Edinburgh Article Commentary

My coursework is a piece of persuasive writing about Edinburgh, Scotland. The aim of the article s to attract young people, the target audience of which is 16-30, ABC1 income and of all races and genders. I did this by the style of the article. Although fairly formal, I fashioned my article in the form of a story, and encouraged the connotations of this through imagery and pacing to make it seem adventurous and alluring, thus encouraging people to visit.

My aim was to portray the trip from a narrative perspective, as I perceived  my experience there as almost a story, and I believe the style of writing is effective in attracting the reader to the location and so encouraging them to go, which is the point of this style of article. The flowing, rhythmic pattern of my writing adds to the fantasy/medieval themes of my article which I added through metaphors and similes ('swords and armour battling with Sainsbury’s and Tesco for attention'). I did this because it relates to everyone's love of stories, regardless of the medium they're portrayed (film, books, radio etc.).
In order to encourage the connotations of a story, I wrote from my perspective. Although using words such as 'you', directly addressing the reader, is effective in engaging them and so making them more interested in the article, seeing the city and experiencing it from someone else's perspective is a common convention of a story, and as this was the style it's effective in reinforcing the ideas behind the article and the mode of address, making the place seem story-like, fantasy, bringing to light the history of the city that it's popular for, and using the contrast of the vibrant, modern industry to appeal to a different but similar audience.
However, relating to the audience is important in making the article appealing and creating interest. So to achieve this desired effect, I implemented common and relatable occurrences ('the classic Scottish weather rolled in. No umbrella and no hood might be a questionable choice') which were aimed to entertain the audience to make them warm to me (the author) and the article, making them more interested and invested in the story as well as giving the story a personal aspect. Using a combination of short and longer sentences helped create an almost song or poetry-like theme, which was important in giving the story a fantasy vibe that I encouraged through literary devices.
I used many short paragraphs in the structure of my Edinburgh article, this was for a number of reasons. Firstly, articles typically have paragraphs only one or two sentences long, while a narrative convention is to feature much larger ones, settling into a middle ground between both gave denotations of both forms, which is important as my article was equally article and story. In addition, poetry and songs often form into similarly long verses and stanzas, again creating a link between my article and the connotations of these mediums - fantasy etc.