Practical Tasks

Task 1. Read the article below, analyse its grammatical and syntactical features.

Cronyism alert on plan for more people’s peers

Sarah Hall

Tony Blair is expected to prompt renewed charges of cronyism in the new year by appointing his first batch of “people’s peers” since the general election. Five of the non-party political peers will be announced in the Queen’s new year honours list, with a further five appointed in March or April and an additional five in July or August, according to a source close to the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

The staggered effect should ensure the prime minister avoids the embarrassment of the entire list reading like a roll call of establishment figures – at a time when elements of the House of Lords will already be furious over legislation designed to abolish the remaining 92 hereditary peers. In addition, the next batch of working peers will be announced by early December. A total of 20 Labour peers, six Conservatives and four or five Liberal Democrats will be on the list.

Ministers, all too aware that the forthcoming bill to abolish the remaining hereditary peers will be angrily received, will hope the introduction of new Labour peers should help to redress the balance. But it is with the resurrection of the people’s peers scheme that the prime minister risks brooking the most controversy.

The government suffered severe embarrassment when the first, and so far only, set of peers, announced in April 2001, consisted exclusively of establishment figures.

The bemusement directed at the government led to the scheme being apparently put on hold. But on the last day of the recent parliamentary session, Mr Blair announced that the seven-strong Appointments Commission would again be charged with “finding people of distinction who would bring authority and expertise to the House of Lords.”

Last night, Lord Strathclyde, the Conservative leader in the Lords, said he favoured the introduction of new working peers, since around 75 hereditaries had died in the three and a half years since the last announcement. But he warned that resurrecting the people's peers scheme should not be a means of shying away from complete reform of the House of Lords or of installing cronies.

Gordon Prentice, a senior Labour backbencher, said: “I am disappointed this farce is continuing.”

The Guardian, November 10, 2003

Task 2. Analyse the lexical, grammatical and syntactical features of the article above. How would you head the article, were you a journalist?

Task 3. Take a look at the headline on the next page. What syntactical structure is it? Read the material to see whether it conveys in full the idea of the article.

Revealed: Queen’s dismay at Blair legacy

Andrew Alderson

The Queen has been left “exasperated and frustrated” at the legacy of Tony Blair's 10 years in power, friends have disclosed.

She has been “deeply concerned” by many of New Labour’s policies, in particular what she sees as the Prime Minister’s lack of understanding of countryside issues, her closest confidants reported.

Royal sources said that the Queen also believes privately that Mr Blair and his Government have meddled unnecessarily in Britain’s heritage, including the reform of the House of Lords.

Her other worries are said to relate to concerns from military leaders that the Armed Forces have become “overstretched” by foreign commitments, notably in Iraq and Afghanistan. She suspects that Mr Blair has spent too much time cosying up to America – at the expense of dealing with her beloved Commonwealth.

The Queen, 81, who has ruled for 55 years and worked with 10 prime ministers, is the head of state, head of the Commonwealth and head of the Armed Forces.

Friends of the monarch suspect that Mr Blair may not follow the gesture made by some of his predecessors, notably Winston Churchill and Harold Wilson, and host a dinner in the Queen’s honour when relinquishing the office of rime minister.

Sources close to the Queen said that many of her deepest concerns, particularly those over the countryside, have been repeatedly raised with Mr Blair at their weekly audiences at Buckingham Palace.

They insist that it is entirely appropriate for the Queen to air such worries privately with the Prime Minister. Under a constitutional monarchy, the Queen is entitled to be consulted, to encourage and to warn.

“The Queen has been left exasperated and frustrated by change for change’s sake,” said one of her friends. “Her style is to report back to the Prime Minister the concerns that she has picked up on her travels.”

The Queen is said to worry that certain New Labour policies, such as the outlawing of fox hunting and hare coursing, have divided the nation.

Most friends and acquaintances of the Queen spoke to The Sunday Telegraph on the basis that they would not be identified. However, her concerns are no surprise to John Daw, a farmer and the former chairman of the Devon branch of the National Farmers’ Union. When he met the Queen at County Hall, Exeter, in May 2002 following the foot and mouth crisis, he told her: “I don't think Tony Blair and this Government understand the countryside.”

He said the Queen replied with a rare indiscreet remark: “I know. I tell him that every week when I see him.”

Buckingham Palace declined to comment last night on the relationship between the Queen and the Prime Minister.

The Daily Telegraph, May 27, 2007

Task 4. Make the linguistic analysis of the text above. Make up a list of realia, neologisms, colloquialisms and clichés.

Task 5. What are the grammartical and syntactical features of the article? Is it a feature article? If so, prove it.

Task 6. Watch Video 5 (Folder Unit 4), featuring press review, and fill in the gridas in Task 7, Unit 1.

Task 7. Read the following subheads and restore the headlines.

1. A CANCER victim has been refused treatment that could extend her life – just three weeks before a...

victim / radiation / in £50m drugs / cancer / is denied

2. DOGS’ dinners are going gourmet as owners feed them takeaways, a survey revealed yesterday.

feed / gourment / dogs / as owners / takeaways / food / get / them

3. A FIREBALL caused by a gas explosion ripped through a city’s streets yesterday, leaving at least six...

San Francisco / dead / six / leaves / fireball / in

4. A TODDLER suffered horrific injuries and needed 200 stitches in his face after being savaged by his...

leaves / needing / sheepdog / 200/ attack / stitches / boy

5. WHEN an elephant decides to sit on you, it’s just as well that you’re an elephant yourself, or you...

takes / as a seat / elephant / young / his friend

6. GRINNING and swaggering, the young man who helped kill schoolboy Damilola Taylor enjoys his freedom...

killer/ as / from / grins / Damilola Taylor / jail / walks free

Unit 5

FEATURE ARTICLES: ESSENCE, STRUCTURE, LEXICAL MEANS, STYLICTIC PROPERTIES

A feature story differs from a straight news story in one respect – its intent. A news story provides information about an event, idea or situation. The feature does a bit more – it may also interpret news, add depth and colour to a story, instruct or entertain.

It tends to be longer than news articles. Feature articles often begin with a hook that is meant to catch the reader’s attention, and go on to describe interesting aspects of the topic under consideration without necessarily following the “inverted pyramid” structure. As a feature article does not address an immediately topical subject as would be expected of a news story, it is usually considerably longer, and may well present an opinionated view.

Features are commonly seen in newspaper supplements and magazines.

A feature story falls into the following categories:

- colour piece – describing a scene and throw light on its theme(s);

- behind the scenes (similar to the above, but with the journalist a part of events);

- in disguise (pretending to be another person);

- interview;

- profile (an examination of a particular person. Will often include an interview);

- factbox or chronology (a simple list of facts, perhaps in date order);

- backgrounder (or a history of an extended factbox);

- full texts (extracts from books or transcripts of interviews);

- my testimony (a first-person report of some kind);

- analysis (an examination of the reasons behind an event);

- vox pop (or expert roundup – a selection of views from members of the public or experts);

- opinion poll;

- review.

The feature article includes an introduction, a body and a conclusion.

The introduction is the most important part which entices the reader, hooks him in. Quiet often it uses emotion, quotations, questions, descriptions.

The body of the article keeps a promise or answers any questions raised in the introduction. Facts in the piece can be only interpreted and embroidered but not fudged.

The conclusion helps the reader remember the story by using a strong punchline.

The feature story employs the following linguistic means:

- wide use of active voices and present tenses;

- clichés and sentimental statements are usually avoided, especially at the end of the piece;

- direct quotes are often used;

- lengthy, complex paragraphs are usually avoided.

As the feature focuses on human interest the feeling and emotion are put into the article. Such articles concentrate on persuading, evaluating, observing or evoking emotion, they are usually emotionally coloured as they tend to appraise, convince and influence.

The following stylistic tropes are employed in features:

- epithets (the long and bloody road to peace; unflattering photographs);

- metaphors (This confrontation marked the birth of the Provisional IRA; the death of New Labour);

- metonymy (the door of No 10; No 10 policy unit);

- similes (a thin mafioso moustache; resembling less the Iron Lady than Miranda Richardson’s Elizabeth I in Blackadder; the marriage between Charles and Diana was based on a fantastical ideal, the relationship between the prince and Camilla has a much more earthy foundation);

- idioms (to be in stark contrast to something).

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