Riley's Discourse Analysis #2

Mishel, larwence. "Education is Not the Cure for High Unemployment or for Income Inequality." Economic Policy Institute, 12 Jan. 2011. Web. 22 Feb 2011.

As a PDF, the article already seems to carry an air of credibility and dignity. I believe this is because the majority of educational and study based articles are displayed in this way. Once the document is opened the bold text, also in all caps, gives one the impression that the author believes the issue to be time sensitive and extremely important. Above this bold text is the logo, also enhancing the credibility of the paper. The logo contains the date the article was published, the company name, and the title “EPI briefing paper.” Instantly my eye is drawn to the technical term “briefing paper” outlined in maroon. This is definitely done on purpose to show reader that the article was written through a major professional firm.
The maroon highlighting is later brought down to the “table of context.” Maroon coloring only shows up in these two instances. This creates a subtle hint that the most important parts if this paper are the logo that contains all the basic information, and the table of contents. The color itself also creates the sense of an old fashioned kind of dignity. The big “W” and times new roman font increase this feeling. The author seems to be trying to portray a respect for old fashioned values, something many people respect.
Beyond this the author works to outline major ideas with bullet points. He also applies bold subheadings to point his readers in the right direction. This seems to be very important to him as he also has a table of contents, as I mentioned earlier. Charts and graphs show up frequently and help the reader follow his train of thought. When he refers to them in the text the word “figure” and the number are in bold. Instead of reiterating what the chart is saying he simply explains them and uses them to help make his point.
Over the entire article reads much like a newspaper or magazine article. Split up into columns with large text it seems less daunting to the reader. In fact I would almost go as far as to say the format is welcoming. Although it is obviously academic it is focused toward the public in general. In my opinion, this is a great quality for a persuasive paper to have. It is bound to attract a larger audience.