Herald Sun writer Andrew Bolt’s opinionative article, ‘Don’t blame me, blame Julia Gillard (17/2/2010),’ consists of many language techniques which collaborate in order to persuade the audience. These specific language devices compel readers to share Bolt’s point of view that Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her government are to blame for the refugee boat disaster and deaths at Christmas Island. Throughout the opinionative piece, Bolt adopts a hostile and at times condescending tone to illustrate his anger and condemnation for the Labor Government’s actions, namely the relaxation of refugee laws.
Bolt launches a contemptuous attack on the Gillard Government through rhetorical questions and an effective use of pictorial support. In the early lines of Bolt’s article, readers are confronted with the straightforward and succinct, ‘But why? And if not now, when?’ which is strikingly followed by ‘before the next boat sinks, or after?’ These questions beg an obvious answer, as readers are able to follow the line of reason that at this instant, Gillard should hold blame for the tragic refugee boat incident. The horrific pictorial support above the opinionative piece features a large boat that has crashed up against a cliff and is amidst rough ocean waves. The photo evokes a sense of pity and empathy amongst readers, which lead to feelings of injustice for the fate of some of the supposed asylum seekers. After surveying the large elevated boat, readers are directed to the pull out quote, accompanying the left hand corner of the photo. It contends that, ‘It’s never been the right time to point out the Government was encouraging boat people to risk their lives at sea by rewarding those who made it here with the sugar of Labor’s softer treatment.’ The quote aptly summarises the situation to readers, as they are more than willingly to accept that the Labor Government are at fault for this incident. The photo has encapsulated the whole situation and has caused readers to disapprove upon Julia Gillard and her current refugee policies.
Bolt maintains his hostile and patronising tone through repetition of various phrases and occurrences of negatively connotated words. The anaphora of ‘It’s not too soon to blame…’ and ‘It is not too soon for the Sunday Morning Herald…’ is effective in emphasising and listing number of accusations directed at various people all except Julia Gillard. The reader is therefore impressed with the amount of other people or phenomenon that have been blamed and are likely to share the same sentiments with Bolt that Julia Gillard should take some part responsibility as well. Bolt favours the use of visually explicit words such as ‘Government’s harvest of bodies’ and ‘lured to their deaths’ to paint the Labor government in negative light. These adjectives and descriptions impose the reader to distance themselves from the government and to be astonished by the severe extent of their actions as well as their unwillingness to accept responsibility. Bolt’s lack of euphemisms suggests to readers that he does not want to embellish the truth but rather present the facts in a ‘black and white’ manner. The writer juxtaposes the government’s ‘pious Leftists claiming to be too delicate to discuss today what caused the deaths,’ along with himself, ‘[The Government] denounced my rudeness on ABC television and on ABC websites.’ Andrew Bolt is presented and seen to readers as a more trustworthy writer than the Government hence the audience are more likely to adopt his view that the Gillard government are unreliable and unscrupulous.
The use of evidence, statistics and quotes from notable professionals by Bolt increases the credibility and validity of his opinions. The sentence, ‘Many times since I’ve recorded those deaths, starting with 9 people who drowned…’ conveys to readers that the writer has engaged in research and is quite eager about this issue. Readers are likely to see Bolt in the position of a knowledgeable pedestal and see credit and worth for his thoughts. The statistic that, ‘…the boats were back-soaring from three a year over the previous six years, to almost 200 this year alone,’ positions the audience to feel alarmed and to quickly associate this outcome with the Julia Gillard’s incompetency and complacency. Bolt cleverly singles out quotes from left wing journalists, federal ministers and authorities to attack the flaws in their argument and to exemplify that blame is place on almost everyone except the prime minister. He included Courier Mail’s Dennis Atkins’ quote, ‘We are all responsible for this event…’ in order to appeal to the readers’ sense of reason that every Australian citizen cannot be possibly to blame for the Christmas Island disaster.
Overall, readers are convinced that Bolt’s opinion is valid and acceptable after he has used many persuasive language techniques to cultivate or enhance their beliefs that Julia Gillard is responsible for the Christmas Island Refugee Boat Incident.
Reflection of Language Analysis
1) In VCE English, one of my weaknesses is language analysis despite many people saying it’s the easiest part of English
2) I am still confused about the structuring of a language analysis. I’ve heard of two different ways of structuring, one is that you group similar language techniques together and analyse the piece chronologically and the other is to figure out the micro arguments (each micro argument will be dedicated to one paragraph) and then discuss language techniques used for each micro argument. There probably isn’t a correct way to structuring as it highly depends on what you prefer and what article you get to analyse
3) I’m still confused as to whether you need a conclusion in a language analysis. And if you need a conclusion, I’m also confused as to how to write one
4) I probably could have elaborated more on the evidence and statistics
5) I probably could have addressed the overall ‘appeal to audience’ in more depth
6) I probably missed something really important in the article and have forgotten to discuss it properly
7) Some people think my sentences are too long. But I think they’re fine…hopefully.
Will be happy to listen to any critique and improvements suggested