Wednesday, 5 October 2011

Section 2 Language post 1



Coffee may prevent depression in women

Within this article the word “may” that is used in the opening paragraph suggests that the article is based more so on opinion. “Drinking several cups of coffee a day may prevent of clinical depression in women, a study has shown.”  The article then almost contradicts the overall idea in the third paragraph where it clearly states that “ US researchers cannot be sure of the casual links between coffee consumption and avoiding depression.” How ever the writer backs up the story by referring to other factors that may lead to depression such as medical conditions, marital status, smoking and activity levels. Throughout the whole of the article no accurate facts are stated only reviews and studies carried out by “Scientists led by Dr Michel Lucas, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.” Further down the article similar studies have found the opposite results which leave the reader confused to the accuracy of any of the studies carried out.

The language in this article is aimed at women or people who drink a lot of coffee. The writers engages the audience and entices the reader to start to read the article by pointing out the fact that drinking coffee may reduce the chance of depression. This leads the reader to believe the writer is not opinionated on this article and further backs this up with the main content in this article coming from reviews conducted by other studies. The writer also uses the  word “They” to suggest that the writer is simply reporting on others opinions. “They were unable to assess the effect of very high coffee consumption levels because too few of their study participants fell into this category.”

The impact of this article on the reader can lead to confusion, in the opening paragraph the writer confidently states that drinking four plus cups of coffee per day may be good for women’s health and prevention of depression but further down the article the consumption of excessive amounts of coffee can increase the risk of feeling suicidal. By the end of the article no clear results can be taken and the effects of coffee on women’s state of mind is still unclear. “This association continued until coffee consumption reached eight to ten or more cups a day, at which point suicide risk increased.”


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