Analyse item 1 a newspaper article from ‘ The Guardian’ and item 2 part of a leaflet issued by ‘‘ The Salvation Army’’. Both items are about homelessness.
... sleepers in London dropped to around “270” which means it was successful. The problem of homelessness was reported in the newspaper article in the Guardian. Now I will analyse an extract of a leaflet from ‘ The Salvation Army’ which helps to tackle the problem of homelessness. ‘The Salvation Army’ is an agency, which works on people’s contributions to continue the agency’s work on helping homeless people. ‘The Salvation Army’ is “a provider of accommodation” for those who are single and homeless all year round. This group has “developed” a “ successful programme” for helping people to find “permanent homes.” This means that ‘the Salvation Army’ is not only working on short-term projects but also on long term projects to ensure safety for the future and help build their lives. An example of a successful help project is Jim. It is stated that Jim was a success because of many people’s “generosity” which enabled a “brighter future for Jim.” Home for Jim was not good. He lived on a hill amongst “brambles”, because of the reason that his life living on the streets was disappointing, and also the reason about the time he got is hopes high of getting a job that was refused, because of “the interviewer took one look at his crumpled clothes” his hopes of living a good life with a fresh start was shattered and he was left where he started from. But then ‘ the Salvation Army’ stepped in. Once the Army hears a person in need like Jim, they send someone to investigate the matter. After that incident an officer visited him. With a helping hand and a shoulder to cry on Jim was taken to a hostel where he “enjoyed a hot bath, a shave” and most of all “friendship.” From then, Jim had been living in the local ‘Salvation Army’ hostel. Building up his confidence with the dedicated help of the officers he has open up his hope and is determined to find a job and build up his life once again. As this story was successful in Jim’s case it may mean many other cases which are there must be successful too. With this story as an example ‘the Salvation Army’ is a charity which is there to “lend a sympathetic ear and a comforting arm” and most importantly it is there to offer “true friendship” to those who are lonely and scared. ‘The Salvation Army’ is not there just to provide a temporary home but also to offer a long-term programme which enables a better future for the unfortunate homeless people. As ‘The Salvation Army’ is a charity which helps to build long term projects for the homeless, they have to find a way to make people pay attention and one strategy used is the use of emotional language. There are many examples in which emotional language is used but the main ones are: “Once in the streets, homeless people become prey to all sorts of illnesses, all potential killers. In fact over 600 people a year on the streets die on the streets.” In this sentence the word “prey” is used. The literal meaning of “prey” is a victim. This tells the reader that homeless people are victims of cold weather and the use of this word is emotional and used to make a point; it is also supported by a fact “600” making this statement true. Another sentence where the use of language is strong is “ With your generosity we can give vulnerable people not only a happier Christmas but a brighter future too”. The word “generosity” is used to give an opinion of being helpful or kind. This suggests that with the help of the people outside giving donations it can give “vulnerable” people a happier Christmas and give a lifelong help of a good future. Another sentence which captures the reader’s eye is “We are the ones to lend a sympathetic ear, the ones with the comforting arm, the ones offering true friendship and support during difficult times”. The words “comforting, sympathetic” are both very emotional. They are used here in order for the reader to be aware of the good nature of ‘The Salvation Army’, how at difficult times they can offer “friendship” and show support to those who are in “difficult times”. The Salvation Army is there to help people who can’t help themselves and those who do not show help to others. The use of emotive words gives an impression of a sad tone to the story about Jim and to the life of homeless people. The two items about homelessness are very unlike as item 1 is an article from a broadsheet newspaper ‘The Guardian’ whereas item 2 is a information leaflet from ‘ The Salvation Army’. The newspaper article follows a parliamentary debate which is going to take place on the issue of homelessness. The article begins with a subheading getting to the key point about “ the size of the problem”. It begins with the historical past of homelessness. A lot of statistical information is given; it also states what kind of people is most likely to be found homeless “single people, childless couples”. It also shows previous parliament records “ over 8,000 people” which tells you that this debate has taken place once before. There are many facts given to show evidence of the controversial issue of homelessness. The newspaper article finally shows what the government has done to overcome homelessness; an example of this is doss houses which were “closed down”. The leaflet from ‘ the Salvation Army’ begins with an opinion, of how sleeping rough you can dread bad weather. It states a fact about living outside in the cold weather can feel like. Compared to the newspaper article which is not biased about who is to blame for being homeless, the leaflet states a biased opinion on how homeless people are “blameless” for their situation. It also states what kind of people is likely to be homeless, which is different from the newspaper article. It gives a reason for publishing the leaflet but does not give a lot of statistical information. There is a blend of facts and opinions like “over 600 people a year die on the streets” which is a fact. It also gives a reason for why they are successful by giving the story about Jim, which was a success. It does not show background information on the issue of homelessness. It ends with a paragraph on requesting help from the readers by donating money. The newspaper article gets to the point on what the article is about with a large heading in bold and capitals “ HOMELESSNESS” which later is followed by sub- headings. It is set out in vertical columns which are not f...