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... d the different speech communities I found within the shows I discovered the three categories that James Britton discusses in The English Language: An Owners Manual. By the end of my viewing process I became very familiar with expressive, transactional, and poetic language. Both shows used each of these three categories, although it was in two very separate mannerisms.
As Britton stated, expressive language tends to be spontaneous and unrehearsed, and it represents the closest association with that mysterious process we call thinking. (p. 18) Expressive language was always flowing out of the guests mouth on Ricki Lake. Take for example the story of Ty and Kenya. These two people had two children together and broke up shortly after. Ty seemingly disappeared from Kenya's life leaving her at home to be a single mother with no support. As Kenya poured out her side of the story, the audience quickly grew feelings of hatred towards Ty without even meeting him. As soon as he was introduced and brought on to the stage, a wave of boos came from the audience.
Upset from what had been said he quickly responded with, You aint nothin but a liar. All you have done to me is caused baby mama drama from day one! Everybody needs to stop listening to this bitch and hear my side of the story! All the while, he was standing in Kenya's face and pointing and waiving his hands uncontrollably. I wasnt until he sat down in his chair and calmed down that the expressive language ended. The use of expressive language was much different on The Rosie Odonnel Show.
There was never a quick slip of the tongue but instead the expressive language was represented through body language. Almost every guest was using their hands to help them speak. If they were telling a story about recent work they have done, their hands would sort of move in circular motions. Then there was Elton John who never stopped moving his hands. When he was done speaking he would clasp his hands on to the armrest of the chair, sporadically stoking them.
Hand movements and facial expressions were also almost always at a constant with Rosie. Her eyebrows would move to accentuate what she was talking about. She also would stand up and personally greet her guests, sometimes giving them hugs to add to the warm welcome. Transactional language was also a really big part of both of these shows.
Britton states, it is the language that gets the job done, that allows people to conduct transactions of meaning. (p. 21) In order for the guest to tell their stories, transactional language had to be in use. Most of the transactional language on Ricki Lake came when the guests were explaining what had happened in their lives. On the show titled, You cant keep our kids from me because Im gay, couples rambled out their stories of how they became gay soon after they had children with their heterosexual lovers. The subject itself was somewhat taboo and at times it seemed as though Ricki was reluctant to intervene with the guests. While the guests were speaking many of the words that were being said reflected their speech community. Phrases like, He dont even got a house, and You aint paid nobody, were common throughout the show.
There were common misuses of English words possibly due to the lack of education. Transactional language was also being used before and after the commercial breaks when Ricki would either recap what had happened or would give a preview for the next guests. The Rosie Odonnel Show used transactional language in the most conservative form. The simple conversations that Rosie held with her guest were probably transactional language at its purest.
The back and forth conversation between two people is what the show is based around. This allows for the viewers to get to know someone who they will probably never actually meet in real life. Their social class showed when the guests spoke and greatly represented their speech community. Rosie Odonnel also would give recaps and previews before and after the commercial breaks allowing the audience to keep up with her. The last category of poetic language was rarely used in comparison with the other two categories. In The English Language: An Owners Manual, it states that a major characteristic of poetic language is that the words themselves are memorable and enhance the meaning. (p. 28) Rosie Odonnel would perform short songs because of her admiration of singing.
A traumatic scene occurred when two-year old quadruplets, that shared that same birthday as Rosie, were brought onto the show to meet the characters of The Wizard of Oz. They were supposed to love The Wizard of Oz, but first sight of the characters set fear into the quadruplets and they all started crying. Later in the show Rosie sang a poetic song to If I Only Had a Brain, replacing the words with new ones. Some of the words included were dope-o-rama and cutie-pattie. These were words that I had never heard before but quickly caught onto due to their childish nature. A few things said on Ricki Lake also appeared to be poetic.
Baby mama drama is a phrase used to talk about the problems that the mothers child has caused for the father. Babies daddy is also used to talk about the father of the child. Another new phrase I learned was Im fin to bounce up out of here. Translation; I cant take this anymore, Im going to leave this place.
All of these are excellent examples of poetic language used throughout these two shows. As I discussed earlier, each of them relates specifically back to the speech communities that they represent. In watching these two shows I fell upon knowledge of television that I didnt have before. There are many different shows to choose from while a person sits on the couch channel surfing. Within these different shows there are categories. Take for example talk shows, game shows, sit-coms, court televisions, etc.
These shows may be the same in general but within these show lies a level of language that completely sets them apart. I discovered that two day time talk shows that appear one right after the other are virtually two different shows, all due to the language that is within them. I felt that I was strongly attracted to the language in The Rosie Odonnel Show because I was very comfortable with the speech community it represented. On the contrary, the language I found on Ricki Lake was repulsive. I couldnt affiliate with half of the things that were being said. I basically was an outsider because I was lost in the language.
The final decision to stop surfing at a talk show, cooking show, or video show is influenced by language. People have a different perspective on which language they prefer. Paul Roberts writes in Speech Communities that good English is whatever English is spoken by the group in which one moves contentedly and at ease. The English found on Ricki Lake wasnt easy for me and therefore I formed an opinion of dislike for the show. The complete opposite was true for The Rosie Odonnel Show. This is why every show has a different appeal to each person.
In the end it is the decisive point that helps us choose what channel we actually want to watch. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Wizard Of Oz Side Of The Story
