Functional Styles. Афанасьева Н.Р - 24 стр.

       Then Burke tells us: "I was the driver."                             the text? Explain the author’s choice of vocabulary, the effect he
       Wrong, Mr. Burke. You were the killer. So why don't you just         wants to produce, and how it reflects the type of audience he is writ-
say it?                                                                     ing for.
        A guy is dead, a woman widowed, two children orphaned, and                 9. Comment on the author’s use of factual data. Do figures in
Kelly Burke is telling me what agony it is to take public transportation.   this text add objectivity or subjectivity?
As I said, I wanted to kick in the set. I admit my reaction to drunken            10. Comment on the use of stylistic devices and expressive
driving is extreme. But Burke and I do agree on one thing:                  means and the effect they are supposed to achieve.
       "I've said many times," he told the judge at his sentencing, "I            11. What kind of contrast is the author basing his essay on?
wished it had been me."                                                           12. How is this essay different from/ similar to the previous one?
       If these self-indulgent slobs would just maim and kill each          (Consider the following issues: type of addressee, argumentative vs.
other, drunken driving wouldn't upset me as much. In fact, it wouldn't      persuasive writing, tone and style, rigid/ loose structure and para-
upset me at all.                                                            graphing, structure of argumentation, logical/ emotional appeal)
                                                                                  13. Revise the information on argumentative and persuasive
                 Questions for Study and Discussion                         writing given in the Appendix. Illustrate the difference between the
       1. What is the topic of the essay?                                   two using the essays No Compassion for Drunk Drivers and
       2. What is the author’s main claim? Where in the text do we          Women’s Liberation.
read his thesis statement first? Is it repeated anywhere in the text?
What structure of argumentation do we observe in this essay (radial                FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY
or chain)?                                                                         Make up and act out a dialogue between the two journalists –
       3. Comment on the paragraphing and its role in the flow of           Roger Simon (the author of the essay) and Kelly Burke (the author
ideas. Try to analyze how the idea of each paragraph is connected           of the documentary) – to discuss their works. Decide upon the stance
with that of the previous and the following paragraphs.                     of each and the tonality of their conversation. You can show them as
       4. Identify the introduction, the body and the conclusion of         hypocritical or sincere in the works they produced.
the essay. Explain your division.
       5. How does the author introduce the topic? Why does he                    TEXT 3
choose to do it this way? What impact on the reader is he aiming at?
       6. What does he choose to say in the opening lines of the body?            1. Before reading the essay, refer to the following introduc-
How does he achieve the desired effect? What technique helps him?                    tion for some information about the author of the article.
       7. How are the author’s statements and the subject (the                    William Raspberry, a nationally syndicated columnist for the
documentary itself) intertwined? Can you differentiate between fac-         Washington Post, was born in Okolona, Mississippi, in 1935. He at-
tual reporting and biased opinion?                                          tended Indiana Central College, earning a degree in history in 1958,
       8. Comment on the register of the words used in the essay.           and was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters there in 1973. Rasp-
What register prevails (formal, informal, neutral)? Is it different in      berry has worked for the Washington Post since 1962, first as a re-
different parts of the essay or more or less homogeneous throughout         porter-editor, then as urban-affairs columnist. He has taught journal-

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