Language and power task, video clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXr2kF0zEgI

In this scene Ross and Phoebe argue about evolution.

Ross begins by asking Phoebe questions like "You don't believe in evolution?" This asserts power as he is asking her interrogative questions and using the personal pronoun "you", this singles Phoebe out from the others and Ross makes her seem small and as if she should believe in it. Phoebe responds with Goffman's face threatening act. She begins to 'take the mick' out of Ross's intelligence about the subject of evolution for example "Monkey's, Darwin, it's a nice story i just think its a little too easy" this states that Phoebe is threatening Ross's face by saying that what he study's is easy and not important. Ross then responds with sarcasm as he begins to lose the floor but Phoebe still replies with face threatening responses and Ross begins to look defeated.

In the next part, you can tell that Phoebe holds the floor as she changes the topic by saying "Look at this funky shirt". This may also seem that she is perhaps losing the power as she doesn't know how to respond to Ross's interrogative questions. Ross then uses upwards divergence as he begins to use intellectual language and facts to get power over Phoebe. This doesn't prove successful as Phoebe again threatens Ross's face by dismissing his intelligence and making a joke about it.

Written Language and Power

Power is asserted in this text through the use of imperative sentences, they state that there is no alternative for the reader as it is a demand. This relates to the fact that the context of production has instrumental power over the readers, so it is therefore enforcing power through using imperatives. one example of an imperative sentence used is 'You must also include your own address, the council will not accept it otherwise'.

By using personal pronouns like 'you' and 'your' within the text, it makes it more personal to the reader and also it can make it seem a little more intimidating as the reader has no choice and the power that is enforced here singles out that person. An example from the text is 'Your own letter will count the same as all those signatures'. Also using the second person pronoun 'our' suggests that everyone will be working together and in a way this almost persuades the reader as they will feel part of a 'team'. For example 'Our community has a voice'. Lastly, 'us' is also used in the text and it is also a pronoun. This word suggests that there is more than one person behind this company and this asserts power against the reader because they are only one person, whereas this company is a team with many people backing them up, so the reader will feel more pressure towards listening to the text.

Conditionals like 'if' suggests there will be consequences and it reinforces that instrumental power that the company/producers have over their readers. Also it seems more threatening. For example 'If you are about to go on your summer holiday, please write before you go...every letter counts'.

The use of pragmatics used in this text assert power by stating that 'Time's running out...write a letter today' this means that there is little time left to act upon this situation. Also, the use of short sentences assert power to the seriousness of the text's message to its readers.