“I part the flaps, sever the inner tubes, yank them out and throw them hot and steaming on the floor. The other two then study the pattern they make as if they were reading hieroglyphics.” Dysart, Scene 5
Dysart is a well educated man. He has probably been to university, and therefore speaks formal, standard English. His narrative is built up using long sentences, which usually contain several clauses. He also uses several technical terms when he speaks, also showing us that he is well educated.
His long words and sentences give help him to overpower Alan when the pair first meet because he is intimidating to Alan.
His monologue in Scene 5 starts off very slowly. He uses long sentences so that he can include every detail of the description of his dream. He describes everything so that we can be provided with an accurate image of his dream. This is so that we can begin to understand the mental turmoil that the incident with Alan has inflicted on him.
The pace of this particular monologue increases towards the end as he describes himself breaking down. A lot of hyphens appear in the sentences, to show us that he is panicking – they make us jump suddenly between clauses.
“Sorry. I mean for him. Poor old sod, that’s what I felt – he’s just like me! He hates ladies and gents just like me! Posh things and la-di-da. He goes off by himself at night, doing his own secret thing that no one’ll ever know about, just like me. There’s no difference – he’s just the same as me – just the same!” Alan, Scene 31
The Essay on The Effects of Punishment and Sentencing 2
The four fundamental philosophies surrounding the purpose of sentencing are; retribution, this philosophy is the belief that those who commit criminal acts should be punished according to the seriousness of the crime and that no other circumstances are considered, deterrence, this strategy is the thought that if the punishment given is severe enough that it will stop the potential criminal from ...
Alan is very informal and does not speak standard English. His dialect varies throughout the play. When we first meet him, all he does is sing TV jingles. Then he begins to answer Dysart questions, but with short, monosyllabic sentences. Later on in the play we see him in his horse-worshipping rituals, speaking more biblically as he reels off the genealogy of the horses.
In the above paragraph, he is neither singing nor speaking in biblical terms. Here he is informally expressing his feelings about his father. He calls Frank a “Poor old sod”. Sod is slang, as is la-di-da.
He repeats “just like me” three times in this paragraph. This is the point he wants to make, so he repeats several times because he can’t quite believe it. He thought that he and Frank had nothing in common, but now they do and it’s a huge surprise to him. And because he knows about his own feelings, he begins to relate to how his father feels and says that he feels sorry for him.
Here he is using no metaphors or any other form of imagery because all he is doing is telling himself and Dysart about how he feels about his father.
“I know you think it’s none of my beeswax, but it really is you know… Actually, it’s a disgrace when you come to think of it. You the son of a printer, and never opening a book! If all the world was like, I’d be out of a job, if you receive my meaning!” Frank, Scene 6
Frank has had less of an education than Dysart had. We can see this from the way Frank talks. He speaks very informally and colloquially. At the start of the above paragraph he uses the word “beeswax” instead of business. Beeswax is a substance used in polish, but Frank has used it as if it’s slang. In Scene 6 he also uses the word “swiz”, another slang word.
At the end of several of his sentences he says something like “if you receive my meaning”. This is colloquial. Well educated men like Dysart don’t need to say things like this because he is easily understood, but Frank’s use of slang makes him harder to understand and so he has to say this.
Most of his words are monosyllabic, meaning they have just one syllable. This also shows his lack of education because he only uses simple words.
The Essay on Othellos Loss For Words
Othello's character throughout the play demonstrates a skill and confidence in the art of language. From the beginning we see long, eloquent speeches that dazzle his audience - eloquently mixing complex words that help portray him as not only a strong warrior but also a fighter with a sound mind. However when Iago pressures him about the possible relationship between his wife Desdemona and Cassio, ...
In this scene he uses no metaphors or similes. He is making a point that television is bad for his son, and instead of using imagery to make his point, he uses emotive language – “Mindless violence!” “Absolutely fatal mentally” – and he talks about television taking away your intelligence and concentration.
“But if you knew God, Doctor, you would know all about the Devil. You’d know the Devil isn’t made by what mummy says and daddy says. The Devil’s there. It’s an old-fashioned word, but a true thing… I’ll go. What I did in there was inexcusable. I only knew he was my little Alan, and then the Devil came.” Dora, Scene 23.
Dora does not speak standard English, but she is far more formal than Alan and Frank. She was a teacher and is therefore well educated, but as she is lower class than Dysart, she is more colloquial.
Throughout the play, Dora uses a lot of biblical terms, quoting the bible on a couple of occasions. This is because she is a Christian. In this particular section, she speaks about the Devil and how it has turned Alan from a good little boy into a monster.
The last sentence of this speech uses imagery. She describes him as “my little Alan”. This makes us think of an innocent young boy who wouldn’t and couldn’t hurt anyone, but then the Devil came and turned him into a horse-blinding psychopath. This makes us feel very sorry for Dora because she says it as if someone has taken away her baby.
She is not speaking with any rhythm or pace here. She is just telling Dysart how she is feeling. She use no imagery because she is just expressing her emotions.
