Year 12 English Language Student Isabella Owens is placed third in University Competition

Year 12 English Language Student Isabella Owens has been placed third in a competition run by Aston University.   Many congratulations!

Isabella's entry to the competition is below:

As the text’s mode is an advertisement, its function is to persuade its audience with Ebony’s general
target audience being the African-American community. The mode of an advertisement featuring in a
magazine makes the register of the text informal, allowing the advertisement to persuade the
readers to purchase the product, also linking to synthetic personalisation, building a relationship
between producer and receiver. During the time of publishing, there was increasing coverage on the
Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, meaning the magazine will present people of colour in a positive
manner to garner more support for the movement.

Graphologically, the text displays a man in a suit working whilst eating, creating the idea that he has
a busy professional life. This leans into the then-stereotype where a man was expected to be
hard-working and professional, earning money and being busy in his job. This stereotype links to
Connell’s theory of hegemonic masculinity, the desired form of masculinity, and further encourages
the idea of a man working hard and being professional as the societal ideal type. It also makes the
advertisement feel more relatable to the readers as it is likely to reflect them, possibly appealing to
their positive face because they’re being valued and appreciated by others.

Pragmatically, the use of mitigation in ‘just one’ emphasises the effects of the product, which makes
the product seem like an investment as it comes across as better value for money with quick results.
This can link to the 1960-61 recession in the US, where finances and investments were priorities.
Linking to the function of the text being to persuade, the reader thinks it’s a good idea to get the
product for immediate effects, a common want for people. It can also link to masculinity; males were
generally perceived to have greater financial control and knowledge, so finances would’ve been a
focus for them, especially considering the financial crisis.

Grammatically, the text uses pronouns for differing reasons. The use of the 1st person singular subject
pronoun (‘I couldn’t’, ‘I know’, ‘I should’) creates an inner voice of the reader, linking to the sense of
relatability and recognition created by the image, making them feel valued and understood because
it reflects how they are in their life, further enhancing their positive face and making them more
likely to purchase the product. The use of the 2nd person pronouns in the form of direct address
(‘you’, ‘your’) creates the sense that the reader is being directly spoken to, which Fairclough may say
links to his theory of synthetic personalisation, and the producer uses this to retain power over the
receivers to encourage them to purchase the product, thus achieving the function of persuading,
whilst appearing friendly and understanding of the people and encourage them to buy the product
as if they were a friend, or someone looking out for them. Similarly, the informal interrogative
(‘brush your teeth after meals today?’) creates a casual, informal register through its relaxed nature,
further making the reader feel as if they were being spoken to directly. Another way of achieving the
function is through modality (‘couldn’t’, ‘should’, ‘can’t’), specifically the deontic modal ‘should’,
which exercises influential power over the receiver as it subtly encourages the receiver to prioritise
their health and brush their teeth. In the 1960s, dental hygiene was becoming a greater priority.

Lexically, the semantic field of hygiene (‘bad breath’, ‘teeth’, ‘decay’, ‘bacteria’) links to the text’s field
of hygiene, ensuring the text is relevant to the topic, adhering to Grice’s Maxim of Relevance.
However, the text flouts the Maxim of Manner through the ambiguity created by the noun phrase
‘mouth bacteria’. This may be to avoid false advertising, or to make the product sound legitimate.
This can be reinforced by the use of pseudo-science (‘GL-70’), which makes the product sound more
legitimate and therefore people are more likely to buy it, achieving the function of persuasion.