HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITYMID TERM TEST ON DISCOURSE ANALYSISFOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH (No 1)Subject Code: EN44Juvenile Crime in the 19th CenturyI. Prove that the following passage is a written text.The written text seems to have more information packed into it. Written language tends to consist of clauses that are internally complex, whereas with spoken language the complexity exists in the ways in which clauses are joined together. It can be seen in some sentences in the text below:“These were criminal bosses who supposedly trained young boys to steal and then later sold the stolen goods they received from them.”
Trang 1HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY MID -TERM TEST ON DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
FOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH (No 1) Subject Code: EN44
Full name: ………
Date of birth: ………
Group: ………
Juvenile Crime in the 19th Century
Novels such as Oliver Twist have made Victorian child-thieves familiar
to us, but to what extent did juvenile crime actually, exist in the 19th century?
Drawing on contemporary accounts and printed ephemera, Dr Matthew
White uncovers the facts behind the fiction The success of Oliver Twist owes
much to the biting satire and keen social observations contained within its pages The misery of workhouses, the morally corrosive effects of poverty and the degradation of life in Victorian slums all received Dickens’s close attention The novel’s prominent theme though is criminality, witnessed most vividly in the activities of Fagin’s gang of nimble-fingered child-thieves But how realistic was Dickens’s portrayal of criminality among Victorian boys and girls?
Although youth crime had been a concern since the 1700s, a decline in formal apprenticeships and the disruptive effects of industrialisation on family life after 1800 did much to create fears among the general public about the activities of criminal gangs of boys and girls in London and elsewhere
Sensational stories of crime and violence filled the pages of the popular press after 1800 with details of juvenile crime appearing in newspapers, broadsides and pamphlets The activities of so-called ‘lads-men’ were regularly reported
These were criminal bosses who supposedly trained young boys to steal
Trang 2for example, was an infamous ‘thief-trainer’ who worked in London’s
notorious St Giles slum in 1817, and as late as 1855 The Times newspaper
reported the activities of Charles King, a man who ran a gang of professional pick-pockets Among King’s gang was a 13-year-old boy named John Reeves, who stole over £100 worth of property in one week alone Similarly, Isaac
‘Ikey’ Solomon was a well-known receiver of stolen goods in the 1810s and 1820s who was arrested several times, and on one occasion escaped from custody Solomon gained notoriety for being a trainer of young thieves and was for some time (incorrectly) considered to be the inspiration behind Dickens’s character of Fagin owing to his similar Jewish heritage
‘Flash-houses’ also received regular attention from the police during the first half of the century These were pubs or lodging houses where stolen property was ‘fenced’, and was considered by the police and magistrates to be
‘nurseries of crime’ One report in 1817 described flash-houses as containing
‘distinct parties or gangs’ of young boys, while later in 1837 a police witness recalled how one lodging house in London had ‘20 boys and ten girls under the age of 16’ living together, most of whom were ‘encouraged in picking pockets’ by their ‘captain’
I Prove that the following passage is a written text.
The written text seems to have more information packed into it
Written language tends to consist of clauses that are internally complex, whereas with spoken language the complexity exists in the ways in which clauses are joined together It can be seen in some sentences in the text below:
“These were criminal bosses who supposedly trained young boys to steal and then later sold the stolen goods they received from them.”
Thomas Duggin, for example, was an infamous ‘thief-trainer’ who worked in London’s notorious St Giles slum in 1817, and as late as 1855 The Times
Trang 3newspaper reported the activities of Charles King, a man who ran a gang of professional pick-pockets Among King’s gang was a 13-year-old boy named John Reeves, who stole over £100 worth of property in one week alone.
And in this passage, we could not see simple sentences which are supposed to be spoken text And at the same time, we can see more passive
form than active form For example, “Although youth crime had been a concern since the 1700s”, “The activities of so-called ‘lads-men’ were regularly reported.”, “Similarly, Isaac ‘Ikey’ Solomon was a well-known receiver of stolen goods in the 1810s and 1820s who was arrested several times”, “These were pubs
or lodging houses where stolen property was ‘fenced’, and was considered by the police and magistrates to be ‘nurseries of crime’.”
Written language has contained more complete sentences instead of incomplete sentences than spoken language In spoken language, a large
number of prefabricated ‘fillers’: well, I think, you know, if you see what I mean,
of course, and so on” appear a lot, however, we could not see the hesitation and
also these “filters” in this text Instead of that, it can be seen logical connectors
such as: but, although, similarly, while, as…
In written language, rather heavily modified noun phrases are quite
common In the text, there are some sentences: “The success of Oliver Twist owes much to the biting satire and keen social observations contained within its pages.”, “These were criminal bosses who supposedly trained young boys to steal and then later sold the stolen goods they received from them.”
Adverbials are considered to appear more frequently in written language
than in spoken language For instance: “Novels such as Oliver Twist have made Victorian child-thieves familiar to us, but to what extent did juvenile crime actually, exist in the 19th century?”, “the activities of criminal gangs of boys and girls in London and elsewhere.”, “the activities of criminal gangs of boys and girls in London and elsewhere”.
Trang 4In contrast to spoken language, written one does not take place in real-time, and does not express personal politeness, emotion, and attitude We could not see
syntactic reduction such as you better, what are you doing? We gonna or familiarizing vocatives such as dude, mom, guys,… in the above passage That
means this text is written language
Moreover, written language would contain more content words than function words
- A content word/lexical word: is a word that refers to a thing, quality, state, action, or event
- A function word is one that indicates only grammatical relationships
This could be indicated in some cases as in:
The misery of workhouses, the morally corrosive effects of poverty and the degradation of life in Victorian slums all received Dickens’s close attention
Content words: misery, workhouses, morally, corrosive, effects, poverty, degradation, life, Victorian slums, received, attention.
Function words: the, of, and, in
The success of Oliver Twist owes much to the biting satire and keen social observations contained within its pages
Content words: success, Oliver Twist, owes, biting satire, keen, social
observations, contained, pages
Function words: the, of, to, and, within
The number of content words overtakes that in function words This is also one of the criteria for distinguishing between written and spoken language Therefore, this text is recognized as a written language
Finally, it is supposed that producing texts for speakers is quite different from writing While speakers have to be under pressure to react and communicate spontaneously and constantly with the opposite people in order to have a good conversation, writers are not the same They are given time to write down their thoughts, ideas, contents which could be prepared and done deliberately Therefore, in the text above, non-verbal behavior does not exist and words carry all
Trang 5shades of meaning Hesitation, redundancy, and repetition is something that we rarely witness here Situational context, or context of the situation, refers to the environment, time and place, etc during which the discourse occurs, and also the connection between the participants
For example, “Thomas Duggin, for example, was an infamous ‘thief-trainer’ who worked in London’s notorious St Giles slum in 1817, and as late as
1855 The Times newspaper reported the activities of Charles King, a man who ran
a gang of professional pick-pockets.” Thomas Duggin is a real person, London’s notorious St Giles slum is a real place “thief- trainer” shows the connection between Thomas Duggin and young boys who were trained to steal goods.
Since all of the factors of written language have been indicated above It is proved itself a written text
II Find grammatical and lexical cohesive devices employed in this text.
1 Grammartical cohesion
1.1 Reference
1.1.1.Personal reference
The personal reference elements which exist within the text are they as a
personal pronoun, and us, them as possessive pronoun its is listed as
possessive determiners
o In the second line, “us” refers to people, citizens.
o In line 5, "its" refers to Oliver Twist.
o In the sentence “These were criminal bosses who supposedly trained young boys to steal and then later sold the stolen goods they received from them”,
"they" refers to criminal bosses and "them" refers to young boys.
1.1.2.Demonstrative reference
*Plural: these
o “These were criminal bosses who supposedly trained young boys to steal and then later sold the stolen goods they received from them.”
Trang 6o “These were pubs or lodging houses where stolen property was ‘fenced’, and was considered by the police and magistrates to be ‘nurseries of crime’.”
*Definite article: the, an, a
o Juvenile Crime in the 19th Century
o exist in the 19th century?
o White uncovers the facts behind the fiction
o The success of Oliver Twist owes much to the biting satire and keen
social observations contained within its pages
o The misery of workhouses, the morally corrosive effects of poverty and the degradation of life
o The novel’s prominent theme
o in the activities of Fagin’s gang
o since the 1700s
o the disruptive effects of industrialisation on family life
o among the general public about the activities of criminal gangs of boys
and girls
o the pages of the popular press
o The activities of so-called ‘lads-men’
o the stolen goods
o The Times newspaper reported the activities of Charles King
o in the 1810s
o considered to be the inspiration behind Dickens’s character
o from the police during the first half of the century
o was considered by the police
o boys and ten girls under the age of 16
o was an infamous ‘thief-trainer’
Trang 7o Although youth crime had been a concern since the 1700s
o a man who ran a gang of professional pick-pockets
o Among King’s gang was a 13-year-old boy named John Reeves
o Isaac ‘Ikey’ Solomon was a well-known receiver of stolen goods
o Solomon gained notoriety for being a trainer of young thieves
o a police witness recalled how one lodging house
1.1.3 Comparative reference
o The novel’s prominent theme though is criminality, witnessed most
vividly in the activities of Fagin’s gang of nimble-fingered child-thieves.
o as late as 1855 The Times newspaper reported the activities of Charles
King
1.2 Conjunction
1.2.1.Adversative
o The novel’s prominent theme though is criminality,
o Although youth crime had been a concern since the 1700s,
o but to what extent did juvenile crime actually, exist in the 19th century?
o But how realistic was Dickens’s portrayal of criminality among Victorian boys and girls?
o Drawing on contemporary accounts and printed ephemera,
o The success of Oliver Twist owes much to the biting satire and keen social
observations contained within its pages
o appearing in newspapers, broadsides and pamphlets.
o and as late as 1855
Trang 8o Similarly, Isaac ‘Ikey’ Solomon was a well-known receiver of stolen goods in the 1810s and 1820s who was arrested several times, and on
one occasion escaped from custody
o being a trainer of young thieves and was for some time
o and was considered by the police and magistrates to be ‘nurseries of
crime
o while later in 1837 a police witness recalled how one lodging house in
London had ‘20 boys and ten girls under the age of 16’
2 Lexical cohesion
2.1 Reiteration
2.1.1.Repetition
o “Oliver Twist” is the word which has been appeared twice in those below
sentences:
Novels such as Oliver Twist have made Victorian child-thieves familiar to
us, but to what extent did juvenile crime actually, exist in the 19th
century?
The success of Oliver Twist owes much to the biting satire and keen social
observations contained within its pages.
o “juvenile crime” has been appeared three times:
Juvenile Crime in the 19th Century
but to what extent did juvenile crime actually, exist in the 19th century? Sensational stories of crime and violence filled the pages of the popular press after 1800 with details of juvenile crime appearing in newspapers,
“child-thieves” has been appeared twice:
Trang 9Novels such as Oliver Twist have made Victorian child-thieves familiar
to us,
The novel’s prominent theme though is criminality, witnessed most vividly
in the activities of Fagin’s gang of nimble-fingered child-thieves.
o “boys and girls” has been appeared twice:
But how realistic was Dickens’s portrayal of criminality among Victorian
boys and girls?
about the activities of criminal gangs of boys and girls in London and
elsewhere.
o “stolen goods” has been appeared twice:
These were criminal bosses who supposedly trained young boys to steal
and then later sold the stolen goods they received from them.
Isaac ‘Ikey’ Solomon was a well-known receiver of stolen goods in the
1810s and 1820s
o “considered” has been appeared twice:
considered to be the inspiration behind Dickens’s character of Fagin
owing to his similar Jewish heritage.
was considered by the police and magistrates to be ‘nurseries of crime’
o “police” has been appeared three times:
‘Flash-houses’ also received regular attention from the police during the
first half of the century
and was considered by the police and magistrates to be ‘nurseries of
crime’
while later in 1837 a police witness recalled how one lodging house in
Trang 10o “lodging house” has been appeared twice:
These were pubs or lodging houses where stolen property was ‘fenced’, while later in 1837 a police witness recalled how one lodging house in
London
o “Flash-houses” has been appeared twice:
‘Flash-houses’ also received regular attention from the police during the first half of the century.
One report in 1817 described flash-houses as containing ‘distinct parties
or gangs’ of young boys
2.1.2.Synonym and near-synonym
o child-thieves, juvenile crime, youth crime, young thieves, criminal gangs
of boys and girls, gang of nimble-fingered child-thieves
o criminal bosses, thief-trainer, captain
o Flash-houses, nurseries of crime, gang of professional pick-pockets,
o steal, picking pockets, lads-men
2.1.3.Superordinate and Meronymy
o General word
Human noun: child-thieves, juvenile crime, youth crime, young thieves,
boys, girls, criminal bosses, thief-trainer, captain, police, family
Nonhuman animate: slum, novel, stories, newspaper, broadsides,
pamphlets, goods, house
o Collocation