ANALYSIS / ANALYTICAL

In this piece of data I mainly seek to analyse my short story entitled 5,4,3,2,1 Abort which is based on a teenage girl named Gabriella who went through the process of having an abortion. This piece will analyse the registers, dialectal variations, attitudes to the language and communicative behaviours taken in the scripting of this story.

Based on this story, it was noted that a formal register was used between Dr.Basdeo and Gabriella. This conversation used titles to address each other as seen when Dr.Basdeo says “Ms. Williams, Do you know that you are ten weeks pregnant?” Also there was a level of formality because both Dr.Basdeo and Gabriella were meeting for the first time. This was made possible because it was the first time Gabriella went for an oral pregnancy exam. Furthermore, there was also an intimate register used between Gabriella and her grandmother and this was made possible because of the way the grandmother called Gabriella, “Gabs” and also by asking a personal question and this was seen when the grandmother says, “Gabs girl, wha happen. How yuh putting on so much weight? Yuh pregnant or what?” This showed that the grandmother cares about her granddaughter.

Throughout the extract, dialectal variations are seen. The acrolect variation was used between Gabriella and Dr.Basdeo as they spoke Standard English as obtained in the example “Yes Dr. Basdeo, It was a terrible mistake and now I have to suffer the consequences.” The use of Standard English was chosen because it is the language of the educated and the high class. In addition to this, the basilect variation was used between Gabriella and her boyfriend as they engaged in creole language as seen in the example “I doh wah nun tuh do wid you or dat wha u now tell me.” Their choice of language used more frequently is creole and this is because they both feel comfortable in speaking with each other and the use of basilect changes the structure of some words but they remain with the same sound for example, “wat” which is correctly spelt, “what” and “sum” which in correct spelling is “some.”

In the story, attitude towards Gabriella’s boyfriend language was identified when he force Gabriella to do something she was against. The example to support this was, “Well here wat nah, I doh wah no baby now so yuh better start tinkin bout having an abortion!” Not only was Gabriella’s boyfriend angry that she was pregnant, he displayed his anger by disagreeing with Gabriella in having the baby.

Communicative behaviours played a role in this piece by the use of facial expressions, and gestures. Gabriella also started to pray showed her behaviour in times of personal distress. Facial expressions were also in use for example when Gabriella was crying tears down her cheeks indicated that she was sad and in disbelief. Also the contemplative look Dr.Basdeo showed Gabriella when he was telling her the results of her pregnancy exam.

Registers, Dialectal Variation, Attitude to the Language and Communicative Behaviours are the four elements which aids in the creation of an effective analysis and added credibility to the story.