Breathless: An American Girl in ParisBy Nancy Miller

Analysis of the extractBy Kayleigh Robinson

Contents

Phonetics, Phonology and Prosodics Lexis and Semantics Grammar and Syntax Pragmatics Discourse Graphology

What’s included within these slides do not cover everything they are simply ideas to get you started and more information you perhaps hadn’t thought of.

Phonetics, Phonology and ProsodicsComplaining, argumentative, contradicting language to allow France seem much more glamorous compared to her previous life. - “boring Barnard-girl” – bilabials make the text sound complaining and perhaps passionate or disgust along with plosive sounds:• “Paris”, “parents”, “price”. • Fricatives are used in the phrase “fatal flaw”. Gives a sarcastic tone which adds to the complaining or disgust with her parents

opinions or ways. Aside that, “fatal flaw” is a well known idiom and relates to the one thing that will be your downfall (e.g. Macbeths ‘fatal flaw’ was ambition – he was too ambitious)

• Diphthongs are used – “easily turn out the kinds of letters” – it makes her sound as if it was effortless as the two vowels are soft and merge together without any extra thought been put into it.

• “Dazzle with detail while omitting the truth”. This sentence uses ‘dazzle with detail’ to create a façade – a front in which is glorifying while ‘omitting’ the truth. The use of the word ‘omitting’ is perhaps used because of the stressed ‘t’s (plosive sound, alveolar) are pushing out air and not allowing anything to pass – no secrets will be gained as it can appear as a block. As it’s a harsh sound (and again followed by ‘truth’ in which forces of air are exhaled in ‘th’ and ‘t’) it doesn’t let one think that they should even think there are secrets behind it because the words are clear and loud. There isn’t anything more to it.

• Euphony is used when describing France to make it appear more pleasant and delightful: “had made everything French infinitely desirable” – the words “Infinitely desirable” have many vowels in which drag out the sound and soften the overall words but they also include other soft consonants, ‘r’, ‘f’, ‘s’ and the mix of ‘b’ and ‘l’ makes the sound roll smoothly.

Patricia – her character in which helps make France appear more glamorous• Nancy Miller enhances Patricia’s independency by using words that start in vowels so that they do not roll into each other when

said, and this adds to the effect of independency and awareness: “Patricia, seemed self-possessed, independent and unafraid”. • “on her own” – instead of using a phrase such as ‘by herself’ or ‘alone’ she uses “on her own” to use the alliteration but also

the ‘o’ sound in which separates from ‘her’ and implies self-sufficiency, and because it’s a stressed vowel it maybe adds pride to the voice – so she wasn’t afraid to be there in Paris on her own. She wasn’t ‘all by herself’ which might imply she was frightened.

• Her use of French words soften the sentence, and make them pleasant to say. A French accent flows nicely and puts a delightful tone towards France – “femmes d’interieur”, “Les Liaisons Dangereuses”, “gamine”.

Lexis and Semantics• “infinitely desirable” – the word “infinitely” is a modifying adverb in which makes the following adverb even more “desirable”.

• Uses French vocabulary which seems more sophisticated (“like the literary girl” she was) and also more graceful because the French language appears beautiful. Using the French words also helps her in thinking that she belongs there and is a French girl – for example, “gamine”. Nancy Miller could have used ‘child-like’ however this would not have the same effect nor connotations that “gamine” has.

• She uses “majoring in virginity” for a humorous effect. Not only was she extremely intelligent having majored in everything else but she never got ‘laid’ aka. “majoring in virginity”. It gives us a social insight of what girls were like in those times and it also tells us what she wants to rebel and go against.

• Uses an American and a French lexical set. American words such as “sophomore year” and “major”. Crossing the linguistic boundaries which show that she is rebelling and trying to be a French girl however she can’t quite escape who she really is. She can’t change her personality entirely.

• When making her point about not wanting to be a simplistic housewife in the final paragraph, she uses an example in which is quite unusual yet it stands out as it is rebellious and crude. “We wanted to have orgasms when we had sex.” Using the words “orgasms” and “sex” keeps her ideal self young, adventurous and perhaps a little naughty, yet it states the character in which she first introduces us to – Patricia. She wants to enjoy herself instead of staying in a stale relationship where there is nothing to gain pleasure from.

Grammar and Syntax• Long complex sentences convey how she really wants to be French and the nagging, long-winded way of her

speech is how the French, stereotypically, go on to talk. (Seemingly for ages). Rambling on a bit. “But with their uniquely Jewish brand of casuistry, their uncanny ability to make me disbelieve my own reality, my parents conned me into accepting their bargain: rather than buy into the expensive clichés of dormitory life – how American! – with the money they would be saving for me, I could study in France after graduation.”• In the very long complex sentence above, Miller uses a colon to go on to talk about what her parents ideas

were. As it is at the end of a long winded sentence it makes it appear complaining and worthless as she’s using the last of a rushed breath to explain it and therefore brushing past it quickly without further explanation or development of her parents ideas.

• The ending paragraph is a reflection on the first paragraph, on how she was going on to say about how she would love to be a French girl like her idol character Patricia and then in the end through the reflection of her writing she is actually rather French and similar to Patricia – unwilling to be a regular housewife. “We didn’t want to stay home and receive our husbands’ guests.”

• Throughout, her long sentences and paragraphs are regularly concluded with short stunted points. This aids in summing up her overall point and securing the idea. “I was a literary girl.” “I was away: a happy camper.” It also interrupts the continuous flow of talking which also mimics how the French babble before stopping with an “err” before continuing. Not only that it makes her life seem stop-start and very fragmented. The parts she didn’t enjoy she had to make her point as to why in a strong, simple sentence. There is no façade to it, like her letters to her parents had or like the rest of her paragraphs.

Pragmatics

Within the first line of the first paragraph, she says that she was “still under the spell of Breathless”. This shows that, in Paris, she wanted to play out the movie but with her in place of the main character – she wanted all the daring things to happen and to happen with her, the lead role, the independent and special character to come true.

This could also lead onto the fact that she isn’t having a first hand experience of Paris but she’s seeing it through the eyes of the film.

She sees being as an American girl as a bad thing, and that she must be French as fast as possible to become immersed within its culture and its opportunistic ways, for example, by dressing like them. “I feel so authentic when I wear it!”

When talking about Paris she said that “France was my hedge against…”. The use of the word ‘hedge’ has connotation of barriers, protection or maybe restrictions. Hedges tend to be tall and bushy so you can’t see through them or blocks off the view over the otherside. This could be so that she can sit in her little French world without allowing anything American or her previous life interfere or change what she so desperately wanted. That adventure.

Discourse

The extract is structured into two different chapters for two different stages in her life

Jumps into the future – there are time shifts within the texts Autobiographical – talking about herself or the topic is mainly on her,

using the personal pronoun ‘I’ and ‘We’. The chapters include many long paragraphs in which tend to end in

short stunted summary sentences which securely puts her point into place.

Graphology

The fancy calligraphy writing used for the sub-heading of Millers writing suggests the old-fashioned way of writing. With ink in a bottle. It adds to effect as it keeps the stereotypical, stylish and graceful view of Paris in mind.

It’s attractive to look at, the pretty writing draws the readers attention.