ENG2602
ASSIGNMENT 2, 2024
MARCH 29, 2024
, QUESTION 1
QUESTION 1: SOCIAL PERSUASION
Read the following social persuasive text closely and answer the question that follows.
In South Africa, pupils in more than 3 000 schools still use pit toilets At a high school in
rural northern South Africa, more than 300 students and their teachers share three toilets, and
that woefully lopsided figure is not the worst problem.
The three toilets are pit latrines, effectively three-metre holes in the ground, which students line
up during a lunch break to use.
The pit toilets at Seipone Secondary School in the village of Ga-Mashashane, Limpopo, are at
least covered by white toilet seats and enclosed by brick structures. Some of the pit toilets, still
used at more than 3 300 schools in poor, mostly rural areas across South Africa, are not.
It is a shameful situation for a country referred to as the most developed in Africa, and an
indicator of its profound problems with poverty and inequality, say human rights groups, who
are pushing the South African government to do away with the sub-standard facilities in
schools.
Unhygienic, the latrines present a much more direct danger.
In January 2014, James Komape, at the nearby Chebeng village, received a phone call asking
him to rush to his five-year-old son's pre-school.
The little boy, Michael, was found dead, drowned at the bottom of a pit latrine. Michael's body
had not even been removed from the pool of water mixed with faeces and urine at the bottom of
the pit he fell into when his father got there.
"What hurt me a lot about Michael's incident is that the people who were there saw that he had
fallen in the toilet, but they did not remove him," said James Komape.
[…]
The social persuasive text focuses on the deplorable conditions of pit
toilets in South African schools, with over 3,000 schools still using these
sub-standard facilities. The target audience for this text is government
officials, policy makers, and the wider public. The persuasive purpose is
to highlight the urgent need to address the issue of pit toilets in
schools, emphasizing the dangers posed to students and the violation
of their basic human rights.
Firstly, the text employs an appeal to credibility or authority (ethos) by
citing human rights groups as sources advocating for the eradication of
pit toilets in schools. This adds weight and legitimacy to the argument
presented. Additionally, the mention of South Africa as the most
developed country in Africa further emphasizes the gravity of the
situation, appealing to the reader's trust in the country's status and
expected standards.
The text also makes extensive use of an appeal to emotion (pathos) by
recounting the tragic case of a five-year-old boy, Michael, who drowned
in a pit latrine. The emotional impact of this story is heightened by the
graphic details of the incident, invoking empathy and outrage from the
ASSIGNMENT 2, 2024
MARCH 29, 2024
, QUESTION 1
QUESTION 1: SOCIAL PERSUASION
Read the following social persuasive text closely and answer the question that follows.
In South Africa, pupils in more than 3 000 schools still use pit toilets At a high school in
rural northern South Africa, more than 300 students and their teachers share three toilets, and
that woefully lopsided figure is not the worst problem.
The three toilets are pit latrines, effectively three-metre holes in the ground, which students line
up during a lunch break to use.
The pit toilets at Seipone Secondary School in the village of Ga-Mashashane, Limpopo, are at
least covered by white toilet seats and enclosed by brick structures. Some of the pit toilets, still
used at more than 3 300 schools in poor, mostly rural areas across South Africa, are not.
It is a shameful situation for a country referred to as the most developed in Africa, and an
indicator of its profound problems with poverty and inequality, say human rights groups, who
are pushing the South African government to do away with the sub-standard facilities in
schools.
Unhygienic, the latrines present a much more direct danger.
In January 2014, James Komape, at the nearby Chebeng village, received a phone call asking
him to rush to his five-year-old son's pre-school.
The little boy, Michael, was found dead, drowned at the bottom of a pit latrine. Michael's body
had not even been removed from the pool of water mixed with faeces and urine at the bottom of
the pit he fell into when his father got there.
"What hurt me a lot about Michael's incident is that the people who were there saw that he had
fallen in the toilet, but they did not remove him," said James Komape.
[…]
The social persuasive text focuses on the deplorable conditions of pit
toilets in South African schools, with over 3,000 schools still using these
sub-standard facilities. The target audience for this text is government
officials, policy makers, and the wider public. The persuasive purpose is
to highlight the urgent need to address the issue of pit toilets in
schools, emphasizing the dangers posed to students and the violation
of their basic human rights.
Firstly, the text employs an appeal to credibility or authority (ethos) by
citing human rights groups as sources advocating for the eradication of
pit toilets in schools. This adds weight and legitimacy to the argument
presented. Additionally, the mention of South Africa as the most
developed country in Africa further emphasizes the gravity of the
situation, appealing to the reader's trust in the country's status and
expected standards.
The text also makes extensive use of an appeal to emotion (pathos) by
recounting the tragic case of a five-year-old boy, Michael, who drowned
in a pit latrine. The emotional impact of this story is heightened by the
graphic details of the incident, invoking empathy and outrage from the
