The text begins with an introductory section “The Big Picture”. This section sets the scene and is followed up by Mackay as he pins down each of the issues discussed and explores them one by one. Being a text of Australian attitudes towards many issues, not just gender, Mackay uses Turning Point as a ground for expressing his own opinion and challenging the reader to agree. It is hard to ignore the fact that while Mackay explains the women’s movement and the men’s response to it in careful, unemotive language, he sometimes interjects a personal opinion that pivots that reader’s attention more towards his own that the change of gender roles has many disadvantages that come close to outweighing the advantages. One such comment that he makes is that ‘some women have decided to lower their housekeeping standards’ in order to keep a job. This comment on the surface seems harmless, but his use of language suggests the decision made is a conscious one! Few women in Australia would consciously decide to lower their housekeeping standards in order to do office work; it is simply something that occurs. There is not enough time in the day to uphold all standards of work and in this day and age it is no longer solely the mother’s responsibility (Job Security). In fact, Mackay goes on to point this out, virtually contradicting his comment in order to remain on neutral ground (Marriage and the Family). Comments such as this take the reader unaware because of what Mackay surrounds them with. This technique of embedding his attitude in the reader’s subconscious must be potent to a certain degree.
Another technique of Mackay is that of discussion. His text is intended to be specifically that, so he uses a chatty tone to connect with the reader and make his points. He tends to devote parts of each chapter to the opposing sides and the chapter, Job Security, is no exception. Part of his chapter will discuss the woman’s perspective of the change in gender roles, followed by a section that details the man’s. By alternating these perspectives he lulls the reader into a false sense of security that he text is completely free of bias.
However his use of tone and language changes almost imperceptively when he explains the male’s point of view. He justifies what he terms the ‘slow, slow male response’ and points out that it is hard for a male to accept this radical change in gender attitudes and roles.
Mackay also puts across his opinion and directs the reader’s response towards it by detailing the many disadvantages of the women’s movements in terms of the uncertainties it has placed on both the male and the females involved and the potentially disastrous effects of these uncertainties. Housework suffers, as does child rearing. He uses jargon such as ‘quality time’ and blames the need for these concepts indirectly on the women’s lib movement. Most effectively, he sympathetically points to the massive pressures that have been placed on the female. At one point he mentions that there are ‘pressure falling on the woman from all sides, from the personal to the social’. These pressures are the expectations of women that have not replaced those of the past, but added to them. When once the woman was expected only to take on the roles of mother and housewife, now there are the added expectations of individuality (Marriage and the Family), independence and a career (Job Security). In making this point, Mackay makes it appear that there are disadvantages for all those involved, while maintaining what is seen as a ‘neutral, unbiased’ position. Through this section of detail, Mackay conditions the reader’s response towards agreeing with his point of view. This technique is similar to the one he employs in selection and positions of the woman’s analogy.
After reading the text as a whole I became more familiar with and supportive of its notion that Australians are taking place in a quiet revolution. The enormity of such a cause, which flows throughout the whole text, adds more importance and severity to the problems discussed in each individual chapter. This makes me aware, for example, that every issue mentioned through the first chapter has implications of change in contemporary Australian society. For instance, Mackay’s discussions on consumerism casts a whole new light on our everyday practices. In his special way, with analogies and descriptive language, Mackay presents this everyday aspect as a weakness- a trap, a trigger of manipulation of society by the overly powerful multinational corporations. Mackay in future chapters reveals that, caught up in our “consumer driven lives”, we forget the essentials the human relationships, love, the basic values that ensure happiness. Thus, knowing the text as a whole, I perceive the reading of even seemingly insignificant proportions as vital and imperative.
Initially, Mackay’s introductory section, “The Big Picture”, can appear discouraging because of the alarming information presented and argued by the author, such as the nightmare scenario he has created of fragmentation and alienation. But Mackay’s notion of “finding a new world”, something that is undercurrent throughout the book comes through more blatantly in the end. This ensures an overall positive reading of the text and the realisation that there is hope, something that wasn’t really evident in The Big Picture. This inevitably changed my reading of the text, as I recognised that the author does not want us to give up on Australian society into not hoping for the idea society or as he states, the “dream scenario”, but wants to motivate us to change our attitudes and actions. Thus, instead of depression and panic that were evoked by my first reading of Turning Point, I tended to reflect on the possibilities of starting a new life.
To me the structure and arguments in The Big Picture represent a condensed version of the whole book. I found a study of the section separately after the reading of the text more like an overview, but an overview that was far less positive than the overall approach of the book as an entirety. However, there was a new depth and understanding the second time I read The Big Picture, as I took a different attitude to the reading of the section as a result of the information I gathered throughout the book.
Referring directly to the question statement that suggests that expository writers use techniques to change the reader’s attitudes towards an issue, I think I can safely disagree on only one aspect of the statement. As I have displayed, expository text writers such as Hugh Mackay certainly use techniques to persuade the readers to agree with their point of view. This may not always be the case.
An example of ineffectiveness of underlying values and assumption is the Turning Point at the beginning of every chapter. By assuming that the reader is looking for a simple, all encompassing, to all the problems he is identified, Mackay completely changes his tone and only succeeds in alienating his readers. The Turning Point incorporates an array of useless and obvious suggestions as how to overcome the problems he puts forward. Mackay’s assumptions that all the problems can be simply fixed contrast starkly with the reader’s knowledge that this cannot happen easily.
In conclusion, the effectiveness of a text is dependent not only on its arguments, but also the values and assumptions it carries, and the values and beliefs that the reader brings to the texts. Turning Point has good strong arguments about the changes in Australian society, and the values and assumptions it carries are acceptable to the reader and reinforce the argument being made.
