Shaping A Point Of View

Point of view is shaped by choice of words, language usage, accompanying visuals, or pictures, tone and style.

Bias

Bias can shape or support a particular point of view.. We have mentioned bias in an earlier section. Remember that we said bias was an unfair preference for or dislike of something. Bias is unfair because it is not representative of how we should treat people. In South Africa we are lucky enough to have an extremely good constitution through which we are all protected. Our constitution does not permit us to discriminate against, or treat unfairly, people on the basis of cultural or ethnic identity, gender, religion, age or sexual preference. This guarantees us all our basic human rights.

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Bias is encountered frequently. We have to guard against it influencing us to make unfair judgements about people. Most of the research done in South Africa shows that we have more in common with each other than we think. Newspaper surveys show that people from all race groups, income groups and age groups, of both sexes or genders have similar fears about life in South Africa. We all worry about crime, unemployment, the cost of living and corruption. Of course, there will also be differences, but to be biased against people for any of the reasons shown in the example above is to cut yourself off from experiencing the rich diversity this country has to offer us all. If an author has a particular point of view which is biased, what he/she writes will reflect this bias.

The choice of words used by the author may influence us. The difference between facts and opinions have previously been dealt with. Facts are statements we can test whereas opinions are what someone thinks. If the author has a biased opinion about some group they will express their point of view by using biased language. Always be alert to statements about groups of people that contain the word "All" in them. It is seldom possible to make statements like "All black people are bad-tempered" or "All fat people are lazy" or "All young people use drugs" or "All Zulu's are brave" without being guilty of bias. Groups of people vary enormously in their behaviour and generalised statements are seldom accurate. We must also guard against misrepresenting facts and showing bias in that way - because some members of a particular group behave in a certain way that does not mean that all members follow this behaviour. It is a misrepresentation to say, for example, that all British soccer fans are thugs.

Humour

Humour can influence the reader in indirect ways. If we constantly read or hear jokes about how dumb blondes are or how stupid a particular race is, we can start to be influenced by this. There are many examples of humour that are based on negative messages about a particular group. Some examples are jokes about fat people, disabled people, old people, and so on. We have already mentioned earlier in this Module how humour can be used in adverts to influence a reader. While humour can add a great deal to our enjoyment of things and can successfully be used to influence readers in positive ways, we should be aware that humour that is based on the supposed weakness or vulnerability of a particular group is usually being used to attempt to influence us in a negative way about that group.

Figurative Expressions

Figurative expressions make written language more interesting. To say someone was a tiger in a fight or as strong as an ox, is to enliven the written word. Because figurative expressions grab our attention, they can be used as devices or strategies by authors to convince us of a point of view. Consider the earlier example, above. If the author had written a passage describing smokers in a highly figurative way, he/she could make their point even more strongly.

An example might be "Huffing and puffing, the smokers clutch desperately on to their cancer-sticks, dragging at them for all they are worth. What a pitiful bunch! They pollute the perfect atmosphere with foul smelling yellow clouds of poison!" Would the reader of this be in any doubt as to what point of view was being put across? If you had no particular objection to smokers, would reading a passage like that influence you at all? In what way?

Repetition

Repetition is another example of a technique an author can use to influence the reader and build support for a point of view. By stating the same facts or opinions over and over again in different ways, the author can push his/her point of view.

Hyperbole

Hyperbole can be defined as exaggeration; it is deliberate and obvious exaggeration used for effect, for example, "I could eat a million of these"; "There are miles of people waiting in the queue". Hyperbole is an effective way for a writer to make his/her point of view and attempt to influence the reader.

Stereotype

Stereotypes can be defined as an oversimplified idea; an oversimplified standardised image or idea held by one person or group of another, e.g. the stereotype of a blonde is that she is dumb; the stereotype of an Italian is that he/she is very emotional. Stereotypes are not accurate, as no single group of people ever have exactly the same characteristics as each other. There are plenty of highly intelligent blondes and plenty of cold, rational Italians. It is wrong to judge someone according to a stereotype - it will simply be inaccurate, and unfair. Authors could also use stereotypes to support their points of view. We know that to stereotype people is wrong yet it still happens, and we need to be aware of it. Stereotypes are closely linked to generalisations.

Generalisation

A generalisation can be described as a sweeping statement; a statement presented as a general truth but based on limited or incomplete evidence, e.g. "All Americans are greedy capitalists"; "All Homosexual men like flowers".

We are more easily swayed by stereotypes and generalisations when an author is writing about something we have very limited knowledge about.

Imagine that someone had encountered Martians. If she/he wrote something in which Martians were described as amazingly ugly, bad-tempered creatures, who were lazy and greedy, we would have almost no way of checking up on this.

If however an author wrote this about a group of people living in the jungles of the Amazon, even if we had not been there, we could check whether other authors had the same view. We also could check up on the source of the report - is it a reliable source? Is this a fact or an opinion?

Many times generalisations and stereotypes are used together. Authors use them to build up support for a point of view.

Extremely negative forms of stereotypes, bias, and generalisation are actually forms of hate speech (the term is applied to the written and the spoken word) are not allowed by law.

Pictures and Captions

An author can use pictures and captions (headings to pictures) to attempt to influence readers and support a particular point of view. Carefully chosen pictures can influence us more even than the written word. If we are reading a text on starving children in Rwanda, and there is no visual material, we may not be too distressed.

This would especially be true if the text was written in a factual, unemotional manner. If, however photographs of children on the brink of death from starvation accompanied this text, we would probably feel upset and disturbed by what we were reading.

The photos would make even more of an impact if they were headed with a caption such as: "Mwangi's last minutes." Some time ago (2003) the Argus published a picture of a dead child, killed in the Iraqi war, on the front page. Many readers were upset and said that such an image was too graphic and detailed a representation of the horrors of war to be shown. Journalists might argue that this is the truth of what war is.

What do you think? Do you think really detailed pictures of horrific scenes should be published? You decide. Advertisements of course use accompanying visuals to attempt to influence readers to buy products.

Typography

Typography refers to the layout of a page or pages. The visual impression created by a piece of text is important and can influence the reader. If a page is well and neatly laid out we are more likely to take its contents seriously. Magazines that appeal to a broad-based readership, popular magazines in other words, tend to use typography that is quite eye-catching. There will be lots of big headlines and accompanying pictures. Magazines that appeal to a more serious readership such as specialist current affairs magazines will use a much less dramatic layout.

Go to a bookstore and look at the magazines that are for sale. In particular, look at a "You" magazine and an "Economist" magazine. Take note of the differences between them. Can you see how their typography differs? What other differences do you notice? Can authors influence readers by their use of typography?

A fast zippy layout that is eye catching and accompanied by many pictures is likely to signal to readers that they are about to be entertained. A more serious appearing, straight forward layout with not much variation in font and few accompanying visuals, would signal to a reader that what they were reading was fairly seriously written.

Grammar

Grammar or correct language usage is another technique of which authors need to be aware if they are trying to build support for an argument. A well-written piece of text is likely to have a greater impact on us than something which is full of errors. Grammar and typography together form the style of the written word. Style refers both to appearance and to how a text read. We talk about authors as writing in a particular style.