Homework, 18th November, 2016

This week, I would like you to read the letter written by Nigel Farage (just to be clear, he didn't actually write it!) then answer the following questions:

1. Looking at the first paragraph, what word does Nigel Farage use instead of ‘newspaper’?

2. Why do you think he uses this word?

3. Nigel Farage is not very happy about the article. What word does he use to make this point clear?

4. What is the effect of the use of this word?

5. What does he do in the second paragraph that makes him sound reasonable?

6. What is it about the article that he is most annoyed about?

7. What does he say in the third paragraph to try and make us think that he is not alone in his opinions?

8. Why do you think he does this?

9. Write down one of the positive things he mentions about Brexit.

10. Find and copy out the sentence that has the same meaning as ‘None of the good things about Brexit were mentioned in the article and this makes it biased in favour of the liberals who make up much of the mainstream media.’

Now answer the following exam-style, 10 mark question:

How does Nigel Farage try to convince the reader that he is not a racist, that the article he has read is biased and that Brexit is good for Britain?

This is due on Monday, 21st November. 

Nigel Farage

132 Hammond Street

Sutton

SU8 9IK

16^th November 2016

The Editor

The Guardian

34 Jermyn Street

London

WS2 8HG

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to you in response to an article I read in your publication last week entitled Brexit – The Facts. I will say straight away that I was, quite frankly, appalled by the article, for the reasons laid out below. 

Firstly, whilst I acknowledge that there are several quite convincing arguments in favour of Britain staying in the European Union, most notably among them that there are certain benefits to being part of a free trade zone, the article seemed to suggest that there are no credible reasons whatsoever to leave, which couldn’t be further from the truth. As a supporter of Brexit, I have to say I found the level of bias in the article almost offensive, especially in its portrayal of Brexiteers such as myself as racist and backwards. 

In actual fact, I and many of my friends are well-informed on the subject and, whilst the opportunity to take back control of our borders is undoubtedly a tempting proposition, our reasons are more to do with the economy than immigration. When Britain finally comes out of the EU, we will be in a very strong position to negotiate new trade deals with any one of the many hundreds of non-EU nations from around the world, something we are not currently able to do due to regulations which, to put it bluntly, are strangling small business owners. 

On the issue of immigration, I have already stated that taking back control of our borders is of paramount importance if we are to avoid the population spiralling out of control, but this does not mean that I believe we should have no immigration whatsoever; indeed, my wife is an immigrant from Germany, and I have friends from all over the world who have come to our great country to work and contribute. 

Your article failed to mention any of the positive factors around Brexit, however, and is further evidence of the liberal bias that exists in the mainstream media. I don’t expect you to do anything about this, of course, because you have an agenda and you are going to keep pushing it come what may, but I simply couldn’t read an article like that and keep quiet about it. 

Yours faithfully

Nigel Farage