An Ode to the Hoody

This text takes the genre of an opinionated article, and uses an informal register throughout which is established through colloquialisms like ‘shagging’ and ‘buggers’. Likewise, these colloquialisms highlight that the audience of this text are teenagers- of both middle and lower classes- who are able to comprehend this slang and are likely to wear the hoody because it is common amongst their age group. The mode is written and the purpose of the text is to argue and inform the reader on why the hoody is a useful item of clothing. This argumentative nature is emphasised through the use of a noun to label the hoody ‘an essential’ to everyday life, which illustrates its significance to the younger generation. The subject of this text is youth culture, and explores how it can often be in conflict with the lifestyles of rich, middle-class adults.

Grammatically, the text uses a range of sentences. For example, it uses the declarative minor sentence ‘far from it.’ to contrast with the complex interrogative sentence beforehand which questioned whether the reader would allow politicians to deny the use of the hoody. Therefore, this established a sense of finality and a strong-hearted tone to argue the writer’s point, so persuades the audience into agreeing with his opinion.

In terms of lexis and semantics, the text emphasises the harsh tone of the text through the various types of words used. The adjective ‘thunderous’ illustrates the enormity of pain the writer experiences and the destructive impact this has on their body, and the reference to weather reflects the dismal and severe nature of the early morning. The metaphorical ‘surge’ emphasises the speed at which blood rushes to the writer’s head, which in turn creates an image of discomfort for the reader. Nevertheless, the use of the pronoun ‘our’ –which is followed by the superlative adjective in ‘best friend’ - demonstrates the collective impact hoodies have on the youth of society as a whole. Verbs like ‘depleted’ are used by the writer to illustrate how the convertible car (which uses the same concept as the hoodie) is damaging to the environment yet isn’t criticised by society; unlike the hoodie.

Phonology in ‘An Ode to the Hoody’ is demonstrated through the alliteration in ‘pompous politicians’. The repetition of the harsh ‘P’ sound evokes a harsh and accusatory tone which emphasises the unfair attitudes of the government who don’t appreciate the values of youth culture. The text also uses the onomatopoeia ‘Arrrgh’ which conveys the annoyance and laziness teenagers experience in the morning: therefore establishing familiarity between the reader and the text.

The text's graphology is shown through the large headline that immediately catches the reader's eye. It uses a bold urbanised font to reflect how hoodies are an essential part of urban lifestyle in the city, and directly below is a picture of a teenager wearing a hoodie which takes up half of the page. Notably, the headline uses the indefinite determiner 'an' instead of the singular, definite, determiner 'the' to prove that this ode is one of many because of the international influence hoodies have on teenagers across the world. Moreover, the text uses a bold tagline to criticise the cowardly attitudes of the British public. Capitalisation has been used on the main verb 'survive' to humorously critique how Britons were able to withstand the Blitz yet are afraid by a piece of cloth. The writer uses the coordinating junction 'but' in the tagline to illustrate the juxtaposition between the Blitz and the hoodie, which emphasises the stupidity of the anti-hoody argument further.

Pragmatically, there is a cross covering the teenager's face in the drawing to suggest that, because of anti-hoody views, society has denied many teenagers of an identity. Moreover, the text says that 'the rich will be able to sleep more soundly at night' knowing there has been a ban on hoodies: suggesting that the majority of people against the use of hoodies are from the upper-middle class who associate this clothing with crime.

In terms of discourse structure, the text is arranged into 5 paragraphs where the main body falls into the second and third paragraphs. Discourse markers like 'However,' are used at the beginning of sentences to establish a logical argument throughout the text. Significantly, the text ends with the phrase 'in the name of freedom' to inspire the reader to stand up against anti-hoodie views in order to sustain youth culture.