1:2: Ian Birrell – ‘As gay people celebrate, the treatment of the disabled just gets worse’ Flashcards
(18 cards)
What is the audience?
Audience: Older audience, as it is a newspaper.
People interested in current affairs. Fan of Birrell.
Disabled people or people who are close with disabled people.
What is the purpose?
A criticism on how disabled people are treated.
Persuading people to his POV.
Educating/raise awareness.
What is the genre?
Newspaper article.
Meets conventions such as heading, tagline, statistics.
CONTEXT: What is the context of Ian Birrell?
- His daughter, Iona, had severe epilepsy and a rare genetic disorder, so this is an issue close to his heart. She was diagnosed with epilepsy at 2 months.
- Columnist and foreign correspondent.
- Former speech writer of David Cameron.
What is the voice?
- Begins with a celebratory voice, aided by his use of language and semantic field.
- He almost lists the successes of overcoming homophobia and racism.
- This creates a massive juxtaposition when his voice changes suddenly to severely serious and real.
- This use of voice emphasises the struggle of disabled people and the message Birrell is conveying.
“But with more spending cuts looming, are we content to leave one minority locked out of society as second-class citizens?”
- “looming” - has connotations of threat and danger. This emphasises the seriousness Brooker is trying to create.
- The use of the rhetorical question leads readers to ask themselves about the issue, making them far more active in reading and far more likely to heed the message.
- “we” - the use of the inclusive pronoun not only is an example of direct address but also includes the readers in the conversation. This makes it not only an article, but a piece of persuasion.
- “society as second class citizens” - this has a sibilant effect, drawing readers in as it emphasises the message, but also showing the main point of this article - society and citizens.
- “one” - the use of the numeral adjective brings emphasis to this one specific group.
- “locked out” - this has connotations of being held against one’s will, which reflects the situations. Also, it must be noted a lock can be unlocked, and perhaps this is a plea for that.
- frontal coordinate connection depending where you look in the text
SEMANTIC FIELD OF CELEBRATION:
“confetti”, “hangovers”, “honeymoons”, “marriages”, “contented”, “celebrated”
- This semantic field creates an atmosphere/voice of joy and celebrations. This builds a joyous note so that it can be challenged by the reality faced by disabled people, emphasising the issue and the unfair nature of it.
“The ceremonies mark a milestone in the bumpy march towards tolerance and equality.”
- “bumpy march” - connotations of campaigning and a movement. Reflects Birrell’s desire for a change. The adjective “bumpy” also reflects the situation with disabled people. However, “bumpy” (an adjective with connotations of lack of order and struggle) contrasts “march” (a verb with connotations of military and order), making this almost oxymoronic, which only serves to further emphasise the struggle.
- “towards tolerance and equality” - presents tolerance and equality as their own entities. This helps to emphasise the significance they have. In the end, this entire article is working towards those things.
“people who were once jailed, mocked and used as political football have taken their correct place at the heart of society”
- “political football”- “football” is typically associated with masculinity and filled with toxicity, which reflects the treatment of people. The metaphor also reflects how those who were prejudiced treated it as a game, rather than a serious offense towards minorities.
- “heart of society” - “heart” is symbolic of love and perhaps the love it took from people to accept those minorities. Also, the heart is the part of the body which sustains life and provides all the muscles with the necessary oxygen, so this may be symbolic of how without these minorities, the world would not be able to function.
- “jailed” - perhaps goes back to this metaphor of disabled people being “locked out” of society. This shows how disabled people could experience the same change in treatment as homoesexual people.
- “once” - use of temporal deixis makes this as the past, further emphasising how things can change.
- Triadic structure for emphasis
“We have seen a rapid shift in attitudes on gender and race, for all the hurdles that still exist for both women and ethnic minorities.”
- “hurdles” - bringing back this sports imagery. Once again, shows how those who can make a change don’t take the issues seriously enough, treating it as a game.
- “still” - this adverb/temporal deixis emphasises the long-awaited need for change.
- “both” - the indefinite pronoun emphasises how this is a widely faced issue.
“one minority remains stuck in the shadows of society”
- “shadows” - almost gothic in its description, which emphasises the unnatural nature of the treatment of disabled people. “Shadows” also has connotations of obscurity and being impaired almost (as in life is harder because you cannot see clearly), perhaps reflecting what disabled people face. “Shadows” may even imply that society wants to keep disabled people hidden, rather than helping them.
- “stuck” - naturally has connotations of lack of movement, reflecting the lack of movement in reform. Also goes back to the idea of being “locked”.
- sibilant effect
- “remains” - connotations of being abandoned and even waste, emphasising how society has abandoned disabled people.
“Not only are people with disabilities far less likely to be in work despite being the most loyal employees, but almost two-thirds of those who develop a disability have lost their job within two years.”
- “Two-thirds” - the use of statistics creates a reliable and credible voice, making it more coherent for readers as well as more persuasive.
- “Not only… but” - correlative conjunction, which is used to emphasise the focus of Birrell’s article.
- “most loyal employees” - use of superlative “most” emphasises “loyal”. Loyal is a word with strong connotations of unwavering commitment, a massive juxtaposition to how disabled people are treated.
“As a consequence comes a failure to understand their hopes, fears and desires.”
- “consequence” - immediate negative connotations.
- “a failure” - the use of the indefinite article “a” may suggest there are several failures, not only that of this article.
- “understand” - verb with connotations of kindness and “understanding”, which may juxtapose this idea of “failure”, emphasising it. Perhaps an allusion to what could be if people “understood”, as this is a persuasive piece, so Birrell wants to make the idea of “understanding” desirable.
- “hopes, fears and desires” - raw human emotions that everyone feels. This use of emotive language not only draws readers in but likens them to people with disabilities, creating an inclusive voice and also a sense of obligation for the audience to do something.
“One reason is the lack of social and workplace interaction, such a crucial motor in changing attitudes.”
- “motor” - literal meaning is a machine that converts energy into a force. Birrell wants to convert his words into action.
- “one reason” - use of numeral adjective “one” once again suggests this is one of many, emphasising the scale of the issue
“there is a befuddled British embarrassment at best, coldness at worst, toward people with disabilities”
- “British” - the use of this adjective establishes this as a “British” issue, as opposed to a general issue. As a once active member of British politics, Birrell clearly is dedicated to his country, so him going as far as criticising Britain clearly shows how significant this issue is for him.
- “befuddled British embarrassment” - use of plosive alliteration emphasises this, perhaps even giving it a harsh voice.
- “worst” vs “best” - a contrast, and yet both options are bad. Emphasises the scope of the issue.
“Then there is the lack of political power - one more legacy of the poverty and woeful support endured by many disabled people.”
- “Then” - suggests that this is another issue on top of others.
- “legacy” - connotations of a permanency and usually has positive connotations, such as that of family or doing something significant, emphasising the issue. This creates a juxtaposition with “of poverty and woeful…”, emphasising the unfortunate nature of reality.
- “woeful” - connotations of grief and even death.
- “endured” - suggests they had to fight against poor conditions. Connotations of patience. They have waited long enough.
- “one more” - this is all about emphasising the scale of the issue.
EXTENDED METAPHOR OF BEING LOCKED
“Leaves one minority locked out of society as second-class citizens”
“People who were once jailed…”
“One minority remains stuck in the shadows of society”
CONTEXT: the Independent
- UK based newspaper
- known for its independent journalism and diverse topics
- only online
- typically read by people over 35 (perhaps with more regressive attitudes)
