Questions on the barrister transcript

1)In the transcript proper nouns are used the majority of the time especially when the barrister is speaking. The barrister refers to others by their name. For example 'according to you Mr Neil. this ill feeling. this grudge on Mr Peterson's'. This use of proper nouns rather than pronouns makes the Barrister seem more formal and intimidating. The Barrister also repeats the proper nouns a lot. Constantly referring to Mr Neil by his name adds tension and makes Mr Neil feel under more pressure. As the transcript is from a courtroom this kind of pressure would be necessary and the audience of the dialogue would understand the scene.

2)The part of the dialogue that seems prepared are the turns from the barrister. The barrister seems to know what he is saying and almost knows how Mr Neil will reply as his speech is very latched to Mr Neil's. An example of this is 'Mr N:(2.5)no. Bar:did the police come to see you?' There are no pauses in this from the bar and he replies to Mr N straight after his answer. Mr N however seems very unprepared with what hes saying. He leaves long pauses before or between speaking and stutters a lot. An example of this is 'I was prosecuted (0.5) possibly a week or so later I believe' This pause in the middle of the sentence shows how unsure about his answer he is. He also uses fillers such as 'er I accidentally. bumped it slightly with er the rear of my car' This shows how unprepared he is with his answers and how he feels the need to stall as he does not know what to say.

3) In the dialogue the Barrister appears to have the most power. This comes across in the way he speaks and what he says. An example of this is the accusations he makes. 'is that because the police have seen you so many times Mr Neil that you can't remember'. This assumption shows how he has control over the situation to be able to assume Mr N can not remember for this reason without Mr N actually admitting this. The accusations make Mr N feel guilty and more nervous. This technique gives the barrister more power and the upper hand in the situation.
  Mr Neil's short and rushed answers show how little power he has. Mr Neil does not say a lot and answers most questions briefly. For example in line 17 the Barrister makes a large assumption abut Mr Neil and Mr Peterson's situation and all Mr N replies is 'Mr N:(1.0) no it's not right'. This quick answer shows how Mr N feels as he can not say a lot and is struggling to handle the barristers accusations. Giving him little power.
  Another way in which we can see the Barrister's power is his demand for answers. Examples of this are 'that didn't cross your mind at all?' and 'you can't remember whether they came to see you or not?'. His double questioning and demand for answers shows a level of authority above Mr Neil. This adds pressure to Mr Neil to answer questions quicker showing how little power he has compared to the Barrister as all he can do is answer the questions.

4)One quote that seems puzzling is the Barrister's stuttering at the start of the dialogue. 'when er you had er'. He seems to be struggling for words and this doesn't flow with the rest of his turns in the dialogue. Mr N is the person who stutters and struggles for answers so for the Barrister to be struggling shows a contrast to his usual idiolect. Another quote that is interesting is when Mr N laughs 'Mr N:[laughing quietly] that's not true no.' This contrasts Mr Neil's usual character a bit. Mr Neil seems nervous and unsure usually but this laughter shows him being slightly relaxed. This does not fit Mr Neil's other qualities.

Extension:
Barrister: you understand Mr John that what you have been accused of is a very serious matter(.)
Mr John:yes I do(.)
Barrister:according to you Mr John you were not at Miss Smiths house on Saturday night you were at your own home. is that true?
Mr John:er yes i er was(.)
Barrister:if that is correct Mr John then why was there evidence of you at Miss Smiths house the night she died?
Mr John:(3.0)there isn't any evidence from that evening.
Barrister:the neighbors have told us that they saw you leave Miss Smiths house around the time she was assumed to have been murdered(.)
Mr John: they can't have seen me I checked there was no car in their drive(.)
Barrister:so Mr John you admit that you were at Miss Smith's house the night of her death and that you checked that there was no one around first?
Mr John:er um(.)

Commentary on perspectives blog

I chose the subject of immigration because it's very relevant at the moment and I thought it would be interesting for me to learn about different opinions on the subject and then develop those opinions to make the characters.

The idiolect of the first character I wrote from was meant to be a formal and educated 58 year old man with knowledge on the subject. It was supposed to show he had strong views on the subject. I tried to reflect this in my work by writing formally and staying on the factual side of the subject. I wanted this person to have a clear opinion and to show it would be hard to persuade him otherwise. I did this by almost writing in an angry manner 'we should not be allowing more people in if we can't even house our own people.' This quote from the blog was meant to show a slight irritation from the character and reflect his anger at the fact that we are struggling. I also used lexis' such as 'should not' and 'need to be' to show the certainty and a strong belief in his opinion. This definitely portrayed the fact that he would not be persuaded otherwise and that he does not really have an interest in what others may think, as he believes his opinion is correct.

I did not use many facts or statistics in the blog as I wanted the character to be giving his opinion. I wanted his opinion to be strong and I tried to present this strength by not involving numbers and just writing from his perspective. I imagined this character to have developed his opinion from reading a lot about the subject. That is why I decided he would be very educated on the topic. I did all this by making the blog very one sided. For example 'Britain is becoming overcrowded'. This statement is to the point and does not leave room for any other opinion. The word 'is' could have been 'may be' but I decided this would have made it seem as if he had less of a strong opinion.

The idiolect of the second character was meant to be a young 26 year old man who's opinion was quite weak and did not know a lot about the topic. I wrote this blog a lot more informally and tried to show the unsure side of the character. I started the blog with 'I don't think' compared to blog 1 that started with 'I believe'. I did this as I wanted the audience to see how the characters were different to each other from their opening lines. The 'I think' shows he is unsure about his own opinion as it is just a thought. In the second paragraph I wrote 'immigration may not need decreasing'. The words 'may not' shows that he is not definite about this. The use of words such as 'in my opinion' reflects that he is not sure whether he is correct, it is just his personal beliefs. I think this shows a real contrast of the idiolect from the other blog as the first character was very definite about right and wrong. I ended the blog with 'Obviously you and others have different opinions to mine for fair reasons but this is mine.' This reflects how he is not trying to be argumentative and is accepting of others opinions unlike he fist blogger.

I made the second blog quite short because I really wanted to show almost a lack of background knowledge on the topic from. I wanted the person to have maybe come across the others blog by accident and just want to give their opinion without being educated on the topic. I also tried portraying this by showing a sense of openness to others opinions. 'Obviously you and others have different opinions to mine for fair reasons but this is mine' is the final sentence the person writes. I did this to really show the characters idiolect and acceptance of the others opinion.   

The blog is written with a smaller and less formal vocabulary than the first blog to show the age gap and also to reflect the different the different levels of intelligence/ability between the two. The use of 'don't' instead of 'do not' in the second blog is a subtle contrast with the grammar in the first.

I wanted to make the two idiolects different and have them contrast with each other. I tried to make not only their opinions different but also their writing style and their knowledge on the topic. I did this because someone may find this blog from searching the topic of immigration on Google and it may interest them more if there are two completely different views on the topic from two opposite people. I think this would mean the audience of the blog would be people who already have some knowledge of immigration and are interested in different opinions on it. This blogs purpose would be to persuade people one way or the other.

Arguments for immigration written from different perspectives

Blog 1 
Male, 58,  British

I personally believe that immigration is a problem in the UK. We struggle to look after people who have lived here all their lives and can't afford anyone else to care for. We are finding it difficult for to care for pensioners who have lived in the UK for years and years but we can afford to pay benefits for immigrants. It is just not fair on our own people. Housing is also a huge problem for people in the UK at the moment and therefore we should not be allowing more people in if we can't even house our own people.

Britain is becoming overcrowded and at the rate we are letting people in it will soon be too crowded to live. The numbers allowed in year need to be lowered drastically.

Many immigrants are sending money back home to families and therefore our economy is providing for this. This lowers our economy as they don't use the money they earn or get from benefits, in our country and therefore decreases our already struggling economy.

Overall immigration is causing a lot of problems for Britain and it needs to be decreased soon or we could become even more overpopulated. 

Blog 2 (In reply to blog 1)
Male, 26, British

I don't think that your belief that immigration is a problem for Britain is right. Lots of the most successful doctors and scientists in the UK are not originally from here and yet they've saved thousands of lives. Immigration is benefiting us in our health and I believe that is more important than any negatives that it may bring. 

Some people believe that immigrants will have a positive long term effect on the UK's economy, so even if there are problems now, in the long run they will be forgotten and replaced by positives. This means that immigration may not need decreasing at all.

Obviously you and others have different opinions to mine for fair reasons but this is mine.

Bibliography: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11776411/Britain-needs-immigrants-but-not-a-swarm-of-them.html

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/17/immigration-british-attitudes-harden-benefits