The poem ‘Badger’, uses third person personal pronouns such as ‘licks his feet’ and ‘his hold and cackles’. The badger is referred to as ‘he’ or ‘his’ which shows how Clare tries to personalise it and attempts to give it an identity to some extent. This is emphasised by the simple use of the third person personal pronoun, ‘they’, in sentences such as ‘they shout and hollow’ and ‘their’ in places such as ‘follow at their heels’ which is used to describe the crowd, and de-personalizes them by referring to them as a group or simply just a crowd. We therefore don’t get a chance to connect with the crowd as nobody seems to stand out, whereas the badger is spoken about individually therefore we can connect with it. This adds more of an impact later on in the poem when the badger dies and has more of an effect on the reader, as the badger is the only character that we get to explore.
The NSPCC leaflet, tends to use a lot more first person plural pronouns, which not only implies that everyone looks at the issue from the same point of view, but also involves the audience and makes them feel like they are on the same side as the writer. There are also places where second person possessive pronouns are used, like ‘Your £2 a month’. This involves the reader, and in this particular example actually puts the reader in a position where they feel as if they have already agreed to give the money, and that the letter is just confirming how that £2 will help.
Clare chooses to set the poem in the present tense, in order to add realism and more impact as the audience realises that the badger is being brutalised right now, which helps to generate sympathy. It shows that things like this still happen and this seems to make the crowd’s vicious and unemotional nature seem more unsettling. The NSPCC leaflet on the other hand is written in a slightly more future tense, as to make the reader realise what help their donation will be in the future.
The leaflet also uses non-standard syntax, such as a non standard prefronted conjunction in the sentence ‘Because every day, children of all ages are beaten, neglected and abused’ This is used for emphasis and so that the reader will pay attention to what comes after the ‘because’. Syndetic tricolons such as ‘kicked, punched, and beaten with a belt’ are used, where the writer uses three dynamic, violent verbs. This helps the reader to imagine the torment and violence that the child may be going through, or will have already gone through. The text uses declaratives such as ‘Michael was made to crawl around the floor’, imperatives such as ‘Children like Michael need protecting’ and also interrogatives such as ‘Do you agree?’
The text simply states facts using the declaratives and makes the audience think about it as a simple truth. The interrogatives make the reader think about the horrors that the many children must be going through as they are used as a rhetorical question. Mitigated imperatives like ‘Help me please’, which is on the front of the leaflet, again puts the reader in a helping position, and makes the person who wrote it seem more vulnerable. On a whole it makes the text seem more urgent and desperate for help.
‘Badger’ mainly uses declarative sentences that are presented as a series of statements. The declaratives are very controlled and so Clare’s point is taken more seriously as he seems to know what he’s talking about when saying that ‘The badger grins and never leaves his hold’.
The poem also uses non-standard syntax like fronted conjunctions. Clare starts off some of the sentences with the word ‘And’, ‘And laugh and shout and fright the scampering hogs’, which places emphasis on the verbs which are mainly monosyllabic to make them sound more vicious and abrasive and hard hitting.
The NSPCC leaflet uses alliteration as a rhetorical device in order to persuade the reader to donate money. ‘Beaten with a belt’ is an example of plosive alliteration, which adds to the power and force with in which the child would have been beaten. The leaflet has a tone that is quite over-emotional in order to get the reader feeling the same way. It uses words such as ‘killed’ and ‘abused’ which automatically impact the reader and make them feel more well off than the child, therefore obliged to help. Verbs in places such as ‘…was made to crawl’ are emphasised to pick out the negativity of the abuse and words such as ‘I’ve suggested’ make the writer seem not only personally involved, but also helps make the text slightly less formal as if you are like her friend.
The poem on the other hand has a tone that is more ‘matter of fact’. This is created through the lexical choices, and isn’t overly emotive, which make the baiting of the non-aggressive innocent animal that is violently killed, seem all the more worse. Clare doesn’t use over emotive lexis, but simply states what is happening, which ultimately has more of an effect on the reader because the action all seems so heartless and unemotional. Lots of monosyllabic lexis is used, with verbs such as ‘bites’ and ‘fights’ to make the action seem more brutal and barbaric, and also to make the whole poem seem more dynamic which makes it more realistic for the audience to picture. Clare also uses a range of phonology such as fricative alliteration, ‘about to face the loud…to their very door…frequent stone is hurled’ to make the tone more fierce and angry.
The NSPCC leaflet has its own logo at the top with the NSPCC acronym. The acronym shows that the reader should be familiar with the charity already, and underneath the acronym is a simple statement, ‘Cruelty to children must stop. FULL STOP’. This is very strong and impacting, and because it is short, it isn’t hard for the reader to remember either.
The leaflet uses a photo, which is printed as if having been clipped to the page, to make it look more realistic. The photo is of a young boy, ‘Michael’, as he is whom the text beside it is about. It is a very vulnerable picture, as he is sat on the floor with his arms crossed and isn’t even looking at the screen, as if he is scared to do so. The picture makes the leaflet look almost like an official document, adding to the realism and further persuading the reader to donate money to people like Michael.
On the other hand, ‘Badger’ doesn’t use actual images, but helps the reader to conjure an image through its choice of words and its actual sentences themselves. Lines 6 through to 9 help build up an image in the readers head as you get the contrast of rural life being peaceful, with the noisy crowd and the poacher who ‘shoots and hurries from the cry’.
Overall, both texts are successful in generating sympathy from the reader through their choice of lexis, grammar and structure.
The NSPCC leaflet, generates sympathy through its use of persuasive techniques. It involves the reader by directly addressing them, and puts them in a position where they feel the need to help. The audience feels that the children are very vulnerable and desperate, and therefore feels like they should help do something about it.
The ‘Badger’ poem generates sympathy through its matter of fact tone, making everything sound less severe than it really is. This in turn makes the reader feel more sympathetic towards the badger than they would have done to begin with. The poem seems more sinister and cold-hearted and this therefore emphasises the terribleness of the act that has been carried out.
