Jon and Kate plus 8 continues…
Recently in the media, we have all seen the scandal behind the ever popular Jon and Kate plus 8 reality show that was aired on TLC. It follows the life of the married couple who have had two sets of multiples. Twins and sextuplets. After just over a decade of marriage the couple called it off, and now the kids are left to suffer. These are two columns are based on the news that the reality show would either be changed to ‘Kate Plus 8’ or canned all together. The two different columns have very different purposes and that is reflected in how they were written and the content involved.
Both pieces use harsh humour to show their disgust about the show. The second column contains a lot of satire and gets to the point of being very downright rude, where as the first is a little more respectful. Column twos states: “Oh Jon Gosselin, we envy you. Or we can’t wait for you to disappear from our lives forever. One or the other.” Whereas the first column is a bit less harsh and more relaxed. “My Care-O-Meter reading on this one is pretty low.” That is not very mean. The leads are very different in each column. In the first column it is very abrupt and short. It is an example of a brief anecdote describing to the readers what is happening in their life. The second column’s lead is a direct address to Jon Gosselin, telling or reminding him of what his ultimate goal was; to be away from it all. This lead is more effective because it reflects the purpose he was portraying.
The purpose of a column is to criticize either a person, custom, or social movement for example. In the first column I found it was not written to that same level. To me it was all a wad of information. The author didn’t use any quotations from other people giving opinion, just threw in a bunch of detailed information. This author’s column is to instead bash the TLC channel, for wanting this show to boost their ratings. Whereas in the second column his purpose is clear, and that was to bash and criticize Kate and Jon and put down their roles as parents. Also to show how he feels this show is just way for them to have a narcissistic release. With all of this said the strength of the points given were different. The first column lacked informative stats and was written at a lower level of literary content. Whereas the second column had more extensive stats and works to prove his points.
When I read a column I look for the author to be creative in how he/she proves their point. Overall I feel the second column was better written. The first column was very lacking in content and was lightly humoured, which didn’t fulfil a columns purpose to criticize. The second column was more critical and insightful in the way that the author knew what he was saying. The second column overall helped to portray the life we see on TV and reflects how viewers of the show are seeing the changes. No one is in agreeance with Jon and Kate and that is what makes them so easy to criticize.
