Assignment 1: Formal and informal

Formal text:

Brown was the son of John Brown, a Labour Party-supporting Church of Scotland minister, and Elizabeth Brown. At age 16 he won a scholarship to the University of Edinburgh (the youngest student to enter the university since World War II), where he immersed himself in student politics, eventually becoming chair of the university’s Labour club. Having earned a degree with honours in 1972, he served as a university lecturer, first at Edinburgh (1975–76) and then at Glasgow College of Technology (now part of Glasgow Caledonian University; 1976–80). Brown left academia for an appointment at Scottish TV (1980–83), where he was a journalist and editor in the current affairs department. In 1982 he completed a doctorate in history at Edinburgh; his dissertation was titled The Labour Party and Political Change in Scotland, 1918–29.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/81521/Gordon-Brown

Informal text:

But what is it that Gordon did to deserve his current status as tabloid pariah? Did he compliment Nick Griffin on his new haircut? Did he say Bin Laden is ‘Okay once you get to know him’? Instead of kissing babies, did he flat out call them ugly gremlins, right in their mothers’ shocked gobs?

No, Gordon did none of those things. Rather, he made an accurate analysis of an encounter he’d had with an elderly woman from Rochdale, saying it was a disaster, asking why he’d been put to speak to her and, most shockingly of all, calling her a ‘bigot’.

http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/blog/2010/04/gordon-brown-pure-evil-5728/

The first text is from Encyplodia Brittanicas article about the prime minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown. The second text is from a blog and deals with Gordon Brown´s scandal the other week.

The main differences in the two text is the choice of words. In the formal article they use words and sentences that you probably would not use if you were writing a letter to a friend. Also the fact that in the blogpost he uses contractions, while in the article the write both words instead.

My own text:

Formal:
The National Hockey League (NHL) is a North American ice hockey league which exists of 30 franchised member clubs, 24 of these are based in The United States and 6 are based in Canada. The NHL is by many considered to be the best ice hockey league in the world. At the end of each season the league playoff champion is awarded the Stanley Cup.

Informal:
The NHL is the best hockey league in the world. It´s too bad that the American clubs is so many though, I think it would be great for the league if there were more clubs from Canada.
The team that wins the playoffs gets the Stanley Cup and this year I´m rooting for the Chicago Blackhawks, even if they are from the US.