Blog analizzati di inglese

Blogs for the English Exam

Blog 1: Thai cave rescue: The unknown story behind the soccer coach and the kids

by http://www.legendarylifepodcast.com, published on 10/07/8, retrieved on 13/07/18 (2000 words)

The text is taken from the page “Legendary Life” which, in addition to the blog, has even a podcast, a store (of the creator of the page) and links to coaching and training’s lessons. The title of the text is “Thai Cave Rescue: The Unknown story behind the soccer coach and the kids” and it is written by Ted Ryce, a personal trainer, peak performance coach and podcaster who worked with famous people like Robert Downey Jr. He is kind of famous and he is followed and admired by a lot of people, even though his blog doesn’t have a lot of comments. He doesn’t use a pseudonymous to write and beside the text I’ve analysed there are some informations about him and a photo, presented with a simple layout and with an additional link for people who wants to know more about him. Below there are even more links with an invitation, “Work with me”.

Blog 2: From the Mediterranean to Cheddar Bay

by http://www.everywhereist.com/blog, published on 03/05/2018, retrieved on 13/07/2018 (1700 words)

Blog 3: OSF opening weekend 2018: Sense & sensibility, destiny of desire, and Henry V

by http://www.everywhereist.com/blog, posted on 06/04/2018, retrieved on 13/07/2018 (1000 words)

Blog 4: The best Chinese food in America is in Las Vegas

by http://www.iamafoodblog.com, posted on 07/06/2018, retrieved on 13/07/2018 (1500 words)

Blog 5: Tokyo food guide: Where to eat the best udon in Tokyo

by http://www.iamafoodblog.com, posted on 17/06/2018, retrieved on 13/07/2018 (1350 words)

Blog 6: To see the world with lights on for a change

by https://dooce.com, posted on 09/06/2018, retrieved on 13/07/2018 (950 words)

Blog 7: Advantages of travelling with a single camera

by https://www.mappingmegan.com, posted on 06/07/2018, retrieved on 12/07/2018 (990 words)

Blog 8: 10 Top & Flop of the month: June and the sea fashion

by https://www.fashionsnobber.com, posted on June, retrieved on 12/07/2018 (800 words)

Blog 9: 10 Top & Flop of the month: April 2018 low cost women’s fashion

by https://www.fashionsnobber.com, posted on April, retrieved on 12/07/2018 (800 words)

Blog 10: XXXTentacion dead at fatal shooting in Florida

by https://www.justrandomthings.com, posted on 19/06/18, retrieved on 12/07/18 (150 words)

Thai cave rescue blog analysis

Usually blogs use a formal to semi-formal register, will have an interesting catchy title (like this one, “The Unknown story”, which makes the reader even more curious), will include first person statement or narration, will seek to engage the reader through direct address or interesting style and a closing statement, like an invitation to comment or to share the story: this blog presents all these aspects.

In the first extract, there is a part in letters in bold, that we can compare to the body copy in a normal article, in which Ted deals with the importance of this famous episode happened in Thailand, telling us that everyone knows the basic story, but that not everyone knows every part of it. He tries to stimulate the curiosity of the reader and he refers directly to us, though phrasal constructions like “keep reading” or “what you might not know”.

In the first part he explains the story in short (even though we can understand that his main point is not to explain the story, but there is a second objective), in a narrative and sort of thriller style. We can understand it thanks to the negative and intriguing phrases full of suspense, like “So they forget ahead…”, “Now the real challenge began”, “Then tragedy strikes.” The author refers directly to the readers though rhetorical questions and then, in an authoritarian tone he tells us he will tell us something even more interesting, the solutions to our doubts. I think there is even a hyperbole, “to achieve the impossible”, that makes us even more curious.

Second paragraph analysis

The second paragraph is a real personalization. We can understand it even from the title, “We are more capable than what we think”. In this part we can understand that the goal of the blogger is the goal of the site itself: his work is to help people appreciate themselves and even in this extract he uses the episode of the Thai children helping us realize we are capable of reaching our objectives in life. It is a sort of advertisement to his activity. The periods are even shorter than before and there are a lot of anaphors (maybe). We can imagine Ted encouraging us and this time there isn’t his experiences, but his upstream (the talking heads on TV were wrong) and attitudinal opinion (it is damn possible).

Personal growth and reflection

The last paragraph style is similar to the previous one, with personalization, rhetorical questions and even an autobiographical episode of the blogger, who has been in Thailand. The audience is everyone: all the people who are experiencing a personal growth and who are trying to be better and stronger. The word “BEFORE”, written in capital letters express the urgency of finding your own road in life. There is also an anaphor, “We could talk” that, again, makes us understand that there are more things we could know but in the final part the blogger invites us to reflect and to be optimistic, believing in ourselves and, especially, to share his story to everyone.

Therefore, Ted expresses his opinion though concessions that express his point of view, conversational devices, rhetorical questions and reported speeches. We don’t know when he wrote this extract or where, but we know who he is and why he chose this argument. We can understand that he is simple and doesn’t care about the writing style, but more about the message. I’ve chosen this article because I was interested in this episode and I wanted to see more points of view of the story.

Understanding anaphora

Anaphora = your readers or listeners start to anticipate the next line. They are drawn into your words through a sense of participation. Because they know what's coming next, they are more receptive to the emotional resonance you are trying to get across.

Blog number 2: OSF opening weekend 2018: Sense & sensibility, destiny of desire, and Henry V

The post is taken from the page “The Everywhereist”, a page managed by Geraldine Deruiter, a writer and public speaker who travels with her husband around the world and who was acclaimed to be the best blogger of 2011. If you go on the online page, near the blog post there is a link to her book, in a simple and cute layout and said in a funny and original way, “Buy my book and I promise I will never ask anything to you again”. The layout of the page itself is very clean and simple, with cute sketches that lead to other sections of the site, like the author’s biography, the blog, and also travel guides. We can already understand that it was studied for people, mostly females, passionate about reading and travels (we can see it in the comments).

Usually blogs use a formal to semi-formal register, will have an interesting catchy title, will include first person statement or narration, will seek to engage the reader through direct address or interesting style and a closing statement, like an invitation to comment or to share the story: this blog presents all these aspects. The title of the post is “OSF Opening Weekend 2018: Sense …”. It is a nominal phrase and, if you are not into the theatre’s world, you won’t understand either the word “OSF” (which stand for Oregon Shakespeare Festival), either the names after, which are Shakespeare plays’ names.

After the title, there is a photo of a man smiling with three theatre tickets.