Texts A, C, D, G and F all contain imperatives; texts C, D,
F are forms of advertisement and therefore have the primary purpose of to
persuade. Text F could be considered a
weak inclusion because unlike the others it uses cloak imperatives.
Text A is a collection of transcripts of some messages left
on an answer phone because of this the messages have a low level of formality.
From message 1 we can assume that the caller and the receiver are very good
friends as they are talking about meeting later up that night for a drink. The
caller is confirming their plans and is apologizing as they will be late, they
end the message with ‘’get the drinks in while ya waiting. Byeeee.’’ The
replacement of the pronoun ‘’you’’ to ‘’ya’’ could be due to the sociolect of
the person; however by using the informal version it shows that the caller have
a good relationship, this is due to the fact that the caller didn’t feel the
need to use the correct pronoun when leaving the message. Their good
relationship could also be why the caller felt it was acceptable to give the
imperative ‘’get the drinks in.’’ The sentence is very informal which can be
seen through the use of the verb ‘’get’’ and the adverb ‘’in.’’ From the rest
of the message we can assume that the main purpose of the imperative isn’t for
it to be followed, the receiver could be using it as another means of
apologizing for the fact that they will be late; they are trying to make up for
this by re-assuring the receiver that there is no need to wait for them and to
have fun without them. Similarly to Text
A, the imperatives in Text G don’t have a primary purpose of to be followed.
Text G is a copy of card found inside a pack of high quality tights. In order
to carry on the image of quality, the card contains information about the
tights as well as instructions on how to fit them. The first step on the card
‘’ from a sitting position gently gather the tights with your hands and ease
over each foot.’’ The use of the adverb ‘’gently’’ carries on the theme of
luxury and might make the consumer feel that their tights are delicate and
should be handled with care, the verb ‘’ease’’ also carries the same
connotations. The rest of the card contains the rest of the instructions and
uses soft verbs that put forward the image of high quality and luxury. Most
women know how to fit tights properly, which is why we can assume that the main
purpose of the instructions aren’t to instruct but are there in order to make
the consumer feel like they have bought into ‘’a new concept of hosiery.’’ The
instructions are there to inform the customer that the company’s tights are
different and therefore should be treated differently to other tights. Texts C,
D, F could be a sub group due to the fact they are different forms of adverts
that use imperatives. Text C is the back
of CD cover, and therefore has the primary purpose of persuading the audience
to buy the CD they do this through the use of imperatives. They try to convince
the audience by listing the different occasions the CD could be used for ‘’
play it while you travel by train, stash it in your tent, or keep it cranked up
while you’re tooling down the A303…’’ The imperatives show that the CD has many
different uses and suggest that you will be able to get your money’s worth out
of it. The use of informal language such as the dynamic verbs ‘’cranked’’
‘’tooling’’ ‘’stash’’ show that the main target audience of the CD are males and
females of the young generation who would be attracted to the following
list. Text D is a poster advert for a
phone company and uses two imperatives; ‘’Prove it. Phone her while the
football’s still on.’’ From the imperatives we can assume that the advert might
targeted at males, due to the football reference. The slogan of the company is
‘’bringing people together,’’ this helps us understand the advert better, they
are telling the target audience to prove their love to their girlfriend by
phoning them when the football is still on. The use of the contraction of ‘’football’s’’
makes the imperative shorter and therefore more effective. The short direct
imperatives might also be appealing to the target audience as maybe they won’t
like adverts that are too consuming to read.
Text F could be seen as a weak inclusion as it uses cloaked imperatives,
however it belongs to the same sub group as C and D as it has the primary
purpose of persuasion. The advert is for
a charity, which could be a reason as to why it doesn’t use direct imperatives.
The advert asks for volunteers or donations ‘’ if not we really need your
money.’’ The intensifier ‘’really’’
shows the audience that the charity desperately requires donations. This could
make the audience feel sympathy towards the company because they are working
hard to help other people but still require help themselves. The cloaked
imperative works more effectively than a direct imperative would have been,
this is because the charity is asking for money but is offering nothing in
return. People would already be reluctant to part with their money, they if are
being directly told to do so they might even be more reluctant. However by
hiding behind the cloaked imperative the company is able to make the audience
feel sympathy and therefore help them achieve their primary purpose.
