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A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Article 'Bicycle Registration'

Decent Essays

Language Analysis
Craig Richards article “Bicycle registration: radical, expensive, and sure to get people off their bikes” was published in The Age on the 7th May 2014. In this opinion piece Richards writes with disbelief and assertiveness that the registration of bicycles will discourage people from continuing or starting cycling while impacting on their health, our privacy and the governments budget. The accompanying image depicts that this registration is a restriction of cyclists that will impact on their healthy lifestyle.
Richards begins his article with “Bicycle registration: radical, expensive, and sure to get people off their bikes”. This title immediately names the issue and in the chronological order that they would occur. It attacks …show more content…

He uses colloquial language with the term ‘mind boggling’ to describe the implications and their impact on our lawyers and accountants. It makes the reader lose faith in the lawyers and accountants ability to control this scheme. It appeals to the readers hip-pocket nerve when Richards describes their local budget ‘as a sad old dinghy collapsing in a bay’ that will have a another ‘gaping hole’ punch into hit by this scheme. Richards moves on to identification with the rhetorical question “why stop at bikes?” when addressing Evans wish to identify every bike. He uses a satire to answer to rhetorical question in suggesting ‘we also put number plates on skateboards, Nike Free Runs and walking sticks’. Richards concludes with another mention of the barcoding anecdote, creating a circular link in his article. He then echoes his past remarks, beginning with inclusive language to a historical allusion, writing ‘we’ve all learnt enough from history to know where that leads’. Richards finishes by giving his name and position in the bicycle network, giving himself credibility to his arguments and expert

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