Berat Çelik
22.09.2020
Samuel Croft
The article written by Alok Jha concentrates on the journey of a water molecule from its
coming from asteroids to the moment of which this article is printed. The author excels at
informing the reader with the use of tone, language and discourse.
Initially, the author benefits from a humorous tone to clarify the academic content of
the article. To exemplify, the title of the article “Once your blood was a dinosaur
pee” attracts the reader within the first moment since the usage of mocking tone prevents the
reader from being strangled with the scientific information grasped in the article. The
authorial choices of tone shifts seen through the paper, such as “a water molecule” to a
possessive pronoun “our molecule”, further engages the reader to the journey of the water
molecule and creates a sense of sincerity. This feeling of sincerity established between the
reader and the molecule is further supported with the end of the article when the reader finds
out that the water molecule is on the paper sitting motionless. In addition to these, the author
also utilizes energetic tone to satisfy the reader with the rapid flow of events which maintains
the sets up the feeling of a journey. Emphasizing the quick transformations of the water
molecule, the quote “…our molecule finds its way into a whale’s brain, an Antarctic ice
sheet, a glass of water and a human heart. Later, it waters a pine tree…” illustrates the
author’s usage of dynamic and energetic tone.
Secondly, the author supports his usage of humorous and energetic tone with his use
of colloquial and descriptive language in order to wreck the challenging mood originated
from the academic content in the paper. As an illustration, in the quote, “In concert with other
water molecules, it forces DNA, proteins and cell membranes into the correct shapes to
function,” it can be seen that the author explains the ability of water molecules to shape
complex DNA structures transparently with the assistance of colloquial words, such as
“force” and “correct shapes”. By not going into scientific details, the author highlights the
fact that the aim of the article is narrating the journey of a water molecule with a bird’s eye
view regarding its historical milestones rather than analyzing every step that water molecule
took in a scientific manner.
Finally, the authorial choices made in the paragraph extends the scope of the intended
audience which are educated people that are interested in science and history with the ages
ranging 16-65. Targeting a broad audience, the author purposes a moment for the reader to be
intrigued not only from the historical events that the water molecule underwent trough but
also from the scientific process that brought it to the point where the water molecule becomes
the ink which this article was written with.
Overall, the author’s use of tone, language and intended audience provides the reader
with a clarified explanation of historical and scientific events that a water molecule
underwent. The humorous and dynamic style of the author makes the reader engage in the
narrative, whereas the colloquial language of the article makes the scientific content of the
article comprehensible. All in all, the author accomplishes to inform the reader with the
successive use of humorous and dynamic tone, figurative and colloquial language, and
discourse.