English Stage 2: Summative critical reading
Word limit: 1000 words
a) How does G.M. Shepard’s recount of Bill Cumming’s behaviour illustrate his central points about sport?
G.M. Shepard, the author of Sport – more than a game? revolves his argument around an anecdote told early in the piece as a way of presenting his point to the reader that Australia as a society takes sport “far too seriously”. Shepard uses this recount of a story that everyone would have witnessed at some point in their lives, as an example of the worst behaviour sport brings out in its enthusiasts. The personality of the characters enables the reader to both feel sorry for the little boy, who is portrayed as “poor, hapless Nick”, taking the abuse of the all too serious father and illustrates to the reader the author’s intention to divulge into the possibility that Australia could ease off on the sport and instead look to rewarding the academics of this nation.
b) What does Waleed Aly suggest are the reasons why Australians ‘take sport more seriously than anyone else’?
Aly uses examples to prove how Australia is a comparatively young nation to the world stage and…show more content… This mode of immersing the reader into the lives of the authors allows the reader to believe the author is correct based on personal experience. The anecdotes used by the authors also are relatable to the lives of everyday people who would be reading these articles in the newspaper or magazines. Shepard uses an anecdote in order to make the reader feel in relation to their point of view. Shepard also uses Cummings to make associations to things like Bulldogs “prowling the boundaries” when writing about his observations of behaviour at the ParaCity Under-Sixes games, meant only for the exercise and enjoyment of the children who are in the team finishing the day with an Australian classic of sausages in