TRAVEL WRITING VS. BLOG POSTS

Both travel writing and blog posts have a similar purpose, to entertain an audience. Although they have the same goal, they are completely different and both have very different tones. I've compared the blog of 'beauty-guru' Zoella to a travel writing piece written by Lindy Van den Boomen about Turkey (http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/sep/13/turkey-beach).

Zoella is a beauty blogger and Youtuber who posts about anything ranging between the newest range of cosmetics to a personal experience that may inspire her younger audience. Her blog is very informal and she commonly nicknames her audience 'internet buddies'. This creates a closer relationship between reader and writer and makes you feel involved. Travel writing however, scarcely uses colloquialisms or slang as it is a bit more serious. People read travel writing to hear opinions and descriptions of places, people and feelings towards a place, so travel writing pieces are typically full of adjectives. 'Intimacy', 'luxury' and 'serenity' are common themes discussed in travel writing as they serve a purpose to entertain and potentially persuade others to experience it for themselves. 

Whether it's a motivating story to inspire young girls or a detailed description of the ocean, both texts relay experiences in the hope that their audiences will emulate them. Zoella has millions of followers and they all see her as a friendly figure. She displays this welcoming and polite attitude on her blog by not using taboo language but keeping an informal register. It is likely that swearing would offend some audience members and as the majority of them are so young; it would be inappropriate and could ruin her 'role-model' status. Travel writing also avoids the use of expletives as they wouldn't benefit the tone of the text. Drama is added to travel writing purely through the use of similes, metaphors and imagery. All these techniques bring the reader closer to the writer as if used effectively they can make the audience feel as though they are in the setting described. 

Persuasion plays a role in a lot of travel writing, even if it's unintentional. The author of travel writing may simply describe a popular place, however it is then likely they have influenced the reader to want to visit. Travel writing can either 'sell' a place or give it a bad review and this effects the opinions of the reader. On the other hand, Zoella aims to entertain her audience with her blog as well as educate. A lot of her posts are beauty related and are full of subject specific lexis but she also gives advice and a lot of her posts feature a moral. This also creates a closer reader-writer relationship as her audience then look to her for guidance on a range of subjects and issues. She also leaves questions at the end of each post for her audience. They could be anything from 'what are you looking forward to next year?' to 'what's your favourite fall outfit?'. She occasionally places a question at the beginning of a post as a slight adjacency pair. This means that the blog post to follow will carry on the 'laid-back conversation' style.

Overall, the audience for travel writing seek out posts that will make them imagine and take them to the place being described, however the audience for Zoella's blog are looking for a close relationship and role-model that they can share entertaining posts with.

BILL BRYSON - NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND

Bill Bryson's 'notes from a small island' is an adjective packed piece of travel writing. Bryson uses subject specific language to convey his knowledge of travelling and to entice the reader. He doesn't use colloquial language as he wants to come across as professional to the reader and when giving opinions slang is rarely used. This tells us that his audience is mainly adult as this type of text is unlikely to appeal to a younger audience, especially if a formal register is used throughout. Bryson uses words such as 'dazzling' and 'wobbling' to paint an image in the readers minds. This is also used to create a closer relationship between the reader and writer as the reader can feel as though they are they experiencing things with the writer.

Another way Bryson makes the audience feel personally included is through his anecdotes and reflections. 'I went to Chancery Lane' is an example of this as it makes the audience feel like they're on a journey with Bryson himself. His use of phonology also makes the reader feel included as they can imagine the sounds as he describes them, 'painfully noisy street'. 

Complex and extended sentences are used frequently to convey as much information as possible. As travel writing is opinionated and used to almost give a review on a place, structure is used in the most efficient way to pack in as much knowledge as possible. This text doesn't feature any short sentences for effect as the purpose isn't to be dramatic but it is to inform and entertain.

CHARLIE BROOKER ANALYSIS:BLOG

Charlie Brooker is known for his sarcasm-filled, opinionated blog posts. Never lost for words, he blogs about a range of topics; including his opinions on the popular UK television show 'The Voice'.

Brooker's audience mainly consists of adults that share his skepticism  and can easily relate to his rants. As Brooker is very sarcastic, it's likely that his audience members are too. If they weren't, then they may struggle to follow his witty comments. His ironic writing style is consistent throughout the majority of his blog posts, just like his use of formal language. Although he occasionally blogs about informal topics, his formal register is coherent. This is typical of his style. 

Colloquialisms rarely feature in Brooker's blogs however taboo language is used. His use of expletives is purely for entertainment and isn't intended to offend. This clarifies that he is comfortable with his audience as he knows they have similar thoughts to him and won't be shocked at his language choices. One aspect of Brooker's language choices that's slightly more informal, is the frequent use of fronted conjunctions such as 'but'. This could be used for dramatic effect or it could just be a stream of consciousness as he's writing fluently. 

As Charlie Brooker has a large audience, he is viewed as a knowledgeable figure. He shows that he has valuable opinions by stating them as fact and his use of metaphors/similes. This implies that the writer knows what they're talking about and that what they have to say about it, is what everyone should believe. He also uses anecdotes to tell the audience about his encounters and this connotes wisdom as he has a lot to say about a variety of experiences.

As I previously mentioned, Brooker writes in a stream of consciousness and this is evident in his structural choices as well as language. The paragraphing is coherent throughout his blog post and for each new point he starts a new paragraph, almost like a list. This technique is slightly more informal as it reflects how people typically talk.

Overall, Brooker uses a variety of techniques ranging from informal to formal and this reflects his cynical and sarcastic attitude very well and keeps his audience entertained as well as informed.

THE GUARDIAN 'MIND YOUR LANGUAGE': BLOG REVIEW

http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language

This blog reviews many aspects of language and culture, meaning it has a wide target audience. The first blog post I came across was called 'How to sneeze in Japanese' and covers the differences in pronunciation of onomatopoeia such as 'ACHOO'. However, the next post I came across was regarding the migrant crisis and had a very formal register. As there's such a range in topics then it's likely you'll be able to find something you'd enjoy reading and it could lead you to expanding the types article you read. 

In comparison to other blogs such as Buzzfeed, this blog rarely uses colloquialisms. This is likely to be down to the fact that the blog covers some serious stories and therefore uses appropriate vocabulary. It could also be due to the fact that the Guardian has a mainly adult audience and the language used must be suitable for those readers. However the more informal posts feature puns and other play on words to illustrate a more fun side of the article.

As the blog is dedicated to language there are many posts devoted to grammar and how Standard English is used today. This means the blog features educational lexicon as it attempts to teach people how to correct the mistakes that are most commonly made with spelling and grammar.

Overall, this blog displays a range of vocabulary and sentence types to put across messages of varying seriousness but overall is a good platform for learning.  

LINGUISTIC FINGERPRINT

Everyone speaks differently. Although you may think everyone from Bristol speaks the same, we each have our own unique language traits. Most of us share speaking quirks such as dropping our 'T's or using the word 'like' as a sentence filler. But we're all different and I'm going to write about my linguistic fingerprint. 

A lot of the time I subconsciously start sentences by saying 'obviously'. I typically do it when I'm explaining something to someone or justifying something. It's not so noticeable that others point it out to me straight away but if I tell them it's a habit of mine then they can recall many situations where they've heard me say it. 

Another language habit of mine is saying 'LOL' out loud. I started to say it ironically as a joke but over time it has stuck and I can't help but say it. I've noticed that many people in my age group share this trait and perhaps it will eventually be a part of everyday language as it has already found itself a space in the dictionary. Another example of this is 'OMG' which I don't personally say aloud but I've definitely heard others saying it.