I chose three articles which have differing viewpoints of squatters. All of the articles are from the Independent Opinion letters section.

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                                          Language Investigation by Enver N

Word Count: 1,547 words (excluding title)

I chose three articles which have differing viewpoints of squatters. All of the articles are from the Independent Opinion letters section. The audience of these articles is the readers of The Independent paper and website.

Text A (written by Chas Loft) favours squatters and shows them as a group who squat because they have nowhere else to go. Text B (written by Richard Lloyd) has a neutral point of view and, like Text A, strongly believes that squatters only squat because they are homeless but also calls for a policy which would “make squatting unnecessary”. Text C is completely against squatters and demonises them. There is no evidence of the name of the writer of Text C.

Text A is written by a squatter himself. The text represents squatters as only human and going through hard times. The constant use of consonance (e.g. “crisis” and “construction”, “dismay” and “decision”) emphasises the writer’s point of view. Chas manipulates the cliché phrase “jump on the (anti-squatter) bandwagon”, criticising the general public’s point of view on squatters.

Text B is written by the head of Shelter. The text does represent squatters as only human, like Text A, but mostly seeks to destroy the myths surrounding squatters. Richard shows a neutral point of view as he does not choose to completely demonise either side of the debate. There are several abstract nouns and verbs used in the article (for example “recognition” and “policy”) as he subtly disguises the few opinions present in this article as pure facts. He does this by completely eliminating the use of the first person; instead Richard employs the third person (“she”, “they”, “them”) as it eliminates any obvious use of bias. This shows a sense of detachment.

Text C is written by an unknown person. The text represents squatters as freeloaders and criminals and opposes the views of Texts A and B. The anonymous writer chooses not to disclose their name, probably because they are aware that their views are extreme and it is better to remain anonymous. This opinion article is the longest of the three articles, in terms of length and word count, and shows that the writer has a lot of strong views on the issue of squatting.

Texts A and B are both responses to other squatter articles in The Independent; Text A being a direct response to Text C. Both texts use embedded quotes like “It is…breakfast accommodation” to use the mentioned articles’ words against the writers of the articles. It is very effective as it emphasises the strong points of view which all of the writers have. They also both begin with the word “Sir” followed by a colon in order to sound formal and professional.

Text C does not quote from any other article, unlike Texts A and B. This opinion article is independent of any quotations because the writer, like the writers of the other texts, tries to make the text have a formal tone and tries to change or maintain the reader’s values on the issue in hand.

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Text A relies on a hefty use of sibilance (“squatting itself is not the problem…”;…you‘d sit in some of the places squatters“) throughout the article to emphasise the irritated tone which Chas employs. Chas ends the article with a rhetorical question “By the way…impossible?” in order to involve the reader and leaves them to make up their own mind about the issue. However, there is no sign of any usage of abstract nouns or verbs nor does it properly involve the reader. Although Text A is effective in getting the message across, it has the aforementioned weaknesses.

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