Essay on Feature Article

The feature articles ‘No Time to Stop’ written by Kate Legge and ‘The Ugly Truth about Beauty’ by Julie Hosking, embody a range of generic conventions. Both articles make use of conventions such as a descriptive opening paragraph, graphics and omission, to allow the journalists to present their ideas and opinions effectively to the reader. A common idea evident in both texts relate to children and society; the first article conveniently stating that if only we more willing to help and were less engrossed in our own lives, a young boy would’ve been reluctant to see the next day. The other article deals with a young girl, who has been deprived of a normal childhood through the accessorisation of her falsified childhood. These ideas, together with generic conventions allow the journalists to deploy their stance, and the major ideas in the articles.
The main ideas instilled in both texts relate to childhood and society. The first article ‘No Time to Stop’ depicts society as being impartial to assisting others in times of need, particularly the six-year-old Kieran Le Couteur. Kieran was an autistic child who suffered from uncontrollable urges “as if pulled along by some irresistible force”, to perform certain actions which mazed about in his imagination. Kieran’s disorder got the greater side of him and on March 30th, Kieran wandered off from home and was later seen by motorists attempting to cross the six-lane Princes Highway. Motorists sped by as they glimpsed at the little boy, “in shorts and sneakers”. It was rather dark at the time and Kieran’s figure stood out; instead of probing the situation and unrevealing why a young boy was all alone by himself, motorists got back to their busy schedule; there was no time to help a child in need. Consequently, Kieran was killed moments later, “The female motorist who had whizzed by Kieran felt stricken with guilt for not acting on the shiver of concern that had unsettled her”, which shows what can happen if we do not react