Unit 3 Issues Assignment

To add to your understanding of the demands of Outcome 3, work through the following tasks. The practice issue is ‘Asylum Seekers’ and you will find that the more you know about the different perspectives of the different stakeholders, the easier you will find it to analyse the language used and its effect. The more you practise, the more able you will be to successfully identify and analyse language used by writers to persuade and thus complete the SAC. The SAC will be on articles you haven’t been given yet.

  1. Read through and annotate all the articles (Opinion #11, Opinion #21, Cartoon #1) on the handouts provided (consider using different colours to represent arguments for, arguments against and stakeholders). Once you have done so, jot down your initial reaction to the problems asylum seekers are facing: Who do you think is to blame? Why? Why not? (make this a short statement)
  2. Make a for/against table outlining all the differing perspectives on the issue.
  3. Below is a list of some effective persuasive devices that appeared in the articles on this issue. Go through the articles and identify 10 more examples. Present these as a DEP table. See example below:

Device / Example / Purpose
Alliteration/ Negative connotation/
Inclusive / “The Government has recently received three major independent reports validating complaints of rape, violent assault and torture in the wake of one murder and injury to about 70 others. Children on Nauru are being damaged while in our care.” / The alliterative phrase “recently received … reports" immediately positions readers to believe that workers are correct in their claims and that it is time for both political parties to take action and stop offshore detention. The writer’s strong use of negative connotations, “rape, violent assault and torture” urges Australians to pressure the Government to make changes creating a frustrated tone and emphasising the power Australians have if they act together. The use of the inclusive phrase “while in our care”persuades Australians to take action and hold the Government accountable.
Personification/
Alliteration/ Tone/
Imagery / “For a nation that purports to open its arms to refugees, Australia practises deadening hypocrisy. It deliberately subverts human rights principles and disregards its duties under international conventions, while assuming for itself a level of moral righteousness for having stopped boatloads of desperate people from drowning at sea.” / The editor personifies Australia as a cliché that “purports to open its arms to refugees” and then creates a condemning tone to deride the “deadening hypocrisy” of governments both past and present. The use of alliteration, “disregards its duties” reinforces this tone and combined with the imagery of “desperate people drowning: reminds readers that Australia is no longer seen as a welcoming nation.
  1. Make a list of stakeholders and their roles / motives / position on the issue. (This should be a comprehensive list that you keep adding to as you read more articles)

For example:

Stakeholder / Involvement
Justice Michelle Gordon – High Court Judge / Spoke against the detention of refugees, believing that ‘Australia have excercised restraint over asylum seekers’ liberty’
Transfield Services

The following tasks are practice language analysis tasks. They vary in text type so that you have an opportunity to practice and prepare for any combination of texts that may be presented to you in the SAC. Make sure you reflect on the feedback you receive as you complete each task and use this information to improve and develop your skills with each piece.

  1. Choose one of the informative articles you have not worked on and analyse the language used by the writer. Ensure that before you begin you have annotated carefully.
  2. Choose two of the following articles and write a comparative analysis of the language used by the writers to persuade:
  3. “We are not mean spirited”, ‘Canberra Times’ (Opinion #43)
  4. “PM under pressure as court clears returns”, ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ (Informative #2)
  5. Frederika Steen AM letter to the editor, ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ (Opinion #10)
  6. Analyse the Foxy cartoon – ‘Loaves and Fishes’
  7. Write a comparative analysis of the language used in the editorial, “Malaysia shuts out refugees” (Informative #10) and the Adam Zyglis ‘Build a wall’ cartoon (p. 11)
  8. Complete a coherently structured language analysis of the following three texts. This task is a good indication of the demands of the actual SAC task:
  • “Detention ends as Nauru opens gates”, Nicole Hasham, ‘The Age’, 6/10/15 – (Informative article #39)
  • “The Politics of Anguish”, Frederika Steen AM, ‘Sydney Morning Herald’, 16/06/16 – Letter to the Editor (Opinion article #15)
  • “Asylum Seeker signal for help”, 2013–Photo

Ensure that you follow the structure outlined in class and on the handout, including the comparative paragraph(s) in your analysis.