Paper 1 – practise 18/03/2022

The source given is an article extracted from Time Magazine 2020. It regards a persisting
issue faced in the U.S., which is how accessible and used guns are, to the common public.
Presumably the main audience would be Americans as this article directly abords them.
The author, Shannon Watts, is aiming to inform and express her major concern regarding
the issue, as well as transcend it onto her audience aiming to build a critical mass that
would challenge politicians to actually engage with it and set it has a top priority to be
addressed. In order to do so, the author combines distinct linguistic techniques to appeal
to the audiences’ emotions and compassion to assure its support, and once gained she
utilizes assertive language to establish her argument, creating a successful informative
and persuasive article.

Regarding the structure and layout of the extract, the reader will be immediately faced with
the title in a large and bold font, aiming to draw in the audiences’ attention. Combined with
a blunt tone that foreshadows the honesty and directness nature that will be seen
throughout the article. In the centre background a picture is seen, in this both the Chilean
and American flying at half which sets a grieving and devasted mood. In addition, aiming
to prove that this is an issue that affects a large number of Americans, in the picture a
decent number of people are gathered praying for the victims of a mass shooting in Texas
“that took a total of seven lives and wounded 22 more”. The last structural characteristic
that is consistent throughout the writing is that the facts and arguments that the author
finds more relevant are written in blue rather than in black as well as these are underlined,
making them stand out from the rest of the text, giving them a spotlight that suggests the
major importance of what is being discussed.

From another stance, one of the key characteristics of this article that boosts its success is
how much the author depicts an emotional engagement from its audience. In expressions
such as “began as a normal day”, Watts is implying the idea of how unexpected and
common shootings have become. It also suggests that there are only numerous days,
places, and people to which the mentioned may happen. Hence, the mentioned increased
emotional engagement from the audience, as a fearful mood is established, from the
building up of the uncertainty and unpredictably of a shooting. The second way in which
the author appeals to the readers emotions is by not only instilling the fear that the
described could happen to the individual but also to their loved ones. The author provides
context and gives details about the victims, so that they go from being just a number to a
person that a reader could know and love. People with families, friends, jobs. This way the
audience can picture someone in their lives and, once more, connect with the content of
the article on an emotional level. Ultimately, this aids the intended purpose by the author,
as people will be more willing to stand for the cause if they feel as they are protecting
themselves and their loved ones.

Finally, when it comes to linguistic devices, the author opts for a very simple and
straightforward manner combined with an assertive tone. This way the author is building
the idea of certainty and that she/he is well educated on the matter. It provides reliability to
the content and to the accusations that are made to Texas’ governors. Another element
that elevates the reliability of the content is that the name of the author is not hidden, and
still he/she chooses to directly making accusation, showing the courage that