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Written assignment 3: Non-fiction analysis on gang violence in London.

This assignment consists of two parts:
1. Write a summary of Mark Townsend’s article “Streets of fear: how London death toll reached
100” (2018) in about 125 words.

2. Write a short analytical essay (600-900 words) about “Streets of fear: how London death toll
reached 100”. You must focus on the attitude to gang violence that is expressed in the article.
Discuss briefly the reasons for this rise in gang violence.

Include the following analytical terms in your essay:

 Level of formality
 Writer/sender -Reader/receiver (The rhetorical pentagon)
 Structure (The inverted pyramid)
 Intention

In your essay you must include references to the text.

Remember to have your individual language focus in front of you throughout the
writing and proof-reading process.

Text: Mark Townsend: “Streets of fear: how London death toll reached 100”, The Observer,
Sunday 26 August 2018

Et summary skal
• være skrevet i præsens (nutid)
• introducere tekstens titel og
forfatter
• være objektivt og uden
kommentarer til teksten
• være kort (ca. 125 ord)
• være uden citater fra teksten
Et summary gengiver kort og
Når jeg retter opgaven, fokuserer jeg på
følgende:
1. Struktur.
- Brug det medfølgende essay grid igen,
men denne gang behøver du ikke at
aflevere ”inden i” det. Du må dog gerne.
2. Coherency
- Summary’et og essayet bør minimum
indeholde 10 linkers.

Det formelle? 3. Teksteksempler

 Skrifttype og -størrelse: calibri
str. 11 eller Times New Roman
str. 12
 1,5 linjeafstand
 Sørg for at skrive dit navn
øverst.
 Aflevér som word-dokument.
- Minimum tre citater fra teksten skal
bruges.
- Forsøg at være næranalytisk ved at
behandle ordvalg i minimum ét af
citaterne.
4. Sprog:
- Jeg retter sprog efter dit individuelle
fokus på baggrund af sidste aflevering.
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Essay Grid:

Summary “Streets of fear: how London death toll reached 100” (2018) is an
(ca. 125 ord) analytical article written by Mark Townsend. The article explains the
current rise in violence in London. It catches the reader’s attention with
an emotional story about Latwaan Griffiths, who passed away from a
stabbing. The article uses experts and statistics to explain the rise in
violence. It looks at the government and a loss of faith in the police as
reasons for increased violence. That fear is the cause of violence is a
main point in the article. It argues that the driving force of violence is
fear, caused by the lack of police force.

Introduction – a good “Streets of fear: how London death toll reached 100” (2018) deals with
way to get started is the current rise in gang violence. The main attitude of the article is
to briefly introduce serious and negative, using words with negative connotations. Words
the main attitude of with connotations to a warzone are used, displaying the situation as
the text in a way that urgent, chaotic, and out of control. In my analytical essay, I will focus
catches the reader’s on the main attitude to gang violence that is expressed in the article,
attention. and briefly discuss the reasons for this rise in gang violence.
(ca. 75 ord)

Elaborate on how the The article presents gang violence negatively and seriously, displaying
development in gang the situation as out of control and chaotic. This is shown in the
violence is presented following quotation: “Police have retreated, education is failing and
in the article and youth clubs have shut down. As gang warfare spirals out of control on
include a the capital’s estates, we report from the frontline” (P. 1 ll. 11-12). The
consideration of the words retreaded, warfare, and frontline are connotations of a warzone.
level of formality and With the use of these words, gang violence is presented as being out
the structure of the of control and chaotic.
article. The article presents the development of gang violence in an intelligent
Remember to include way. It starts with an emotional story. This catches the reader’s
quotes to support attention and is a better alternative to beginning the article with
your analysis as well statistics, as it is easier for humans to relate to actual stories rather
as explaining these than numbers. However, it does use statistics, which is crucial to show
using the PIE-model. the big picture.
(ca. 200 ord) The level of formality is high. The article uses formal writing because of
the highly educated readers. The high level of formality is apparent in
the following quote: “Another fashionable entity is drill music,
performed by young men such as Griffiths” (P 4. l 95). This is formal
writing because of the adjective: “fashionable” used. Had it been
neutral writing, the adjective would not have been there. The article
also does not use contractions: “Griffiths, who had been stabbed twice,
would have turned 19 on Thursday” (P. 1 l. 21). Who’d and would’ve
are possible contractions. The article consists of three parts. The lead,
the body, and the tail. The lead quickly explains the situation in a way
that catches the reader’s attention. The body contains the main
arguments for the rise in gang violence, and the tail contains the
smaller details.
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Analyse the The sender is Mark Townsend, writing for the observer. The average
relationship between reader of The Observer earns a third more than the average, and they
the sender and the are better educated. This links with the high formality of the article, and
receiver. How does the fancy word-choices, such as in the following quotation: “Elena
this link to the Noel, a Home Office adviser, said the reduction had emboldened gangs
language use/style of
to ‘occupy a public space that police have stepped back from’” (P. 3 ll.
the article?
Remember to use 70-71). The word emboldened is advanced, likely used to connect with
examples from the highly educated readers.
text to support your
arguments. The average reader of the observer is a social democrat. It is apparent
(ca. 200 ord) that the article writes from a social democratic perspective, blaming the
state for the rise in gang violence: “Faced with the many reasons for the
London bloodshed, the government seems impotent, critics say” (P. 1
ll. 25-26).

The article also uses lots of pathos in emotional stories. For example,
the story about Latwaan Griffiths, who was stabbed to death. To further
the emotionality of the story, words with negative connotations are
used, such as in the following quotation: “Barely more than a month
later, the number of violent deaths – stabbings, shootings, and vicious
domestic attacks…” (P. 1 ll. 3-4). Deaths, violent and vicious, are
violent words that make us feel sympathy for Latwaan Griffiths and his
family.

Use the points you Considering the high formality and choice of words, it is apparent that
have made in the the article is for social democrats with an above-average income and a
previous paragraph higher education, which also happens to be the average reader of The
to reach a final Observer. The sender intends to raise awareness of the current rise in
interpretation of what gang violence by connecting with the reader through formal language
the intention of the
and advanced words. To better connect with the reader, the writer uses
article is.
(ca. 175 ord) lots of pathos in personal stories. Furthermore, he uses negatively
value-loaded words to make it more emotionally impactful.

Discuss briefly the The main reason the article gives is that the government has failed:
reasons for this rise “Faced with the many reasons for the London bloodshed, the
in gang violence. government seems impotent, critics say. The police, compromised by
Take your staring falling officer numbers and budget constraints, are accused of being
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point in the article, incapable of making the capital safe” (P. 1 ll. 25-27). Here the
but then you are government is accused of being impotent, and the police’s budget,
welcome to use the funded by the government, has been constrained, leading to the police
knowledge you have getting accused of being incapable of making the capital safe. 
from other texts we This links with the podcast “Growing up with gangs, poverty and knife
have worked with.
crime” by The Guardian, where the government is also blamed. In the
(ca. 200 ord)
podcast, they talk about how the government has quit funding youth
clubs. The young people then seek the streets, where some end up
joining gangs for protection or to feel like they belong somewhere. 

Conclusion. The article intends to raise awareness of the rise in gang violence in
A good conclusion London. The intended reader of the article is highly educated.
summarises the main Therefore, formal language and advanced words are used. The article
points of the essay writes from a social-democratic position, mainly blaming the
and leaves the reader government for the rise of gang violence in London.
with a sense of The article’s attitude to gang violence is negative, and it describes it
closure. with words that have connotations to a war zone, displaying the
(ca. 50 ord) situation as horrible and out of control.