® ENGLISH GCSE – NON-FICTION TEXTS
Explorers or Boys Messing About?,
Criticism: Steven Morris
Morris criticises the men throughout and constantly question their
decisions; Morris refers to them as ‘boys’ to suggest immaturity and
make them seem immature, belittles them – contrasts ‘explorers’
who are supposed to be serious adventurous. The suggest to them
being boys at the end because they will have their ‘bottoms kicked’
which has connotations to corporal punishment at a boarding
school Immaturity also portrayed as they are ‘plucked ‘out of the
water making the boys seem helpless and useless-hence the
‘Breitling emergency watch’. Note that the title is a rhetorical
question which Morris indirectly answers throughout the article. Morris
uses the word ‘claimed’ to suggest dishonesty as if someone’s had
‘been flying since the age of five’ they would know what and
whatnot to do.
Fact Vs Opinions:
It’s a newspaper article (political bias as the Guardian is a Labour
paper) and so has both fact and opinion, the title attracts middle
class taxpayers who want to know what’s happening to their
money. The fact it references all taxpayers makes it more dramatic.
There are a lot of factual paragraphs, but Morris still uses verbs such
as ‘plunged’ and ‘plucked’ to provoke criticism. He also uses
‘steaming’ and ‘dispatched’ (line 29) which have connotations of
seriousness and professionalism which contrast the men – Morris uses
two extremes, very silly and very serious, making it more dramatic
and outrageous for the reader.
Humor:
Morris adds humor to frustrate the reader and build tension so the
reader takes the side of Morris. (line 20) ‘also known as Q’ is a James
Bond reference to the character in James Bond who is very forward
thinking and clever and so his character contrasts Smith, an explorer.
The nickname shows how they are comical characters and
embarrasses them whilst frustrating the reader. Also, a sense of
absurdity and dark humor irritating the reader because they are
‘experienced adventurers’ but they also have a lot of money –
makes taxpayer question why they’re paying for their mistake. Dark
humor from the ‘charge by a silver back gorilla’ but they only attack
you if they’re provoked so… In this paragraph there’s a sense that
®
Copyright © 2022 Revision Guru | All rights reserved
Explorers or Boys Messing About?,
Criticism: Steven Morris
Morris criticises the men throughout and constantly question their
decisions; Morris refers to them as ‘boys’ to suggest immaturity and
make them seem immature, belittles them – contrasts ‘explorers’
who are supposed to be serious adventurous. The suggest to them
being boys at the end because they will have their ‘bottoms kicked’
which has connotations to corporal punishment at a boarding
school Immaturity also portrayed as they are ‘plucked ‘out of the
water making the boys seem helpless and useless-hence the
‘Breitling emergency watch’. Note that the title is a rhetorical
question which Morris indirectly answers throughout the article. Morris
uses the word ‘claimed’ to suggest dishonesty as if someone’s had
‘been flying since the age of five’ they would know what and
whatnot to do.
Fact Vs Opinions:
It’s a newspaper article (political bias as the Guardian is a Labour
paper) and so has both fact and opinion, the title attracts middle
class taxpayers who want to know what’s happening to their
money. The fact it references all taxpayers makes it more dramatic.
There are a lot of factual paragraphs, but Morris still uses verbs such
as ‘plunged’ and ‘plucked’ to provoke criticism. He also uses
‘steaming’ and ‘dispatched’ (line 29) which have connotations of
seriousness and professionalism which contrast the men – Morris uses
two extremes, very silly and very serious, making it more dramatic
and outrageous for the reader.
Humor:
Morris adds humor to frustrate the reader and build tension so the
reader takes the side of Morris. (line 20) ‘also known as Q’ is a James
Bond reference to the character in James Bond who is very forward
thinking and clever and so his character contrasts Smith, an explorer.
The nickname shows how they are comical characters and
embarrasses them whilst frustrating the reader. Also, a sense of
absurdity and dark humor irritating the reader because they are
‘experienced adventurers’ but they also have a lot of money –
makes taxpayer question why they’re paying for their mistake. Dark
humor from the ‘charge by a silver back gorilla’ but they only attack
you if they’re provoked so… In this paragraph there’s a sense that
®
Copyright © 2022 Revision Guru | All rights reserved
