Stylistic Analysis of "A Tale of Two Chances"

A TALE OF TWO CHANCES

(Analysis)

SUMMARY:

          The essay is about the personal feeling of a son towards what happened three days before his birthday. The son is working overseas and he got a shocking news from his siblings in the Philippines. His father was rushed to the hospital due to dementia. He felt so restless for he wanted to save his father but he can’t do anything. He prayed for his father’s recovery for he knew that he has lots of shortcomings because he only offered his time and affection to his mother. He wants to make up for the lost and wasted time that he should have spent with his father.

          Luckily, his prayers were granted by God. On the day of his birthday, his father went out of the hospital and seemed that nothing happened three days ago. This event made him realize that the Almighty God is so amazing and that he considered his father’s recovery as the most symbolic gift he had ever received and at the same time, an amazing gift that he should not miss and he should not take for granted.

 

ANALYSIS:

          Syntactically, the words/ language used by the author are very simple and very clear therefore the essay could be easily understood. The simplicity of the words makes the essay closer to the readers.

          Semantically, most of the verbs used by the author are in the past tense. It shows that the author is really valuing the incident that happened in the past. It is also evident that the author was very attached and affected of what he had experienced.

We could also see some words in the essay that are italicized. These words are: almost, amazing, friendster, birthday, Inay, I’ve got my reasons, and pomelo. The effect of italicizing these words is to give emphasis on the meaning of the words and to offer a strong emotion on what you are reading. As for the readers, like what I personally experienced, this has the effect of reading or uttering these words hardly or with stress.

Examples:

In the sentence “I learned via the most widely- used social networking site in the world- friendster.” Italicizing the word ‘friendster’ has the effect of putting some humor on the article or providing a lighter atmosphere for the readers.

          Then, in the sentence, “And I almost had this bitter share of life’s . . . . . .” italicizing the word almost gives us the idea that the author is ‘nearly’, ‘just about’ or ‘close to’ experiencing a painful incident three days before his birthday.

          Lastly, the whole sentence “I’ve got my reasons,” was italicized to show that he has strong convictions on his decision. This shows that nobody persuaded him to love his mom more than his dad. He is emphasizing that it is his own choice and prerogative.

Conclusion:

          Analyzing a text using its linguistic perspective is really a great help in coming up with its real meaning. Upon reading the text, I was able to relate myself to the author since my family and I also suffered emotionally because my grandfather had a terminal disease. Last month, he left us and joined our Almighty Father in heaven. And lastly, as a reader, I felt that the author was very lucky for God has given his dad another chance to be with them.