Analysis of Text - due May 9/10.
Analyzing an informational text about a country
Md Fadzil Md Saad: Sudan
“Shattered Sudan”
click here to read article.
The article that I analyzed, “Shattered Sudan” is a magazine article published by the National Geographic Society Magazine written by Paul Salopek, a traveling journalist. I believe that he is writing as an outsider’s opinion about the civil war in Sudan. This is because he is writing about the life of the Sudanese Rebels, and also stated why he is there.The target audience of the article is the general global public, anyone that is interested about the civil war in Sudan. The article generally shows the rebel side of the civil war. Salopek actually traveled with the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA). He interviewed the rebel commander, soldiers, and supporters of the rebel faction. To see what the rebels demand.
Salopek writes in an objective position. He writes about the interviews he does with the rebels, and also reports some facts and statistics on the civil war. He does not convey much emotion in his writings. He only shares what he obtained from the interviews with the rebels. He is not siding on either the rebels or the government and does not state that which side is better. He just reports as himself.
The date the article is written is not stated on the article. From my reading of the article, I would say that the article was written in April 2002 as the author writes “It is April 2002”. The content is slightly out of date. The civil war ended in 2005. But the fact that he is writing about the life of the rebels during the war does not apply to the rule that the content is out dated. Even if the date is old, much of the facts are still valid.
Analyzing an informational text about a country
Stephanie Choi: Sudan
“For Sudan villagers, fear snuffs out joy”
click here to view article
The informational text I will be analyzing, “For Sudan’s villagers, fear snuffs out joy,” of International Herald Tribune. A journalist for International Herald Tribune named Marc Lacy wrote this article. He is not a person who is living in Sudan because he has used sources living from inside the country and has inspected different perspectives of people who are Sudanese.
I believe the people who read this article are people who are interested in the Darfur genocide and in the condition of Sudan. Other people may be interested in the state of the genocide itself. This article was written because the journalist, Marc Lacy, wants to express concern about the Sudanese people. He showed the opinions of the Sudanese people about the Janjaweed and also wrote of how the Sudanese people were unable to celebrate such a joyous holiday due to the Janjaweed invading their village. The perspective of the journalist is objective but slightly persuasive because throughout the article, Marc Lacy has only quoted the opinions of the ones who have been victimized but disagreement and dislike towards the Janjaweed cannot be hinted from the article.
This article was written on April 23rd, 2005, three years after the genocide began. The date of this article is relevant to the article because it shows that even the beginning of the genocide has strong affects and the genocide has a great impact of many people even in the first few years. The date is also important to the article because this event represents the similarity of opinions between the people from this article and the other victims in the articles this year, hinting no improvement in the genocide from years before till currently.
Analyzing an informational text about a country
Krystal Kang: Sudan
“The Front Lines of Genocide”
click here to view article
The Front Lines of Genocide is featured as a news article on TIME Magazine. It is written by reporter and journalist, Simon Robinson. Majority of the articles published by Simon Robinson relates to countries such as Iran, India, Bhutan, China, Sudan revolving around crisis and turmoil in the certain country. In addition, “With reporting by Massimo Calabresi/Washington, Sam Dealey/al-Fashir and Stephan Faris/Bahai” was stated at the end of the article. From this, it is evident that he appears to be living outside the country of Sudan. This poses to be very significant due to many reasons. The article provides second hand accounts of quotes or perspectives of the UN Security Council, the government in Khartoum, the Darfur survivors, prominent figures like Collin Powell and Susan Rice, aid workers, human-rights researchers, and the WHO. The author paraphrases their perspective and adds his as well but he only gives facts concerning the situation. He did not truly experience the feelings aroused by the crisis but rather is only aware of it and cannot measure it fully and in depth. Needless to say, the audience of this article would be educated and perhaps older. They would be interested in human rights, world affairs, and aid. The purpose of the text is to inform and analyze the prolonged conflict in Darfur. It meddles and reports issues with politics, world organizations, heartbreaking stories, and what is happening for the past few years. The article is objective because it is not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations or prejudice. It is on the contrary, based on facts and is unbiased. Therefore, strong emotions are not aroused for the most part of this article. There are many quotes used, such as: “The United Nations says the pogrom has created the worst humanitarian disaster in the world today. The World Health Organization this summer found that the death rate in Darfur was three times the emergency threshold, with hundreds dying of disease every day and tens of thousands likely to die by the end of the year.” and “This is a war that the rebels want to fight inside villages,” says El Tijani Fedail, Sudan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.”In very rare situations we may bomb and kill civilians. If the Americans do it, they call it collateral damage, don’t they?”This article was written and published on September 26, 2004. It has been more than three years since its publication and it too poses as a significant factor for the article. Of course, it is said today that the Darfur conflict hasn’t changed and still reins in the country. However, this article focuses on the views of people of the crisis. Their views could have changed in the course of three years as well as the author. In 3 years, there has to be something that had either negative or positive effects on the nation because of the Darfur genocide.
Analyzing an informational text about a country
Sameer Gurnamal: Sudan
“Teacher Charged over Teddy Row”
click here to view article
The article I have selected is a news article from the BBC. The article is written by a staff journalist for the BBC.The author of this article is outside the country. This is significant because the author only receives his information from other news sources who give a different perspective from someone who is within the country. This article intended for people who have interest what goes on in the world today. Maybe someone elderly around 30 years old and well educated. The purpose of this Article is to inform people about the issue Sudan. The Author highlights this point ‘Shameful ordeal’ this is evidence that the author does have a bias perspective. The Author does also leave other hints that he has some emotions on the content of the article. For example the author highlights this quote “But I think the lady, she hasn’t got any intention to insult the Islamic religion, therefore I am sure, very sure that if she went to the court she might be acquitted”. He also finishes the article with this quote “We are shocked and dismayed as I think many people are.” By adding these quotes it shows his bias as he is trying to influence the reader against the Sudanese government. The date the article was written Wednesday, 28 November 2007.
