Language Analysis

The piece titled ‘getting our future back on the rails – slowly’ is written by a member of The Grow Slow organisation who believes that the most convenient occupant for the land of the abandoned railway yards is a community garden. The author begins the article in a confined toned aiming to convince the reader that a community garden is the right choice and later transfers on to a more critical tone when talking about convenient foods. The author’s main arguments include firstly that community gardens are a global trend and that their community should be one to follow such a trend, secondly a community garden will be beneficial to everyone and is the most efficient option and lastly community gardening will bring the whole community together.
Firstly the author asserts that a community gardening is a growing global trend and that the council should accept the chance to bring their community ‘up to date with the rest of the world,’ by stating this the author implies that their community is behind compared to the rest of the world and encourages the reader to feel the urge to catch up with the world and support the growing trend. The author re-establishes this effect when informing the reader of the productivity that city farms bring to ‘hundreds of millions across the globe.’ The author also acknowledges opposing arguments that community gardening is ‘just a passing fashion,’ and further rebuts those arguments by giving examples of community gardens which are still around from the time they were dug in World War 2. Using World War 2 as an example not only causes the reader to agree that community gardens are not just a trend but also can be beneficial in times of crisis; this is further supported by the first image which accompanies the article.
Secondly the author contends that a community garden will be the most sustainable option and will benefit the whole community. This is when the audience faces the transition in tone which becomes more critical about