“A Dollar a Day”- Language Analysis

Recently, in the Daily Telegraph Angus McDonald wrote an opinion piece about how Indian children are being exploited for cheap labour and how the government is not dealing with the problem as Angus believes they are accountable for the responsibility. This issue has recently blown up in the media, due to the recent information about the average day of a child labour living in India. Angus McDonald uses emotive language, logical evidence, case studies , appeals to a sense of justice and a photograph, along with an alarmist tone to convey the message that the government need to step up and stop child labour.

Angus McDonald uses emotive language to make the reader empathise with the
This turns the reader’s anger towards the Justice Department and therefore siding with Angus McDonald’s contention. The writer’s use of sense of justice helps him manipulate the reader into believing the government should be doing more to stop Indian child labour.

Presented to us first in this issue is the picture of a child we are led to believe is Manu. This picture gives a face to our case study. This gives impact to the reader as now we have a much more emotional connection to Manu. This image is linked to the first couple of paragraphs where Manu’s life is described. Once again this makes the issue seem more real and makes the article more impacting. The actual picture is well done as it gives a good contrast between the blue garment and the dirty workshop and the poor child. It shows the actual society contrast between Manu and the people who buy his clothes. The image is also sloped downwards as though we are looking down upon Manu, meaning pity or guilt. The image used in this piece is a strong device to link the issue to a visual and give it depth into the life of Manu.

Throughout Angus McDonald’s piece he explains that Indian children are being exploited as child labour and the government is not doing enough to stop the issue. Angus McDonald uses emotive language, case studies, logical evidence, appeal to a sense of justice and an image to reinforce his