Paper 1, Question 2

 

The famous entrepreneur, Richard Branson’s purpose of the text is to write an open-letter to anyone who may be reading. He talks about happiness and his own first hand experiences in contrast with society's popular beliefs. Due to him giving his own account of happiness the text throughout is very formal and has personal references to the writer’s own life. This makes the reader be able to connect to the information in the letter much more closely and create imagery of the scenes being described. 

In the beginning of the letter, the writer starts off in second person perspective and gives a piece of advice which is targeted towards the reader. The writers does this by using phrases such as “help you” and “be yours.” The reader’s attention is then immediately grabbed and the letter feels like it was written to them by someone personal or close to them. Branson then switches in the following second paragraph to first person perspective and the writer gives his own personal account of hardships he has faced. “I’ve cheated death” “failed in business” “loved ones pass away.” The writer is incorporating pathos and uses multiple emotional stories in order to persuade the reader to trust his advice since he has went through a lot that would alter his happiness. 

An encouraging tone is established and therefore contributes to the advice being said in the letter. The author uses words and phrases like “Stop and breathe” “Be healthy” and “appreciate the moment.” This ties back to the writer connecting with the reader on a personal level by telling them what is best to achieve happiness. It would come off as credible because of all the writer’s own past experiences.”I speak from experience.” He uses informal language which makes the text more casual and spontaneous. While reading, it feels like a conversation being held or listening to a speech. This makes the text easy to follow and more likely to connect while reading with what is being said. 

The format of the text is a letter and is opened with “Dear Stranger” and then at the end “Happy regards, Richard Branson.” The text is written as Richard Branson’s own life story and each paragraph is grouped under his own different ideas. It focuses mostly on common misconceptions by society of what exactly happiness is. All the author’s ideas are organized well and are easy to follow along with while reading and you can tell what he is talking about. 

Imagery is utilized to further provide the readers with a familiar atmosphere. The writer says to truly achieve happiness you need to “be in the moment.” He then gives his own personal reference from his life of times he has felt the most happy. “Flamingos fly across” “new grandchild” “looking up at the stars.” These are his own moments from his life, but reading makes you feel like you are witnessing the scenes being described as well and then brings you closer to the text. He uses more common occurrences that others often take for granted that have stuck with him. “Smell of rain,” or “ripple of a wave.” This shows that even the little things that occur should make you want to stop time just to witness. 

The language  is more emotional and personal towards the author. Due to him referencing his life it creates credibility and therefore exhibits ethos. Due to him living an “extraordinary life” he then is able to contrast common people's beliefs about how they think happiness is due to a lot of money. He gives his own personal experiences of hardships he has faced and how it has made him come to his own realization. He wants to write a letter to give everyone reading advice on how to change their mindset and realization of the true meaning of happiness.