Problem PagesRob, Georgina & Sophie.

HypothesisesO Problem pages have evolved over

time as society has become more expressive of taboo issues. Such as: affairs, drug use and money issues. Henceforth, we expect to see the topics of the problem pages changing and becoming more freely expressed. The lexis has become more colloquial and the grammar more simplistic this overall has made the length more condensed, unlike with the 1930’s where language was more Latinate and more complex.

SimilaritiesO Both of the texts will be anonymous.O Both have people who are seeking

advice on a specific matter.O Both have a problem/solution format.O Both have a wide range of topics.

Differences O Now, the topics can be more taboo.O Now, people can get better help, as the advice

given can be more targeted and specific due to how society has evolved.

O Now, the language is more colloquial. O Now the sentences are more simplistic and less

complex.O Back then the articles were more long winded

due to the complexity of the sentences. O Now it is likely that a woman will be responding

to these types of queries e.g. Dear Deidrie.

MethodologyO After discussion, we decided that we would

use a “Dear Graham” problem page. We chose this piece because he is a man and stereotypically today we think of an ‘Agony Aunt’.

O We toiled with many ‘Dear Deirdre’s’ but because none of them had a date and we didn’t have a subscription to some websites, so we felt that “Dear Graham” was the best example as it met all of our criteria.

Comparison of the two articlesO The overall qualitative impression is

that the article from the 1930’s was more Latinate and polysyllabic considering its lexis. However, in contrast the Graham Norton one from 2010 was more colloquial and less complex in terms of sentence structure and vocabulary.

My Wife Is Uncultured-Can I Improve Her?

O It is evident from this text that with the help of www.folk.uib.no/nfylk/concordle/ that the most commonly used words are pronouns such as “you”(3), “her”(3) and “she”(4).

O One feature that was most intriguing was the use of words that may be considered archaic such as “wean”, “dross” and “attainments”.

Continuation…O A further point, was that the word

“gay” has significantly changed its meaning in society. However, after the turn of the 20th century it declined in usage

Continuation…O It is also evident that this article is

targeted towards a woman. O This deeply contrasts with the

second article, which is about men.

Dear Graham Norton-My Husband Is Too Fat!

O The words used most frequently again are pronouns such as, “him”(3), “he’s”(3) and “you”(2). Thus, so far nothing has changed.

O However the other more frequently used words such as “ideas”, “take”, “school”, “pay” and “try” are all simple and monosyllabic.

Women in the 1930sO During WW1 women had to take up

the role of men as their husbands went to war

O When the men returned they retook their jobs meaning that only 1 in 10 married women worked in the 1930s

O Women mainly worked in factories doing manual labour or fruit picking on farms

Divorce in the 1930sO Today 42% of marriages end in

divorce.O After the 1858 marriage reform act

divorce was too expensive and it wasn’t until 1921 that divorce started to become more common.

O Divorce was seen as taboo and the woman in particular was often to blame

ConclusionO It is evident that writing has evolved

over the decades. O Initially we expected language to be

more Latinate in the 1930’s, but overall more complex now, due to society being more educated as a whole.

O We expected there to be more colloquial phrases and jocularity in the more recent text.

Evaluation O We felt that the investigation went

well but the topic of ‘Problem Pages’ had its issues *pun intended*. Some articles you had to subscribe to, some did not have dates and most only displayed the headlines and not the whole text.

O To improve we would have needed access to more subscription websites such as www.thesun.co.uk.

O Some texts had formatting problems which made analysis difficult.

Bibliography O www.googleimages.co.ukO www.buzfeed.comO www.tumblr.com O www.go.galegroup.comO www.photobucket.com O www.telegraph.co.ukO www.dailyedge.com O http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/timeline/1930.shtml O http://

www.striking-women.org/module/women-and-work/inter-war-years-1918-1939O http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/divorces-in-england-and-wales/2010/stb-

divorces-2010.html 

O https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/divorce-further-research.htm 

O http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/divorces-in-england-and-wales/2011/sty-what-percentage-of-marriages-end-in-divorce.html

O http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03025/TELEGRAPH_MEDIA_PA_3025365a.pdf