School Magazine Questionnaire

Language Analysis

EMOTIVE AND COLLOQUIAL LANGUAGE IN A MAGAZINE

Elle Magazine is a well-known fashion magazine; it has a target audience of 16-30 year olds. ‘Elle’ does mean ‘She’ in French after all so it is all about the females. 

There is a use of emotive and colloquial language throughout the magazine, this aides in making the audience feel comfortable and assures enjoyment when reading the magazine. The most common use of colloquial language are words/phrases such as ‘’insta’’, ‘’tweet’’, ‘’filters’’ and ‘’most likes/most followers’’. These examples are considered as being colloquial language due to it being frequently used in today’s society. All of the above are references to social media. This shows the incredible progress and importance social media holds in today’s society.

 Considering the rapid improvements in technology it’s no surprise for magazines to use these phrases too. Using colloquial language allows the audience to be more attracted and allows them to feel as they are engaging or being reached out to by the magazine.

Another word used like ‘LOL’ which is an abbreviation for ‘laugh out loud’ is a phrase used when texting someone you speak to on a regular basis. The use of such language suggests a relationship and therefore suggests comfortableness. This means that by the editor using language like so will make the reader feel included and suggests a friendship between the reader and the editor which is important for the magazine. The editor also uses social media like twitter and also publishes the tweet on the Elle website stating that she is ‘’not to be trusted around jam doughnuts and karaoke machines’’. This again highlights the fact that the editor is keen to create an impression where she is seen as laid back and easy to approach. There are no barriers and this allows the reader to feel comfortable and trust the contents of the magazine, with the editor not portraying a very hard core authoritarian personality it makes the magazine more enjoyable. The editor knows and understands the audience and therefore the magazine becomes more appealing. 

Preliminary School Magazine Contents Page

Preliminary School Magazine Cover

Preliminary Title Ideas

Preliminary ideas for magazine

Possible Titles:

• The Hampstead Buzz
• Hampstead Feed
• Discover Hampz

Possible Images:

• Close up of students working, intense concentration
• Medium shot of a group of students chatting, laughing, possibly eating lunch?
• Wide shot of the head teacher and a group of students engaging in an activity

Possible Cover Lines:

• Percentage of passes at GCSE's and A Levels
• Information about the million dollar building project
• Prefect and School council elections

Preliminary Cover Ideas

Editors Letter Analysis

The magazine ‘The Edit’ mainly appeals to higher class females. The editor’s letter also appeals to the same target audience of matured females, specifically within ages 24+ as it is a fashion based magazine. The editor uses fashion terminology like ‘retro references’, ‘soft fabrics’ etc.

 

 

The editor gives the impression of a friendly person, giving out fashion advice to people she supposedly knows well. The editor allows the audience of the magazine to relate to models of females used in magazines, which also abides with the uses and gratifications theory (allowing the audience to relate) The editors letter includes a photo of the editor which makes the letter seem more personal.

The language used is encouraging, phrases like ‘’the new luxe is in feeling good about yourself’’, this helps encourage self confidence in females given that they are continuously demoralized due to the major sex appeal for females in the media industry. The editor focuses in giving fashion tips to help females that are targeted by the magazine, to be stylish and fit into the fashion industry.

The editor aims to make the audience of the magazine feel comfortable and for her to be seen as approachable as possible. This helps set a friendly and accepting vibe for the magazine which is picked up by the readers automatically. The edit seems like a casual magazine, (yet within the fashion genre) the way it is laid out and the contents of the magazine aim to help relax the audience. The females that are used on the front covers and the clothes used also suggest whom it may appeal too, all females over the ages of 18 could possibly be attracted by a magazine of this sort. The editor makes everyone feel welcome and doesn’t discriminate against any reader which is important. It is very important for the editor to create a relationship with her frequent readers.