The genre of this article is to persuade and it is written for an adult audience. The intention; to persuade, is brought across very well as many persuasive techniques are employed. Rhetorical questions, ‘How will she live with no food?’ are used to make the reader reflect and ask themselves questions. Moreover, facts and figures, ‘9.5 million…’, use of imperative, ‘we must….’, repetition, reference to expert studies and emotive language are used to persuade the reader further.
The tone of the article is serious and reflective, however it is clear and to the point. This helps the purpose of the piece come across more clearly. The intended effect on the audience is reached as it stimulates the reader to reflect on themselves and other people, gently persuading the reader unconsciously.
The structure of the article is clearly set out with a strong opening and ending. There is more descriptive language in the middle of the article as well as facts and figures used to back up statements. This makes the piece simple to read but effective at the same time. The lexis which is used is more challenging for the selected audience, ‘acknowledge, desperation, judgemental.’ The lexis would be much more simple compared to an article for a child.
The idea of helping the ‘dark shadow of poverty fade’ and ‘reaching the light at the end of the tunnel’ are used as figurative language features. This was also used as emotive language to stimulate the audience and their emotions.
The successful aspects of this article include the lexis, which I have chosen to complement the genre, the shaping of the writing to the selected audience, as well as the purpose. The pictures help the graphology of the article to come across and shows the reader real life images, helping them to picture the situation and feelings of those in poverty. Moreover, the facts and figures are used to back up statements and provide the reader with realistic, additional information. This keeps the reader interested and aware that the truth is being told. The contrasts between facts and descriptive emotive language are also successful as it breaks up the information and does not ‘over load’ the reader.
The ways to improve the article are to use more imperatives, e.g. we must… we can.’ This will help the audience become more involved and feel as though they can actually help. As well as this, more usage of metaphors, similes and other language features could be used to make the article more interesting. Personal opinions could be used to persuade the reader even more or more than one point of view could be adopted to give the reader freedom of choice.
