Comparison of Text A and B

Text A is a transactional encounter, with the purpose of purchasing cough

medicine, with a secondary purpose of gathering information and advice
on the cold. It is a spontatneous conversation as can be seen by the over
talking, a feature not often seen in scripted conversation. This is much
the case in Text B, where maxim’s are flouted in order to create a
comedic effect, which fits the purpose of the conversation, to entertain.
Text B tries to replicate a spontaneous conversation, but due to schema
of a transactional conversation being altered for comedic purposes fails to
do so.

Text A has futher conventions of a transactional conversation, with a clear

sense of the pharmacist having control/higher status. This fits with the
fact that the pharmacist has a higher knowledge base, as can be seen
within the medical lexis, ‘mucus’ ‘bronchials’, but at the same time, these
choices are still accessible to someone without a medical background.
The customer in Text B has the higher status, and obviously has a
grievance. The customer makes irrelevant jokes about the gender of the
shop-keeper (flouting grice’s maxims). This is unexpected, as this is not
the accepted protocol of a complaint, flouting leech’s politeness maxim.

Text B has a clear sense of tone and of attitudes. It is clear that the
customer becomes irate within the text ‘what’s wrong with it?’ ‘It’s dead’.
This is the scripted features coming through, with a surreal element to
the dialogue. There is a strong sense of function throughout Text A,
fillers are only present during the beginning and end of the conversation.
The fact that non-fluency features are far more present in the case of the
customer than the pharmacist, gives the impression that the pharmacist
has had this conversation on several occasions, giving a slightly
rehearsed impression, although nothing in comparison to Text B.

Both texts have an overall positive tone, but in different manners. Text A
is positive to give the customer confidence in the advice that they are
being given, ‘the right thing for you’. The advice is also used in
declaratives to create an assertive tone, and again a further confidence.
The juxtaposition of ideas within Text B is far from this, although the
shopkeeper is positive in his ideas, it is in an uncertain way, the audience
sees this ‘Norwegian parrots’. The customer is apparently not unaware of
this either, and his irate tone is for comic effect. ‘definitely deceased’ this
alliteration, mixed with other hyperbole within the text thoroughly
highlights the comedy aspects.

By Sarah.