DIARY ENTRIES VINTAGE AND

CONTEMPORARY

Hypotheses 1 - Similarities•Both texts will be talking about a personal experience

•Both texts will use jargon specific to what the entry is based on

•Both texts will use anaphoric references to save themselves from repeating the same thing multiple times

Hypotheses 2 – Differences •The older text uses more elevated lexis than the contemporary text

•The older text is more formal

•The semantic field is always different

Original Comparison TextCaptain Cook’s Diary 1775

[some of the officers went on shore to amuse themselves among the Natives where they saw the head and bowels of a youth] who had lately been kill'd, lying on the beach, and the heart was stuck on a forked stick which was fixed to the head of one of the largest Canoes. One of the gentlemen bought the head on board with them where a piece of the flesh was broiled and eat by one of the Natives before all the officers and [most?] of the crew. I was on shore at this time but soon after returned on board and was informed of the above circumstances, and found the quarter deck crowded with the Natives and the mangled head, or rather part of it for the under jaw and lips were wanting, lying on the [?]. The scul had been broke on the left side just above the temples, the remains of the face had all the appearence of a youth under Twenty.

The sight of the head and the relating the above circumstances struck me with horror and filled my mind with indignation against these Canibals; curiosity however got the better of my indignation, especially when I considered it would avail but little, and being desireous of becoming an eye wittness to a fact which many had their doubts about, I ordered a piece of the flesh to be broiled and brought on the quarter deck, where one of these Canibals eat it with a surprising avidity. This had such effect on some of our people as to make them [warn?] who came onboard with me.

[Bediddie/Bediddu?] was so affected with the sight as to become perfectly motionless and seemed as if metamorphosed into the [Statue?] of horror: it is, utterly impossible for Art to depict that passion with half the force that it appeared in his Countinance. When roused from this state by some of us, he burst into tears, continued to [?] and scold by turns; told them they were Vile men and that he neither was, nor would be no longer their friend. He even would not suffer them to touch him, he [?] the same language to one of the gentlemen who cut off the flesh, and refused to accept or even to touch the knife with which it was done. Such was this islanders indignation against this vile Custom and worthy of imitation by every rational being—

Vintage Diary Entry Exampleshttp://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/scott.htDoomed Expedition to the South Pole, 1912- “Saturday, February 17 - A very terrible day. Evans looked a little better after a good sleep, and declared, as he always did, that he was quite well. He started in his place on the traces, but half an hour later worked his ski shoes adrift, and had to leave the sledge. The surface was awful, the soft recently fallen snow clogging the ski and runners at every step, the sledge groaning, the sky overcast, and the land hazy. “

http://history-world.org/christopherdocs.htmChristopher Columbus- Extracts from Journal-Discovery Of America 1892Monday, 6 August. The rudder of the caravel Pinta became loose, being broken or unshipped. It was believed that this happened by the contrivance of Gomez Rascon and Christopher Quintero, who were on board the caravel, because they disliked the voyage. The Admiral says he had found them in an unfavorable disposition before setting out. He was in much anxiety at not being able to afford any assistance in this case, but says that it somewhat quieted his apprehensions to know that Martin Alonzo Pinzon, Captain of the Pinta, was a man of courage and capacity. Made a progress, day and night, of twenty-nine leagues.

Contemporary Diary Entry Examples

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7606125.stm

Dark into light - BBC environment correspondent David Shukman travels to Alaska, to find out how the Arctic's people and ecosystems are coping with the change to a warmer climate.

‘Everything is double-checked. We then watch as a view of the dark interior is transformed into a stunning panorama of the Arctic landscape as the ramp descends.

The wind rushes in, the temperature falls, the noise is incredible. But there, flowing below us, laid completely bare, are mile after mile of Arctic Ocean, oil pipelines, orange flares of gas burning bright against the grey skies.

http://themodernexplorer.co/portfolio/the-japan-journal-niseko-dreaming/The Japan Journal – Niseko Dreaming: “Stories of waist deep bottomless pow between the trees. Every second person that had spoken to us that had been to Niseko were telling us that snorkels were nearly necessary. You can’t help but get your hopes up.”

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/06/explorers-journal At first glance the mound is nothing remarkable—just a pile of dirt and stone covered in trees and vegetation. It’s in the Guatemalan forest on the outskirts of the Classic Maya site of Xultún, near another site I’ve been studying for the past decade. At some point, looters dug a hole into it, looking for a tomb.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1573979/Diary-extracts-from-explorer-Adrian-Hayes.htmlDay 2 -Monday November 19 How am I feeling, one degree and one week gone? Personally ok. Aim is to get everything working to total perfection, because you can't afford it not to be. Those hours pulling tyres along Dubai's beaches paying dividends.

Chosen Modern Comparison Text Our selected contemporary comparison text is written by a BBC environment correspondent named David Shukman entailing his travels to Alaska.

Old and new

“There's also the puzzle of how modern life meets an ancient culture. I'm in the office of an Internet company which kindly lends us a fast connection to London.

This is typically hi-tech. But into this world steps an Inupiat woman with questions about broadband. I notice that she's brought her baby, not in a pushchair but in the hood of her fur-lined anorak, the classic way of these Arctic people. Barrow is like that, and I wonder how the push of oil and the retreat of ice will change it.”

Methodology • The only resource we used to conduct our research was the internet as it is

one of the only ways to view and read old artefacts like old diary entries and the contemporary diaries were reasonably easy to find.

• Being specific with our search terms allowed us to get the best results and also doing research into explorers enabled us to pick out possible explorers who documented their journey, this then narrowed down the search options.

• We found 5 other contemporary and 2 other vintage diary entry texts all related to explorers and travel to link in with Captain Cook’s context of his journal.

• Our selected comparison text was chosen due to it’s context of travel and exploration and it’s purpose to describe and inform. This text is also very reliable as it’s published by the BBC and also has a lot of new features to compare with the Captain Cook diary (e.g. video feature).

• Planning this A2 investigation was fairly difficult as the historical extracts were hard to find and some were probably unreliable and/or edited. The contemporary diaries were also hard to find as there are less modern day explorers as everything has already been discovered! Also we wanted to find actual explorer diaries instead of holiday and travel blogs which were very common.

Dissecting and Comparing Texts

Captain Cook’s Diary 1775[some of the officers went on shore to amuse themselves among the Natives where they saw the head and bowels of a youth] who had lately been kill'd, lying on the beach, and the heart was stuck on a forked stick which was fixed to the head of one of the largest Canoes. One of the gentlemen bought the head on board with them where a piece of the flesh was broiled and eat by one of the Natives before all the officers and [most?] of the crew. I was on shore at this time but soon after returned on board and was informed of the above circumstances, and found the quarter deck crowded with the Natives and the mangled head, or rather part of it for the under jaw and lips were wanting, lying on the [?]. The scul had been broke on the left side just above the temples, the remains of the face had all the appearence of a youth under Twenty.

The sight of the head and the relating the above circumstances struck me with horror and filled my mind with indignation against these Canibals; curiosity however got the better of my indignation, especially when I considered it would avail but little, and being desireous of becoming an eye wittness to a fact which many had their doubts about, I ordered a piece of the flesh to be broiled and brought on the quarter deck, where one of these Canibals eat it with a surprising avidity. This had such effect on some of our people as to make them [warn?] who came onboard with me.

[Bediddie/Bediddu?] was so affected with the sight as to become perfectly motionless and seemed as if metamorphosed into the [Statue?] of horror: it is, utterly impossible for Art to depict that passion with half the force that it appeared in his Countinance. When roused from this state by some of us, he burst into tears, continued to [?] and scold by turns; told them they were Vile men and that he neither was, nor would be no longer their friend. He even would not suffer them to touch him, he [?] the same language to one of the gentlemen who cut off the flesh, and refused to accept or even to touch the knife with which it was done. Such was this islanders indignation against this vile Custom and worthy of imitation by every rational being—

Key Language Features:• Sophisticated lexis• Complex sentences• Outdated Lexis e.g. avail,

avidity, metamorphosed • Jargon/ Specialist Lexis • Anaphoric references• Elevated register • Formal Language• Slightly racist terms for the

people he meets ‘natives’ • Written in the past tense

Captain James Cook was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.

Background Information & Contextual Factors

As Cook was a Royal Navy Captain he was probably appointed by King George III to endeavour

Quantitative Analysis

David Shukman’s Diary 2007/08 THURSDAY 11 SEPTEMBER- Old and new There's also the puzzle of how modern life meets an ancient culture. I'm in the office of an Internet company which kindly lends us a fast connection to London. This is typically hi-tech. But into this world steps an Inupiat woman with questions about broadband. I notice that she's brought her baby, not in a pushchair but in the hood of her fur-lined anorak, the classic way of these Arctic people. Barrow is like that, and I wonder how the push of oil and the retreat of ice will change it. I also wonder what John Barrow would have made of all this? He was the Royal Navy official the town was named after, the 19th century figure who drove the exploration of the Arctic more determinedly than anyone - launching expeditions to search for the North West Passage. Mark Georgiou and I were in the team that made the journey along that route last year. We pose for pictures at Point Barrow, a large whale bone marking the northernmost spot of the United States. There's no ice to be seen. When I started this job five years ago, the forecasts were for an ice-free Arctic in the summertime by the end of the century. The prediction now is that that could come by 2013. These past few days have made that believable.

Key Language Features:• Current and modern Lexis• References to early history • Context is based upon

new technology • Using politically correct

terminology for the communities and people they encounter

• Internet and technology jargon/specialist lexis

• Written in the present tense

Contextual Factors & Background Information

Technology has come a long way since the 1700s and our chosen example of a contemporary diary contains a lot more technological features in comparison to Captain Cook’s diary which has no technological references what so ever. In David Shukman’s article there are constant references to things like the internet as the purpose of his writing is to compare the ‘old and new’. Also the source of this diary was the BBC website which included a video of Shukman flying over an Arctic oilfield and technological graphology such as links, subheadings and email tools.

Qualitative Analysis

ConclusionThe most obvious difference between the two texts is that Captain Cook’s diary contains much more sophisticated and outdated lexis than the vintage, and also uses longer, more complex sentences throughout with the average sentence length being 24 words for the vintage text and only 16 for the contemporary text. The contemporary is also much shorter, being 228 words with 14 sentences whilst the vintage text is 412 words and only has 17 sentences.

In relation to this, we can clearly see that language within this genre has changed over time. This may primarily be due to the increase in modern equipment (particular current, technology-based lexis/jargon in the contemporary text, whilst the vintage text is much more descriptive and specific to the topic that captain cook is talking about), and also that simply due to evolution, the way in which people write is different to how they used to. For example, sentence lengths and the level of description are much less evident in newer texts because people have become less willing to read longer texts over time and it takes more to engage an audience.

There are also similarities. For example, the audience for both texts is likely to be adults interested in travelling, or perhaps the idea of explorers over time. The general content of both texts is fairly similar, with both obviously talking about their travel experiences, meaning that semantic fields are related (both describing places and events that happened during their experience).

Evaluation• HYPOTHESES • Both texts will be talking about a personal experience• -This was proved to be correct, as both writers had embarked on a

journey to a specific location and therefore we had expected them to write about in in fair detail. • Both texts will use jargon specific to what the entry is based on• -This was proved to be correct as we expected the contemporary text

to talk about more modern topics and it did, such as the internet, whilst the vintage text included slightly racist terms for the people he meets, linking to the context of when the piece was written. • Both texts will use anaphoric references to save themselves from

repeating the same thing multiple times• -This was proved to be correct, although the vintage text used very

few anaphoric references as these were probably rarely used in 1975 which may be why it is much longer than the contemporary text.