The article, "Food Crisis in Sahel" stems from the website "Oxfam", which is an international association of 17 organizations joining forces in more than 90 countries. As commonly seen, the article commences introductively, briefly summarizing the article. The institution presents itself as an ambitious hardworking team that "works to find practical and innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive." They claim to "save lives and help re-build livelihoods when crisis strikes." This information will be relevant throughout this analysis, as upon reading the article one recognizes a distinct pattern of laying out the present obstacles and providing constant applicable solutions in relation to Oxfams qualification to do so.
The target audience of "Food Crisis In Sahel" pertains to the western population , as suggested by evidence within the article wherein the author avoids personal reference of the affected places in need. Additionally there are no personal pronouns such as "We" or "Us" in relation to the affected countries mentioned. The purpose of this article serves to persuade, rather than to educate which is the initial interpretation after a quick skim over the text. However after repeated inquiry, the utmost part of the article centralizes its attention around the Oxfam charity and propagandizes its audience into supporting the charity. The tactic of exposing a conflict and granting a solution is the key usage of this article to galvanize the audience ; to stimulate a response. The first part of the article is based on factual information (logos) of the conflict which is concerned with prior mistakes of not acting on the problem on time, as well as an immediate suggestive solution: "By investing now in earlier and more cost-effective actions, vulnerable populations can be protected from the worst impacts of the coming crisis at a much lower cost than if we waited." Not only does it soothe the reader into thinking that everything is organized effectively ; the audience would feel more willing to co-operate and contribute financially , now that low costs are being mentioned. How low the costs are and how much less effort this event really requires , however, wasnt specified upon. In pursuit, "What Oxfam is doing" adopts the focal point of the article by listing all the work that they're gearing up to complete in detail and how that would aid those people in need. Anew , the audience's attention is jerked back into how Oxfam has the answer to all the problems displayed, while cunningly weaving in large numbers and including the consequences of their absence.
Moving on to Content and Theme, the article commences with facts and events that discuss the underlying causes of the crisis in Sahel. How the region of west and central africa appears to be dealing with a persistant issue of starvation that would cost a lot of lives , mentioning how it affected ten million people in 2010. As revealed prior, it provides a solution that is , not surprisingly, directly connected to Oxfams charity event. The next slice of the article specializes itself on the current situation in Sahel, including a variety of factual information that keeps track of how the economy has drastically altered in a five year time frame, as well as who is directly affected by the food crisis. The rest of the article continually talks in the future tense of what activities they are planning to carry out , while in comparison only having started a minority of them, such as pumping water with 1,300 women or sanitation programs. This evokes skepticism , as for an institution with such high aspirations, they have little to show for it.
The Theme of this article closely resembles the one of pretentious exigency. Right at the beginning the reader is bombared with urgent , stress arousing sentences or words, such as "should not", "likely to face a serious food crisis", or "needs to also tackle". Later on the use of effective words that strike the reader with the urge to aid them is exemplified, such as "serious problems", "dangerously low", "immediately". The reason for chosing "pretentious" to add to the theme of exigency is that Oxfam appears to merely provide factual information , conflict and answers but lacks in having carried out any of the big plans that they so promptly and explicitly shared.
The tone of the article illustrates the image of hard labour. Its story is decorated with a picture of people from Africa , riding on extremely overloaded donkeys, which further supports the tone. The eye catching headline of the article is a line quoted from the text, and aims to summarize the entire point of the article and engage the reader, by using stress induced words to make them feel obligated to participate. "The humanitarian response must tackle the underlying causes of crises like this to prevent them recurring." Effective word choice has been utilized, such as "humanitarian" which stands for a persons concern with, or seeking human welfare. Automatically one feels the need to be included. The fact that one could prevent the food crisis from recurring, as quoted, motivates the reader to be a part of preventing the vulnerable from going through that again. Conclusively, the headline sets the tone for the article.
The way the article is structured, strongly suggests its confidence and assurance in carrying out each and everyone of the tasks aimed for. This defines the mood of the text, in which the readers will have the expected impression of determination. Some intriguing sentences were: "Oxfam started to work closely with some of the poorest families mainly around the Gorgol and Brakhna regions and will be reaching 70,000 people this year." ,
"vulnerable populations can be protected". The underlined words are what set the line for Oxfam being able and willing to fill out those tasks with confidence. This creates a sense of security , which is needed in order to convince their audience of their capability, which in turn benefits them as they now have a supportive audience.
A rarity in many articles, but very strongly implemented in this one, Ethos, Pathos and Logos are all used to their full extent.
Ethos is known to be the credibility that defines the eloquence of a character and is used to persuade with morals, their reputation and beliefs. This is exemplified in the article by using words such as "Vulnerable population", "Humanitarian aid", "break the hunger cycle", "protect people", "children die from malnutrition". They all evoke beliefs on what is right and wrong , and honesty with ones self from the audience, as well as trust in Oxfam. The reader will feel capable of altering the food crisis in some way, inspired by the urgency of the text.
Oxfam attempts to make the reader feel personally responsible for the Food crisis, and uses structured sentences according to that. As an outcome, the first thing an active reader would do , is to search for a path to help in some way and Oxfam constantly reminding the reader of their purpose, would seem like the perfect and most effective choice to make. Using sentences such as : "While an early response to the coming crisis is crucial to protect people in 2012"- primarily getting their idea across using ethos, - " Oxfam has warned that preventing future crises would require action to address the root causes", - hence calling for action, as in help from the audience, once again bettering their image. -"In Burkina Faso, Oxfam is aiming to help 100,000 people access food, with cash for work activities, animal health and food programs for pastoralists communities, and assistance to refugees from Mali" This sentence has a lot of ethos in it ,which attacks the readers sense of morale by referring to how Oxfam is contributiong to this issue, which in turn might inflame guilt or a sense of responsiblity to do similar in the audience.
Pathos is a way to appeal to emotions by bringing out happiness or disdain in the reader. The second part of the article, "The situation in Sahel" and the last part of the article, "What Oxfam is doing" both include Pathos. In the second article, pathos and Logos ( The logic, facts , evidence and statements of a text) are effectively combined. By mentioning factual statements on what caused the food crisis, and precisely how that affects its population , there is a higher chance of appealing to the readers feelings , simultaneously assuring them that there is no exageration of any sorts involved. "Low rainfalls and water levels , poor harvests and lack of pasture , high food prices and a drop in remittances from migrants are all causing serious problems." Here one can identify the facts and effects of the food crisis. There is also talk about the production of certain foods having lessened, but prices risen in order to gain as much profit as possible, with the lack of supply. There are numbers of people from different parts of Africa and their rate of vulnerability being illustrated by those high numbers is yet another strategy of pathos in the text. For Logos, there are actual set numbers, estimations and locations as well as dates being mentioned which rounds up the article and consoles critical viewers that might question the legitimacy or authority of this article . It gives off the image that activities are being as good as fulfilled, since they've got it all mapped out. However, upon closer inspection one must notice the fact that, not once has the article stated a direct path for the audience to help those people in need. They are simply stating what is required to do in order to prevent the food crisis, but nowhere do they ask fo direct help or contribution. Yet, it is insinuated throughout the article, which gives the reader a chance to make a personal decision of wether they would help out or not. This is done unconcsiously, however , and enables the audience to feel like it is their own trail of thought, with the planned solution from Oxfam merely being a suggestion rather than a manipulated choice.
Nothing in the structure of this article stands out particularly or seems to have been planned out rigorously , though there are a few slight indications of hindsight thoughts. The picture at the top of the page suggests the effectiveness of the title and what the article is about as well as illustrating the text and giving visual thinkers more clarity and a feeling of engagement. A woman, looking strained is portrayed , riding on an overloaded donkey in a deserted area. Her and the people behind and around her all appear to be traveling somewhere, suggestively to a more fruitful location. This picture is relevant as it gives the article the needed profile to underline what the article says. As mentioned earlier, the quoted headline of the article serves to catch the readers attention and address them. Titles are given for certain sections of the article, labeling what the coming text is about and immeditetly informing the reader.
"Food Crisis in Sahel"(2011) has been analyzed from Oxfams website. Conclusively, Oxfam skillfully camouflaged their article into one of utmost urgency , with scholastic material, when in reality it superintended and manipulated the audience in order to receive supportive feedback. As the entire website engages in wordly political and environmental conflicts, the audience already has the intention to be an active member of society, therefore not a lot of strategy is required to persuade. We have now established a final analysis of this article and Oxfams website and its use of advertising techniques, ethos, pathos, logos as well as the conflict- solution technique.
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