Janet Murray's Article Analysis

On July 24 , 2012, Education journalist Janet Murray published an article in The Guardian on the issue of whether it is more beneficial for children to attend private or public schools. Murray released her article in hope of enlightening readers, by recounting her personal experiences. Murray’s contention on the issue is that that parents should be able to make a decision on schooling based on their child's individual needs and should not be judged for it. Murray’s article “Why I sent my child to a private school” aims to appeal to readers, specifically parents. She recounts her personal experience in an emotive tone. Amy Stockwell responded to the issue (May 15, 2014) by publishing an opposing article on the website Mama Mia titled “I
Murray recounts her personal experience attempting to appear more relatable and expressing her love of her daughter through an extensive use of emotive language, to support her view, “It's about recognising that all children are different and that academic qualifications are not the only route to success.” this statement highlights her key viewpoints in one sentence which allows readers to better understand where she stands in this issue, this positions the audience in a way that they can choose to either oppose or support her viewpoint. Like Murray, Stockwell also recounts her opposing personal experience, but uses a more assertive approach to attack private schooling and strengthen her own arguments arguing that this: “the academic benefits of private schools accrue because students’ families are wealthy and have access to resources, not necessarily because the education is better.” this statement is intended to convince readers that any public school with the right amount of money and resources can be just as good as a overpriced private school and that there are no additional benefits of attending a private school making it superior. Murray appeals to readers by making her points seem more relatable
While Murrays arguments are mainly supported by her own personal experience, Stockwell uses a combination of personal experience and statistics to further validate her own experiences and views. In addition both Murray and Stockwell use a vary of emotive language which reflects on their passion for their child and in extension their child's wellbeing, and uses this to their advantage by strategically appealing to readers through the use of emotive language which reflects their passion. Both Stockwell and Murray do this through the use of recounting their own personal experiences. While both are passionate about the issue which is reflected in their articles, their belief on which path is best for their child is evidently