Question 2 Paper 1

 Paper 1

Question 2 

The genre of this text is a non-fiction first-person letter. Due to the introduction of the excerpt, “Dear Stranger”, and the ending, “Happy Regards,” we can gather that this is a letter, strictly because it is in the standard format of a letter. With the author using the pronouns “I” and “we” it is clear that the writer is speaking in the first person. Whose target audience is likely to be those who are starting their own business, being an entrepreneur, or those who are interested in the toll it takes on someone for being an entrepreneur. 

In regards to structure, all of the paragraphs were short to allow the readers to absorb the most information gradually as the author got more into detail, on his advice for happiness, as his letter continued. Moreover, the structural detail, the author's sentences became longer as he included more of his advice process throughout the integrity of his letter, rather than just relating to the audience. For example, “But that's all about doing, not being - and while doing…” As the sentence continues Richard Branson is giving advice, within adding this ongoing sentence we are introduced to the play-by-play of the effect of the author's thoughts and advice for readers. Amongst these detailed elongated sentences, we were introduced to short structured sentences. Which included, ‘Be healthy.’ The shortness of this particular sentence distributes the quickness and straightforward acknowledgment brought upon Richard Branson as he is trying to get across a particular piece of advice. 

Continuing with structure, The author stayed in the first person throughout the entirety of the letter. However, the author purposely only referred to himself as “I” at the beginning of the letter. Richard Branson did this to make a divider between the audience and himself to show the difference in their happiness. Then, after Richard Branson gives his advice and tells the audience the key to the happiness he refers to himself as “we”. This gets rid of the divider and makes a connection between himself and the readers. 

The Language distributed throughout this excerpt is what fully engages the audience. The repetition used throughout the text is what grasps the audience's attention completely. There is a constant repetition of the word “being” or “be” which is sometimes compared to the other frequently repeated word “doing” or “do”. In almost every paragraph these words are used multiple times. An example of this is, “Be healthy. Be around…Be there...Be bold…Just be…” Richard Branson uses repetition to his advantage in getting the reader's attention, once the audience sees a pattern they will remember it and be conscious of it once they read it again. Now the readers are hyper-focused on catching themselves reading the repeated words. Continuing with that, the author ensures that the audience understands and catches the ideas that he is laying out. He used repetition to make sure that the audience was fully understanding the message. 

Moreover, the author used a brilliant combination of lexical fields. In the second paragraph the author uses a negative lexical field of failure as he says “stressful”, “tough”, “heartbroken”, and “death.” The author uses these negative words to speak about himself in times of failure and to be vulnerable to the audience. However, this negative lexical field of failure is only contradicted by the next paragraph where the author uses a positive lexical field of success. In the following paragraph, the author distributes a positive lexical field of success as he uses “wealthy”, “extraordinary life”, “happy”, and “connected.” The author placed this positive lexical field right after the negative lexical field to eliminate the negative as he expresses his advice and shows his success. Because all of the negative lexeis are now overridden by the positive, the audience is then left remembering that after the author shared his advice, being happy comes first and that perspectives will flip for the better.

In continuation of language, the author uses alliteration to insinuate that the points he is attempting to make are being picked up by the audience. For example, Richard Branson says “stressed, scared, and sad” Here Richard Branson starts each word with the letter ‘s’. By doing this the audience picks up on a pattern and it holds their attention. Richard Branson uses this to singularly grab the audience's attention and have them think about what they just read, and pick up on the negative impact these lexeis have on. 

Additionally, Richard Branson uses a lot of his own analogies throughout his letter. An analogy is a comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification. Richard Branson does this by saying, “Don't forget the to-do list, but remember to write a to-be list too.” Here the author is referring back to his initial advice of happiness is about being and not doing. The author gets this across by making his analogy and using the two catchy phrases “to-do list” and “to-be list”, which holds the audience's attention and ensures that they will remember a catchy analogy. Another example of the author's analogies is, “human beings not human doings.” Here the author is comparing what we humans are called to the actual words “being” and “doing” which is again referring back to his initial advice of happiness is about being and not doing.