Style

The exam question also asks you to discuss the style of Jane Pauley’s interview, “Hillary Clinton speaks”. The text is generally easy to understand, and its format keeps the audience engaged through the choice of words, additional video footage, and the relatively informal style.

The language we receive as viewers changes over the course of the video. It features more formal elements such as Jane Pauley’s introduction from the television studio and video footage of speeches made by Clinton and Trump, along with more casual interactions between Clinton and Pauley, and a recording of casual – and offensive – language by Donald Trump in the Access Hollywood footage.

The style of the interview is semi-formal. For example, the interviewer is often formal when it comes to comments overlaid with the interview: “Jane Pauley: Hillary Rodham Clinton delivering her concession speech the day after losing last year’s presidential election” (ll. 3-4). This suggest Pauley is a professional who respects the formality of a TV interview with a political figure. Clinton is also formal at times: “I started t...