A fact is something that has been shown to be true or to exist; it is a quality that heavily depends on the reality, veracity, actuality, and certainty of the topic under consideration.
An opinion, in contrast to a truth, is a viewpoint that cannot be proven.
An assertion that asserts a statement to be true is called a claim. However, no proof is offered to back up the claim.
An argument is a line of reasoning presented to back up a statement of truth, opinion, or claim. Hatred of bankers is one of the world’s oldest and most dangerous prejudices
A reason
For centuries the hatred of moneylending—of money begetting more money—went hand in hand with a hatred of rootlessness.
In medieval Europe Jews were persecuted not only because they were not Christians but also because killing them was a quick way to expunge debts
A conclusion
But demonising bankers will not solve these problems—and may well, if unchecked, bring a lot of ancient ugliness back to life.
Identify the following from the Second article
A claim
Social care demands immediate action
A reason
But old age also comes with a hefty price tag.
More of us are living longer thanks to medical advances and improved health, this social care bill is getting steadily larger.
A conclusion
When it comes to social care, reasons can always be found to put off the difficult day of reform. But each year of delay puts the system under greater strain and adds to the uncertainty of the frail elderly. The time for reform is not four years down the line but today.
Identify and Discuss Evidence of Bias in the Articles
One of the primary biases in Article 1 is story selection and placement. The motive of the story is invalidating the financial policies that were proposed to minimize the far-reaching implications of the 2008 economic crisis. While the author identifies the need for proposals considering the adverse effects of the meltdown, the article invalidates fiscal policies as anti-capitalists moves. The article considers the financial steps as ancient ugliness that will culminate to institutional prejudice.
The second commentary has a labelling and spins bias, where the author is blaming politicians for the delay in adopting cost-sharing reforms in geriatric social care. The article notes that the elites are undermining attempts to improve social protection of the frail elderly, a conclusion that is based mainly on critical labels. For instance, the article uses Conservatives-Labour Party views of tax reforms as well as George Osborne re-election campaign to conclude that politicians will delay implementation of Dilnot's recommendations. However, the opinion is biased, as it overlooks the fact that any social policy is a lengthy and high-politics course of action that involves cost-benefit analysis.
Question 2: Three Discourse Markers from Each Article
Article 1:
But is the backlash in danger of going too far?
The conjunction is adapted to contrast the previous argument of bankers deserving a backlash for their role in the 2008 recession, and sets the tone of the paper that financial controls and regulations are an apocalyptic pursuance.
And could ugly prejudice produce prosperity-destroying policies?
The functioning word is used to add to author’s thematic exploration that hatred against banks will culminate in self-destructing economics
Or the great American universities without the flow of gold into their coffers?
The suffix implies that institutions of learning would suffer the same way as mentioned (New York's SoHo) if moneylender were chased away.
Article 2:
And since more of us are living longer thanks to medical advances and improved health,
And is a connector that asserts the importance of the previous sentence, with the focus on confirming that human beings are enjoying a better quality of quality of life and longer lifespan.
So what are the prospects for Dilnot's recommendations being enacted?
So is used in front of the question to put emphasizes on the self-defeating questioning
But each year of delay puts the system under greater strain and adds to the uncertainty of the frail elderly
But is used to highlight the change in focus, where the author is insisting the need of making infirmity among the elderly a priority in spite of budgetary challenges
Question 3: Three Linguistic Feature from each article
Article 1
Intensifiers: "Well" used to boost the meaning of adverb
Deixis: "that" used as a determiner and conjunction
Quotative expressions: direct reported speech employed to make the article interesting
Article 2
Clause combining: "and" is a connector while "so" is insisting
Discourse markers: Serves several roles including putting emphasis and change in focus
Deixis: "this" is used to refer to the subject without mentioning it continuously.
Question 4” Analysis of Language Style in Article 1
The language style employed in the article is journalese. The observation is based on the sensationalism in the piece of the writing, where the focus is provoking a public debate. The phenomenalism is evident in making the article argumentative, where the author invalidates one side of the discussion and supports the other using facts and opinions. The journalese language style is also confirmed by the triteness of thought, where the article lacks creative freshness because of incessant repetition.
Question 5: Summary
The sensational style article is a social commentary exploring courses of actions surrounding the financial recession of 2008. The author starts by highlighting perceptions in the public domain, where the piece of writing points that the banking sector has been under scrutiny. While the article supports the need for vilification because of adverse economic impacts, it notes that retrogressive controls would jeopardize the gains made in the credit facilities. The exploration gives a historical account of the implications of regulations in money lending business by comparing usury in Christian and Muslim establishments. While liberal policies promoted robustness of Florence and Amsterdam in the past, regions that constricted the practice such as the Middle East weakened. The author notes that modern progress in London and New York is enough evidence that progressive fiscal policies have a direct contribution to the economy. While the article concludes that there is a need for regulation in the banking sector, the author warns that such undertaking should be done in good faith as actions based on emotions can destroy the economy.
