How is the writing persuasive? Work through the article commenting on how the choice of words, the style of the writing and the way the information is presented work together to create this persuasive effect.

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PHILIP XIU                                                    ZOOOOOOH                                         COURSEWORK

 3. How is the writing persuasive? Work through the article commenting on how the choice of words, the style of the writing and the way the information is presented work together to create this persuasive effect.

     Several techniques are used in the writing to persuade us, to her side of the argument. The first one we meet is the large, bold title of “ZOOOOOOH!” this is attention grabbing and the linguistic cleverness combines the subject of the article, zoo and the idiotic reactions of the visitors, i.e. “Ooooooh.” The title has a subtle meaning; it has in it the mindless, moronic reactions of the visitors on seeing the animals, and the graphic design cleverly manipulates our thoughts on the critical comments on zoos. Also there are a line of animal pictures on the bottom of the page, this is to create a sense of realism through illustrations.

     The sub-heading is in bold as well though it is not as large as the title, this play on words is reflected by the way that she combines her anecdote with an inverted situation, “Tess Lemmon watches people watching animals.” The effect of that being that it is a play on words with an element of graphic design and it makes us want to read the article and it subtly introduce the idea that she is analysing the reactions of the people, as if in a scientific way.

     The quotes in bold below the sub-heading are for entertainment, she deliberately takes the most inane comments from the people that she watches and let them argue the case for her, this is called “Aunt Sally” she has quoted the opposition and has reiterated the quotes for her own needs, the entertainment is in fact a secondary purpose to the real purpose of summing up the attitudes to the animals that the visitors feel in the zoo and shaming them and parodying it. The last quote is the most stupid of them all and has been given its own extra space for its summing up of her views and thoughts on the subject.

     The first paragraph is devoted nearly entirely to the technique of making short, sharp points, “…lies on a slab of concrete, stares into space, flicks its tail. People stop, make comments, then go…” this has the effect of making us think about what the visitors do, because she has summarised what they do in one short paragraph. Exaggeration is also used (which is also called hyperbole), “the tiger lies on a slab of concrete,” this makes it sounds worse than it is especially as she has generalised the idea of that all the animals lie on a “slab” of concrete in all zoos while there may be some exceptions, this is bias. This stresses her point of animals in a “cell” and lying on a “slab” of concrete without anything to do and living in an unnatural environment, the short sentences also leads us on to the arguments of zoos.  She also uses Aunt Sally to a great effect with quoting, “a good day out,” this makes a point to us of her sarcasm towards the idea of going to the zoo for entertainment and a parodying subject.

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     She uses colloquial language, “But hang on a minute…running around…in our backyards,” this is used to convey ideas to the reader through an easier way, the effect is, that of an friend having an conversation with you, it is used to put us at ease to seem that she can be trusted, and the language involves everyone, especially using the possessive adjective “our” and “We’re“ this effect in context with colloquial language is that the piece becomes avuncular and inclusive and it invites us to contribute, this makes the writer identify herself with the readers, this encourages the ...

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