Communication Studies 2005 Module 1 Essay
a) The main point of this piece is that rum is inextricably embraced within the history and culture of the Caribbean.
b)
Dylan Kerrigan wrote a literary piece entitled “Rum Tales” from which an extract was published in the Caribbean Beat magazine in November/December 2003. His main purpose is to inform the reader of the evolution of the rum making process throughout Caribbean history, specifically in Barbados, where the oldest distillery resides.
Multiple strategies and language techniques were used by the writer. Personification was utilised in the example “the Caribbean exhales rum” and this brings life to the piece and adds to the understanding of the writer’s main point as it expresses how very much rum is a part of Caribbean culture. Irony was also used as in the example “it passed from the ironically named Sober family”. It is ironical because they owned a distillery and their name was Sober, and this provided some humour and entertainment to the piece. Perhaps the most effective technique used in this piece was contrast, as it compares the older methods of rum production to the modernised ones, hence majorly aiding in identifying and understanding the writer’s main purpose. Examples which show this are “two stone windmills…one boiling house with seven coppers, one curing house and one still” and “permitting a single or continuous distillation process, as opposed to the double distillation process of the pot still”.
Evidence was also documented in this piece, that is historical data and statistical data, such as “300 years old, and counting”, “the legal deed, dated 20 February 1703, complete with age-darkened, dog-eared edges”, “an 18th century aristocrat”, “in the 19th century”, “280-acre estate”, and “now 372-acre Mt Gay estate”. The historical data shows the progression of the rum making process and provides proof, hence, adding to the credibility of the extract. Statistical data also adds to the credibility as it provides numerical values
b)
Dylan Kerrigan wrote a literary piece entitled “Rum Tales” from which an extract was published in the Caribbean Beat magazine in November/December 2003. His main purpose is to inform the reader of the evolution of the rum making process throughout Caribbean history, specifically in Barbados, where the oldest distillery resides.
Multiple strategies and language techniques were used by the writer. Personification was utilised in the example “the Caribbean exhales rum” and this brings life to the piece and adds to the understanding of the writer’s main point as it expresses how very much rum is a part of Caribbean culture. Irony was also used as in the example “it passed from the ironically named Sober family”. It is ironical because they owned a distillery and their name was Sober, and this provided some humour and entertainment to the piece. Perhaps the most effective technique used in this piece was contrast, as it compares the older methods of rum production to the modernised ones, hence majorly aiding in identifying and understanding the writer’s main purpose. Examples which show this are “two stone windmills…one boiling house with seven coppers, one curing house and one still” and “permitting a single or continuous distillation process, as opposed to the double distillation process of the pot still”.
Evidence was also documented in this piece, that is historical data and statistical data, such as “300 years old, and counting”, “the legal deed, dated 20 February 1703, complete with age-darkened, dog-eared edges”, “an 18th century aristocrat”, “in the 19th century”, “280-acre estate”, and “now 372-acre Mt Gay estate”. The historical data shows the progression of the rum making process and provides proof, hence, adding to the credibility of the extract. Statistical data also adds to the credibility as it provides numerical values