Death Trap

The Language Analysis
of your intemal
Hi everyone! As promiscd, here is an example of the analytical secion
then
assessment. F'irst there is the story that would have becn one of your rellective picces and
the analysis.
The Death Trap

The freshly painied building nested comfortably in the valley of Eight Turns Disirict in Kent
own. The schoolyard was swepi clean and the tiny palch of grass to the leít of the mam door
smiled pleasantly. The litilc marigolds stood proudly in clusters around the edges and the newly
acquired metal swing gleamed bright red in the centre of the playfield at the front of the school.
Smiling faces of Ernic and Bert fron Sesame Streel painted on the lront walls of the building
remindcd everyone to say please and thank you. Despiie the pleasant setling, thc presence of
tragedy hung unmistakably in ithe atmospherc.
lt was Tuesday, ten days subsequent the of the

to opening new school term when four-ycar-old
Mario Peters fell into a six-foot hole, half-filled with rocks.
large
"Jesas Gaad, im mus ded now!" wailed one woman with both hands on her head.
"Kiss mi neck!" exclaimed one half-naked middle-aged man sporting dreadlocks.
"A who fa pickney?
"A who a do dem madnis yah?!"
"Make way, make way. Ladies and gentlemen please,

please will you be quiet. You are
frightening the other students wilh your loud, bad talking. Shhhh! everyone."
"Den Ms. Prince, win uh fi seh nuttin?"
"A who she?"
"Yes, yes, i'm sure

something bul ihis is such a predicament;
you can say do keep your voices
"
down, the principal croaked in a

broken voice, "Such apredicament," she whispered again like
a broken record. She had her hand
delicately at the base of her throat.
"Dis is such a
pridickiment" someone mocked in a nasal tone, "Das all she
call fi help, bout kip you vices dung?" cyan seh when wi
Lef har, mek she one manige

Prince
disdain that Mrs.
much
scoffed with so
twang." One
woman
Sne a cum wiad a r

D0
the venom in her voice
cringed at
announced:
The man sporting dreadlocks stepped forward and heroically
"Ian' Iman a gofi di yout.
down
the ground and climbed gingerly
worked-strained shirt on
And with that he dropped his
from the group.
into the pit, amidst encouraging shouts
"Tek time, Dread"
"Yuh see im yet?"
"Yuh waan light dung deh?"
answering sound from the belly of the earth.

For a moment there was an ominous silence, no
when he surfaces. Gosh, this is

Then from the periphery, Mrs. Prince crooned, "Please tell me
Such a predicament."
bruised all his body, left arnm and right leg broken, Mario was bleeding profusely
Badly over
when the dreadlocked man rescued him from the half-finished

from both nostrils and right ear
with sheet of zinc and camouflaged with some

soak-away pit. The soak-away had been covered a
green bush similar to that which grew along the wire fence enclosing the school property.
blood and the broken

The entire school population was completely traumatised. The sight of the
body of the infant not only threw the entire school into chaos but the neighbouring community
that had now converged on the premises and its immediate environs. Housewives and
in
unemployed women in various stages of undress, sweaty labourers clothes bedecked cement
in
and mortar, babies with little legs extended at their mothers' generous hips made up the curious
loud-talking mob that continued to grow by the minute. Six hours later, little Mario Peters died
from the injuries he sustained when he fell into a death trap on his basic school compound..
An excerpt from Death Trap by Sonia Lee

THE ANALYSIS OF DEATH TRAP
The analysis will comment on the four areas required by CAPE.
Language Registers
Dialectic Variations
Attitudes to Language
Communicative Behaviours
from a third
unfolds tragic end. The story is told
Death Irap has an ironic twist as the plot a -
The narrator uses a formal

person perspective and is set on the premises of a basic school. School. i he
he describes the surroundings of Eight 'Turns Basic
Tegister ior most of the story as he
occasion about which
tone of the story is sombre so the choice of
Standard English befits the
the exchanges among
on the school premises,
writes. However, when the neighbours converged most of
the informality of their situation since
tnem were done in the casual register marking
was an emergency
not standing at a ceremony, it
them were acquaintances. The neighbours were
all of this.
to help. The use of the casual register reflected
and they turned out spontaneously
could be
their comments, at least
three dialectic variations
As the different characters made
Prince spoke the standard variety
mesolect were featured. Mrs.
identified. The acrolect and the
Mrs. Prince used
mesolect. From these two varieties,
largely
(acrolect) while the
were
comments
unidentified speaker at the beginning,

Erudite English, the dread Rasta English and the
distress at little Mario's plight,.
of profanity registered his
Profane English. The speaker's use
to
and/or dismay, persons resort
where the situation elicits shock, surprise
Many times in cases
they have no intention of being rude or disrespectful.

ihe use of profanity, though many
He was totally at
child clearly enunciated in Rasta English.
The dread's decision to help the was
punctuated by
class and religious group. This language
was
ease with the language of his social
the use of the expression "I an' Î man."
their use of Creole.

earned the crowd's ridicule, when she spoke disparagingly about
Mrs. Prince
attitude towards their language w a s
evident
as "bad talking." Her
She referred to their language
manner. Not only did ihey
think of her as
in her tone and the villagers
responded in a like
her "kip you vices dung."
ridiculous; but they taunied
their use of various communicaive

of the characters in the story showed
Keen observation
and some remained
behaviours. Some of them
shouted, others screamcd, taunted, whispered
on the reader. Proxemics or
use of vocalic
which helps to create an impression
silent. This is the
as the villagers crowed around the scene
was clearly illustrated
of space to communicate
the use
created for the principal as
she approached suggested
the incident. The passage that was
of
on the periphery of
the crowd showed her preference not to be
respect for her, while her position
"bad-talking" group.
a part of the
of the body and movemeni helped in delining the characters,

of gestures as well as parts
The use
the base of her throat
with her hands on her head and Mrs. Princc's hand on
So both the
woman
how adversely they

were affcctod by Mario's accident.
clearly depicted

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The Language Analysis

The Death Trap

tragedy hung unmistakably in ithe atmospherc.

lt was Tuesday, ten days subsequent the of the

"Kiss mi neck!" exclaimed one half-naked middle-aged man sporting dreadlocks.

"A who fa pickney?

"A who a do dem madnis yah?!"

"Make way, make way. Ladies and gentlemen please,

"Den Ms. Prince, win uh fi seh nuttin?"

"A who she?"

"Yes, yes, i'm sure

down, the principal croaked in a

Lef har, mek she one manige

Sne a cum wiad a r

"Tek time, Dread"

"Yuh see im yet?"

"Yuh waan light dung deh?"

answering sound from the belly of the earth.

when he surfaces. Gosh, this is

when the dreadlocked man rescued him from the half-finished

with sheet of zinc and camouflaged with some

blood and the broken

An excerpt from Death Trap by Sonia Lee

The narrator uses a formal

unidentified speaker at the beginning,

they have no intention of being rude or disrespectful.

ease with the language of his social

the use of the expression "I an' Î man."

their use of Creole.

their use of various communicaive

of the body and movemeni helped in delining the characters,

how adversely they

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