Our world never stops growing, but some places cannot keep up with the exponential numbers. Overpopulation is becoming a more apparent problem in today’s world. Alastair Leithead’s “The city that won’t stop growing” and Erle C. Ellis, “Overpopulation Is Not the Problem” both take very different approaches when it comes to the topic of overpopulation. Leithead uses his platform in BBC to shed light onto the city of Lagos, Africa and it’s poor living conditions due to overpopulation. Ellis writes in The New York Times about technical solutions to the problem of overpopulation in a different approach than Leithead. Although both are conveying different focuses on overpopulation, Leithead better expresses his point to the readers through use of
…show more content…
Leithead’s article’s general purpose was to inform the audience of the growing overpopulation in Lagos, Africa. The author showed different angles of the story from different viewpoints and contexts to give the article a sense of being well-rounded. Although he tried to convey all sides of the story, he seemed to personally favor more towards the side of the people in slums. He uses part of his text to focus on how the government was turning a blind eye to the hardworking people that were trying to make out of the slums and tearing down or destroying their houses and livelihoods. Contrary to Leithead, Ellis uses his article as a call to action. He spends relatively less time giving different viewpoints but instead uses his own personal ideas to address the audience about his thoughts on overpopulation. The absence of hard credible facts makes the viewpoint singular and harder to relate to for most …show more content…
In the Lagos article, it is not hard to feel the emotion; pictures, first person accounts, and powerful writing easily makes an impact that can be felt by all readers. Vulnerability and hopelessness are two evoked emotions that come from the powerful images used to support the article. The article is aimed to get the reader thinking about the problem and make it in a sense personal. Connection on an emotion level makes this work better in contrast to Ellis’s article because the relatability aspect further reaches more than their intended audience. The author uses the disadvantages and poor economic situation of the people of Lagos to their advantage. In opposition, Ellis’s article uses a different approach by soliciting a sense of pride in his readers by listing technological achievements and thousands of years of continual improvement. He then gives the reader something to relate to by saying he himself had been looking at the problem wrong, encouraging readers to do the same, and creating a sense that he is a relatable person through admission of his
Leithead’s article’s general purpose was to inform the audience of the growing overpopulation in Lagos, Africa. The author showed different angles of the story from different viewpoints and contexts to give the article a sense of being well-rounded. Although he tried to convey all sides of the story, he seemed to personally favor more towards the side of the people in slums. He uses part of his text to focus on how the government was turning a blind eye to the hardworking people that were trying to make out of the slums and tearing down or destroying their houses and livelihoods. Contrary to Leithead, Ellis uses his article as a call to action. He spends relatively less time giving different viewpoints but instead uses his own personal ideas to address the audience about his thoughts on overpopulation. The absence of hard credible facts makes the viewpoint singular and harder to relate to for most …show more content…
In the Lagos article, it is not hard to feel the emotion; pictures, first person accounts, and powerful writing easily makes an impact that can be felt by all readers. Vulnerability and hopelessness are two evoked emotions that come from the powerful images used to support the article. The article is aimed to get the reader thinking about the problem and make it in a sense personal. Connection on an emotion level makes this work better in contrast to Ellis’s article because the relatability aspect further reaches more than their intended audience. The author uses the disadvantages and poor economic situation of the people of Lagos to their advantage. In opposition, Ellis’s article uses a different approach by soliciting a sense of pride in his readers by listing technological achievements and thousands of years of continual improvement. He then gives the reader something to relate to by saying he himself had been looking at the problem wrong, encouraging readers to do the same, and creating a sense that he is a relatable person through admission of his