Fawlty Towers Review and Analysis

Fawlty Towers Review and Analysis Free Online Research Papers Fawlty Towers is a series of twelve television episodes taking place in a hotel in Torquay. The protagonists consist of Basil Fawlty and Sybil, his wife, who are the managers of the hotel. Manuel, who does not speak English properly since he comes from Barcelona, and Polly are both members of the staff. â€Å"A Touch of Class† is the first episode. Frustrated by the social class of his guests, Basil Fawlty places a  £40 advertisement in the newspaper to try to attract a â€Å"higher class of clientele.† In this extract, Dany Brown, in a leather jacket, asks for a room for the night. Basil immediately dislikes him and tells him that there are no rooms available. However, Sybil immediately gives Mr Brown the room seven. Later, Lord Melbury, who is just the sort of client that Basil wants to attract to his hotel, appears. Nevertheless, the manager is, as usual, impatient bordering on the downright rude. He takes a phone call while he is barking out instructions to his new guest until Lord Melbury tells Basil that he does not have any first name since he is known as Lord Melbury. At that moment, Basil realises his rude behaviour and immediately slams down the phone to talk with his, so long expected, Lord Melbury. Later, Mr Brown is revealed to be in fact an undercover p olice officer trying to arrest the so calling Lord Melbury, who has very simply ripped Basil off. As far as the pragmatic aspect of my study is concerned, I have decided to develop the politeness aspect in this specific extract since we have a clear and obvious opposition in Basil’s behaviour depending on what person he is speaking to: a very rude and impolite language or, by contrast, a very high register of language when he learns that Melbury is in fact Lord Melbury. This contrast enables us to develop and to analyse different approaches of politeness in the English language through a real conversation with a background, a function (humoristic in that case to make the audience laugh), stereotyped characters and a mix of social relationships. Therefore throughout this essay, I will do my utmost to show how politeness is used in conversation, and how we use politeness to underline a certain trait of our behaviour, or as Brown and Levinson asserted: â€Å"what sort of assumptions and what sort of reasoning are utilized by participants to produce strategies of a verbal int eraction.† (1987:57) First of all, let us focus on the first part of this extract, that is to say, the exchange between Mr Brown and Basil, and particularly the beginning of the conversation since the start is important in a dialogue because this is the starting point of tensions, greeting, and requests. Mr Brown asks for a room. He seems to forget the boundaries set between Basil and himself and he totally ignores the social difference. He is speaking as if Basil was a friend – a â€Å"mate† – instead of considering him as the hotel manager. He does not say â€Å"Hello† or â€Å"Good morning/afternoon/evening.† He just says â€Å"Allo!† Then, instead of apologising for disturbing, he just asks very directly for a room: â€Å"Got a room?† This question is very inappropriate considering the status of both men. It would be suitable between two people from the same social status or the same age, like friends for example. There are no mitigating devices such a s â€Å"excuse me† or â€Å"please†, and no auxiliary at all. Basil answers indeed in asking, â€Å"I beg your pardon?†, which shows that he did not expect such a language from Mr Brown. That sentence immediately shows the gap that Basil wants to re-create, saying to Mr Brown that they are not from the same world. Consequently, he does not greet his new guest. However, Mr Brown insists repeating, â€Å"Got a room for tonight, mate.† He obviously ignores Basil’s remark and goes even further calling Basil his â€Å"mate†. He wants to be put on the same level as Basil. The manager keeps on the same king of language insisting on the social gap contrasting â€Å"mate† by â€Å"sir† (l.4) and using modals (â€Å"shall have to†). Mr Brown answers that he would like a double room using the imperative form, ordering â€Å"Yeah. (instead of yes) No, make it a double.† This can be interpreted in two ways. Mr Brown may despis e Basil’s job or he has completely forgotten what person he talks to, giving him orders. To take his revenge, Basil decides not to give Mr Brown a room for the night pretending that Mr Tone is already in room number seven. Nevertheless, the room is kindly offered by Sybil who expresses his respect towards her guests, considering them customers bringing money, and therefore is very polite as witnessed by the mitigating devices: â€Å"would you†, â€Å"sir.† She even greets her new guest, telling him â€Å"hope you enjoy your stay,† and she calls him by his family name. This is a very conventional way to speak, but this is the appropriate register used for talking to customers. Besides, Basil shows his sarcasm and irony, once again, calling Mr Brown â€Å"gentleman† (l.15) in spite of he does not mean what he is just saying. Later on, Basil recalls to Mr Brown that Barcelona is in Spain. (l.19) He willingly floutes Grice’s maxim of quantity. (Grice, 1989) He gives indeed too much information that we need. It creates humour, thinking Mr Brown is an idiot for perhaps not knowing that Barcelona is in Spain. The last line of that exchange is â€Å"Key?† to summarize all this talk as far as politeness is concerned. There is not even any sentence to that question, showing Mr Brown’s lack of deference. This dialogue enables us to clearly show the concept of a â€Å"positive politeness† and of a â€Å"negative politeness†. According to Brown and Levinson, â€Å"positive politeness is redress directed to the addressee’s positive face, his perennial desire that his wants should be thought of as desirable.† (1987:101) By contrast, â€Å"negative politeness is redressive action addressed to the addressee’s ‘negative face.’† (1987:129) In other words, we use a â€Å"positive politeness† when we want to be accepted by others such as Mr Brown willing to associate Basil to his sphere. On the other hand, â€Å"negative politeness† is used not to be imposed on by others and to create a social distance like Basil refusing being called â€Å"mate.† In addition to that, the second conversation is between Melbury and Basil. However, we can divide this oral exchange into two parts. On one hand, we have Basil’s behaviour before he learns that Melbury is a Lord and after, which is completely different as I am going to demonstrate. So, in the first part, Melbury opens the talk, asking a room for a few nights as well. However, the register is completely different from Mr Brown’s. We have, here, a face saving act since Melbury by saying, â€Å"I was wondering if†, offers a greater freedom for Basil to refuse his request. Then, he plays down his request saying that it is just for a â€Å"a few nights†, and he uses, besides, terms belonging to a high register such as â€Å"accommodation† (l.35) or â€Å"I beg your pardon?† (l.49) Basil’s language is just the contrary in that extract. He asks very direct questions without any mitigating devices repeating his question twice: â€Å"Have you booked?† There is no â€Å"sir† or â€Å"gentleman† at all. Furthermore, the manager is rather aggressive asserting, â€Å"we’re not full, we’re not full. Of course, we’re not full.† The repetition of the adjective â€Å"full† is not required and is irrelevant here, rendering that quite abrupt like in â€Å"There! There!†(l.48). Basil keeps on behaving that way, interrupting his guest twice. (ll.44,46) However, he cannot forget to use a minimum of politeness due to his job. This is the reason why, he is using â€Å"could† (l.46), â€Å"please† (l.48), and â€Å"would you† (l.50) Apart from doing two thinks at the same time: addressing Melbury and being on the phone with Mr O’Reilly, Basil asks very directly â€Å"You don’t have a first name?† This lack of politeness can be seen as a â€Å"face-threatening act.† However, Basil has extenuating circumstances since he is surprised by Melbury’s reply. Finally, as soon as Basil understands that Melbury is in fact â€Å"Lord Melbury† and that he, consequently, fits perfectly to his vision of a â€Å"higher class of clientele†, he reacts completely differently. He immediately changes his language and his behaviour calling for instance Melbury: â€Å"your Lordship† (l.54) or â€Å"your honour† (l.58). This sudden change makes the audience laugh since they can notice just in two seconds time Basil’s transformation. He realises his rude attitude towards the guest and tries to apologise, begging, â€Å"I’m sorry†, â€Å"I do apologise†, â€Å"please†, â€Å"forgive me.† He uses emphatic forms â€Å"so† â€Å"do† to underline that. He does indeed too much in order to satisfy Melbury, and this exaggeration renders Basil’s character even more hilarious. Next, he employs indirect expressions like â€Å"I’m so sorry† or â€Å"to have kept you.† Then, he offers Melbury all that he can offer, telling him â€Å"Is there something, anything I can do for you? Anything at all†, and the fact that he is fetching Melbury’s cases – accepting therefore to do Manuel’s job – is a way to satisfy Melbury’s requests. This is what Peccei called â€Å"maximize the praise of the other to look more polite.† (Peccei, 1999:63) On top of that, he flatters Melbury exclaiming â€Å"how very wise† (l.58), but he takes immediately precautions saying, â€Å"If I may say so,† which is a way not to offend Melbury. Then, Basil tries to be funny saying â€Å"naturellement† with a French accent. Jokes are basic positive politeness techniques to put the addressee at ease. As far as Melbury is concerned, he keeps on using the same language as before, using modality such as â€Å"I shall† (l.61). Later on in the exchange, Basil rings the bell to call Manuel, but unfort unately, this latter does not come. That situation obviously embarrasses Basil since he does not know what to say. The only theme he finds is weather in Torquay. According to Brown and Levinson’s theory about politeness, weather is a â€Å"safe topic allow[ing Basil] to stress his agreement with [Melbury] and therefore to satisfy [Melbury]’s desire ‘right’, or to be corroborated in his opinions.† (1987:112) As Levinson says, the more the speaker knows about the addressee, the more close to home will be the safe topics. â€Å"The Face Threatening Act of making a request is normally preceded by an interim of small talks on safe topics, as a way of reassuring the addressee that you did not come simply to exploit him by making a request, but have an interest in general in maintaining a relationship with him.† (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 112) Finally, Basil Fawlty does not hesitate to exaggerate facts, making his discourse totally absurd, unlikely, and hilarious. He uses exclamations such as â€Å"splendid† (l.68), â€Å"beautiful† (l.64) and â€Å"wonderfully† (l.66). Basil invents completely trying to satisfy Melbury, who does not care about what the manager says at all. To conclude, on this extract of Fawlty Towers, â€Å"A touch of class†, we constructed an overall theory of politeness, integrating notions of polite friendliness and polite formality in a single scheme. That analysis shows that strategies, used to look more polite, could be mixed allowing us to investigate about the diversity of social relations in the British society. However, despite this analysis is based on real situations which could happen in real life, this is crucial to bear in mind that the script was invented and built to make people laugh, and therefore in everyday life, it is often unlikely to have all these features in one single conversation. BIBLIOGRAPHY BROWN, P. and LEVINSON, S.C. (1987) Politeness: Some universals in language usage Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. PECCEI, J.S. (1999) Pragmatics London: Routledge. FURTHER READING BRIGHT, M. (2001) Fawlty Towers: fully booked London: BBC. EELEN, G. (2001) A critique of politeness theories Manchester: St. Jerome. WATTS, R.J. (2003) Politeness Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Research Papers on Fawlty Towers Review and AnalysisHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsMind TravelQuebec and CanadaHonest Iagos Truth through Deception19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andEffects of Television Violence on Children

Bataan Death March essays

Bataan Death March essays The Bataan Death March: A brutal, barbaric journey through malnutrition, disease, torture, and death. Documentaries try to explain the history of these horrible events, but only those who survived the march actually know how awful and cruel it really was. December 7, 1941: The renowned bombing of Pearl Harbor stunned the United States and the whole world. The Japanese had been dominating many territories, and were continuing to spread throughout South East Asia. The President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had then devised a plan of action and sent American Troops to defend Corregidor Island, located in the Philippines. After fighting through many small battles, they finally arrived in 1942, in the Manila Bay. There, the American and Filipino Troops teamed up to resist the forces of the Japanese Soldiers. However, the United States had not expected to remain there for more than one month, and was not very well prepared. They had believed that help would be coming for them, but unfortunately, it was impossible to send more assistance into Corregidor. The US and Filipinos battled for five months against the fierce Japanese, who invaded May 5, 1942. The Japs shot one shell every five seconds for 24 hours straight. The Americans were under the command of General Jonathan Wainwright, who had led a gallant, but hopeless fight, and finally in May of 1942, 76,000 troops surrendered to Japan. This resignation had begun one of the worst marches in the history of any war. When the survivors of the Battle of Corregidor became POWs, they were forced to endure a 90-mile trek, called the Bataan Death March. The Prisoners were denied food, water, and medical treatment throughout most of this time. Their personal possessions and equipment was taken from them, and they had to march in the blazing sun without any basic sanitary facilities. Along the way their Japanese escorts beat, clubbed, and bayon...

Observe, Analyze and Report Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Observe, Analyze and Report - Term Paper Example Do boys relatively show more risky behavior in shopping malls? Are girls more conservative and do they wander about the mall away from their parents? What kinds of activities do boys and girls do while their parents are shopping? One finally established the observation question as ‘Do differences in gender affect the way children behave in shopping malls?’ The Observation One made the initial observation on a Saturday afternoon at about 4:00 p.m. There were lots of people shopping in the grocery area and there was a small space where one could sit and view different people while observing. One noted that shopping was an activity done more by women than men. From one’s observation, the composition of women at that time was roughly 80% of the shoppers, as compared to men. Of the 80% women who were shopping, about 30% brought their children along. Children who came with their parents (or mothers, most especially) ranged from different ages: the youngest one saw was j ust about five to seven years of age and the eldest were teen-agers. Further, one likewise noted that women were most likely to bring along a companion, other than their children. Some women came with their husbands; while the others took their friends or relatives along. The relatives could possibly be a sister or even their mothers. The next thing one noted was the general attire of the people who shopped. Mostly, the shoppers were donning casual clothes, with ladies wearing shirts of light materials and paired with shorts, pants or skirts. For men, most were wearing T-shirts and light jackets paired with shorts or pants. Children wore more diverse clothes in texture, colors and materials. Most young girls were wearing dainty and colorful shirts paired with shorts or pants; while boys were generally in T-shirts and shorts. The footwear was more varied for little girls. Some wore sandals, rubber shoes in pastel colors, walking shoes and canvas. Boys shoes were predominantly trainer s, canvas and rubber shoes. Observing the activities therefore eventually focused on one’s target group: the children. One observed that parents who shopped usually took with them one or two kids and one was particularly interested in noting any diversity with the way children behave in shopping malls, depending on gender. With both parents around, it could be noted that the children’s behavior were more controlled as they walked closely beside their parents. On the other hand, one detected that young boys were more curious and explorative that they tend to veer farther from their mothers. There were young boys aged between 8 to 10 years old who were running into people's trolleys and playing hide and seek. One particular boy likes to run into a different aisle or walk a different way and then meet his mother further up in front. The only problem with that is the tendency to miscalculate the direction and thereby, eventually end up somewhere else. There were instances when shopping clerks found young children lost and were announced in the shopping mall’s customer information center to be picked up by their parents. The difference between very young boys and girls being lost is that: boys shout out for either their mom or dad; while girls were found crying. Likewise, one noticed that young boys and girls were most fascinated by the floor patterns and tiles that they found these

Issues of Our Times International Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Issues of Our Times International - Essay Example In this paper I will be examining the MDGs in terms of success or progress, success stories and failures with the aim drawing the lessons learnt. In the MDGs the world identified eight major challenges facing nations of the world especially in the developing world and embarked on an ambitious plan to reduce if not eliminate them. Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger across the world, achieving universal primary education and promoting gender equality and empowering women for the f8irst three MDGs. Significant progress has been seen in this area as by 2012 the world targets had been achieved. Reducing the rates of child mortality and improving maternal health care are two goals that still require a lot of effort especially in the poorest nations. The last three goals i.e. ensuring environmental sustainability, fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and others, and developing global partnerships for development are the other goals on which some remarkable progress has been made but more is required in order to meaningfully influence lives. On a larger perspective and basing on available statistics, there has been some significant progress overall but with the 2015 deadline just around the corner the world may miss on the targets in some of the goals. In the first goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, the goal was set at halving the proportion persons living on $1.25 and below around the world. The target was achieved in 2008 mostly as a result of rapid economic expansion in the emerging economies of Asia. Persons in extreme poverty as well as poverty rates have gone down in all regions and the working poor have reduced significantly. Attaining universal primary education as a target has also seen significant effort, enrollment stood at 90% in 2010 as compared to 82% in 1999. Though encouraging the rate is slow and the goal may not be attained by 2015.over a half of those children out of school are sub-Saharan Africa,

A Madmans Diary by Lu Xun Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A Madmans Diary by Lu Xun - Essay Example From the visit, he learns about the younger brother’s tribulations; he suffered from a mental condition, but he recovered and has since relocated to another area. The narrator is given a diary by the older brother whereby an account of the younger brother’s illness was kept. This is the diary referred to as the ‘Madman’s Diary’ by the narrator, and its contents constitute the bulk of the story. From the diary, we learn of the extreme paranoia of the protagonist during the time of his illness (Xun & Nadolny 36). The story describes about social conditions in china at the time. The diary talks about cannibalism, which is a common practice in Chinese history and culture. During the early 1900s, Chinese people were desperate as a result of the extreme famine, and this culminated into cannibalism. It is this cannibalism that the protagonist describes during his illness by being paranoid that those surrounding him would soon or later eat him up. A deeper analysis of the story shows that the author was castigating and condemning Chinese culture at this time, whereby the strong in society devoured the weaker ones. The character that catches my attention is the madman himself. Even though he has crazy ideas about cannibalism, he typifies change in society. Despite his hardships, he struggles to get better, and later he gets a good job in another city. From his diary, he has given us insight into the Chinese society at that time whereby strong people ‘ate up’ weaker ones (Hsun & Yang

SAPP week 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SAPP week 2 - Assignment Example Dennis accepts the gift to show he appreciates the understanding. On the next scene, Dennis is waiting in the rain for David (Cusack), the man with the UV protection. It is evident that Dennis has started to like Cusack. Later, Cusack gives Dennis a second visit where he brings him a pair of antiglare glasses. He explains that the glasses helps cut down the glare in Dennis’ ongoing battle with the sun. Dennis is delightful of the gift. The next scene shows Cusack and Dennis playing with a ball where Dennis is still in the box but not fully covered as usual. Cusack throws the ball at a short distance such that Dennis has to get out of the box to reach out for the ball (Boy In a Box, 2010). Cusack uses an understanding form of communication, where he takes in what Dennis tells him as if he knows what he means. He doesn’t disapprove what Dennis claims even if it is not true or real. Cusack uses empathic communication to bond with Dennis, showing him how much he understand what he goes through. He uses the gifts to show empathy to Dennis. Also, his facial expressions while talking with Dennis shows a deep understanding and concern. For example, when Dennis gets out of the box for the first time, he shows a delightful facial expression to show how happy he is to see Dennis. In the article ‘the juggler’s brain,’ Carr explains the main benefits and drawbacks of using the internet. He mainly focuses on the disadvantages rather than the benefits. The internet provides us with instant access to a wide library of information; it enables the ease of sorting through the libraries to get what we are searching for or similar to it. However, it also diminishes our ability to learn in depth, subjects for ourselves, to develop within our thoughts (Carr, 2010). First, I understand that reading hypertext document minimizes general comprehension.

Logistic service quality within the perishable goods Essay

Logistic service quality within the perishable goods - Essay Example Communicating the importance of logistical activities to other functional activities, as well as to corporate officers, has been a difficult task. Professor Donald Bowersox, speaking at the council of logistics management annual conference in Toronto in 1999, described establishing the link between functional logistics performance and overall firm performance as our discipline's equivalent to finding a cure for cancer. Definitive empirical results that link improvements in logistics performance to overall firm performance have been difficult to achieve. Some progress, however, has been made. Recently, Daugherty, Stank, and Ellinger (1998) conducted an in-depth assessment of the relationships among logistics service performance and customer satisfaction, loyalty and market share in an industrial setting. Their findings indicated that high levels of logistics service are directly related to market share through satisfaction and loyalty. Quality within a service orientated company such as a 3PL provider is becoming more and more important because by providing a higher service level , these companies can distinguish themselves from their competition. This is definitely the case for a public refrigerated warehouse (PRW) /3PL provider such as Daalimpex Cold stores B.V. I'm, as person responsible for all operational activities provided by Daalimpex, are therefore very interested what