Paper 1 Intro

Comparing Two text types

The texts, "The Great White Fleet" and “Squatters take on developers" are two different text types with the intention to inform their audience on the general subject of tourism. The first text,  is an advertisement for the cruise company, “The Great White Fleet” published in the early 1900’s; post war years before WWII. This text's sensational tone and aesthetically appealing structure conforms to its informative nature.The audience of high class are  persuaded through the advert’s use of an exotic mood, superlative statements, and strategic structure of persuasive and appealing images. In addition to this, the second text, the article "Squatters take on developers" projects a rather moralistic and concerned tone as the article addresses corporate social injustice within the tourism industry. While both texts revolve around a central theme of expansion and development in South America, the value and style of each is grounded in the intended purpose, target audience and overall differing style found in both texts.

The common theme of tourism and expansion prominent in of both text A and text B is evident in their similar choice of target audience. The first text, “The Great White Fleet” is evidently aimed towards middle to high class aristocrats. This is evident in terms of the use of language used within the advertisement in order to convince the audience of the cruise’s benefits which carried “only first class passengers” to “resorts up north”, clearly identifying the target audience as particularly young and wealthy individuals. Likewise, text B “Squatters take on developers” is aimed towards large group of investors who are considering investing in property in the Caribbean due to their “tremendous lust for the coastline”.

Although there is a notable comparison between the two in terms of their target audience, the purpose of the two are entirely contrasted. In the advertisement “The Great White Fleet”, the intended purpose is to ultimately appeal to the higher standing social class through the use of the company’s new “reduced rates for summer cruises”. In comparison to the positive connotations presented in text 1, text 2 presents a rather negative purpose. While the text “Squatters take on developers” is targeted towards a higher social class similar to text 1, the writer’s purpose is to inform investors whom may not be aware of the impact of their actions within the tourism industry. Hence, in comparison to text 1, this text is rather negative and serves as a call for action instead of a call for tourism.

When analyzing both texts, it is important to consider the fact that they were both published during different time periods, evidently affecting the content. As previously mentioned, text 1 is an advertisement for the cruise company “The Great White Fleet” that travels around Central America and the Caribbean. The ad itself was published in 1922, the post war years prior to WWII. Essentially, the fact that the advertisement is aimed towards high class wealthy individuals further supports the fact that the text was published during a time of economic boom and surplus prior to the Great Depression, hence allowing people to travel. When comparing this content with text 2, it is a statement of corporate social injustice within the tourism industry in Panama published in 2007. As previously said, while both texts surround the same central theme of expansion within the Caribbean, they both present very different ideologies.

Conversely, both texts present contrasting tone and moods which aid in differing their content from another. Throughout the advertisement, “The Great White Fleet” the author presents a rather pretentious tone as a way of targeting the appropriate “first class” audience. In addition to this, the text is read in a very casual and comfortable tone allowing the audience to fully embrace themselves in the aim of the advertisement; appealing to their desires of an affordable cruise. This pretentious tone further supports the exotic mood that the text delivers. On the other hand in text 2, the tone and mood is rather moralistic and concerned as a means of presenting the seriousness of the content in the text. While the cruise is “much cooler than summer resorts” the fact that investors are thinking of spending their money on property in the Caribbean means that “developers have targeted an emerging demographic”.

Regardless of their similar theme, text A and text B are comparable in their style and structure that ultimately conform to their text type. In the advertisement (text A), the audience’s eye is particularly drawn to the descriptive graphics at the top and bottom of the page, drawing attention to the text at the center of the advertisement. Knowing that was published in the post WWI years, we can’t help but notice that the “WHITE” in the title is on a black background, used to emphasize the connection between race and social class. Furthermore, this caters to the mentality at the time of what was considered “high class”, white people being superior. To the contrary, while text A’s text is kept simple and concise, text B is composed of 9 short paragraphs, keeping the audience alert through the use of a traditional article style that captures the gist. There are no images presented, which contributes to the fact that the article takes on serious and concerned tone, further emphasizing its core purpose.

In conclusion, both texts are comparable in the ideologies that they shape and express towards their audience regarding the central theme of expansion and “colonization” of exotic islands in the Caribbean. While both texts differ the most in their ultimate purpose, overall context and style, both bring attention to different subject matters. All in all, both texts are effective in pursuing their main purpose to their specific target audience through the use of stylistic elements, writing techniques, and clever use of tone and mood.