The Great Barrier Reef. It is one of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations and one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Once known for its beautiful marine life and coral structures, it is now facing a problem that doesn’t appear to be leaving any time soon. Has anyone heard of Coral bleaching? Well, coral bleaching occurs when the conditions in the surrounding ecosystem change, such as temperature, light, or nutrients. These changes bring about stress on the coral, causing them to change from their vibrant colours to plain white. It looks like this. Recent aerial surveys have shown that coral bleaching has affected an alarming 93% of our reef. Last year, Indian mining company Adani announced its plan to build Australia’s biggest …show more content…
Pope positions three of Australia’s top politicians in the centre of the cartoon who are contributing to the destruction of the environment. This creates a derisive and condescending tone. The cartoon’s literary and visual devices persuade the audience into perceiving this project will be detrimental to the already critical state of Australia’s Great Barrier …show more content…
The title of this cartoon appears in the top left hand corner, reading, “Smoothing the covers of a dying place”. This uses situational irony as this is the complete opposite of what is occurring in the cartoon. For instance, the politicians are rolling up the soil, not smoothing it down, leaving behind a path of destruction in their wake. If continued, this project will indeed cause the death of Australia’s environment. Pope’s intentions may have been to highlight the government’s perspective on the issue, saying that they believe the benefits of this mining project will outweigh the death of the Great Barrier Reef. In the opposite corner of the cartoon lies a speech bubble coming from the politicians. “Did I hear what?” illuminates the fact that certain politicians are ignoring this imminent environmental issue in a derisive and mocking tone. Pope’s use of language devices clearly influences the way readers perceive Australian