ANALYSIS / ANALYTICAL

In this piece of data I mainly seek to analyse my short story entitled 5,4,3,2,1 Abort which is
based on a teenage girl named Gabriella who went through the process of having an abortion.
This piece will analyse the registers, dialectal variations, attitudes to the language and
communicative behaviours taken in the scripting of this story.
Based on this story, it was noted that a formal register was used between Dr.Basdeo and
Gabriella. This conversation used titles to address each other as seen when Dr.Basdeo says Ms.
Williams, Do you know that you are ten weeks pregnant? Also there was a level of formality
because both Dr.Basdeo and Gabriella were meeting for the first time. This was made possible
because it was the first time Gabriella went for an oral pregnancy exam. Furthermore, there was
also an intimate register used between Gabriella and her grandmother and this was made possible
because of the way the grandmother called Gabriella, Gabs and also by asking a personal
question and this was seen when the grandmother says, Gabs girl, wha happen. How yuh
putting on so much weight? Yuh pregnant or what? This showed that the grandmother cares
about her granddaughter.
Throughout the extract, dialectal variations are seen. The acrolect variation was used between
Gabriella and Dr.Basdeo as they spoke Standard English as obtained in the example Yes Dr.
Basdeo, It was a terrible mistake and now I have to suffer the consequences. The use of
Standard English was chosen because it is the language of the educated and the high class. In
addition to this, the basilect variation was used between Gabriella and her boyfriend as they
engaged in creole language as seen in the example I doh wah nun tuh do wid you or dat wha u
now tell me. Their choice of language used more frequently is creole and this is because they
both feel comfortable in speaking with each other and the use of basilect changes the structure of
some words but they remain with the same sound for example, wat which is correctly spelt,
what and sum which in correct spelling is some.
In the story, attitude towards Gabriellas boyfriend language was identified when he force
Gabriella to do something she was against. The example to support this was, Well here wat nah,
I doh wah no baby now so yuh better start tinkin bout having an abortion! Not only was
Gabriellas boyfriend angry that she was pregnant, he displayed his anger by disagreeing with
Gabriella in having the baby.
Communicative behaviours played a role in this piece by the use of facial expressions, and
gestures. Gabriella also started to pray showed her behaviour in times of personal distress. Facial
expressions were also in use for example when Gabriella was crying tears down her cheeks
indicated that she was sad and in disbelief. Also the contemplative look Dr.Basdeo showed
Gabriella when he was telling her the results of her pregnancy exam.

Registers, Dialectal Variation, Attitude to the Language and Communicative Behaviours are the
four elements which aids in the creation of an effective analysis and added credibility to the
story.