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11/11/13
Dalya Moumina IB1-9

Textual Analysis

This passage is taken from a book called “New Generalizations and explanations in gender and language research” and is by Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnel Ginet, published in 1999. It is about a group of kids at high school who look very similar and from the same ethnic. One of the girls asks a boy nearby from which racial he comes from to see if he would be allowed in the group. The audience of this passage is mainly to adults but can also be for everyone, and the purpose is to show how different groups of kids have their own style and linguistic speech. The passage uses imagery, descriptive language and diction to show the reader how this group acts and dresses.

The language used here is very descriptive as the passage is full of adjectives. For instance, the authors describe the schools as “heterogeneous”, showing how the students are diverse based on their race. When they go on to describe the girls in the “Asian-American” group, many adjectives are used to illustrate their style of clothing. They wear “high” shoes and “very small” shirts, which gives a good description of how what they are wearing and how they are all dressing the same way. The boys also have a very descriptive illustration of what they are wearing and that they are all wearing the same clothes. The boys have “baggy” jeans and “baggy” shirts, with the word “baggy” being repeated to emphasize how casual the boys are compared to the girls wear tight shirts. The usage of adjectives help to effectively describe the clothes they are wearing so emphasize how they are all dressed alike.
The actions of the Asian-American kids are also described using many adjectives. For example, when the girl Linda speaks, she speaks with an “exaggerated” and “high rise” pitch, showing how these girls talk.

Diction is the choice of words the author has used in order to emphasize how the kids are grouped. The spot where the Asian- American kids hang out is called the “Asian Wall” and is it the spot that these kids named for themselves and is know to the rest of the kids at the school. The “Asian Wall” emphasizes how these kids kind of have their own territory and it is just for the Asians. They called it “Wall” to show how only the Asian-american kids can access that spot but the other kids cannot, as they cannot pass through the “Wall”. Furthermore, in Linda’s dialogue, when she says “What are You?” you can see that the ‘you’ starts with a capital letter. This shows how Linda says this word at a high pitch to emphasize that she is talking directly to the boy. Instead of saying “Who are you?” Linda says, “What are You?” to show that she doesn’t want to know what your name is or who you are, but what race you come from. These groups’ of kids are almost displayed to be like different types of species, except in terms of race. Thus showing how they care more about the ethnic group you come from then who you are as a person.

Finally, the last technique the authors use is imagery, in order to show the audience how the group acts and dresses in the same way. The girls all look very similar, with “long sleek black hair”, the adjectives helping the audience get a good picture. The girls also dress in a similar way, with “skinny bell bottoms” and “very small T-shirts”, emphasizing how every one of them are thin. How the girls even stand is being described, with “hips cocked”. The boys in the group also dress and act in the same way. They are quiet, contrasting to the girls, and instead of wearing tight clothes, wear “baggy jeans” and “baggy t-shirts” to show how relaxed they are. Their hair is described as being “long on the top and shaved at the bottom” which is quite an abnormal haircut for a boy but since they all have the same haircut, that’s how they know that they belong in the same group. Overall, all the girls are pictured the same way and this goes for the boys, giving an image of a group of kids without any differentiation.

In conclusion, this passage by Penelope and Sally McConnel Ginet describes a group of Asian-American kids at high school and how they are all similar in terms of looks, speech and behavior. This passage shows how a member of this group asked a boy from what race is he from, only allowing Asian people in the group. It emphasized how the kids have their own style and the kids are grouped based on their ethnic group. Imagery, descriptive language and diction have been taken advantage of in order to show how the group behaves, dresses and speaks.