Comparing two non fiction texts (comparing two texts on travel) - Coursework Example

?The objective of this essay is to compare two texts in terms of their effectiveness with which the could convey the ideas. Both the texts are on the topic travel. However, the natures of both the texts are entirely different. The first text is published in the open platform column published in a travel magazine titled Coach & Bus Week and the author’s name has not been disclosed. The article is largely on the bad experiences that the author had to face in his/her four different holidays by coach. The second text is basically a promotional material of south eastern railways in the United Kingdom. Apparently, the first text aims at the coach operators. In the last paragraph, the author has posed a challenge to the coach operators to ensure the quality of services which are rendered at the hotels where the food and lodging is arranged. This clearly suggests that the author intends to warn the operators to be careful on their quality of service. However, the text also speaks to the tourists who are planning their holidays. By directly targeting the operators, the author is successful in communicating to a larger audience by advising them to make a smart choice. The author has creatively used a language which very much connects with people who travel. The author is thus assuming that the people reading it will readily understand this language. However, it must be noted here that the article has come up in a magazine exclusively catering for travelers and operators. As being a traveler himself, the attitude of a larger share of the audience is well understood by the author. This is evident in the interesting word choice of the author. The text largely influences both categories of the audience. It while on one side is urging the operators to be careful of their quality, on the other side it warns the travelers of inferior quality of service. The second text, which is an advertisement, intends to cater for fun loving travelers. The advertisement has very less text on it and is communicating to its audience through its vibrant colour and appearance. In that context, the layout of the advertisement has been successful in extending the desired message to the right audience. The target audience of the advertisement is clearly people who are looking for economy travel. The discounts which are being offered are prominently included on both sides of the brochure. The balloons included on the back cover would readily fetch the attention of the intended audience. The text included is aimed to persuade the target audience to avail the services on offer. The caption on the top of the page urges the reader to make use of the available holidays. Different from the first text, here is the reader is not being educated but is being influenced to travel in South Eastern Railway. The scope of entrainment in and around London is well portrayed in the brochure. The descriptions on different places included are also largely persuasive in nature. The author of the first text makes it clear that he is a person with lifelong interest in travel and businesses allied with it. He has stated that he is not an operator. These statements are helping to project the concern the author has towards the problems pointed out. This in turn makes the arguments of the author more legitimate. The article, through four different examples of quality issues in holiday by coach, is keen on suggesting the negative opinion towards the latest developments in the industry discusses. The author substantiates it by contrasting these developments with the pleasant past experiences. However, the author later in the article takes a balanced stand by putting the blame on the hoteliers and not fully on the operators. He even suggests that the quality issues exist even in cases where the operators are really good. The holistic perception that the author shares with the audience is an urgent need of quality check by the operators. Reading between the lines, the travelers are also warned to be careful of the lacunas mentioned. In the case of the advertisement, the publisher is the South Eastern Railway of the United Kingdom. They want their readers to believe that their travel packages are cheap and the best. The advertisement is totally aligned towards the intention of persuading the readers to avail the services being offered. The destinations in London are portrayed as a must watch. However, there is no scope for another balanced view in an advertisement. There is a very logical sequence in the organization of information in the first article. The author starts with a historic account on holiday by coach leading the author to a very positive perception on the past experiences of coach tourism. This supports the arguments posed by the author by creating a clear benchmark. The author has deliberately repeated the usage “Quality……? I think not”. This has helped a lot in establishing the author’s arguments. Later the article takes the readers logically through four bad experiences of the author. With a strong benchmark established as discussed above, the readers will be able to compare the experiences of the author with the benchmark. This further substantiates the thesis of the author. After explaining the experiences, the author moves to conclude the article with a strong warning to have quality checks on the services offered. This organized nature of information strongly supports the author in persuading the authors to follow his arguments. The first message that the advertisement takes to its audience is that it is an economy offer. The first line in the brochure prominently states ‘20% Off’. This improves the acceptability of all the other information provided in the advertisement. When the reader goes through the inner leaves, this conviction adds to the objective of the advertisement. Later the brochure tempts the readers with all the goodness of the destinations in London. To have the reader confirm his decision to go for the offer, the author has intelligently suggested that there are more discounts available. The advertisement concludes with the contact information. The advertisement has extensively used graphical tools to make it appealing to the readers. A lot of pictures have been effectively incorporated into the advertisement. The designer has used very bold fonts which makes the message very loud. In case of the article, though there is not much scope of graphical representations, the author has incorporated a picture which goes well with the argument. The vocabulary choice of the author has been lenient with the idea of the author being a traveler and not a professional. In totality, both the texts have been effective in communicating the intended arguments. Read More