This commentary will examine an article written by Andrew Bolton, titled Doomed to a fatal delusion over climate change which was published in the Herald Sun on the July 09, 2008.

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Doomed to a fatal delusion over climate change

This commentary will examine an article written by Andrew Bolton, titled ‘Doomed to a fatal delusion over climate change’ which was published in the Herald Sun on the July 09, 2008. The author’s point of view in this text is that a ‘delusional man’ (our Prime Minister) is running the country and will make Australia bankrupt with his drastic plans for cutting carbon emissions.  The author has made extensive use in his article of a range of literary devices including statistics, hyperbole, emotive language and repetition.  This article is a good example of the use of these literary devices to persuade a reader to believe and adopt his point of view.  Readers would benefit from being able to recognise these techniques and the effect they can have on the audience.  

Bolton’s use of statistics is effective in positioning the audience to accept his word as the truth.  Statistics are seen to be hard facts that are quantifiable and verifiable and provide proof for the author’s argument. This can be seen in Bolton’s article on line 34, paragraph 9, where he stated “The truth is Australia on its own emits less than 1.5 per cent of the world's carbon dioxide.”  The author has used statistics to lend credibility to his argument by implying that he is supported by official factual research. The reader is therefore likely to accept his words as fact rather than opinion.  Another good example of his use of statistics used in his text is when he stated “Indeed, so fast are the world's emissions growing -- by 3.1 per cent a year thanks mostly to these two giants (China and India) -- that the 20 per cent cuts Rudd demands of Australians by 2020 would be swallowed up in just 28 days.”  Here, the author is making the point that it would make no difference if Australia cuts it carbon emissions.  The reader is encouraged to associate statistics with scientific fact.

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Another technique Bolton used is repetition.  Repetition is a word or phrase that keeps recurring throughout the text.  Repetition helps drive the message home in the reader’s mind.   “Climate change delusion” is one of the phrases the author repeats frequently.  Climate change delusion is the belief that climate change will be the doom of our planet as we now know it.  The reason why the author chooses to continuously reiterate this phrase is because he is trying to convince his audience that Kevin Rudd suffers from this delusion, which affects decision making.  The author makes a point of ...

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