Analysis of Transcript - Young Ones

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Analysis of Transcript - Young Ones Introduction: I have chosen to analyse the beginning of the first episode in the first series of the 80’s TV comedy ‘The Young Ones’. This particular text appeals to me because it is important in how it introduces the characters, as this is the first time the audience ever meet them. Relative Status: Rick and Neil are both students living in the same house; therefore their status should be equal though both are striving for dominance. Rick is defiantly the more dominant of the two, due to his extrovert personality. Both characters are self-centred, for instance, at the beginning of the scene; Neil delivers a monologue where he talks about himself a lot. However when Rick enters the scene, Neil’s control is taken away from him, as Rick immediately becomes the more dominant speaker. Rick too has an air of self-importance as he is very selfish and always wants the attention on him. For instance, when Neil says goodbye to Rick because he is about to commit suicide, Rick shuns him and simply replies ‘Yes, g’bye’ as if dismissing his life. Rick asks a lot of interrogatives such as “Why don’t you listen to me?” and “d’you find me boring or something?” These questions are quite pressing in nature yet are often left unanswered because Neil is not listening. This may illustrate that Neil is in fact the dominant one because he isn’t interested in Rick and isn’t bothered by his presence whereas Rick is clearly bothered by Neil due to him constantly pestering him. However Rick doesn’t listen to Neil either. This means there are two separate conversations going on, neither is being reciproca... ... middle of paper ... ...ppens. Even when Neil is angry, his tone remains quite placid. For instance, in lines 17 to 12 where Neil expresses his distaste that the other housemates didn’t eat the meal he cooked, he is clearly angry but not in an irate, hysterical way, which Rick might portray if he was in the same situation as Neil. The pitch often alters, usually to express meaning, such as in line 50, where the stress of the word ‘Look’ emphasises the perceived banality of saucers. Words are often stressed in order to create importance, e.g. in line 36 where Rick says “Bad for society when the kids start getting into it”. From line 32 onwards, Rick’s voice becomes naturally quieter. This may be to make the speech more poetic. When Rick is accusing Neil of ignoring him in line 49, his speech gets much quicker and becomes erratic.

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