Task 1 page 177

Aaron Brayden Carl LeighFeat. Kyle and Kousha

Nicholas Dattner tables: crafted not made

a. Make a list of the adjectives used to describe the wood used and the tables made by the company.

• Native• Finest (in the world)• Fiery beauty of• Majestic• Magnificent • Australian• Finest • Hand crafted• Stunning• Highly collectable

b. Identify a superlative in the text.

“Finest” is a superlative form of “fine” used twice within the text.

A superlative is a comparative adjective and is the highest form of comparison between nouns:Fine: Finer, Finest.“the finest hand crafted wooden tables ever to be seen”

c. What effect is created by the repetition of choice?The repetition of “choice” emphasises the pressure a buyer feels to make the best choice when choosing between many brands of tables. It appeals to the readers wishing to minimise their impact on the environment : “Environmentally, it is the only choice.”The repetition of choice is contributes to the social purpose of the advertisement, as it aims to persuade readers to buy Nicholas Dattner tables.

d. Explain the effect of the organisation of the information in this sentence: Snapped up by eager buyers all over the world, these stunning Redgum tables have become highly collectable.

• By placing the given information before the new (has been bought, highly collectible) it forces the audience to pay special attention, and assists in driving the text forward. It also features fronting, and the effect this has is to place important info at the start and end of the sentence.

e. Identify two examples of the Passive. Why is it used?• The first example of the passive voice is found in the beginning of the

text; “Established nearly a quarter of a century ago in Melbourne”.• The second a little further through the text; “Only taken when they

were old dead trees, this magnificent Australian hardwood has gone into some of the finest hand crafted wooden tables ever to be seen”.• The passive voice is used as the inclusion of who has crafted the table

or who the founding partners of Dattners were is unnecessary.• It establishes a formal tone which is important in expressing the

quality of their hardwood furniture.

f. How would the tone change if the tables were described as ‘manufactured’ rather than ‘hand crafted’?

• ‘Hand Crafted’ establishes a tone that sounds delicate and carefully executed. It sounds more personal as it is someone who is assembling the furniture rather than having a machine.• ‘Manufactured’ removes the personalisation of the text. It makes it

seem as if the furniture is mass produced on a piece of machinery.

g. Replace some of the words identified in (a) with synonyms. How is the effect altered?

Synonyms• Natural• Best (in the world)• Hot splendor of• Grand• Wonderful • Aussie• Best • Hand-made• Striking• Very collectable

Originals• Native• Finest (in the world)• Fiery beauty of• Majestic• Magnificent • Australian• Finest • Hand crafted• Stunning• Highly collectable

Changing the adjectives alters the high quality, ‘classy’ semantic field the author has employed through use of specific lexemes such as “Majestic”, “Magnificent” and “Hand crafted”.

h. Analytical Commentary dot points

Introduction• Register: Relatively formal.• Social purpose: To persuade its audience to purchase “Nicholas Dattner

tables”.• Mode: Written text, advertisement.• Field: Lexis relating to the semantic field of wood and woodcraft. • Participants: The intended audience of the text is the general public,

specifically targeted at those looking to purchase a table.• Context: Likely to be situated in a newspaper or magazine, although it is

not specifically mentioned.

Lexis:• Effect: The lexis employed supports the function of the text by embellishing the

product being advertised. • Approbative adjectives are used heavily within the text to describe the materials used

to construct the product, and the product itself (“majestic” “magnificent” “hand crafted” “stunning”) The title of the advertisement also asserts that the tables are not simply “made”, but are “crafted”, While synonymous, the additional positive connotations associated with the lexeme “crafted” apply to the product.

• The superlative “finest” is used twice within the text to assert that the product being advertised is of the highest quality (“Australian hardwoods, regarded now as the finest in the world” “Australian Hardwood has gone into some of the finest hand crafted”)

• The colloquial phrase “snapped up” reduces the text’s formality. In addition, it indicates that the product is finite, and compels the audience to buy it before it becomes unavailable

• The phrase “nearly a quarter of a century ago” is a more impressive substitute than simply stating “25 years” when discussing the experience of the products’ constructors.

• Syntax:• Effect: The syntax of the text reflects its formality, and intent to sound

impressive to prospective buyers. • The use of syntactic parallelism (“solid wood table...any other choice”,

“it is the only choice”) emphasises to the audience that purchasing their product is the only reasonable choice available, given its merits.• Complex sentence structure is employed (“Established nearly...finest in

the world”) to provide the audience with detail and background on the product in a concise way. • Agentless passives (“Regarded now… only taken... ever to be seen”)• Ellipsis used to omit unnecessary information (“Established nearly a

century ago, Dattners”) and to focus the audience’s attention of the product.

• Discourse:• Effect: The discourse features within the text allow for important

information to be emphasised and effectively communicated to the audience,• Fronting is a significant feature within the text (“In 1989…”) as it focuses

the audience’s attention to the date Dattners began constructing its tables. • Cohesion is achieved through the use of anaphoric referencing

(“Environmentally it...choice” “this magnificent…”), “this” referring to the “old dead trees”. While an environmentally friendly choice, it does not sound as impressive as “magnificent Australian hardwood”. The use of “this” to refer to the noun phrase disassociates “old dead trees” with “magnificent Australian hardwood”. • Right dislocation is also apparent within the text

(“Environmentally...choice”).