Analysing Article of Choice

a) Indian mother is forced to transport her son’s corpse on a rickshaw after he died as ambulances run out in Covid crisis, oxygen price gougers cash in with 1600% mark-ups and patients commit suicide by jumping off balconies (26 April, 2021)

b) Summarise the main points of the article in your own words. (3-5 bullet points or sentences)

• Indian mother transports her son’s corpse on a rickshaw due to a lack of ambulances, a man allegedly jumped from the roof of a hospital and died right after testing positive for Covid-19, railway employee beheaded his wife after she tested positive for coronavirus, bus driver was reported to have thrashed a migrant worker for not wearing a mask
• There is a lack of necessary resources (eg. hospital beds, ambulances, oxygen)
• Crematoria cannot keep up with the increasing number of deaths as India reaches a new global record of infections – bodies are burned in open areas
• Britain, Germany and the United States have pledged to aid India
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi urges citizens to get vaccinated and be extremely cautious

c) Purpose: To describe/explore the rapidly rising cases of Covid-19 in India and the resultant lack of resources 

d) The article is centred around the lack of resources in India and how this is contributing to more deaths, pyre cremations, suicides and even violence. There is a use of anecdotes to evoke emotions from the reader and provide information on a personal scale to make the situation more individual as opposed to statistical 

i) “’Please send oxygen to us,’ the 43-year-old said in an impassioned video”

ii) “The situation got so dire, that after he died, his mother was forced to transport her son’s corpse on a rickshaw when no ambulance was available to them”

iii) “a man is alleged to have jumped from the roof of a hospital and died on Saturday after testing positive for Covid-19 on April 22”

iv) “a railway employee was reported to have beheaded his wife after she tested positive for coronavirus. The accused then reportedly jumped off the terrace of his apartment to his death after committing the murder.”

v) “a bus driver was reported to have thrashed a migrant worker for not wearing a mask.”

e) Serious and depressing

f) The article regards a significant but grave issue. 

The article provides anecdotal evidence and information to exhibit the despair present in India: “Dr. Gautam Singh, who works in one of New Delhi’s emergency wards, resorted to posting on social media to beg for more oxygen” – The word “beg” shows how they are desperate to obtain resources 

“Several cities in India have ordered curfews, while police have been deployed to enforce social distancing and mask-wearing.” – Shows the severity and seriousness of the situation – “ordered”, “enforce” – provide a sense of urgency and strictness

g) Identify 3 techniques which have been employed by the writer

1. Anecdotal Evidence – Jewers provides a lot of anecdotes throughout the articles in the form of text  and even images. He has several examples of different situations families and individuals have faced. He opens with the example of“An Indian mother has been pictured transporting her son’s corpse on a rickshaw after he died, as India’s spiralling coronavirus crisis leaves many regions without ambulances, hospital beds and oxygen.” This initial anecdote allows us to understand the seriosity of the situation while evoking sympathy. It makes the situation more personal and emotional.
2. Metaphor – The effect of this is to create a comparison in order to highlight the emotional weight and gravity of the situation. Jewers mentions that “India was sitting on a ticking time bomb, which went either unnoticed or ignored.” The metaphor of unknowingly sitting on a ticking time bomb creates an impression that even though the situation was extremely dangerous and could escalate at any moment, the country was oblivious and ignorant.
3. Connotative diction – There is a myriad of connotative and emotive language used throughout the article. Jewers mentions that patients are “suffocating” to death while others “resorted” to “hurling” themselves from roofs. It creates an impression that they have no option but to commit suicide. The connotation of “hurling” suggests that it is an aggressive action or that it has been done with great force. It further helps to create a horrifying image of the situation.

h)  3 Words + Definitions

“Visceral” – characterised by or proceeding from instinct rather than intellect

“Boisterous” – rough and noisy; noisily jolly or rowdy; clamorous; unrestrained

“Harrowing” – extremely disturbing or distressing; grievous

i) The issue is evidently unfortunate for the country. The rising number of cases has led to a myriad of issues including suicide, violence and open cremations. The article is informative in the sense that it provides a lot of information using statistical and anecdotal evidence. However, there are areas where emotive language is used. I think that I mostly agree with the article’s stance although there is bias due to the abundance of anecdotes and emotive diction.

The Guardain’s perspective on the same issue: India’s Covid crisis: Delhi crematoriums forced to build makeshift pyres (28 April, 2021)

Simply comparing the headlines we can see that the Guardian has a much more informative and unbiased title “India’s Covid crisis: Delhi crematoriums forced to build makeshift pyres” as they focus on the issue and how India is dealing with the excess of dead bodies. The Daily Mail decided to use an anecdote in the headlines about the mother and her dead son which is possibly due to sensationalism. The narrative of a broken family unable to have a proper burial sparks emotions and interests a larger number of viewers. The Guardian uses a variety of sources and perspectives such as Joe Biden, UN, WHO and locals of India that are currently in the midst of the issue. They quote Jitender Singh Shanty, a local that organises cremations, who said that “People are just dying, dying and dying,” and further explains how “If we get more bodies then we will cremate on the road. There is no more space here,”. However, the article avoids bias by selective sources by acknowledging the perspectives of other perspectives as it uses reliable statistics to support the points made. In comparison to The Guardian article, it can be noticed that there may be a slight bias in The Daily Mail. Though they also use a variety of sources, there is a much greater use of anecdotal evidence to try make readers visualise and understand the situation. The portrayal of the despairing situation by The Daily Mail uses only extreme examples whereas The Guardian uses a variety of sources and balances anecdotal and statistical evidence.