Susan Boyle article questions

Questions on this first paragraph:

1.           What effect do the two rhetorical questions have on the reader? What tone do they set?

They make us question ourselves about how stereotypical we are about people. It sets a derogatory tone about society because it makes the reader realise how stereotypical we are by saying “or are we”, implying that we have an “ugly” view on women.

2.          How would you describe the author’s attitude to Susan Boyle? Support your point with embedded quotations.

She is quite dismissive of Susan Boyle because she shows her critical attitude of her by saying that she looked like “a piece of pork sitting on a doily”. This shows that she thinks that Susan Boyle is ugly and doesn’t say anything particularly nice about her in the first paragraph suggesting she isn’t a fan of her.

3.          What do the details about Susan Boyle’s private life add to our picture of her? Why has the journalist included them?

They make us assume that she has quite a ‘sad’ life because these facts show she doesn’t do much with her life. The writer is saying these things to create an image of her that could be mocked/criticised and tries to show that this is the normal view on Susan Boyle, as many readers would agree with what she is saying.

Questions on the second paragraph:

1.           The author uses a rhetorical question to begin the second paragraph: explain the effect that this has on the reader.

This alerts the reader to our very sceptical view of  ‘ugly’ women by saying that we are socked to see that they can “do things”. This shows that the rhetorical questions make us question our stereotypical views.

2.          She mentions several British celebrities (you do not need to know who they are): what is the purpose of contrasting these men with the statement she makes about women?

Because the point she’s trying to make is that ugly men such as the ones she mentioned can do well in life and be succesful and us assuming that she will be terrible because she is ugly shows the very narrow minded view of society.

3.     Do you agree with what she says? Think of the purpose of the final two sentences:what effect do they have on the reader?

I agree with what she says because I think that as a society we are very stereotypical and believe that ugly women are hopeless at everything which I think is a terrible attitude. The last two sentences strengthens the point to the reader that ugly women are held in great disregard.