Language Analysis
Before I create my magazine article I have to get some basic understanding of what the layout is and what they look like and how they work. Our task was to pick a magazine article and analyse it for the key features that it conveys and the language that show ADIA that is shown through how the journalist writes it. The article that I chose was about Wyclef Jean and his 10 commandments on music and life.
This is my language analysis on a magazine article that I have chosen
Click on the picture to get a better view of the article
The article
Wyclef Jean the rapper and musician’s rules for life – Q magazine – September 2017
Who – Wyclef Jean
What – Wyclef Jean 10 commandments on life
Where – America
When – September 2017
Why – To tell the magazine audience about his experiences/rules for life.
How – Through 10 key points about his experiences in a magazine article.
The structure
The article is structured as life advice on music from a musician. It is very similar to an auto biography style of reading. It is quoted as his “rules for life” and what he has learnt about music over the years. I know this from the way it is set out by each number he has a subheading about something and then he explains the subheading and gives his advice on the situation by adding how that has affected him. The way the article is structured is a bit weird to your typical one. This is because normally a journalist asks questions to an artist or person and they answer them. However in this Wyclef Jean is sort of both by giving the reader advice on situations that he has encountered.
Presence of journalist
The article is written in the first person with the writer Wyclef Jean giving his opinion on his life events. As the article is more of a Q and A then a written write up there is no distinct introduction and conclusion of who he is and what he is famous for. However I feel like throughout the article he is open about his experiences in life and the readers learn a lot about him and his personality by the end. I feel like the article is written in a direct mode of address. This is evident in the way he uses ‘you’ like he is talking to the reader.
Language and aim
From reading the article I can tell that the writer’s language is quite like slang and not formal. He is quite rebellious or doest care as he casually swears during the interview. In the article the writer uses a selection of different quotes. He does this to add extra information to the advice he is giving the reader. I feel like the reader will experience from reading this article lots valuable information about life from someone who knows a lot about music. The article is his 10 main tips for life and how to be successful from it.
Representation of the performer
In the article the journalist is mainly Wyclef Jean. He is telling the audience about stories in his life and making it key things for the reader to take in. I think that the purpose of the article is to get more people to know about his life and also if people ever get in the same situations would have helped them on what to do.
From doing this task I have got a better understand of how articles are written and how I can use this information to work towards my magazine article. I have even learnt from doing this how different magazine all have different layouts of double page spreads and each put the article in different places. This is good for me as well as it gives me some good ideas for how I can do the layout of mine.