May 2018 SL Paper 1 – Tasmania

I still remember the time my friends and I went on a school trip to the alps of France, totally cut off from the troubles and stresses of modern life. While the endless hiking was exhausting, spending time with friends on an adventure where we were in tune with the environment somehow felt invigorating. Text 2 is an informative online guide written for a Tasmanian tourism website that informs its readers of the caves of Tasmania. The intended audience for this text are tourists that are planning to visit Tasmania or seeking adventure. The purpose of this text is to promote the tourism of Tasmania’s caves. The author, Kathryn Leaby, appeals to the audience’s inner sense of adventure and desire to escape daily life in order to promote the caves of Tasmania and its touristic potential.

Firstly, the author presents the caves of Tasmania as therapeutic and otherworldly through her use of visuals. Perhaps the most eye-catching part of this guide is the first large image depicting the nature surrounding Tasmania’s caves. The perspective of this image is from inside the cave and readers can begin to place themselves within the cave. Furthermore, the light in this image is almost hidden in the background, conveying the fact that these caves are hidden away from society and that these caves offer a sense of tranquility, allowing the escape from modern life. Moreover, the second image of glow worms lighting up the caves creates a rather whimsical tone and displays the calm and serene atmosphere these caves possess. This whimsical tone displays these caves as otherworldly and thus also appeals to the reader’s inner desire to escape modern life.  The author uses these visuals to represent Tasmania’s caves as a destination for those seeking an escape.

In addition to the visuals, the author also provides therapeutic properties of these caves through the use of rhetorical devices. The caves are described to make “you” feel “connected to nature”, make “you” feel “alive,” and to make “you” feel “invigorated.”  The repetition of the inclusive pronoun “you” makes the reader feel as they are the subject of this guide and thus, makes them feel more important. The use of this direct address engages the reader and places them in the caves of Tasmania. This is done as the purpose of this text is to promote Tasmania’s caves. In engaging the readers through direct address and describing the therapeutic properties of the caves, the author promotes the tourism of Tasmania’s caves. This appeal to pathos positions the reader in need of a getaway and in need of a holiday to Tasmania.

Furthermore, the author creates a jubilant and exciting tone to appeal to other reader’s sense of adventure and to highlight the adventurous potential of Tasmania’s caves. The author establishes this excited tone by describing the caves as an “underworld” and a “secret” that provides its visitors with “subterranean adventure.”  The word “underworld” has some negative connotations.  An “underworld” is often a dark and “unknown” place that requires careful exploration. Hence, by describing the caves as “underworld”, the author presents the caves as a place for adventure and exploration, playing on the assumption that readers of this guide are looking for adventure. The adventurous semantic field further adds to the jubilant tone and portrays Tasmania’s caves as the answer to the reader’s thirst for adventure. Furthermore, describing the caves as “secret” implies that not many people are aware of the existence of these caves. Thus, the author positions the reader as a member of a smaller group of people aware of this secret. This gives the reader a sense of superiority and makes them want to visit these caves in order to satisfy this sense of superiority and to be included in the small group of people who have visited these caves. Thus, the author promotes the tourism of Tasmania’s caves through her use of an exciting tone and her appeal to the reader’s sense of adventure.

 While appealing to the inner adventurer, the author also appeals to the reader’s desire for tranquility through imagery and figurative language. The author paints the caves as a magical place where “time is measured” differently. In most first world and heavily industrialized countries, time, or the lack thereof, often induces stress. Thus, by informing the readers that “time is measured” by different methods, it creates a tranquil atmosphere that further persuades individuals seeking tranquility to visit. The glaciers are personified in the sense that they “burrowed” the earth and left behind the “cave systems” we see today. This displays the caves as a perfect example of the power of Mother Nature and depicts these caves as surreal structures molded by nature throughout history. The readers can witness this history by watching “stalagmites” form in front of “their eyes” and it makes the readers feel as though they can watch history being made by visiting these caves. The witnessing of history, particularly that of nature is something quite tranquil and calming and the author appeals to the reader’s desire for tranquility to promote Tasmania’s caves.

The author also uses statistics and facts in order to establish her reputation as a knowledgeable and reputable source of information. In giving facts such as the “23km” length of a cave or the “18m high stalagmites”, the author appeals to logos and ethos simultaneously as she uses facts in order to present herself as trustworthy. This makes the whimsical and adventurous depiction of the Tasmanian caves far more real to the reader, enticing them even more to visit.

Daily life can be repetitive and dull and the human soul requires invigoration from time to time. The author, Kathryn Leaby, appeals to our inner desire for adventure and tranquility to heal our souls from our boring lives. In doing so, she promotes the tourism of the Tasmanian caves by depicting them as adventurous and whimsical. And yet, from a more holistic perspective, this guide raises the ethical dilemma of the commodification of nature and tourism’s exploitation of natural structures.