Stylistic Analysis of the Article “The Diseases of Globalization” written by Jeffrey D. Sachs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stylistic Analysis

of the Article “The Diseases of Globalization”

written by Jeffrey D. Sachs

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                     

 

                                                                                                                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The text under analysis is the article called “The Diseases of Globalization”. The article was written by Jeffrey D. Sachs, who is a professor at Columbia University, Director of its Earth Institute. His work focuses on economic development and international aid.

The publicistic functional style of the article is marked by the use of words with the emotive meaning. There are a variety of stylistic devices, which author uses to imply emotional tension to the text and reflect his personal feelings and emotions towards the discussed subject.

The headline of the article is “The Diseases of Globalization”. The use of a metaphor in the headline emphasize how huge the problem of globalization is, and on which issues is this article concentrated.

In the first paragraph the author uses such synonyms as: to bog down and to mire. It gives a vivid colourful description of the situation. The inversion that is used in this paragraph : ”War now beckons in Iraq”, give special prominence to this sentence.

The rhetorical questions are used in the second paragraph: ”Why is globalization so at risk? Why are its benefits seemingly concentrated in a few locations? Can a more balanced globalization be achieved?”.The use of such rhetorical questions in succession, make the reader think about his own answers. The parallel constructions, that are used in the first two questions, emphasize the repeated elements and underline the importance of these repeated sentences.

In the third paragraph the author uses several epithets, such as: extremely and miserably. In this case epithets fulfill an expressive function, they make the article more expressive and emotional.

 

The use of the parallel constructions, such as: “Africa's slow growth …  Africa's poor governance”; “tend to outperform… tend to endure … tend to outperform …”, and antithesis: “experienced falling living standards… experienced better economic growth” in the next three paragraphs underscores the specific contrast that the author wants to show. In this paragraph the author also uses the imperative mood: “Consider Africa's best governed countries…”, in order to keep reader’s attention and make an effect of conversation between the author and readers.

In the next paragraph author uses a metaphor:” winners and losers”. This metaphor gives special prominence to the differences between countries. The idiom “pockets of poverty” serves here for an expressive characterization of the problem. The author also uses colloquial speech, that is typical for the publicistic style. The phrase ” yes, terrorism…”gives a unofficial tone to the text.

 

The metaphors that are used in the article, such as:” gaps”and “barriers” add to the emphatic overtone of the text and underscore the basic problems of this article. The author also uses such phrase as: “giving more lectures” that has lost its first meaning, and is translated : ” читати нотації”.

In the article author also uses such metaphors:” more like doctors and less like preachers…”, “make careful diagnoses…” and “remove the ideological blinkers”. These metaphors show the author’s attitude toward the discussed problem.

 

Having analyzed the article, I have examined the use of the different stylistic devices, for example: metaphor, parallel construction, epithet and many others. The usage of these stylistic devises characterize the publicistic functional style, that the author uses in order to awoke reader’s feelings and make them to think about their own opinions.