Real everyday talk Essays

Real everyday talk Essays Real everyday talk Essay Real everyday talk Essay Essay Topic: Talk This extract of Bridget Joness Diary by Helen Fielding takes place at a party, which in the story, Bridget had been informed was a Tarts and Vicars party. This shows that the conversation is very much public as there are a number of other people around, including the 3 people in the conversation, Bridget, her Aunt Una and Uncle Geoff. The relationship between the speakers is familial yet distant. The language used is very much formal language, despite the informal setting, portraying the upper-middle class the characters are from.This style of language, in this situation particularly, can also show unease, as Bridget has been ridiculed and it is Unas fault. This mirrors everyday talk very well, as people often use a more formal tone when faced with a difficult situation such as this. Una has the most turns in the extract, and also appears to have the power, as she sets the agenda at the beginning of the extract with the line Bridget! Super to see you. This shows immediately that they have a reasonably close relationship as she addresses Bridget by her first name.The fact that she is hosting the party also gives her power from the beginning. Bridget has only three turns in the extract, showing her embarrassment by speaking only when necessary such as when she is asked a question. Where is he? He had to work. This approach of a number of interrogatives re-enforces Unas character and also means she is setting the agenda of the conversation. The declarative used by Bridget, also has some connotations around it. The force of the utterance is that her boyfriend is at work, where as the sense is that he was not present at the party.The mode of address when Una says Geoffrey again adds to the social element of the extract, showing the class background, and Fielding is mimicking this class and the pragmatics around it through the language, particularly at the beginning of the extract where Una says Have a Pimms, as this is often seen as a very upper class drink. Una orders Geoff about, and this is typical of everyday speech, as men are often shown as being incapable of organising anything! The last question- answer pair How are we going to marry you off at this rate? At this rate Im going to end up as a call girl, is effectively an incomplete adjacency pair as Bridget mutters her dialogue under her breath and does not directly address her uncle. The style of the language in the extract is very much colloquial and light hearted, while still using Standard English Didnt you telephone Bridget? . The line Super to see you is jovial, portraying characteristics yet the connotations around the word super are still of a very upper class sociolect.Geoffrey also uses a number of rhetorical questions, such as Thats not a very good excuse, is it? and How are we going to get you married off at this rate? The latter of these two examples is intended as a rhetorical question, yet Bridget answers, albeit to herself. Bridget is quite blunt in this extract, adding to her emotions and character to show her awkwardness. The use of the fillers you see and oh dear by Una when explaining the situation to Bridget emphasise again her squirming nature.