PREVIEW
Analysis of Style and Linguistic
Features in “Financial Illiteracy
Breeds Debt” Editorial
Introduction
The Mail & Guardian editorial
Financial Illiteracy Breeds Debt
addresses a critical socio-economic
issue affecting many South Africans:
rising personal debt. The editorial
argues that financial illiteracy is a
major contributor to this growing
problem, advocating for improved
financial education and tighter
regulation of financial institutions as
solutions. This essay will explore how
the editorial's stylistic and linguistic
choices support its message.
Specifically, it will analyze the target
ENG2612
audience, structure, tone, and
rhetorical techniques used to create
a persuasive and informative
argument.
NATALIE FOXX
OCT/NOV EXAM ANSWERS 2024
, QUESTION ONE:
Read EXTRACT A below and answer the question that follows.
Extract A
Editorial: Financial illiteracy breeds debt
By
Ed
itor
ial
Millions of South Africans are drowning in
debt. Consumers owe more than R2.5 trillion
to their creditors
Millions of South Africans are
drowning in debt. Consumers owe
more than R2.5 trillion to their
creditors. And that’s just what can
be estimated from legal sources.
Debt is debilitating. It tears
families apart, fuels crime and destroys lives. We cannot allow ourselves to be
comfortable with the fact that so many of us are scraping by to meet monthly interest
payments.
Innumerable micro- and macro-economic factors have led us here — and rarely are
two individual situations alike. We are a grossly unequal country. Debt doesn’t
discriminate by class; it ensnares some in their interminable pursuit of the excesses of
modern life, and captures others who hope only to put food on the table.
But one factor continues to float to the top: financial illiteracy. We are continually taken
aback by the lack of understanding of monetary matters across all sections of society.
This perception is borne out in reliable data. According to a 2015 survey by the
Financial Sector Conduct Authority and Human Sciences Research Council, South
Africa has a financial literacy rate of 51%. In 2021, the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development put that number at 42%.
A dearth of understanding first creates debt and then entrenches it. It is an intractable
problem. Such an environment allows the nefarious to flourish. Mashonisas (loan
sharks) and other unscrupulous fly-by-night microlenders lurk in newspaper classifieds
and online running adverts that read something like: “Need a loan? Blacklisted? No
problem.”
Despite the ubiquity of debt, we are afraid to talk about it. A lack of understanding
breeds stigma, forcing many to suffer in silence until it is too late, or turn to the
Analysis of Style and Linguistic
Features in “Financial Illiteracy
Breeds Debt” Editorial
Introduction
The Mail & Guardian editorial
Financial Illiteracy Breeds Debt
addresses a critical socio-economic
issue affecting many South Africans:
rising personal debt. The editorial
argues that financial illiteracy is a
major contributor to this growing
problem, advocating for improved
financial education and tighter
regulation of financial institutions as
solutions. This essay will explore how
the editorial's stylistic and linguistic
choices support its message.
Specifically, it will analyze the target
ENG2612
audience, structure, tone, and
rhetorical techniques used to create
a persuasive and informative
argument.
NATALIE FOXX
OCT/NOV EXAM ANSWERS 2024
, QUESTION ONE:
Read EXTRACT A below and answer the question that follows.
Extract A
Editorial: Financial illiteracy breeds debt
By
Ed
itor
ial
Millions of South Africans are drowning in
debt. Consumers owe more than R2.5 trillion
to their creditors
Millions of South Africans are
drowning in debt. Consumers owe
more than R2.5 trillion to their
creditors. And that’s just what can
be estimated from legal sources.
Debt is debilitating. It tears
families apart, fuels crime and destroys lives. We cannot allow ourselves to be
comfortable with the fact that so many of us are scraping by to meet monthly interest
payments.
Innumerable micro- and macro-economic factors have led us here — and rarely are
two individual situations alike. We are a grossly unequal country. Debt doesn’t
discriminate by class; it ensnares some in their interminable pursuit of the excesses of
modern life, and captures others who hope only to put food on the table.
But one factor continues to float to the top: financial illiteracy. We are continually taken
aback by the lack of understanding of monetary matters across all sections of society.
This perception is borne out in reliable data. According to a 2015 survey by the
Financial Sector Conduct Authority and Human Sciences Research Council, South
Africa has a financial literacy rate of 51%. In 2021, the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development put that number at 42%.
A dearth of understanding first creates debt and then entrenches it. It is an intractable
problem. Such an environment allows the nefarious to flourish. Mashonisas (loan
sharks) and other unscrupulous fly-by-night microlenders lurk in newspaper classifieds
and online running adverts that read something like: “Need a loan? Blacklisted? No
problem.”
Despite the ubiquity of debt, we are afraid to talk about it. A lack of understanding
breeds stigma, forcing many to suffer in silence until it is too late, or turn to the
