Londan Businesss
Londan Businesss
The author is Aerie Rahman who currently written for The Malay Mail Online under opinion column and an active writer in WordPress.com site. The article London is London lah is publish on November 6, 2013 on The Malay Mail website. The article is interesting to the reader because it tells them more about the environment of London. So, for the readers that never steps in the Big Smoke city they will have an idea what London is look like.
In summary, Aerie talks about London and how great of a city it is. He claims the reason behind the boost of the city were the Olympics. The author mentions how energetic and vibrant the city is as well. Basically, he is pin pointing the attributes of the city and comparing it to his home. He believes that if a person travels he should bring back what he has learned to his country. Furthermore, he refers to London as a cosmopolitan city. It can inferred that he thinks London is exotic in every since of the way, i.e food, culture, weather, etc. in addition, it is inevitable that he is very astonished with the city and what he has to offer. Nonetheless, he criticizes the people at times calling them xenophobia and claiming it to be somewhat boring at times. He also mentions the fact that Londoners seek to silence its colonial past. Furthermore, he shows how London promotes educating the public through Museums. Aerie claims the London has so much to do and its fun. Finally, he claims that London regardless of all the positive aspects it has and what it has to offer, he thinks nothing is better than home.
Slanted words are used to manipulate the reader and thus control the reader’s attitude. In the article “ London is London, Lah!”, the author uses many slanted words.
The first word used is “boosted” in the following sentence:
“ The London Olympics certainly boosted the image of the city”
This word is used positively in the sentence. He is trying to convey the fact that the Olympics enhanced the image of the city, but he conveyed the message by using “boosted” to make it seem as the impact of the Olympics has positively affected the city.
The second word “xenophobia” was used in the sixth paragraph of the article. Xenophobia means “ intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries” I believe the author used this word to prove to the readers that the local aren’t “relaxed” with the fact of outsiders visiting their country. Hence, the writer may be warning the readers about the London locals and how they might perceive outsiders when they visit their country.
Thirdly, the word zealot was also used. In my opinion, I believe the word zealots should not have been used here. It is somewhat racist. Zealot actually means a person who has very strong feelings about something (such as religious or politics) and who wants other people to have those feelings.
Finally, the word “wit” used in the sentence “ what I find interesting is the level of wit that Londoners display”. The word here can be viewed in two different ways; both negatively and positively. It can be used in a positive way such as a
complement to the British people, or it can be viewed in the opposite way.
The article was written in order to describe London. He intended to persuade the readers to believe that London is the most magnificent city in the world. He points out both negative and positive attributes of the city. Hence, it is noticeable that he is both describing the city and persuading the readers to agree that London is the greatest city in the world.
The article does contain an extent of bias. The author is over generalizing the fact that London is the best city in the world. For example he says “ one has never felt safer”. This is too general every city is not free of crime, and big cities such as London has many problems in their subways, but because he is bias he is blocking facts, and using opinions instead to persuade the readers.
I believe the author supported his article