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English Ib Group 1 Comparison Essay

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COMPARISON

The two given texts share the theme water and the perception thereof. Predominantly, the discussion ensuing the reading of the two quite polar articles concerns first and third world problems.

The first text is an article written for ‘the Observer Food Monthly’ in 2003 by William Leith and has the title ‘Give me an Eau’. The second is an information sheet adapted from UNICEF, written in the same year.

The article written by Mr Leith has many compelling factors, the first being its aimed audience. Being written for a foods magazine, it is directed at food lovers, chefs and gourmands. Furthermore, the way it is written (the irony, humour and puns) reflects an entertaining tint that suggests it is not meant to be taken …show more content…

Accompanying the author’s already pronounced sense of disagreement with his subject is the use of irony. Especially prominent are the puns- even in the title “Give me an Eau”, ‘eau’ being French for water and also the phrasing is a typical expression used at rallies to spell the names of teams etc. Other puns include the term ‘heavy drinker’ (line 7) when referring to water enthusiasts. Furthermore, the irony is apparent when one looks at the juxtapositions Leith uses to highlight his opinion in comparison to Holmes’ watery praises. For example in lines 18-19: “ ‘It’s quite soft, very rounded.’ [Holmes] I take a sip. […] It tastes of nothing. [Leith] ”. Especially the chosen quotes taken from the interview with Holmes seem to be specifically chosen in order to maximise Leith’s mockery.
Furthermore, the fact that this text has quotes from an interview and is even a recount of Leith’s personal experience with a water enthusiast makes his arguments all the more trustworthy. Also the relatively simple sentence structure fortifies this point. Additionally, he does not exclude himself from marketing’s influence (“This, I realize is good marketing. I love the waterfall” line 30) which brings him closer to the readers, as do the already mentioned the infrequent drops in register.

Yet his arguments are also directed at a certain audience: middle class, food enthusiastic, first world, most

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