Argument Analysis Kate Halfpenny’s article “Meghan made jam and her mates raved” (The Age, April 27, 2024) is an opinion piece discussing Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex and her new financial venture, strawberry jam. Halfpenny intends to persuade readers of the Age and Bad Mother Media that Meghan’s financially profiting ventures should not be taken seriously. She contends that Meghan should stop going on these ventures and that the praise she gets for them is unnecessary due to the privileged life she has. The article contains an image that depicts the strawberry jam in discussion, Meghan and Prince William. Opening the piece, Halfpenny details the issue and proposes her personal opinion. The title itself, ‘Meghan made jam and her mates raved’ …show more content…
The word choice in the title also inclines the audience to believe that the reaction to the jam is overly exaggerated and insincere. From the outset, Halfpenny states, ‘Someone, quick, please explain why Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s strawberry jam is giving me the irrits’. Her language choices position the audience to feel alarmed and intrigued to hear her stance on the issue. Through casual tone and use of jargon, Halfpenny is open about how Meghan’s jam gives her ‘the irrits’. Her intention with utilising jargon in this statement is to be able to connect with the younger audiences specifically, helping them immediately recognize Halfpenny’s stance on the issue due to the familiarity of the language. Halfpenny then further informs the audience on the issue in a sarcastically charged tone and calls Meghan the ‘Duchess of Domesticity’. The humorous nickname given to Meghan compels the audience to perceive her as a joke, rather than take her and her ventures seriously. The inherently sarcastic tone of this whole piece further drives the audience to view Meghan this way. To further emphasise her contention, Halfpenny includes an image depicting Meghan and