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Recommended: stylistic analysis of obituary

Text A(1) is an obituary that notes the death of a young citizen known as 'Travis A. Turner'. Being an obituary, the text provides a brief biography of the deceased, and aims to recapitulate the major events that the departed contributed to during his lifetime. This obituary refreshes memories of the life of this citizen and reaches out to its readers through its purpose, targeted audience, tone and diction, imagery and structural conventions. This text has a clear aim that is supported by substantial evidence throughout the obituary. The obituary simply aims to inform the community of the way 'Travis A. Turner' lived and the way he passed away. The biographical sketch and the details of the funeral portray the intention of this obituary. Mentioning that Travis was ''born December 5, 1990 in Utica'' (lines 2-3) and was ''currently enrolled at Mohawk Valley Community College'' (lines 4-5) are details of the past of the deceased. This information, most probably spread in a newspaper, aids in relating the readers to the life of this person. The formal style of delivering funeral details in the obituary express the fact that this obituary serves only to inform and notify readers of the news. For example, the funeral arrangements ''are being handled by the Dimbleby Funeral Home'' (line 17) and the ''Calling hours will be Wednesday from 2-4 and 7-9 pm" (line 18). These details allow readers to refer to them if they wish to attend the funeral. Nevertheless, the text does not necessarily persuade the public to attend but in fact, it provides them with sufficient information of the past of the deceased, his final contributions and the future of the funeral. Therefore, readers of any type can understand the type of information being delive... ... middle of paper ... ...the separation of ideas in the obituary are factors that contribute in making this text characteristic of an obituary. Consequently, the reader feels that a full obituary has been constructed and that its purpose of informing readers of the death incident has been fulfilled. In summary, the structural conventions and the limited amount of stylistic devices present in this particular text make it characteristic of an obituary. Since it is evident that it is an obituary, the seemingly intentional death imagery has shown that it is capable of reaching out to the society in Clinton. This obituary makes use of a regretful and sober tone when informing the targeted audience of the life of Travis, his death, and the funeral arrangements to guarantee that the reader is aware of the serious dilemma of drunk driving and is aware of the death incident mentioned in the text.

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