In both
texts that I have been looking at they use techniques to validate the
purpose of the text and how to influence the reader into the article.
Halloween Costumes- what not to wear is an
article written by Rhiannon Cosslett, which uses many purposes to the
reader of persuading them to get certain costumes, entertaining the
reader with personal anecdotes from the writer but mostly uses
advising to aid the reader about what is best to wear and what is
not. In A man’s perspective on why
engagement rings are a joke is an article by
Tauriq Moosa that uses persuasion to get his point across that he
does not agree with the concept of engagement rings to show love.
In
Halloween costumes- what not to wear, it
uses many techniques to make the reader understand the purpose of the
text. Firstly, neologism also known as coinage is used which is a
word made up by the writer. The “Slutoween”
is effectively used to entertain the reader with a new unique word.
This allows the reader to be engaged and interpret the word in their
own way and to be amused by the article with how original it is.
“Slutoween” is
used within the strapline and within the heading of a paragraph,
which allows the reader to be entertained from the start of the piece
with the topic and address the main opinion of the writer. It
highlights also persuasion into the opinion used with this coinage
word which allows the reader to understand what the reader believes
as Halloween being an evening revolved around women dressing “like
a total slut” which is stated as her
opinion in the rest of the text.
The use of
a rhetorical question “So what to wear?”
is used to highlight another purpose, to advice. This is then dealt
with amongst the rest of the article and shows the writer’s use of
the article to express and aid them with their selection of Halloween
costume. This use of the word “so”
allows the reader to feel as if they are being helped and advised
with the choice and selection of the costume rather than being told
what they should wear although the technique of a rhetorical question
is used usually to persuade the reader and in this it is used to
encourage the reader to read on to find out about what they should
wear.
Colloquial
language is used in the article “That is so
90s, babes” to entertain the reader
although it could be said that this language used is not appropriate
for the audience of the article as it is an article from The Guardian
and in my opinion colloquial language such as “babes”
is language that is unusual for this audience with using a model,
“Heidi Klum” which
this reader will not know who they are but this counteracted with the
mentioning of “blackface” and
“Trayvon Martin” who
this audience will know about. Additionally, colloquial language is
used under the third subheading with the use of an imperative
sentence split up with punctuation, “Put.
It. Down.” This enables the reader to be
spoken to and is very informal for the tone of the newspaper and
sounds chatty to the reader. The use of the imperative sentence is
also persuasive and allows an order to the reader.
Imperative
sentences are also used for every subheading. For example; “Know
how soon is too soon” and “Don’t
disrespect other people’s cultures.” This
is where the verb is the first word in the sentence and is shown as a
command. The use of the imperative sentence allows an order to the
reader and is persuasive to the reader as it is commanding to them an
instruction which means that they have to do it. Having this as the
subheading, means that they are instructed and told what will be in
the paragraph not only engaging them into the article but allowing
them to be persuaded into the readers opinion on the idea. The
purpose of imperatives is to command the reader so this is also
advising them into the idea of what they are saying. “Dress
your baby up, they’re too young to be embarrassed so who cares?”
shows the advice that the writer is giving to the reader with the use
of the word “dress”
to encourage the reader to do the order straight away.
The use of
direct address is used to engage the reader. “Can’t
you just put down that native American headdress?” highlighting
the separation between reader and writer. This shows the writer’s
negative feelings towards this and is separating herself from the
reader because she does not want to be associated with it. This is
effectively done with the use of a rhetorical question to persuade
the reader that they should listen to her and be on the same side as
her. This shows the persuasion in the text to believe the writers
views. Separation of the writer from the reader is also used with the
pronoun “I’ll” with
her personal opinions on the view with herself going as a “false
widow spider.” The use of the personal
pronoun is effective to get the personal opinion and deliverance of
the writer with her interesting take on a Halloween costume. It
allows the reader to see her advice and be able to look suitable in
her opinion. The personal pronoun means that it separates her to
believing that she is right to the reader.
The use of
an anecdote effectively gets the point across with “But
a friend” with the story rather than
personal experience. Anecdotes can be used for advice and persuasion
which the writer achieved in both purposes. The use of persuasion
with the anecdote was effective to achieve how the writer does not
want this to happen again but also with advising in aiding the reader
not to do this terrible thing her friend has learnt from.
In
contrast, I believe that A man’s perspective
on why engagements are a joke has just one
purpose of persuading the reader into the opinion of the writer.
Contrasting
to the other article, in most of this article the writer uses
pronouns such as “We” to
feel like the reader is involved in the article and the writer and
the reader are on equal playing fields rather than segregated as seen
in the other article. This persuades the reader that the writer is
correct as he has used collective pronouns to involve them in his
opinion. Additionally, the use of “We”
makes it feel more formal to the other
article that used “you”. Being in the third person throughout the
article makes the formality and the tone and allows the reader to
believe more in what the writer is saying which seems quite factual
rather than the colloquial style like the Halloween article was in.
Triadic
structure is used to emphasise his point. “They’re
expensive, useless and, worse, are insulting to notions of actual
love.” This persuades the reader with three
main points listed to highlight how correct the writer is with them
listed it lets the reader feel like there are more things wrong with
it than there actually is. It also has an emphasis of the things and
enables the reader to remember them effectively.
The use of
controversial ideas to society’s love is effectively seen with
“nauseating crimson heart-shaped horror show we call Valentine‘s
Day,” highlighting the strong opinion presented by the writer. The
use of strong adjectives of “nauseating”
is effective for the reader to understand the
horrible thoughts that commercial love is for him and to relay this
onto the reader with the powerful adjective that has been chosen to
be used for emotive effect. Strong adjectives enable the reader to be
convinced by the argument given and highlight the purpose of the
text, persuasion.
Unlike the
other article, statistics that are fact are used to back up the idea
of the writer of engagement rings being a waste of money. “12%
of US spend more than $8000 for an engagement ring” This
use of fact persuades the reader to show that it is a waste of money
as they will factually find out with percentages the true volume of
the cost that some people spend. The truth speaks volumes to readers
and will be effective to them and persuade them into the writers
point of view.
In
contrast to the other article, this one uses a counter argument to
emphasise the persuasion to back up the writers own opinion with the
topic sentence, “Many people will say that
engagement rings are symbolic of love and devotion”
followed by the reason why it isn’t. This is effective as it is
encourages the reader to side with the writer as the counter argument
makes them think and as this argument is put down the reader is
convinced by the argument of the writer. The use of “will” is
effective to show that the writer is not convinced by the argument
and is not his own views but the views of other people. It shows also
his definite separation from the other point of view, which persuades
the reader to his side.
Similar to
the other article, this article uses a rhetorical statement, “why
can’t a beautiful home be a symbol? Why can’t long-term
investments be a symbol...?” This is
effective as it encourages the reader to think about whether they
believe in the points being raised and encourage them to believe in
what is being said. The repetition of “why”
is effective for the reader to believe in the
writers own opinion on the views of engagement rings.
Also, this
article at the end creates similarity to the other article; he also
separates himself from the reader on the very last line with “If
you need a ring to prove your love, it’s not your lack of a ring
that’s the problem.” This is effective as
it shows the writer believes in the point he is saying, separating
himself to show that he believes love is more than the amount you
spend on a ring and persuading the reader his opinion.
Overall,
both pieces use techniques that link to the purposes that they are
delivering to the audience. Halloween
costumes- what not to wear uses persuasion,
advice and entertainment to deliver the article in comparison to A
man’s perspective on why engagement rings are a joke which
is a formal persuasive piece which is encouraging the reader to the
writer’s perceptions.
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