Extended parallelism: non-literary examples
Task B - Higgins joke - our commentary
We won't go into minute detail on this joke, but it should be clear that
the pattern is roughly the same as for the Clinton joke.
It has three parts involving an event-structure parallel (in this case
parallel in a more detailed way than the Clinton joke as the various sub-events
inside each 'turn' of the joke are repeated or paralleled). Linguistically,
this structure is reinforced through a complex set of repetitions and
parallelisms. Then, in the third, climactic, 'turn' of the joke, we get
an internal deviation, both in terms of the (a) event structure and (b)
the linguistic form used to represent it.
Note also how linguistic form is used to heighten the sense of CLIMAX
in the joke. In Mick's telling of the joke this is achieved phonetically
by increasing loudness and wider and wider variations in pitch (accompanied
by appropriate movements and facial expressions). In the written version
it is achieved in terms of graphological effects: changes from normal
to more marked orthography: (a) roman font to italic font to italic plus
bold and (b) use of larger font sizes. This climactic effect in terms
of linguistic form mirrors the climactic effect inherent in the three-part
sequence and also the 'increase' in the significance for Higgins of the
person who dies.
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