Analysis of a Help the Aged Letter

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Analysis of a Help the Aged Letter

In this essay I intend to thoroughly analyse all aspects of the first

page of the letter. I am going to work my way through the letter,

firstly commenting on the graphology, and then language, although in

some places these will obviously overlap.

In the top right hand corner, we see the logo. It shows a sun setting

and is a bright image. It is eye catching and uses connotations to

represent happiness, and the sun itself represents life. The logo is

saying that although the sun is setting and that the end may be near,

there is still happiness and brightness, and prosperity. The logo is

very basic and clear and I think this has been done to make it

instantly recognisable and distinguishable.

In the other corner, there is what is designed to look like a part of

a letter or note that has been torn out, with rough edges. Because it

looks like lined paper and the font is designed to make it look

handwritten, the reader gets the impression that it is a genuine part

of a letter that has been torn out. However my criticism of this is

that I believe they have selected the wrong font. The letter is

supposed to be from a 78-year-old woman, yet the font looks like a

younger persons handwriting and also the font looks somewhat cheerful.

I feel something like Lucida Calligraphy would have been a more

appropriate font, although it perhaps looks a little overdone, it is

nearer to an elderly woman's handwriting.

Use of the word "loneliest" in the torn out letter clip is good

because it is a superlative emphatic adjective and emphasises the

degree of loneliness and adds to emotional impact to the reader. The
...

... middle of paper ...

...uggle" has been included

to again emote the reader, along with "tragedy". In the last sentence,

the modal auxiliary "could" is fairly general, it is not saying that

your "gift" will definitely stop this "tragedy", but it "could".

The last paragraph is the first mention of Help the Aged. It is very

much made up of statement sentence's, explaining why they need the

money. It has changed the tone of the letter- until now it has been a

sob story, nagging at the reader's conscience and emotions. However

now it is explaining why and how they need to help people like Maud.

Overall the letter is very technical with a wide use of semantics to

persuade the reader to part with their money. It uses both visual and

textual techniques to draw the reader in and once it has gained their

attention, it tries to keep them interested.

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