Prankster in chief: why I threw swastika golfballs at Donald Trump:
This article was published on The Guardian, in both print and web versions. And the articles purpose is to entertain, and also inform the audience on Simon Brodkin's many pranks. The article's target audience is likely to be males aged 20-30. This is because the article is about a man who is in that age range, and the articles political content is only likely to interest people within that age range. The reason I recon males are more likely to read this article is because the article is about a male, and the male is also a prankster. Politically, the article is likely to be read by people with left-wing biases, since The Guardian is an very left-wing news paper, and the article is actually ridiculing Donald Trump (who has been made into a folk devil by left wing media).
The title "Prankster in chief: why I threw swastika golf balls at Donald Trump" catches the attention of the audience, firstly with the mention of Donald Trump, which during the articles release would have been heavily on the mind of anyone who is left-wing. This is because Donald Trump was campaigning to become president of America, and it was already looking like he was going to become president, much to the horror of a person with a left-wing world view. The title includes the word "swastika" which is an incredibly eye catching word, due to it's history and association with Nazi's. Some readers may have been shocked and offended by the word, other readers may have found the word humorous given its context ("swastika golf balls"). Again its context would appeal strongly to people who are left wing because they like to associate Donald Trump with Swastikas since they believe him to be a fascist due to what he has said about Mexicans. The word prankster also would appeal to male audiences, since males stereotypically enjoy pranking people, therefore they are likely to be interested in reading the article.
First of all the article uses sensational language, when explaining to the audience what happened at Donald Trump's press conference. The article uses a narrative style in the first paragraph from the point of view of Donald Trump in order to make the article humorous. The article then tells you what Simon Brodkin says directly to Donald Trump when he realises that Nazi Golfballs are rolling towards him, which is also quite funny. Having watched the video of the same event, you can tell that the article over exaggerates the events, in order make a heroe out Simon Brodkin. This is because The Guardian has a left wing bias, and will therefore happily exaggerate events if it makes Donald Trump look weak or perhaps stupid.
The articles tone is mixed with playful, and seriousness, this is because the article is about a prankster, however the people that deserve to pranks usually have been pranked for quite serious reasons.
"His vitriol towards others and his self-aggrandising make a lot of people see connections."
Here in this simple sentence, Simon explains why he pranked Donald trump, and the reason people associate Donald Trump with Nazi's. The use of a simple sentence makes what he saying have more of a direct impact of the reader.
"Early in his career as a prankster, Brodkin got rough treatment – because officers didn’t know he was a comic and that it was all a prank."
Here in this compound-complex sentence, the article explains how some of Brokin's pranks went wrong, when people didn't realise he was a prankster, and thought that the situation was more serious and dangerouse. The fact that this is a compound-complex sentence is appropriate, since the sentence is explaining to the audience how being a prankster can go wrong due to similar incidents which were actually serious. The reason the use of a compound-complex sentence is appropriate is because the article's mode of address is teacher to pupil. You can see this because the article is written without colloquial language (except for when interviewing Brodkin) and instead uses elaborate coding. Elaborate coding is used, because the target audience reading the magazine is likely to be in higher education, and will be able to understand and enjoy reading elaborate coding.
The article also uses direct speech from Brodkin (the main topic of the article) to explain to the audience more realistically why Brodkin does his pranks.
"I have a naughty streak, an utter lack of respect for authority – and hopefully a decent sense of humour.”
This sentence also demonstrates how the whole article contrasts seriousness with humour. The article also uses pictures well to help the audience follow the article with a clearer realistic image of Brokin's many pranks. The very first image also helps feature the main person who the article is interviewing, and also features him holding the "swastika golfballs" which links to the main title. The article also provides links to other media, such as a video of one of Brodkins pranks when he interrupted Kanye West.
Who: Donald Trump and Simon Brodkin
What: Prankster throws swastika golf balls at Donald Trump
Where: A press conference at a golf resort owned by Donald Trump in Ayrshire/
When: Summer 2016
How: The article uses Elaborate code, for example: "“Get him out of here,” said the then presumptive Republican presidential nominee." Where it says "presumptive Republican presidential nominee" is both hard to read and may be hard to understand by some readers.
1: This paragraph sets the first scene of the article, which is the scene the article revolves around. The paragraph uses a narrative style from the point of view of Donald Trump, in order to add humour to the article, this way the reader knows exactly how the incident played out, which the article more understandable as a whole.
2: This paragraph explains how Donald Trump's security had to arrest Brodkin due to previous incidents where someone tried to shoot Donald Trump. Brodkin explains how they put hand cuffs on him, and how he was relieved to hear Scottish voices which assured him that he wasn't going to be tortured or killed. This paragraph changes the article from something similar to a narrative, to almost an interview with Brodkin, however it is more as if Brodkin is telling the reader a story, while writer of the article helps explain what he is saying with more context.
3: This paragraph explains how being a prankster in this modern age is hard because everyone believes that you could be a threat.
4: This paragraph explains how when recognizing who Brodkin was, the police decided to loosen his hand cuffs and offered him some Lucozade.
5: This paragraph explains how Brodkin enjoys watching the video of the incident, and how the police took him all the way to the border between England and Scotland. This paragraph includes mostly Brodkin's speech since he is the one telling the story to the audience.
6: This paragraph explains why Brodkin decided to prank Donald Trump in this manner, and why he sees a connection between Trump and Hitler. This is where the article takes a more serious tone, contrasting with the articles entertaining tone.
7: This paragraph explains other incidents where he has pranked other people including Kanye West. This is where the article changes from an interview directly about the incident with Donald Trump, to many other incidents, which makes the article more interesting because the article has now turned into a more informative article about Brodkin's pranks.
8: The article then goes onto another more serious tone, where Brodkin explains that even though all his targets are deserving victims, he doubt that his work will have much effect. He uses Donald Trump as an example, since despite his prank, he became president of America.
9: This paragraph shows another example of when his prank went wrong, when Kanye West's audience got really angry at him for ruining West's gig.
10: This paragraph goes on to talk about another prankster, Dan Glass, who took pranking to another extreme when he glued himself to Gordon Brown when he was president. Brodkin shows admiration for Dan Glass, however explains that when pranking people he never wants to frighten people.
11: This paragraph shows Brodkin explaining how he loves it when reality and comedy come together. This again relates to the running theme through out the article of seriousness vs comedy.
12: Again, this paragraph explains how another one of Brodkin's pranks went wrong, when he was dragged of the football pitch at Goodison Park after running on and joining Man City players.
13: This paragraph carries on what happened in the previous paragraph and changes the setting from the football pitch to the court, which again shows the reader the contrast between seriousness and comedy, and shows how during the court case carried on pretending to be the alter-ego and stating that he only ran onto the pitch because he was told by his agent he had been signed by Man City. The writer of the article comments that they were surprised that Brodkin was not done for contempt. The paragraph changes from reality to comedy when Brodkin jokes that Carlos Tevez gave him a lift to court, since he was convicted for drink-driving the same day.
14: The writer asks Brodkin who were the roughest police he has encountered. Bodkin says the Swiss, and explains how he has carried out pranks twice in Switzerland.
15: In this paragraph the article explains another time when Brodkin pranked Volkswagen during their press launch for a new car. He posed as an engineer and tried to attach a "cheat box" to the car since Volkswagen had cheated during their pollution tests. He then explains that "You know the job is a good one when you're getting pinned down and cuffed."
16: He then explains that during that arrest the police were really rough because they believed Simon Brodkin to be a terrorist. When realising that Brodkin was a prankster one cop picked up a hatstand pretending it was a mic and awards Simon Brodkin for being the best actor.
17: In this paragraph the article explains that before becoming a prankster Brodkin used to work for the NHS which is there because the articles purpose is to both entertain and inform.
18: Brodkin explains that he realised he liked Comedy when he saw some guys messing about on a bus. Brodkin explains his passion for comedy because of his love for Lee Nelson because of how he takes the mick out of everyone.
19: In this paragraph the article takes a much more serious note regarding when Nelson committed suicide.
20: In the last paragraph, the article wraps up by discussing wether Brodkin will carry on pranking people. Brodkin explains that pranking was his job, and that he couldn't be happier.
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