English Lit/Lang Anthology [Music Review] Cheat Sheet by churger

GRAMPS

Genre: Review
Register: Formal
Audience: Beyonc­e/Jay-Z fans (or haters?), fans of author Rachel Aroesti, readers with interest in pop-cu­lture and celebr­ities, anyone reading The Guardian.
Mode: Written
Purpose: To review and recount the opening night of their 'On The Run 2' tour.
Subject: Beyonce and Jay-Z's perfor­man­ce/­con­cert, the scandals.

Hyperbole: "self mythol­ogi­sin­g" - appears to be done to criticise the elevation of the carters as if they are better than all. This is reinforced by the later emphasis placed on their relati­onships failure.

Romantic lexis and juxtap­osi­tion: "tale of devotional love" - the use of "­tal­e" juxtaposes the romant­ici­sation of "­dev­otional love" showing the antith­etical nature of the carter's relati­onship.

Slang: "­rid­e-o­r-die moll to her rumoured boyfri­end's gangst­er" - the slang here emphasises where Beyonce and Jay-Z have come from. The fast pace use of dashes in "­rid­e-o­r-die moll" suggests a level of condem­nation to the notion of Beyonce just accomp­anying Jay-Z.

Anaphora: "the gangster and the queen" - places Beyonce as '"the queen" last giving her more power in this phrase and shows the change she has experi­enced from being just a "­mol­l" preceding Jay-Z to now being a "­que­en" that can upstage him.

Intens­ifiers and critical tone: "far from living in codepe­ndent bliss" - the intens­ifying idiom of "far from" ads grapho­logical distance between their portrayal of their conflicted relati­onship as "­cod­epe­ndent bliss".
The critical tone implies that the idea they are "far from" "­cod­epe­ndent bliss" is shared by many and is obvious to any viewer.

Clinical lexis: "­nar­rative has been reclib­rat­ed" - this suggests that they are detached from the true story of their relati­onship and have "­rec­ali­bra­ted­" it to fit their own desires.

Mechanical lexis: "­rec­ali­bra­ted­" - the use of "­rec­ali­bra­ted­" connotes mechan­isation as if their relati­onship works like an impersonal machine than a real human love affair.

Allite­ration and an idiomatic phrase: "­ham­mering home" - this suggests that they are only trying to sell this false notion of love to their reviews.
This use of allite­rative idiom shows Aroesti condemning their attempt to profit off their love.
The allite­ration suggests it is a futile attempt to due to the need to repeat it.

Hyperbole: "­dea­thness nature of their love" - the hyperbole suggests that their love is being given agency over the carter's but that Aroesti believes the power is given to it is false and all for show, due to her mocking tone.

Antith­esis, juxtap­osi­tion, low-fr­equency lexis and sub-cl­auses: "­rem­arkably intimate for a stadium show; but scrupu­lously posed" - the antithesis in "­int­imate for a stadium show" shows Aroesti genuine surprise at the intimacy shown but also supports that fundam­entally intimacy cannot be done on that large a scale.
This implies that Beyonce and Jay-Z have achieved something many cannot by inviting their audience into their relati­onship.
The low frequency lexis of "­scr­upu­lously posed" shows that this is uncommon to be seen by the general public, showing it to be a dising­enuous way to show a relati­onship.
The syntax of the sentence places the idea that they are "­pos­ed" at the end. The use of it as a sub-clause implies this notion is meant to be hidden from the audience to make the love between them feel real.

Juxtap­osi­tion: "­crazed lust and ballads about romantic betray­al" - shows the antith­etical nature of Beyonce and her music in a way to flatter her and show her "­cha­mel­eon­ic" ability.
Use of "­cha­mel­eon­ic" later acts as an anaphoric reference to continue this notion.

Metaphor: "­psy­cho­drama in cartoonish panto format­" - this metaphor is clearly very condemning of the concert as if it uses elevated conflicts and person­ality to entice its audience in.

Infantile tone: "gaze at each other moonis­hly­" - the infantile tone here suggests that Beyonce and Jay-Z's relati­onship has a level of immature idolis­ation of one another.

Juxtap­osi­tion: "­mat­rim­onial love... come off as slightly one-di­men­sio­nal­" - the juxtap­osition between the two ideas of "­mat­rim­onial love" being "­one­-di­men­sio­nal­" gives an antith­etical nature to their marriage.

Allite­ration and dimini­shing of Jay-Z: "her rapper husband for a ride as he hitches his wagon to her staggering cultural capita­l" - the dimini­shing of Jay-Z through only saying he is a "­rap­per­" and not acknow­ledging his other qualities. Contra­sting Aroesti's portrayal of Beyonce as owning "­sta­ggering cultural capita­l".
The allite­ration of "­cul­tural capita­l" emphasises the power that Beyonce has in society.

Asyndetic listing: "­arsenal of glorious modern classics (99 Problems, *s in Paris, Big Pimpin­)" - the use of asyndetic tricolon of all of Jay-Z's "­glo­rious modern classi­cs" are subject specific to Jay-Z's success, the only time she praises him.
The three adjectives "­glo­rious modern classi­cs" emphasises the power this music has and that they are of cultural signif­icance.

Premod­ifiers and litotes for comedic effect: "his excessive costume changes, which put Beyonce's meagre half-dozen sequined leotards in the shade" - the use of the premod­ifier suggests Jay-Z is overco­mpe­nsating for his lack of stardom..
Her use of litotes for comedic effect here shows her subtle criticism of Beyonce and Jay-Z's various costumes as if they are trying to compete with one another.

Subjec­t-s­pecific lexis: "­Lem­onade's Led Zeppli­n-s­ampling Jack White collab­oration Don't Hurt Yourse­lf" - the use of he many subjec­t-s­pecific words here show the many accolades of Beyonce and it also shows Aroesti's knowledge of Beyonce.

Metaphor: "­eve­rgreen 2003 hit Crazy in Love" - the metaphor of "­eve­rgreen hit" suggests that it will never age that it holds power.

Use of lexis of matrimony: "­sheer majesty of their creative partne­rship, which surely only death could part" - the use of the lexis of matrimony with "­death could do part" shows that their marriage is interwoven with their "­cre­ative partne­rsh­ip". The use of the word "­par­tne­rsh­ip" suggests that their relati­onship has a business side to it.

Beyonce and Jay-Z are a very famous 'power couple' who have gone on tour together as a couple twice, this being their second one.

They have been married since 2008 and have had 3 children together.

Some scandals have happened, including Jay-Z supposedly cheating on Beyonce, which put their otherwise idolised marriage under scrutiny.

The author, Rachel Aroesti, is a freelance writer who specia­lises in pop culture. She is quite biased to Beyonce in this piece, probably due to sympathy for Jay-Z's cheating.

The Guardian is a left-wing newspaper who have garnered a reputation for being reliable and well-i­nfo­rmed.