Exercise 42: HT Bank by Jonathon Tigfield (p. 58)
Write 2 short paragraphs based on your answers for “HT Bank”.
In the first paragraph refer to the author’s view and tone (indignant, frustrated, exasperated). Refer to his attack on the bank chiefs. Include a reference to the following:
- View: The author, Jonathon Tigfield, criticises the salary package received by the head of the HT Bank.
- Tone: In a scathing (or indignant) tone, he expresses his disgust and feels “sick to the stomach” by the size of the package.
- Technique (Attack): Mr Tigfield discredits the bank and its executives by exposing their hypocrisy that has led to the sacking of “hundreds, possibly thousands” of staff. (Purpose?) He refers to the survey (details and purpose).
- Words: The author uses idiomatic expressions such as “big wigs” and “fat cats”. (p. 23.) What is their tone and purpose? The colloquial phrase “a million bucks” and the mock dialogue and statistics set up the bank chiefs for ridicule. (p. 15.) (What is their purpose?)
- Techniques (Attack): The colloquial phrase “a million bucks” and the mock dialogue and statistics set up the bank chiefs for ridicule. The language also seeks to build hostility between members of the public and the bank chiefs. (The use of the survey and statistics also seeks to astound members of the public and further shames and isolates the executive directors.)
- Technique: Mr Tigfield refers to the survey released by a respectable organisation such as the Australian Council of Super Investors to enhance his credibility. The survey shows that the salary of executives has more than doubled during the past six years and with bonuses this amounts to an unfair level of pay.
- Purpose: The reference to the survey encourages ordinary members of the public to feel angry and frustrated. It is designed to shame and isolate the chief executives.
Second paragraph: The author highlights the need for greater protection of workers.
- Technique: In contrast, Mr Tigfield uses emotive language to refer to the employees. (example and purpose) The author also uses inclusive language and a cliché to refer to the workers who have to “tighten their belts”. Impact: The inclusive language suggests that the plight of the workers is typical as they are the true victims of economic hardship.
- Technique: Repetitive phrases (“forget about their performance”) enable the author to conclude forcefully and leave a strong impression in our minds that this is unacceptable behaviour.
- Challenge to the public: Technique: Mr Tigfield uses a rhetorical question to ask whether “anyone cares” and implies that (purpose) … The reference to the survey encourages ordinary members of the public to feel angry and frustrated. It is designed to shame and isolate the chief executives.
- Technique: Repetitive phrases (“forget about their performance”) enable the author to conclude forcefully and leave a strong impression in our minds that this is unacceptable behaviour.
Give a short comparison with the cartoon and its purpose: The cartoon takes a straightforward, literal view of the “fat cats”. It portrays two men who are presumably in an executive position. How does it ridicule the chief executives? Technique: The cartoon takes a straightforward, literal view of the “fat cats”. It portrays two men who are presumably in an executive position. Their enlarged stomachs draw attention to people who are accustomed to an indulged lifestyle, probably at the expense of their employees. The cartoon ridicules the chief executives and suggests that are too selfish to “tighten their belts”.
- See: Red Workbook: Taking it further: writing analytical paragraphs: Exercise 42
- Return to Lesson 6: Revision tasks (Red Workbook: Techniques of Persuasion)
A sample paragraph
As a concerned member of the public, Mr Jonathon Tigfield is outraged at the enormous salaries of many chief executives. In an outraged tone, he refers to the HT Bank in particular to outline the shameful actions taken by the chiefs who protect their salaries at the expense of the employees. Mr Tigfield cites his own emotions (“I feel sick to the stomach”) to show his degree of concern and to encourage all fair-minded citizens in the community to register their disapproval. He relies on the figures from the Council of Super investors to show that the salaries of the chiefs are increasing each year. He also cites the real-life comparative examples of the Australia Post chiefs to show that the Australian chief is paid too much money. Accordingly, he adopts the high moral ground (an upstanding tone), to shame the chiefs who are “heartless”; the writer implies that they are greedy, careless and irresponsible. Mr Tigfield implies that they do not care about their staff members, which is bound to anger many members of the community. Mr Tigfield uses emotive language to refer to the victims of the bank; they are depicted as “battlers” who are struggling to survive. Such language seeks to elicit sympathy for the victims who are experiencing a great deal of “hardship”.
- Return to Summary Page; Turn to exercises
- Return to Summary Page: Red Workbook tasks
- Return to Red Workbook: Lesson 6: Revision tasks