Our first article of the week was titled "Gillard's spin way off the mark." The argument behind this was it's not right to inadequately fund public schools.
In the article we saw a variety of persuasive devices being used. The first one was a rhetorical question, The intended effect for this was to encourage the reader to accept the author's answer. By asking a rhetorical question, the author implies that the answer is very obvious, and thus the reader will be more likely to side with the author.
The second persuasive device was an attack. The author quotes Julia Gillard and then proceeds to criticize her ideas. Through the author's criticism, Gillard's ideas seem to be very poor. The author then patronizes Julia Gillard by using negative connotative words such as "disgrace" and "disingenuous in the extreme". This further supports the idea that Gillard's ideas are wrong and have not been thought out very well.
In the article, there was only one appeal that was used, and that was an appeal to fairness. By saying that Gillard's concepts are "unfair" and "unjustifiable" triggers an emotional response from the reader. The author targets the reader's concern for fairness and this will aid the reader in siding with the author.
The final device was Patriotism. The author is saying that, all he wants is to help Australian return to a more fairer place. This statement can evoke patrioctic feelings in the reader as the article is published on an Australian news website, and will therefore have lots of Australian readers. The reader will feel as if their country is flawed, and will want to help it and thus, siding with the author.
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Weekly Summary
So for the first week we had one article and one cartoon, with both of them talking about the education system and it's funding. Here we'll discuss the persuasive devices which are being used.
In the first article we saw a lot of appeals being used. I think this is due to the fact that the article is aimed at the parents, and every parent wants their child to succeed. So by using these appeals such as, appeal to a good education, to a sense of equality, sense of success, and appeal to moral righteousness, the author triggers an emotional response of anger, manipulating their feelings. With the parent's feelings evoked, they are more likely to agree and side with the author of the article.
In the article, we can also see some inclusive language being used. By using inclusive language, the author creates a sense of belonging with the reader. Using words such as "we", "us", "our", the author can create the illusion that there are only two sides, and the reader and the author both belong to the same side. The inclusive language combined with authoritative language makes the author sound very persuasive. What the author wrote is of course, his own opinion, but by using these two devices, he comes off as if he is stating a fact. Compare the following two phrases. The first is obviously more persuasive.
"We NEED to..." "I personally believe that we should..."
Another persuasive device which was used was, negative connotation. By using words such as "artificially" and "unsustainable", the author implies that the opposing point of view is wrong and fake. Notice how the author doesn't directly say that they're wrong. He uses those words, to share his point of view with his audience.
The very last two devices that were in the article were, cliché and metaphor. The cliché is basically an overused saying or phrase. Even though the phrase is overused, it gives the audience something that they might of heard before and can convey ideas very succinctly . This is good because it makes the reader very confident with the author and will be more likely to agree with the author.
The final device is the metaphor. Here the author wrote, "filtering their intakes". When the author uses this metaphor, he paints a picture in the reader's minds of a big filter, sorting out all the students and only taking the students that they want.
In the first article we saw a lot of appeals being used. I think this is due to the fact that the article is aimed at the parents, and every parent wants their child to succeed. So by using these appeals such as, appeal to a good education, to a sense of equality, sense of success, and appeal to moral righteousness, the author triggers an emotional response of anger, manipulating their feelings. With the parent's feelings evoked, they are more likely to agree and side with the author of the article.
In the article, we can also see some inclusive language being used. By using inclusive language, the author creates a sense of belonging with the reader. Using words such as "we", "us", "our", the author can create the illusion that there are only two sides, and the reader and the author both belong to the same side. The inclusive language combined with authoritative language makes the author sound very persuasive. What the author wrote is of course, his own opinion, but by using these two devices, he comes off as if he is stating a fact. Compare the following two phrases. The first is obviously more persuasive.
"We NEED to..." "I personally believe that we should..."
Another persuasive device which was used was, negative connotation. By using words such as "artificially" and "unsustainable", the author implies that the opposing point of view is wrong and fake. Notice how the author doesn't directly say that they're wrong. He uses those words, to share his point of view with his audience.
The very last two devices that were in the article were, cliché and metaphor. The cliché is basically an overused saying or phrase. Even though the phrase is overused, it gives the audience something that they might of heard before and can convey ideas very succinctly . This is good because it makes the reader very confident with the author and will be more likely to agree with the author.
The final device is the metaphor. Here the author wrote, "filtering their intakes". When the author uses this metaphor, he paints a picture in the reader's minds of a big filter, sorting out all the students and only taking the students that they want.
The education revolution
Our first political cartoon which talks about the "education revolution". Drawn by Alan Moir.
Private Schools
So here is our first article, which talks about the funding of private schools. The article has been annotated with all the persuasive devices which are used.
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