Analysis of Written Text

Q3) with relevance to Text I and relevant ideas from language, explore how language is used to assert power.

Because Text I is the first page of an Employee Handbook we can assume that it will be in a formal register, with a high frequency use of jargon. The text could also contain lots of imperatives, as well as power in the discourse because it might be written be someone with lots of power and they might want this known so that they take the handbook seriously.

One way the text creates power over its audience is through the use of building the consumer, a technique used by advertisers and identified by Fairclough. Although the handbook is not advert it still uses the technique effectively. Building the consumer includes knowing who your target audience is and therefore creating the perfect image of who they should be/ would like to be. The paragraph opens with a declarative about Waterstone being a ‘’strong brand’’ and how this is due to ‘’commitment and passion everyone in Waterstone’s has for what they do.’’ The abstract nouns ‘’commitment’’ and ‘’passion’’ is used to describe the kind of people the staff should be, and could be seen as positive face. By describing the staff as passionate and committed, it makes them seem hard-working and dedicated. This in turn could make the staff more loyal to the company as it makes them feel valued. On the other hand, if the staffs reading this are not passionate or committed the declarative could then be seen as guideline for the kind of staff they should be. The pronoun ‘’everyone’’ makes all the member of staff feel included, and could be a way of building employees confidence; this assumes that everyone is indeed actually passionate and committed to the company. Although building the consumer is used for advertising, it is effective here because it creates an image that some employees can strive for, or empowers those employees who are already committed and passionate.

Throughout Text I imperatives are used, and coupled with power behind the discourse these are a very effective way of asserting power. An example of an imperative in Text I is ‘’ they have to give the highest levels of customer service.’’ The deontic verb ‘’have’’ creates a sense of importance and makes the audience feel like they are obliged to do as the text says. The superlative ‘’highest’’ could be seen as a way of telling the staff that only the absolute best is accepted by the company. This might show us the amount of power the writer has, because not only are they using an imperative but they are also asking maximum effort from their staff. This imperative is only effective due to the pragmatic understanding the audience would have of the power the writer holds. At the bottom of the page we can see that it is written by ‘’Nick Williams- Operations Director’’ because we are not the intended audience we do not know the amount of power he holds. However we can assume that he holds a lot of power, and this imperative is an example of him using the power his role gives him otherwise known as instrumental power. Another example of an imperative is ‘’please participate fully with your ideas and suggestions.’’  The adverb ‘’please’’ could be seen as way of softening the imperative, or a way of highlighting its importance. The adverb ‘’fully’’ again shows that participating is not enough, and that the staff must ‘’participate’’ to the best of their abilities; further highlighting that the store will only accept those who are willing to work as hard as they can.

Divergence is also another technique that can be used in order to assert one’s power. One way that divergence is achieved in Text I is through the use of low frequency lexis and hypercorrect grammar: ‘’Over a series of meetings, the NCST worked together to draw out the key issues from customer service, their thoughts and ideas, and of their colleagues.’’ The use of the verb ‘’draw’’ in order to describe gathering data is an example of low frequency lexis, and could show that the writer is very knowledgeable and therefore the staff might be more inclined to listen to them. The use of jargon like ‘’NCST’’ also adds to the importance of the message as it shows that the organisations is very official. On the other hand some staff might find the use of overt prestige condescending, making it harder for the writer to achieve its aim. However overt prestige is a way of asserting power, because only dominant speakers who already hold power can diverge away from a group. It is another mean of making sure that people are aware of the power they hold, and because some people might find it condescending only those who aren’t affected by the thoughts of other people because of their status can use overt prestige.

Building the consumer is an advertising technique that makes the target audience feel like the advert is addressed specifically to them, Text I however use this to make the staff reading the page feel like it is only targeted at them and maybe therefore makes them feel special. For example the last paragraph reads: ‘’thank you for your efforts so far. I know you’ll put everything you have into making your branch customer service better than ever.’’  The use of the 3^rd person direct address ‘’you’’ makes the reader fell singled out and special, the repetition highlights this point even further. It might also make the reader think that even though they are just one person they are responsible for the image of the branch, which is an example of positive face as it highlights the importance of each reader. ‘’ I know you’ll put everything you have into making your branch customer service better than ever’’ could be seen as a declarative however if we look deeper into it, it is actually a cloaked imperative, this is because without ‘’ I know’’ the sentence reads as an imperative, and is another way that the writer is asserting his power. The intensifier ‘’than’’ shows us that once again the staff need to push themselves to the best of their abilities in order to achieve the standard of customer service that the writer wants.