Language Analysis

Controversy arose recently in the wider community over the Victorian Governments proposal to ban junk food from school canteens. Within the media there has been varied opinions concerning the issue, with Herald Sun contributors Neil Mitchell and Bettina Arndt both offering the opinions against the ban in two well structured pieces of prose, but with two different styles. Mitchell uses a sarcastic yet assertive tone and Arndt uses a critical and frustrated tone. The Sunday Herald Suns editorial rationally outlines why the bans are need to deter the growing trend of childhood obesity in Australia.

“Lunch Time Losers” (Herald Sun, 27 April, 2006), Neil Mitchell’s opinion piece use an unappealing photo of contestants from the weight loss program “The Biggest Loser” to draw the readers attention, he then uses the rhetorical question “Did they start out by eating the wrong school lunches?” This suggest to the reader that it is foolish to think that adults end up obese all because of what they ate as a child.

The headline the accompanies the article use alliteration in the form of “Lunch” and “Losers” to imply that by banning these items from canteens, children will miss out on some of the fun of being a child.

Mitchell’s use of emotive language and exaggeration in the beginning of his piece to capture the reader’s attention is used superbly. Words and phrases like “food police”, “storm” and “force” give the reader a mental picture of SWAT teams busting through windows and taking coke cans and mars bars prisoners, whilst stocking canteens with carrot juice and “boiled zucchini”.

Mitchell’s use of sarcasm and humour through-out the article is used to show how much of a joke these bans are, by referring the “lunch box inspectors” who check to see that the students only bring in State approved “tasteless Left-wing vegetarian cardboard” and that grants will be given to who ever can build a junk food detector to capture any student who dares bring in “serious contraband, such as Coca-Cola or, heaven forbid, evil flavoured sugar drops or jellybeans.”

Mitchell’s use of Al Capone in his article helps to show that when ever you ban something of popularity, there will always be a “black market” for that particular item, eg Alcohol in prohibition. His frequent use of this helps him to reinforce the idea that measure such as banning junk food will never eradicate the problem. Mitchell appeals to the reader’s sense of tradition and patriotism by suggesting that soon “eating pies will be banned from the football”, he continues his use of appeals by tapping into the readers sense of freedom, “if you want to eat six pies before half time, that is your business.”

Mitchell finishes his article by stating that even though it is illegal for children to purchase cigarettes, the “juvenile consumption of tobacco thrives. Why?” This last statement by Mitchell leaves the reader scratching his or her head, until the arrive at an answer which will reinforce his argument further.

Bettina Arndt’s piece “March Of The Food Fascists”( Herald Sun, May 1st 2006) use alliteration in the title to grab the readers attention instead of pictures. The term “food fascists” is used by Arndt to discredit the Victorian Governments proposal to ban junk food in school canteens by calling them “fascists” The term fascists holds negative connotations as being old fashion and domineering. Arndt begins her article by giving the reader a personal anecdote of watching in horror as lines of children took one look at the healthy lunches offered and walked away. This little story is used to give her argument that banning junk food is ineffective and too extreme a sense of reality. Arndt goes on to say that “most parents have been content with the mix of foods on sale in the tuck shop.” This generalisation gives the impression that the other parents agree that there is nothing wrong with rewarding there children for their days at “academically demanding school”.

Arndt’s use of evidence from sources such as the “Georgetown Centre for Food and Nutrition”, “Harvard