Exercise 42: HT Bank by Jonathon Tigfield (p. 58)
Exercise 42: HT Bank salary beggars belief (p. 58)
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 the staff depicted and why: Victims: the staff members who were sacked. The purpose of this emotional appeal is to encourage us to feel sympathy for the employees.
4. “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.
5. 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”.
6. The survey proves that the salaries have been increasing at an alarming rate.
7. “battling to send kids to school”: an emotional appeal that draws attention to the hardship experienced by the employees.
8. “big wigs” to the “fat cats”; these are idiomatic expressions. The tone is cynical and criticises the attitude of the chiefs. The phrase “a million bucks” is colloquial and the mock dialogue sets up the bank chiefs for ridicule.
9. “Forget about …”: the use of repetition is to draw attention to the bank chief’s lack of responsibility. They seem to be able to get away with shameful behaviour. No one holds them to account. This language is inflammatory and provocative and seeks to build divisions between the chiefs and the staff / members of the public. Most importantly, it seeks to enrage readers.
Technique “spotting” and talking about the techniques
(See Checklist for Technique Identification). Use this checklist as the basis for the following “taking it further” exercises.
- 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
- See: Red Workbook: Taking it further: writing analytical paragraphs: Exercise 42
- Return to Lesson 6: Revision tasks (Red Workbook: Techniques of Persuasion)
Writing it up:
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”.
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”.
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