2017-06-09

The recent highway diversion that has isolated the town of Lawton has caused concern about the town’s economic future and has triggered debates on how to address this problem. In the editorial published in ‘‘The Lawton Times’’ by Mayor Alexandra Wiley on the 25th of October 2015, she enthusiastically declares that a giant attraction would help boost the town’s flagging economy. Her opinions are questioned however by Ian Warwick who logically argues in his opinion piece that there are better ways to help the town’s economy to prosper.

Alexandra Wiley opens her piece by stating that the recent construction of the highway has advantages as well as disadvantages. She employs the use of inclusive language such as ‘‘our’’ and ‘‘we’’ in order to establish rapport with her readers. Through this, she attempts to convince the readers that the town’s economy should be a cause of concern for all citizens of Lawton. The readers might be drawn into the issue and this may spark their concern and make them feel that they should assist in helping the town overcome its troubles. Besides that, Wiley also uses emotive language, calling the town a ‘‘ghost town’’. This is done in order to sway the readers into thinking that a lack of tourist will isolate the town and make them forgotten. Readers are then drawn further into the debate and may come up with their own solutions to the issue. Wiley appeals to her readers’ hip-pocket nerve by stating that they ‘‘need [the tourists’] money.’’ This can strike a chord with the readers and highlights the important of being financially stable in today’s society. Readers might then be concerned about their future financial situations and be moved to support the writer. In her opening paragraph, Wiley attempts to persuade readers that she cares about the future economy of Lawton. Wiley’s solution to Lawton’s economic crisis is to build a ‘‘giant attraction’’ that rises ‘‘to a height of 20 metres and visible to all who travel in town.’’ She paints an idyllic picture for the audience, asking them to ‘‘imagine a spectacular piece of modern architecture.’’ Through the use of figurative language, Wiley seeks to convince the readers that a landmark attraction in the town is beautiful and grand. This might move readers into agreeing with Wiley that an attraction should be built to help the economy. Not only that, Wiley backs up her contention with the use of statistics. She informs readers that ‘‘towns with great attractions receive 20% more visitors.’’ Through the use of statistics, the writer lends credibility to her argument. Readers might be coaxed into agreeing with the writer because of the fact provided to them. The use of this technique makes the writer’s viewpoint hard to discard and lends weight to her arguments. Furthermore, Wiley employs the use of a visual technique to further assist her in attempting to persuade readers. The picture which contains a great watermelon and plenty of tourists arriving in ‘‘Lawton: Home of the Giant Watermelon’’ provides readers with a representation of how their town’s economy can be saved. Readers may then consider the amount of tourist that would arrive to view an attraction and the money that would go into the economy. They might then be attracted to the idea of an attraction and agree with the writer. Wiley’s use of persuasive techniques attempts to push the audience into seeing the establishment of a giant attraction in a positive light and agree with her solution to save the town’s economy

In contrast to Alexandra Wiley, Ian Warwick is of the opinion that there are better ways to boost Lawton’s economy. He belittles Wiley’s suggestion by calling it an ‘‘unoriginal idea’’ and states that a great attraction is ‘‘an ugly monstrosity’’. This attack on Wiley serves to undermine her attempts to shine a positive light on the building of a giant attraction in Lawton. By demeaning Wiley’s suggestions by pointing out facts, Warwick attempts to manipulate readers into agreeing with him. Readers may be urged to see that there are better ways of helping the town’s economy besides building a giant attraction. Warwick maintains his point of view by informing readers that such an attraction would be ‘‘expensive to build and expensive to maintain.’’ This appeals to the reader’s hip pocket nerve and seeks to inform them that a giant attraction would not help the town’s economy but make it worse. Readers might be forced into thinking about the consequences of building a giant attraction and be swayed into agreeing with Warwick. Moreover, Warwick questions his readers by asking why ‘‘can’t [they] be different?’’ This question carries a negative connotation with it. Readers may feel as if a giant attraction is unoriginal and may seek to stand out from the crowd by doing something original. By pointing out the lack of originality in Wiley’s idea, Warwick draws in his readers’ need to be unique and further persuade them into agreeing with him. Warwick’s arguments and rebuttals against Wiley’s suggestions gives readers another perspective on the issue and may assist them in deciding the best course of action to save their town from an economic crisis.