Meanings and Representions - MyHub (Text A)

How does Text A use language to create meanings and representations?

 

 

Within this extract from a page on MyHub, there are many different language choices used to create meanings and representations. For example, colloquial terms such as 'cops' are intentionally used to engage the target audience, which in this case are teenagers who may be interested in the police force profession, and are purposely converging to dialect used by teenagers. The writer of this forum is intentionally doing this to establish a relationship with not only teenagers interested in the police force, but also youth who are stereotyped as rebels or criminals that may not be trusting of police. They may the attempting to change the way that this community of youth views this level of authority.

 

The register of this forum has been purposely chosen to be an interview. This discourse structure makes the content of the interview seem more personal and easier to relate to. It is simplistic, combined with related images to appeal to a younger audience, and makes the idea of delving into the police profession more appealing. This register also gives a sense of power to the audience, as its the interviewer that has control over the situation, not the police officer. This may break the stigma that youth has about police officers, and view them more as regular people that are just doing their job. Also, the use of graphology has the same effect. By using a graffiti styled font, which is a common symbol throughout urban culture, it directly addresses who this would appeal to, which would be

teenagers who live within urban area and represents the police as accessible and trustworthy. It also unintentionally creates a stereotype of this community, implying that they may be involved in criminality and are very familiar with the police force. This may actually create a distance between police and the youth, as there seems to be a misunderstanding of the stereotype that people from the urban community are more likely to be involved with illegal activity.

 

Hyperlinks in the top left corner of the web page give access to the entire website for readers to explore in the police profession in more depth. The hyperlink 'Could you be a cop?' is a direct address to the visitor of the website, opening up a dialogue and engaging a conversation with them. The choice of this information as a website allows accessibility for teenagers, as they are more in touch with modern technology than any other generation, establishing even more of a connection with their target audience. The name of the website, 'MyHub' is a possessive pronoun, which implies ownership over a personalised account.

 

The language that is used specifically within the interview with the police officer establishes a sense of heroism. For example, the superlative used in the question 'What is your proudest moment?' is used to focus on the positive aspects of being involved within the career. It creates a good image for the police officer, as they go on to speak about how they caught two burglars. Also, the officers reply to the question 'Do you ever get scared?' portrays the career of being a police officer to be heroic and desired.