrics (online):

"Oil And Water"

You and I are like oil and water

And we've been trying, trying trying

Ohhhh, to mix it up.

We've been dancing on a volcano

And we've been crying, crying, crying

Over blackened souls.

Babe, this wouldn't be the first time,

it will not be the last time.

There is no parasol that would shelter this weather.

I been smiling with anchors on my shoulders

But I've been dying, dying, dying

Ohh, Ohh, Oh to let them go.

Babe, this wouldn't be the first time,

it will not be the last time.

There is no parasol that would shelter this weather.

Babe, this wouldn't be the first time,

it will not be the last time.

We were trying to believe that everything would get better.

We've been lying to each other

Hey! Babe! Let's just call it what it is!

Oil and Water!

Oil and Water!

Oil and Water!

          There are a lot of creative devices in this song. Please click this link for specific names and rhetorical devices. I want to further explain these devices in-depth. Upon hearing the song title, it brings to mind two substances that do not mix, literally. The first line in the song compares ‘you and I’ to oil and water, somewhat of a strange metaphor considering that when you listen to it, it does sound like a love song. The song continues on and is relatively straightforward. The language is such that most people would be able to understand it. The difference is how it is interpreted. Like many songs, there is an abundance of repetition (‘epezeuxis’ in technical terms). The words ‘trying’ and ‘crying’ are emphasized, as they are most likely emphasized as a big part in the relationship being articulated in the song. The phrase ‘dancing on a volcano,’ also intrigued me. It is a metaphor with unusual grammar and syntax, technically called ‘catachresis.’ Dancing is typically a fun way to let lose. It can be sensual, serious, light-hearted, or a mix of all three. When it is put in the context of ‘on a volcano,’  the imagery I picture is a couple that is carefully and purposefully stepping around erupting fire. This is up for interpretation in various ways. ‘Crying over blackened souls’ also interested me. It is a perfect example of syllepsis, linking a phrase with a word that has different meanings. If a person has a black soul, it is typically referring to someone who is evil, or has no heart. It could also be referring to blackened soles, as in the soles of your feet are burned to a blackened crisp from dancing on the volcano.

            The use of ‘babe’ in the song is what makes the song sound endearing and purposeful. It is directed towards a lover. When ‘it wouldn’t be the first time, it will not be the last time’ is heard, it sounds like they are still holding on to an unstable relationship. Another line in the song that interests me is ‘there is no parasol that would shelter this weather.’ A parasol is usually a very pretty, delicately made umbrella that provides shade from the sun. A parasol is not a protective instrument and contradictory to the bad weather that is implied in the song. The next line is ‘I’ve been smiling with anchors on my shoulders… dying to let them go.’ These conflicting ideas are the root of the song, the singer being held down by an anchor (possibly against his will?) to the ‘ship’ that could signify a relationship. This is one example of how I interpreted the song. Some may agree with it, while others may interpret it completely differently.

I chose this song specifically because a previous boyfriend of mine showed me this song when we were together. He put it on CD and gave it to me. When I heard it, I listened to it repeatedly and thought that he wanted to break up. I knew that oil and water do not mix (no matter how hard you try it) because of their physical properties. I thought he implied this when he gave me the CD with the song on it. I was uneasy when he called me the next night. He asked me what I thought of the songs. He said, “Maddie, we’re like oil and water! We go together.” I told him water and oil don’t mix, literally, but he interpreted the song in a different way than I did. It is common knowledge to most that oil and water do not mix. He did not know that and because of the contexts, saw it as sticking together, regardless of the fact that we didn’t go together. He identified more with the line ‘Let’s just call it what it is!’ I think he wanted to accept our differences but keep seeing each other. If gone unanalyzed, the song has a face-value that is one-dimensional: a love song. However, when looked at more critically, the possibility of different interpretations are countless. This idea is the crux of creative styles.

            Exigency plays a big part when interpreting rhetorical devices and creative styles. Exigence refers to what is required in a particular situation. This may seem vague, but it is a concept that is hard to define. Exigency differs for each person in each situation because of our particular, distinct backgrounds that motivate actions taken in a given situation. For example, my now ex-boyfriend’s exigency came from the history of our relationship which is different to him than it was to me. He had never cooked before either, so he did not know oil and water don’t mix. I cooked a bit and knew that oil and water could not mix. We both acted on exigency, but it was different for both of us because of our backgrounds and interpretations of our relationship situation.

This creative piece utilized rhetorical devices that spoke to my ex and me in completely different ways. Regardless of how we both interpreted the song, the writer, Brandon Boyd, might have had different intentions. I think that the song is creatively written so that it can be interpreted in different ways and apply to a broad audience, which is what the band may have been trying to do, since it was released as a single.

The purpose of this critique is to get readers to think about what the song means to them, and also how other creative styles could be interpreted to other people in other places. The implications can be drastic, as I described with my ex and I, which eventually led to our breakup (for the best), but more importantly it shows how creative styles can affect our lives, in ways we never would have thought about.

 Madeleine G.

Sources:

http://incubushq.com/

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/incubus-mn0000772745

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/incubus-mn0000772745/related

Highlights for Whom...Kids?: A Plain Style Critique

It was and still is one of the most popular published works for the children demographic.  Highlights for Kids, is a magazine, and also now a website that targets grade school level children.  Established in 1946, Highlights for Kids has projected their motto, “Fun with a Purpose”, around the country for many decades.   The publication offers educational, yet interactive and fun activities, articles, craft ideas and games through the use of plain style text.  With a title containing the word, “kid”, and a presumably juvenile context, one could presume that it is an overall kid friendly magazine and that the reading levels found within the texts are suitable to the target demographic.  Upon evaluation and analysis, I found that this was not the case.  It is apparent that the information presented within the pages is in the form of plain style, but at a higher level than what the target audience is.  So what does this mean and what is the purpose?  After correlating the reading levels of a particular article from the current online issue titled, “Blind Ambition”, the scores averaged higher than a grade school level, nearly reaching the seventh grade reading level.  Ironically, this is the average reading comprehension level of the entire United States of America.  With this information one could wonder who really is the magazine’s audience, how effective is its material, and what does that say about the magazine itself?  The company states that their mission is the following: “Because children are the world’s most important people, we exist to serve children, their families, and others involved in their development, helping them become their best selves—creative, curious, caring, and confident.”  Yet, how can children achieve these goals, if they can’t comprehend the material?  Within this analysis, I will locate the source of the problem within this particular plain text, indicate how the company avoids these issues to continue a well-working publication, and how possibly plain text, although the simplest of the styles, can still cause complications depending on the activity system.

“Blind Ambition” is a non-fiction article about a young boy, who with the aid of his father, learned to downhill ski despite his disability.  The content of the story seems fitting to the magazine and to the coinciding activity system, for it is relative, inspirational, and exciting--a topic that kids would find interesting.  What does not work within this article is the structure of the text as well as the diction used throughout it.  As indicated below, the Readability Formula shows that the target age of reading ease for this article is that of almost a 7th grader, yet the magazine states, on its very website, that the target demographic of children ages 6-12.  

Readability Formula	Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level	5.4
Gunning-Fog Score	7.9
Coleman-Liau Index	9.3
SMOG Index	5.9
Automated Readability Index	5.1
Average Grade Level	6.7

 Here is an example of an excerpt from the article.  “Ben Vercellone zigzags gracefully down the snowy slope. Other skiers watch him with wide-eyed amazement.”  As you can see the sentence structure is very simple and in plain style, using a subject and verb formula.  This makes it very comprehendible for young readers, because they do not have to go far to figure out whom is doing what.  Another example is as follows: “A skier is guided with the help of a bamboo pole.  Recently, Ben’s father built a new gadget similar to one he’d seen used to guide a blind ski champion from New Zealand.”  Again, the structure is easy and comprehendible for young and new readers.  But the sentence structure does not stay so elementary.  “By following the continuous sound of his father’s voice, Ben knows where he is on the slope and when he can turn. This provides a greater challenge and more independence because it eliminates the need for constant directions from behind.”  This portion of the text begins with a prepositional phrase.  Prepositional phrases increase the complexity of the content, because never do they directly state the subject, causing readers to become confused by the other nouns within the sentence.  Along with prepositional phrases, the article increasingly becomes difficult by implementing challenging word choice.  These words do not seem relative within a child’s vocabulary.  Some examples of these words found within this article are as followed: restrictive, smidge, continuous, independence, grounded, tandem.

As one can see, the publication Highlights for Kids, seems more like Highlights for Teens or Highlights for Extremely Advanced Elementary Readers, but of course this doesn’t make sense.  How does a magazine like this do so well?  Although it is a challenging publication it still is one of the highest recommended and highest selling magazines for young children.  One answer: logistics.  Highlights for Kids, advertises via television, via other publications such as parenting magazines, and online.  The one thing that all these outlets have in common is that adults are the ones ultimately making the final decisions.  Logically, whether or not the child sees the advertisements or not, parents are the ones calling in, or going online and subscribing to the magazine.  In most cases, the magazine illustrates this child-parent bond happening while utilizing the product.  For example, within the craft portion of the magazine it often states, “Have your parent or guardian help you cut the piece of plastic”, or “Make sure to have an adult assist you with this portion of the science project”.  The magazine is not merely targeting one activity system, but directing its pitch towards numerous: child, parent, and even teachers.

Teachers are popular consumers for the magazine, ordering them to offer another outlet for learning within their classrooms.  I personally remember when my entire class in elementary school would receive a Highlights for Kids magazine and we would go through articles with the entire class.  For this very reason, the parent and child connection as well as the teacher or classroom and child collaboration, offers assistance to young children when reading the text.  Through analysis of the website, it is concluded that this is the appropriate reason for increasing the reading ease.  It challenges the children, yet with the help of superiors or collective assistance, children can comprehend the text and acquire upper level knowledge, something they probably would not be able to do on their own.

Upon locating the problem of the publication--the reading ease, and then examining how through the aid of parents and teachers, the publication bypasses these problems, we lastly consider how plain text can often be misperceived as a whole.  According to Richard Lanham, the "three central values" of the plain style are Clarity, Brevity, and Sincerity”.  As an audience we distinguish plain style, in comparison to creative and official style, as easy and straightforward.  But, what we as readers of all styles have to understand is that plain style still has its categories of reading ease and comprehensibility.  As we have seen within this analysis of a children’s publication, although the use of plain style is extremely exercised within the publication, with a higher reading ease, it still becomes difficult for readers within the demographic.   Highlights for Kids showcases that sometimes even plain text can find itself directed towards the wrong activity system, for plain style cannot always be deemed “the easy style”.  This becomes increasingly important for not only magazine publications, but also news outlets, advertisements, political messages, etc. when hoping to dictate a message to the nation as a whole.  With a 7^th grade average reading level, our nation cannot consider plain style as universally logical, nor can we display this style as accessible to every activity system.

By: Hannah K.