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ENG2602 EXAM PACK 2023MASTER KYALO
GUARANTEED SUCCESS
ENG2602 EXAM PACK
ADMIN
1 | Page
,GENRES IN LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE: THEORY, STYLE AND POETICS
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2023 MEMORANDUM
SECTION A: GENRES OF LANGUAGE
QUESTION 1: PERSUASIVE PROSE: ANALYSIS OF THE TEXT – “Eyesore
Rubbish Island” hidden from Maldives tourists”
The text is basically, a narrative-descriptive persuasive prose news report. The article was published
by the Mail and Guardian online publication on 20 October 2013. Photographic imagery and emotive
language has been used by the reporter to paint a gloomy picture or scenario which exists behind
the Maldives tourist attraction destination. A plethora of audiences are being targeted by this article.
The audience base ranges from environmentalists, general online news readers, Maldives citizens,
lawmakers and policy makers in particular. By and large, the intention of the writer is to expose the
bleak side of tourism industry especially on the environment and certain groups of people. Such
revelations are normally swept under the carpet. The writer’s tone is blunt and direct, hence the
article leaves no apprehension as to what is the writer’s position.
In the text, the dumping rubbish pile at Thilafushi Island is emotively described as an “eyesore.” The
use of such a lexical item suggests that the dumping site is a very ugly feature which is unpleasant to
look at. Thilafushi Island, is now known as “Rubbish Island.” The use of the adjective “rubbish” vividly
describe and allude to the gravity and magnitude of the rubbish pile which is hypocritically hidden
from the sight of the tourists.
Furthermore, the ambivalence and juxtaposition created by the writer highlights the contrast
between the attractive and beautiful scenery in Maldives and the eyesore rubbish island. In the
opening paragraph the reporter contradicts the “panoramic view of azure seas” exposed to the
tourists when touching down the Maldives airport with the “billowing smoke in the middle distance”
which “reveals an environmental calamity.” The juxtaposition of the “panoramic view” and the
“billowing smoke” vehemently suggests that all those glitters in Maldives are not gold. Even though
the place is very attractive, the use of the conjunction
“but” and the emotive word “calamity” suggests that the “billowing smoke” is a phenomena which is
heavily ignored even though it causes great and sudden damage and distress to the environment
and people around. The verb “billowing” has been used as an adjective which also invoke the sense
of sight in the mind of the reader. The picture created is that the smoke is swelling and filling up the
air just like a rolling mass of cloud. By and large, the writer laments and bemoan the lack of
sustainable environmental practices from the city authorities.
In paragraph two and three the writer continues to expatiate on the imagery of the contradiction
which exists between the beautiful features of Thilafushi Island and the “eyesore” rising smoke. The
island is depicted as the “Indian ocean archipelago” and a “honeymoon destination for the rich and
the famous.” Nevertheless, these rich and famous visitors are oblivious or unconcerned with the
rising smoke emanating from the rubbish dump set alight by Fusin. In a nutshell, the squalid and
acrid environmental conditions on the island is not an issue of concern to the tourist holidaymakers.
It seems as if these holidaymakers are so myopic that “none could imagine from their plane seats”
the presence of the rising smoke and its causes. Tourists are mainly concerned about enjoying their
2 | Page
,holiday. Consciously or unconsciously they are not worried about the consequences of their actions
when they leave the place. By and large, by capturing such a scenario, the reporter intent to
highlight the selfish motives of the authorities in Maldives. They are more concerned with attracting
tourists and raising the so much needed revenue but ironically they do not utilise the money to uplift
the living conditions of the “Rubbish Island” hence the writer is cynical and sarcastic in this online
article.
Furthermore, the writer is very critical towards the adverse effects of tourism on the environment as
well as the health dangers it imposes on individual people like the “40-yearold Fusin” who is a
migrant from Bangladesh. The tourists have turned Thilafushi Island into a rubbish island. In fact it is
now “the biggest waste dump in the country.” To illustrate the adverse effects of the tourism
industry on individuals the writers make use of Fusin’s anecdote. Despite the lucrative income
brought in by tourism, Fusin’s salary is a mockery and insult. It is very little considering that he works
“12-hour shifts, seven days a week.” Over and above all, he works with no safety equipment thereby
compromising his health. According to the writer his “eyes [are] streaming and voice choked after
four years’ exposure to thick, toxic fumes.” Maldives local tourism industry collected
insurmountable revenue while Fusin collected a deteriorating health status. By and large, the
presentation of Fusin’s story invokes the reader’s sympathy and perceive tourism as an evil which
needs to be tamed before it destroys many people’s lives.
Despite Fusin’s inevitable damage to his health after working for so many years exposed to the
smoke and rubbish soon or later he is bound to lose his job since the local authorities have plans to
stop the toxic open burning on the island and engage a private operator which will build an
incinerator.
In conclusion, the writer of this online publication exposes the negative impact of tourism on the
environment and some people. Mostly, this article persuaded the reader to buy the writer’s opinion
by using adjectives which vividly bring out some images in the mind of the reader.
By and large, the text is a logical and well-structured argument which is generally persuasive.
QUESTION 2: CONVERSATION
3 | Page
, In your view, is politeness in conversation a universal phenomenon? Provide reasons for your
answer.
MODEL ESSAY
The view that politeness in conversation is a universal phenomenon has been subjected to
numerous heated debates. Some scholars argues that it is a universal phenomenon while others say
it is not. In this essay the writer is of the view that politeness is a thread which is evident is every
conversation engaged in even by people of different cultural backgrounds. By the writer’s thesis is
that politeness is universal as a concept not as a behaviour.
Politeness is heterogeneous across cultures or within cultures. In light of this heterogeneity, the
universality of politeness principles might not be appropriate to all cultures. It can also be argued
that politeness is not a natural phenomenon but it is acquired gradually and programmed in terms of
social norms in the mind of the individual who is going to express them through his behaviour. This
indicates that the social rules of a society are specific for that society and the rules enable the
individual to use his speech acts appropriately. These rules include the ways that members of a
certain society adhere to in expressing politeness towards each other. For example, social distance
involves the individual to be formal in his speech.
Politeness means to take hearers’ feelings and desires into consideration when speaking and acting.
This means that politeness could be expressed verbally and non-verbally in actions. In other words,
politeness could be expressed, for example, through dressing appropriately, and using appropriate
“facial expression, gestures or bodily postures. It could further be expressed verbally using honorific
language represented through certain linguistic forms of a particular language such as Japanese.
Politeness plays an effective role in interaction because it controls the cooperative behaviour in
conversations. By and large, politeness strategies are used by speakers to maintain harmony
between them.
The more formal the context, the more powerful will be the relations between interlocutors. The
unequal relation between interlocutors results in a high distance between them. In considering
politeness, individuals are allowed to avoid friction in any act of face-to-face communication and this
in turn might lead individuals to communicate successfully. For the speaker to be polite or impolite
linguistically he is required to speak according to the relationship that relates him to the hearer.
Therefore, making decisions about what is polite or impolite in any community depends on two
factors. First is an assessment of the social relationship between interlocutors along the dimension
of power and solidarity.
Since politeness is generally considered as not universal, Leech (2005) formulated ten politeness
maxims paying particular attention to their applicability to all cultures. However, despite these
modifications, it is a fact that politeness is not constant to all situations. Different degrees of
politeness may occur in interaction and these may be influenced by different social factors such as
vertical distance between the speaker and the hearer, horizontal distance, which is identified in
terms of the intimacy, familiarity, solidarity and the deference relations between the speaker and
the hearer; weight or value, which refers to the social distinction attached to what is transacted;
strength of socially defined rights and obligations, which refers to the relation between teacher and
student, two lover, host and guest and self-territory and other-territory which refer to the degree of
memberships of ingroups and out-groups.
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