The Sun Sample Response

Independent work: YouTube*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=armyulW4eCU* Tabloid article

Please spend time taking notes and really working through this example.

## Guiding Question

How does the publication utilize the features of tabloids to promote a message about the World Cup?

Keywords: Features of Tabloids

* Image
* Provocative language
* Tone
* Bias omission

Promotion of a message with regards to the World Cup.

## Student Response

Guiding Question: How does the publication utilize the features of tabloids to promote a message about the World Cup?

Stimulus Text: The Sun, Thursday, June 28, 2018

Student Response:

Every four years, football fans around the world flock to pubs and restaurants to watch their nation compete on the world’s biggest sporting stage - the World Cup. Perhaps no place is this fever more heightened than in England, where football fanatics hope and cheer that their team can once again restore their former glory atop the football world. This football frenzy is precisely addressed in the cover from The Sun, a British tabloid. Published on June 28, 2022 at the culmination of the World Cup knockout round, this tabloid targets English football fans, precisely men, with the purpose of informing them about the recent demise of the German team while simultaneously enlisting support for the English. Accordingly, through leveraging the features of tabloids, The Sun not only celebrates the demise of the Germans, but also aims to increase sales while promoting national unity and support for the “The Three Lions.”

* Text has good hook. Immediately introduces the topic: World Cup. Last sentence is good thesis statement.

Utilizing the features of tabloid, The Sun garners support for the English football team by celebrating the elimination of the German national team. The large white label with black letters spelling the German word “Schadenfreude” immediately draws the reader's attention and conjures up feelings of pride and joy for those who understand the translation of this native German language word. However, for those who may not be familiar with this term, the denotation is provided, claiming that the term refers to “pleasure derived from another person’s misfortune.” In this moment, the humor is apparent to all readers, as the nation of England frequently revels in the downfall of their longtime historical and athletic nemesis. To further enhance the celebratory mood among English football fans, The Sun carefully chooses a photo of some of Germany’s finest football stars displaying facial features of anguish and dismay. To global football fans, the faces can easily be matched to names, but for new fans and others unfamiliar with the German football stars, the body posture of each player clearly projects feelings of shame and disgust with their recent elimination from the World Cup. While one player gazes at the heavens seemingly looking for answers, another player covers his face in shame with his national jersey, clearly indicating his disgust. In the end, The Sun uses this powerful label and clear image of the defeated Germans to elicit joy and excitement from their readers, and they ultimately hope this will cause them to open the magazine and further engage with their content.

* Talks about the Schadenfreude which catches reader's eye. They talk about how the definition of the word shown on the front is related to the main image (Main heading linked to main image). Both language and image is used. Brings up reader effect which is very important.

Moreover, The Sun cleverly utilizes the upper left panel of the cover - normally reserved for their logo - to draw attention to the fact that English pubs are running out of beer, and this is ultimately a clever ploy to get more English fans to engage with their content. In the true spirit of masculine stereotypes, The Sun associates football with beer, thus attempting to captivate their male audience with two types of content that will garner attention. The phrase “running dry” in bold white letters contrasted with the black label stands out for readers, and with the position so close to the iconic “The Sun” logo, readers are sure to see this alarming article that conveniently is “continued on page Page Two” for football fans who are also beer drinkers wanting to read about this beer shortage plaguing pubs nationwide. To make the problem seem even more severe, The Sun further adds an image of what to many looks like the perfect lager. The gold color and white foam is cleverly chosen to further entice the reader to not only celebrate the English team in their World Cup endeavors, but also to link two English cultural icons - the pub and the World Cup. The Sun makes this association intentionally and with a clear purpose: they hope that by evoking fear of a beer shortage, prospective readers will pick up the publication and purchase the tabloid, thus adding to the readership and revenue for The Sun.

* Student evaluates usage of visual styles such as the upper left panel of the cover. The paragraph associates and connects how the tabloid's images and text want to engage the English audience.

If celebrating the German team’s demise and a beer shortage is not enough to captivate the reader to pick up The Sun and purchase the tabloid, then the clever coupon in the upper right corner is sure to entice readers to continue engaging with the magazine. The massive font advertising “£5 off” for consumers who spend more than £30 pounds at their local LIDL grocery store is designed as the final hook to snag the audience’s focus. The clever slogan “summer sizzler” is not only alliterative in nature, but it also notifies readers that this bargain is not to be missed. Further, the image of a grill burning with meat presumably purchased as a result of the coupon implies that football fans unwilling to fight the long queues at their local pub for a meal and a drink can just as easily cheer for The Three Lions at home with their friends in a more intimate setting. Regardless of where their readers watch the upcoming match, The Sun successfully leverages the conventions of tabloids to not only garner support for their magazine, but also to encourage readers to shout “now come on England!” as they continue reading about their team “on pages 5, 6, and 7.” In essence, The Sun’s message is simple: read our publication and cheer with us as the entire nation celebrates the English opportunities that lie ahead in the 2018 World Cup.

* Not a good idea to say "to make the reader keep reading." Font, alliteration and image are not good things to mention.

In the end, perhaps the red and green color palette selected by The Sun for this June 2018 edition of the World Cup was meant to be a Christmas in disguise for English fans reveling in World Cup madness. Not only does the tabloid cleverly use textual features to celebrate the demise of the German team and promote The Three Lions, but they also succeed in providing multiple stimuli for readers who may not pick up the publication solely to read about the team. For readers more interested in beer shortages as well as consumers looking for a better deal on groceries, The Sun gives them plenty of reasons to pick up the magazine and make the purchase. Ultimately, that is the goal of The Sun - to cleverly leverage content, language, and image to promote their publication and continue making sales.

* They connect to guiding question with "Not only does the tabloid cleverly use textual features to celebrate the demise..." Connection to Christmas was not relevant. Ending is strong: with the purpose of making customers buy the magazine.

Word Count: 1029

## Overall Advice

* Needs more implication of text: this implies that, the reader can infer that, it can be deduced that.
* More on importance of sports, national pride, other cultural values
* Ample textual references.
* A lot of reader connections: good
* One particularly long paragraph. Not good.
* Some topic sentences lack central ideas.