Paper 3, Question 1
Text A is an excerpt from Advice to a Young Man upon First Going to Oxford: In Ten Letters, From an Uncle to His Nephew by Edward Berens. It was written in 1832, which is during the late modern English period. From late modern English to modern day English, the English language has undergone minor lexis and syntax changes, but they are not drastic changes. While some common phrases are still used today, others have faded out of style.
In the second paragraph of Text A, Edward Berens starts off by saying “Take care that you never are guilty of such a violation of good taste and correct judgment.” In Text B, it features a table from the British National Corpus from the 1980s through 1933 which is during the modern English period. The table features “taste” and “judgment” as the two head words, with lots of common words that are used next to the words. “Taste” has ‘bad’, ‘good’, ‘bitter’, ‘first’, and ‘personal’ all under the category of “taste”. Text A features “good taste” even though it was during the late modern English period, it is one of the few phrases that has remained a popularly used phrase.
In the second column of Text B, ‘clinical’, professional’, ‘dissenting’, ‘better’, and ‘final’ are under the judgment category. In text A, the author, Edward Berens, writes “correct judgment”. But as the English language went through the end of late modern English and beginning of modern English, the popular trends changed and “correct judgment” went out of style. Instead, people use “better” judgment instead. Although correct and better are similar in meaning relating to judgment, the lexis choices have changed and adapted to fit the lexis choices of modern English.
According to the n-gram in Text C, “are apt to be” was never really popular until 1880, which was decades after the letter was published. Even then, it was minimal compared to similar phrases like “tend to be” and “are likely to be”. According to the n-gram, even at the peak of its popularity, under 0.00020% actually used “are apt to be”. Although it never gained major popularity, it can still be found in some writings like Text A, the extract from Advice to a Young Man upon First Going to Oxford: In Ten Letters, From an Uncle to His Nephew. As late modern English went on, “are apt to be’ started to grow in popularity but then faded when modern day English came into the picture. The cultural transmission theory infectious disease theory comes into context in Text C.
It could be implied that soon after the letter was written, that the infectious disease started to catch on to “are apt to be” because “are likely to be” and “tend to be” seemed to drop in popularity. Soon after “are apt to be” gained popularity, it soon dropped because the infectious disease theory caught on to “tend to be” and “ are likely to be” skyrocketed in popularity. “Are apt to be'' sunk in popularity as “tend to be’ became the most used from 1960 through 2000. Just like a popular trend in our everyday life, “are apt to be” started to gain in popularity and then fell soon after.
Cultural transmission theory, similar to infectious disease theory, can be found in the n-gram in Text C. The usage of “are apt to be” fluctuates with the social implications on the phrases. It could be theorized that in the span of 1920 to about 1945, that the phrase “are apt to be” became popular when it could have been socially beneficial.
Heyo!
ReplyDeleteLooking at the AO2 portion of the rubric, I would say that you had a clear expression throughout your response, with minimal errors that did not impede communication whatsoever. You began your response by easing your way into the prompt, which helped to ensure that you wouldn't 'push readers away.' You briefly mentioned what you would be talking about in the response, and set the stage by saying that the English language has not changed much since the letters were written. It can also be said that the content that you featured throughout your response was relevant and your ideas were developed clearly as well. With that being said, I would award you 3/5 marks for the AO2 portion of the rubric.
Moving on to AO4, I would say that you had a clear understanding and appropriate reference to linguistic issues, concepts, methods and approaches. In particular, your final few paragraphs did the best under this portion, as you discussed the infectious disease and cultural transmission theories. One feature that was missing, however, is the reference to Jean Aitchison as the curator of the infectious disease theory, and Albert Cohen as the curator of the cultural transmission theory. With that being said, however, I still believe that you did a good job here and deserve 3/5 marks.
Lastly on to AO5, I would say that this is where you performed best. Overall, you had a clear and appropriate selection of language data from the three sources. For example, you discussed 'taste' and 'judgment' from Texts A and B, and you discussed the three phrases that were used in Text C. Furthermore, you had a clear analysis of language data and you clearly synthesized the evidence that you presented in your response. Because of this, I would award you 8/15 marks.
Total: 14/25
AO2:
ReplyDeleteYou show clear explanations but you never go in-depth with stating specific words or explaining something in detail. You just state the idea of what it is. For example, when you talk about the words that correlate with the words ‘taste’ and ‘judgment’ you just said they were in common. Go into detail and explain why they are in common and how those specific words broadened the meaning of the words. You could have also used two buzz words amelioration and pejoration to explain the positive and negative connotations of the language change of the words.
⅖
AO4:
You show a clear understanding of what is supposed to be done but again don’t go into detail. You explain the bare minimum of what could be said about all three texts. If you were to be specific with certain buzzwords and explain the meaning of the details then you would show a more effective understanding of all the texts. For example, in your last paragraph, you talk about the infectious disease theory and sort of jump right into it. To show that you truly understand what the theory is the reader defines what the theory then explains how this theory connects with the phrases in the n-gram.
⅗
This is where you did best as you were able to pick out something from each text. Although you didn’t go in-depth you still showed that you knew what you were supposed to analyze and with evidence to use from the text.
7/15
Total 12/25
Hi Lexi!
ReplyDeleteAO2: Write effectively, creatively, accurately and appropriately, for a range of audiences and purposes.
Lexi you had effective expression with a few minor errors which do not impede communication. You also had relevant content that is related to the paper which is seen through the addresses to the texts and the phrases used in the texts like ‘clinical’ ‘“are apt to be”’. Your ideas were also developed in an effective manner since it was developed in many paragraphs and not just one gigantic paragraph. [4]
AO4: Demonstrate understanding of linguistic issues, concepts, methods and approaches.
Detailed understanding of and effective reference to linguistic issues, concepts, methods and approaches
You mention the ‘cultural transmission theory’ and the ‘infectious disease theory’ which you have a good understanding of the cultural transmission theory since you understand how it changes language specifically because it is ‘socially beneficial’. Although you could have added an explanation for the infectious disease theory since that was lacking but you did a good job.
[4]
AO5: Analyze and synthesize language data from a variety of sources.
Limited and generally appropriate selection of language data from at least two sources. Limited analysis of language data. Some attempt to synthesize evidence from sources of language data.
You address the cultural transmission theory and infectious disease theory in the context of Text C but you could improve your response by adding more information about why those theories fit since it seems like you only give a short answer as to why ‘The cultural transmission theory infectious disease theory comes into context in Text C. It could be implied that soon after the letter was written, that the infectious disease started to catch on to “are apt to be” because “are likely to be” and “tend to be” seemed to drop in popularity.‘ and ‘Cultural transmission theory, similar to infectious disease theory, can be found in the n-gram in Text C…the phrase “are apt to be” became popular when it could have been socially beneficial.’
[6]
14/25 Total Marks