Analysis of a Newspaper Article: Much Ado About Mousing

Analysis of a Newspaper Article: Much Ado About Mousing

This piece is in the format of a newspaper article in the broadsheet

‘The Independent Review’. Styled as a critical review, the piece is

intended to inform the reader about an episode of ‘Tom and Jerry’, a

cartoon aimed at young children. However, I decided to imitate the

verbose style of a broadsheet critic, and I also aimed to mock the

overly analytical, presumptuous tone that the media often exudes, by

relating every minor incident of ‘violence’ in the cartoon to extreme

cases of brutality in society.

I chose to implement the typical discourse structure of a newspaper

article, with short, bold introductions and a succinctly clear

headline. I chose the headline “Much Ado About Mousing” as it is

wordplay on the Shakespearian play “Much Ado About Nothing”, and the

readership of ‘The Independent Review’ would most likely realise the

pragmatic meaning of the pun. It also raises the question whether the

satirical style of the article really is much ado about nothing, and

analysing the content of ‘Tom and Jerry’ in too great a depth.

I used complex lexis, to appeal to the more refined audience:

“unashamed trivialisation”, “sadistic depravity” and “ferocious

contempt” are a few examples. In many cases, I used words that would

not be found in typical tabloid newspapers; I would have incorporated

more simple synonyms if I had written the article for ‘The Sun’. The

language is Standard English, with a formal register to add gravitas

and sincerity to the article.

I have mostly used compound and complex sentences, as these are

flowing and add diversity to the article. However, I did include some

simple sentences to create impact: “Yet the plot thickens.” In the

style of broadsheet newspapers, I included semi-colon usage for an

intellectual effect. Rhetorical questions involve the reader,

encouraging them to process the information they are reading and think

about it in greater detail; however, they are leading questions, which

direct the reader to the same conclusion that the author of this