Summer Reading

What you read

Over the summer of 2019, I read many articles from The Economist. I read a number of different articles that delved into the economic statuses and political situations of various countries in the world. Despite reading different issues, I was always particularly interested in their sections on Asia and China given the current conflict in Hong Kong and the prominent trade war between the United States and China.

Personal response

From what I have read in these articles, I have found that both economic and political stability seems to be wavering around the region of Asia. Despite the ongoing trade war being between China and the United States, actions from both countries have certainly had an impact on other countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Similarly, the situation in Hong Kong has escalated greatly and is now having an impact on the lives of the few non-protestors living in Hong Kong. Personally, I think that reading articles on topics such as these ones over the summer has helped me maintain an understanding of current global events, enhancing my ability to formulate an opinion on such matters. Furthermore, reading articles from The Economist has also helped me exercise my skills in critical thinking over the summer and allowed me to apply the new textual analysis skills learned in English last year.

Literary/Non-literary features

Most, if not all, pieces of writing in The Economist are news articles and contain features that distinguish news articles from other types of writing. Images play a big role in the creation of an article in The Economist, as there is often a relevant image or comic/cartoon that is coupled along with the lengthy article to keep the reader entertained. These images often serve as tools to help the reader develop an idea of what a place or situation looks like when such a visualization is needed. There are always titles for new articles that give the reader a brief idea of what to expect from an article before jumping in, these titles often feature words or phrases that are designed to capture their attention and increase their chances of choosing to read the article. A short introduction is also often present to give the reader background information about the topic to be discussed later on. Structurally, these news articles are broken into two or three different columns on a single page, making it easier on the eyes when reading a long article and contributing to the look of a newspaper/magazine. Many of the articles present in The Economist revolve around providing factual information about global events without having a heavy bias towards liberal or conservative values. For the most part, persuasive techniques are absent within these articles and rather they focus solely on explaining to the reader the economic and political implications that current issues have on the world.

Concept

The Economist is a newspaper magazine that is made of up news articles, focused on delivering information about current global events. Over the summer I have spent the majority of my reading time on articles in this publication. This has been useful to me as it has ensured that I have applied various skills in English over the summer despite not going to school. Other benefits have come about from this reading such as being informed about a few issues the world faces today and being able to formulate opinions surrounding such issues. By reading these articles I have also gained a better understanding of the literary/non-literary features present in news articles and how an author might employ different techniques to easily deliver information to a reader.

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