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Exercise 20: HT Bank salary beggars belief (p. 52)
1. How does the author depict the HT chiefs?
Tone: disgusted; outraged; horrified.
2. Question: Rhetorical question: incredulous tone to refer to the size of the package.
3. How are bank officials depicted and why?
“goes on and on and on”: the repetition emphasises that nothing seems to be done about the difference in salary and the treatment between the chiefs and the employees. He seeks to anger us and challenge us to do something about it.
4. The “fat cats” refers to the bank chiefs who are rewarding themselves. They have double standards because the rest of the staff have to “tighten their belts”.
5. The survey proves that the salaries have been increasing at an alarming rate.
6. Comparison between other postal institutions to suggest that the salary for the Australian chief executive is too high.
Exercise 42: HT Bank by Jonathon Tigfield (p. 58):
List of persuasive techniques
- Personal reaction and emotive language: “I feel sick to the stomach” to encourage readers to vent their anger and frustration
- Rhetorical questions: “Can you believe $13 million ….” : incredulous tone: drawing attention to the exorbitant rise in their salaries: “But how can they possibly justify such an enormous package?”
- Attack on the chiefs: they are “heartless”; idiomatic expression and alliteration to draw attention to their indifference: provokes anger
- Statistics to show the size of the inequality between chiefs and employees
- Comparative example between Australia Post’s chief and that in other countries such as United Kingdom and America: to highlight the injustice and ridiculous amount of pay
- Inclusive language: “our leaders must show”… criticism of the Treasurer who reminds citizens that “everyone must do the heavy lifting”
- Appeals to justice and equality: highlights the unfair pay difference between chiefs and employees: the employees are doing the “heavy lifting”: suggests that just the slightest reduction in their pay will make an enormous difference to employees.
- Emotive language: “battling to send kids to school” which arouses sympathy for the difficult plight of the workers
- Appeal to duty of care and responsibility: our leaders have a duty to ensure that all works are treated fairly and decently
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.
- Characterisation of the bank executives
- 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. This is also a moral appeal because the author draws attention to a situation of injustice and deceit.
- Technique (Attack): The author uses idiomatic expressions such as “big wigs” and “fat cats”. The tone is cynical and criticises the attitude of the chiefs. In particular, the phrase “fat cats” carries negative connotations and characterises the bank chiefs as self-interested and greedy. It reinforces their shameful behaviour and anticipates that members of the public will share this author’s exasperation.
- 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.)
Reference to the employees
- Technique: In contrast, Mr Tigfield uses emotive language and seeks to arouse sympathy for the victims such as the employees, who are “battling” to survive and “send kids to school”. 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. The author certainly expects us to feel sorry for their plight. This description also sets up a comparison to the “fat chiefs” and their luxurious lifestyle.
Challenge to the public
- Technique: Mr Tigfield uses a rhetorical question to ask whether “anyone cares” and implies that people do not if they fail to pressure the government or banks for change.
- Purpose: This question places the focus on the public whose indifference contributes indirectly to the shameful behavior of bank chiefs, which seems to “go on and on”. Accordingly, Mr Tigfield seems intent on challenging us to vent our frustration and display our dissatisfaction.
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.
- 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.
- 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”.
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