The article at hand talks about the most recent nuclear missile test by the North Korean military held today, November 29th, in which an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) was fired at an altitude of 620 miles and crashed in the Sea of Japan, sparking worldwide horror. The first countries to condemn this were South Korea, Japan, the US, and the UK. Jonathan Matthews, a BBC Defense and Diplomatic Correspondent, is identified as the Speaker behind this story: He transmits an accurate, sincere tone, and seems to show a slight bias against the actions of North Korea. He does include quotes from American, South Korean and Japanese government officials alongside important dates and figures concerning North Korean military testing, which greatly contributes to his authority and appeal to logic, respectively.
Obviously, the Occasion of this article is the North Korean Missile Tests of 2017. An event of this severity grabs the attention of the world public, Matthews included, and a response is created: Some will be outraged, others will be scared, and journalists, well, they will write about it: about how an underestimated Asian nation with a questionable political history and an long-sought desire for acceptance in today's war panorama, is making some slow yet terrifying progress, and it has caught the attention of the superpowers in a bad way. This would be an immediate occasion, which has renewed the huge controversy around North Korea and communists countries in general. Of course, the information in Matthew's article is not very relevant unless it targets a public that would be interested in hearing (or reading) what he has to say. The intended Audience of Matthew's writing is, mainly, adults (these type of affairs is of little interest/concern of younger audiences). More specifically, those who can access BBC News through the internet, since it reaches fa more people than Television or Radio, and has become the best format by which the British Broadcasting Corporation communicates. Also, adults interested in military issues of today's world, because this is one of the most urgent topics there is. Through the knowledge of the elements described above, it can be determined why this article was created in first place. Matthews presents a well developed resuming of the important happenings, and uses plethora of elements (concise syntax, informal/direct diction, including quotes, a chronological list of important dates of North Korean Nuclear Testing, and even a diagram of how high have the previous missiles gone), in order to fulfill a Purpose: to deliver to his audience the facts and the opinions of the men and women pulling the strings behind the volatile theater of modern warfare. The author uses this elements in an elegant way, but it doesn't mean the main idea is entirely neutral; in fact, it shows to be more on the side of North Korea's enemy: the free world. The Subject of the article (the idea from which the entire claim is made) is that North Korea is at its most threatening stage of existence since the Korean War in the 1950s, and it is making the entire world loose its mind, and with all reason: In only 9 months, the military has tested at least five nuclear missiles illegally, directly threatening the security of Japanese and South Korean civilians, and more so, of the entire planet. If it wasn't a threat, why would the American, South Korean, Japanese, and British governments rush to publicly condemn the tests and implore the help of the UN Security Council. If these arguments were presented all at once in an erratic manner, it would be extremely hard to understand, due to the sheer complexity of the topic. Instead, they are revealed bit by bit, which proves a good move from Matthews. Finally, the author uses a casual, yet direct tone, in order to get across his idea to his audience. He also uses short sentences and common words to write the article, and it is used in a manner that shows Matthews's inexistent sympathy for North Korea nor for its nuclear tests that threaten the entire planet. Also, he includes responses to the tests from various important figures, from the US Secretary of Defense and the South Korean President, all the way to the Japanese Prime Minister and the British ambassador for North Korea. This increase the article's credibility, and alongside the appeal to facts and figures and the lack of emotion, it constitutes a well-developed news article.
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This is an article about the referendum held yesterday Sunday, October 1, 2017 to decide whether the Spanish region of Catalonia should become independent fro the Kingdom of Spain. It was written by BBC News anchor in Barcelona Tom Burridge. He is recognized as the author of the article, and he transmits a neutral voice; he is being perceived as an unbiased Speaker, and he does so by citing the views of Spanish and Catalan political figures as an appeal to credibility, giving specific quantities and percentages in order to appeal to logic, and through his word selection. Burridge uses words the way shown in the article to convey a sense of realism and intensity, transporting the reader to the time and the place of the event.
The occasin of this article is the 2017 Catalonia Independence Referendum in Spain. This is an event that catches the author's attention and creates a response to it (in this case, a news column for BBC News of how a peaceful people try to express their will through vote, and are violently sent away by the Civil Guard and the Police), and it would be classified as an immediate occasion. There has been recent controversy around the Referendum and Catalonia itself: The Spanish Government calls the voting illegal, but does it give them right to repress their fellow countrymen over a cultural discrepancy? That is the question Burridge transmits in his article to his public. The intended Audience of this writing are mainly adults interested in world politics, since this happenings are more attractive to grown-ups than to younger audiences, and since news of political nature are so common in today's society, adults pay attention to them. Another audience are adults with Internet access. Since this article comes from BBC News website, people who can enter internet are most likely to read it than people who get the news through Television or Radio. These audiences are not explicitly identified in the writing, but it is assumed these are a potential public. Knowing then the When, the Where, and the Who, the Why can be found. Burridge's purpose is to inform his Audience about the situation in Catalonia and its Independence Referendum. He wants people to know what is happening thousands of miles across the Ocean, learn what the prominent men and women in charge of Spain and Catalonia think and say, and what repercussions does the average Catalan citizen undergoes in relation to the recent events in the region. He gets his intention across by using quotes, presenting statistics, and keeping sentences short and concise so that the reader will not be bored with the extensive information. With breaking down the Purpose comes breaking down the main ideas. The recurrent idea, or Subject, is that Spain is going through an unprecedented political and identity crisis. All the facts show this: Spanish courts calling the Catalan voting process illegal, the Catalans going deliberately against the orderings of the Courts, the controversy behind the referendum, the Government's intention of suspending the powers of the Generalitat, Catalonia's governing body, the thousands of voters attending to the voting locations, and the hundreds of injured peaceful people at the hands of the Spanish security bodies. These ideas are presented gradually and revealed consistently in order to avoid overwhelming the reader. All the elements mentioned and explained above rely on one key element so that the entirety of the article is transmitted efficiently: The Tone. Burridge assumes a neutral, objective, sincere Tone when relating the facts of the Referendum Day in Catalonia, and transmits no apparent inclination for one side or the other, which increases his own credibility. He includes testimoies from both Spanish and Catalan politicians (i.e. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Catalan President Carles Puigdemont) in order to represent both sides of the argument fairly, much in the manner of a neutral moderator. He also uses simple, common words so that his message is delivered easily and accurately. His sentence structure is also simple, and it keeps the article interesting; using words and sentences in this manner leads to a earnes Not much emotion is present, and Burridge is rather straight-forward in his accounting of the events. Through this, the author gets his point across effectively. |
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