Analysis of language style (linguistic devices) in March

The captions mostly use semi-formal language (a middle-style), and an educated but accessible register, e.g. “UPON WHICH … WAS BASED” (54), “WE EACH PURCHASED SOMETHING, ESTABLISHING US AS LEGITIMATE PAYING CUSTOMERS” (84).

The prose in large parts of the narration (in the captions) is without a lot of descriptive language or emotive diction, and there is little figurative language and imagery.

Brief and unemotional descriptions: “THE GROUP AT KRESS’S FACED HUMILIATION” (101) – the degree of humiliation is not commented on, nor how they suffered.

There is an abundance of simple sentence constructions such as “MY FATHER WAS A SHARECROPPER” (22). There is a variation of sentence structures; Some short sentences with simple structure, e.g. “I TOLD THEM” (72), stand out/make a greater impact when they follow longer, more complex sentences. Effective use of sentence structure variation.

There are a lot of specific place names, times, dates, and numbers: “I WAS ON MY WAY OUT THE DOOR TO OUR 6:30 A.M. NASHVILLE STUDENT MOVEMENT CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING WHEN THE PHONE RANG” (115), “OUR NUMBERS SWELLED TO OVER 200” (96). There are many adverbial phrases that refer to time: “BY THE TIME I WAS FIVE”, “BY THE TIME WE REACHED LAKE ERIE”, “IN THE SUMMER OF 1951”, “AFTER THAT TRIP”, “IN THE FALL”, “A FEW DAYS LATER”, “THE NEXT DAY”, “BY WEDNESDAY”, “ONE SATURDAY AFTERNOON”, “OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS”, “BY NOON”, “THE NEXT EVENING”, etc. They are usually placed at the beginning of sentences.

The informative language function dominates in the captions (as opposed to the expressive or directive). Discourse rarely has just one function, however.

The style in the captions can be described as:

• Succinct (few words)

• Spare (few words)

• Economical (few words)

• To the point

• Terse

• Pithy

• Somewhat minimalist

• Spartan

• Not effusive

• Without unnecessary embellishment

• Devoid of flowery or excessively descriptive language

• Not poetic or coloured by the narrator’s personality

• Neutral

Effects of the somewhat minimalist style:

• Highlights the reality/factuality of the story, sounds like matter-of-fact observation. The objective tone gives the impression that the facts are indisputable. That the narrative is not an interpretation of reality, but fact. Lewis seems sincere/honest.

• Allows the reader to imagine, to make up for a lack of description and emotion with their own imagination (or does the visual text fill this function?)

• The general simplicity of the sentences, means that a broader audience is reached

• Greater emotional distance is created to the subject??

• Emotionally impactful – what is left out (the control of emotions…) has an effect.

But there are also some more personal, expressive or poetic elements:

• Sometimes letters are in bold, e.g. “BLACK AND WHITE” (88) and “WHICH THE POLICE DID NOT INTEND TO STOP” (98)

• The use of pronouns like “I” and “we” remind us that this is Lewis’s narration.

• When reminiscing about his experiences as a child, the tone is more personal and reflective than when talking about his experiences as a civil rights activist: expressions like “As a child”. A personal voice is created by the inclusion of (a few) colloquial expressions like “darned” (p.23) and calling Gandhi “this little brown man from India” (77).

• There are contractions, which also give a stamp of informality.

• Emotive/loaded words like the adjectives “terrified” and “amazing,” and the loaded verb “killed” (p. 32)

• Occasionally higher modality: expressive diction like the modal adverbs “actually” and “absolutely”, and the modal adverb “even” (106).

• Figurative language: The simile “it was like new years eve” (95) and the metaphor “Dr. King’s message hit me like a bolt of lightning … Lines had been drawn, blood was beginning to spill” (p. 56)

• Parallelism (in these cases anaphora):

• “THEY WOULD SIT QUIETLY, THEY WOULD BOW THEIR HEADS, THEY WOULD SHAKE THEIR HEADS” (27).

• “THE WAY OF PEACE, THE WAY OF LOVE, THE WAY OF NON-VIOLENCE” (73)

• “THE EVIL OF RACISM, THE EVIL OF POVERTY, THE EVIL OF WAR”

• “OUR PHILOSOPHY, OUR DISCIPLINE, OUR UNDERSTANDING” (77).

• I TOLD MY CLASSMATES. I TOLD TWO OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS… I TOLD EVERYONE (79)

When the style of the captions is more expressive, it underlines central experiences in Lewis’s life/ turning points in the character development/the Civil Rights Movement. It also reminds the reader that the narration is not given by a neutral third person. It colours the language with the personality of the narrator.

When there is parallelism in the narration, the style differs from the usual straightforward, neutral and controlled style - it is more poetic and intense in tone; this is a different kind of discourse from how people normally speak. It is more literary, and more typical of written language.

In the speech bubbles, the dialogue is often more personal and emphatic, and varies depending on who is speaking. White crowds use dialect like “git em!”, “whatsa matter?” and “you cain’t be here” - spelled phonetically (p. 8, p. 99), which will contribute to characterizing them and developing the context/setting. The white antagonists also use the N-word - strong emotional impact today since it’s become taboo. No African American Vernacular (black idiolect) is used in Lewis’s or the activists’ dialogue - They rather speak eloquently in academic standard American English. Lewis is made human and personable by the colloquial expression “a little junky” (19).

Emanata in the form of words such as “BZZZZ!”, “SHUFFLE”, “SQUEEK SQUEEK”, “CREAK”, “CHING!”, “KLAK KLIK KLAK KLAK”, “KLIK,” “KNOCK KNOCK,” “NOK NOK”, “SWIVEL,” “THUMP,” are used liberally to represent sound (onomatopoeic expressions) and add a sense of immediacy and drama.

Tone: (there’s a contrast between the verbal and visual text here). controlled voice v emotive drawings.

Tense: As graphic nonfiction, March: Book One relies largely on dialogue, which is written in the present tense which can create a feeling of the action happening here-and-now (immediacy, drama). Passages of narration are in the past tense.