M4- Article Analysis

Firstly, due to the article being focused on school and how it can affect mental health, the article needs to be readable for an age group that is most affected by the stress that school gives. When checking readability on Microsoft Word, my article scored 9.3 on the Flesch-Kincaid Test. This means the article is easily read by people of the ages 14 and over. This means those who school generally affects the most (those doing GCSEs and A-Levels) are able to clearly understand what the article is talking about. This is important as if the article was too hard to read then readers may lose interest and give up on reading. The same thing goes for if the article was written at too low of a level, as people may feel patronised or as if the article is not for them. It was vital that the article was at about the readability level as it means the main audience who can really relate to the article in the present can fully understand it yet it doesn't become a tedious and boring task when reading it as it is still to a fairly good level.

My article is to be distributed in print form and online, possibly through social media. I believe it's suitable for both of these platforms due to how easy it is to read and because it's related to an extremely popular topic that can related to by most people. Online, the article could be posted to a website and then advertised on social media. For example, as I have spoken about school and more specifically Deyes High, the article could be advertised on their Twitter as the readers that come from there will be able to relate for the article on possibly a more personal level as they may go/have been to Deyes themselves.

As my article was written to be more informative than it was entertaining, I do not have an abundance  of language techniques used within it. In my stand first I have a rhetorical question that engages the reader, using direct address to have them relate to the question and the subject that the article is going to address. If it is successful and the reader can begin to relate because of this, it may mean they're more likely to stay and read the rest of the article. I also placed some rhetorical questions in the 3rd paragraph. These were put here to get the reader thinking about the bias (another technique I used), if they begin to do this then they may become intrigued and want to find out more, meaning they carry on reading the article. I felt that it was important to keep engaging the reader otherwise they may become bored and want to move onto a new article/bit of news. I felt that there was pressure to do this because of the way news is consumed in the technological, social media oriented time that we currently live in. News and information is consumed quicker than ever and without reader engagement I feel as if my article would be dismissed for another, quicker source of news.

I also used statistics and quotes. The statistics I used were all relevant to the article and were used in the first paragraph of my article. They were used to persuade the reader that it is a problem that needs talking about, therefore justifying the purpose and existence of the article. The statistics are about young people, primarily addressing the target audience of my article which is young people going through education. The quotes within my article are from an interview I carried out with my head of sixth form. I mention this in the article before I begin quoting him so the reader knows who is being quoted and why it is significant that they have been asked to contribute. Also, as the head of sixth form and being heavily involved in school and teaching, it meant I could gather quotes that fit the bias of the article.

One theory that I had in mind while writing my article was Bernsteins. He suggests that language can be either restricted or elaborated. In my article I have used restricted language so that it is easy for my intended audience to read and understand. I made sure not to use any words that would be out of a regular students comfort zone so that their reading of the article isn't disturbed by a potential Google search for the meaning of a word. However, I have not made the article a patronising read either because this could frustrate and turn readers away.

I have structured my article into eight paragraphs, all of a similar size. Each paragraph is between three and five lines long. This improves the readability of the article as smaller paragraphs offer the reader small bursts of information that feel much easier to read. Larger paragraphs may have felt too long and could become an effort to read which in turn could push them away from the article, meaning they move onto an easier to read, quicker to consume article. Within these paragraphs I have used a few different types of sentence. Some of my sentences are quite short, these are the less informative parts of the article and are there to engage the reader. For example, "Maybe you should think again". Long and medium size sentences have also been used throughout the article in order to house statistics and quotes. These are the more informative parts of the article which are longer so I can fit quotes in. Different tenses are also on show within the article, these are the present and the past. These are the most common tenses used in my article are the past and present, they're used to explain what Deyes have done and do in order to help their students. However, the word "should" is used in the future tense at the end of the article to suggest an idea. I also wrote article in first and third person. Referring to myself as "I' and my head of sixth form as "he".

As I have some statistics from one of my sources in my article, I have referenced the source using a Harvard style reference. This includes when and where its from, with a link to the website that I gathered the information from so that it can be checked by whoever is reading. The reference I have used is: BT. (2018). Worried your teenager is depressed? Here’s how parents can spot the signs – and what to do about it. Available: 1. https://home.bt.com/lifestyle/health/wellness/worried-your-teen-is-depressed-heres-how-parents-can-spot-the-signs-and-what-to-do-about-it-11364257914509 . Last accessed 20th May 2018