Explorers or Boys Messing about?

Either Way, Taxpayer gets Rescue

bill

Into the Heading

The words “Boys Messing about”, used in the heading immediately creates a negative impression in the minds of the
readers. The word, “boy” also infantilizes the two men.
The writer has made use of a rhetorical question, “Explorers or Boys Messing about?”, with the purpose of getting
the reader to think and to engage the reader in the article. It also evokes curiosity; the reader is eager to find out the
answer to the question and so reads on.
By using the phrase “Either Way, Taxpayer gets Rescue bill”, the writer of the article evokes anger and resentment in
the reader (taxpayers) as the words “Either Way” suggests that no matter what the answer for the rhetorical question
was, the taxpayer (citizens of Britain) was to pay for it.

The writer has started the article with the word “their”
Their last expedition ended in farce when the Russians threatened to
instead of specifying the names of the two explorers.
This could be because of various reasons;
send in military planes to intercept them as they tried to cross into
Siberia via the icebound Bering Strait.
1) The two explorers were quite famous and
known for what they had done, that the The writer’s intention is to create a negative impression of the two explorers
in the mind of the reader, and to do so, he begins the article with a failed
writer didn’t have to specifically mention attempt. The word, “farce” creates a dismissive tone.
their names.
2) The writer didn’t think their names were Yesterday a new adventure undertaken by British explorers Steve
worth mentioning Brooks and Quentin Smith almost led to tragedy when their
3) To evoke curiosity, and keep the readers helicopter plunged into the sea off Antarctica.
reading on to find out who these explorers
“Yesterday” – A time marker The word, “adventure” is used in an
were.
ironical manner, as an adventure is
supposed to be something that is
The men were plucked from the icy water by a Chilean naval ship after a nine- fun and joyful, whereas the two
hour rescue which began when Mr Brooks contacted his wife, Jo Vestey, on his explorers had no such fun.
satellite phone asking for assistance. The rescue involved the Royal Navy, the The word, “tragedy” suggests
RAF and British coastguards. something that is sad and
The phrases, “Chilean naval ship” and “nine-hour” disastrous, however the writer
The word “plucked” creates a rescue, give information to the reader, so that the seems contended in telling the
sense of disrespect, as if the readers for themselves can decide an answer for the reader what happened to the two
writer had no respect for the two question asked beforehand. Also, it helps justify the explorers. It is used in an ironical
explorers, it further enhances writer’s personal feelings that are seen throughout the manner.
the negative impression created. passage. It also demonstrates the extent of effort
needed to save the two men.

The writer has used listing to convey to the reader the extent of how much trouble the two
explorers had caused by their unjustified actions.
 Last night there was resentment in some quarters that the men’s adventure had cost the taxpayers of Britain and
Chile tens of thousands of pounds.
Gives more information, (Can even be said to be a hyperbole) it gives the readers a cause to
Experts questioned the wisdom of be angry about, rather than just saying “a lot of money”, when figures are presented, it
taking a small helicopter — the becomes more real and believable.
four-seater Robinson R44 has a
single engine — into such a hostile environment.
The word, “Experts” suggests that the opinions stated by Without directly voicing his criticism, Morris indirectly criticizes the
the writer weren’t his alone, and that they were backed up explorers’ actions by reminding his readers that it is the taw payer who will
by experts who also questioned the little “wisdom” of the have to bear the cost of the rescue mission
two explorers.

Dashes provide more information, this lets the reader decide for themselves the answer to the question asked beforehand, “Exp lorers or Boys
Messing about?” as they have the necessary information to do so.

There was also confusion about what exactly the men were trying to achieve. A website set up to promote the
Bering Strait expedition claims the team were planning to fly from the north to south pole in their “trusty
helicopter”.
The phrase within quotation marks, “trusty helicopter” is subject to sarcasm, as the writer had clearly stated before that the helicopter was in
no condition fit to travel “such a hostile environment”

Also, due to the quotation marks, the writer might have quoted this phrase from the “website set up to promote the Bering Strait expedition
or from experts.

But Ms Vestey claimed she did not know what the pair were up to, describing them as ‘boys messing about with a
helicopter’

The word “pair” creates a very dismissive tone, it is as if she The writer uses direct speech to quote what Ms. Vestey had said,
did not really care what had happened to the two boys. and he had also gone onto use it in his title, as it portrayed the men
and “boys” who did not know what they were doing and thought to
have been “messing about” by even their wives. It helps the writer to
further portray the explorers as childish to the readers.
The drama began at around 1 am British time when
Mr Brooks, 42, and 40-year-old Mr Smith, also
known as Q, ditched into the sea 100 miles off The words, “drama”, “ditched”, “scrambled” - creates a very dismissive
Antarctica, about 36 miles north of Smith Island, tone, the writer has no regard or respect for the explorers.
and scrambled into their life raft.
The writer gives out the ages of the two explorers, so that the This nickname is taken from a James Bond movie to create an ironic
reader’s themselves can decide whether men of such a tone as Q is a character in the movie who is good at technical and
mature age would do something very immature and childish mechanical devices.

Gives statistical information, which creates credibility.

Mr Brooks called his wife in London on his satellite phone. She said: ‘He said they were both in the life raft but were
okay and could I call the emergency people?’
Direct Speech is used to inform the reader of how Mr Brooks dealt with the situation, he had directly called his wife through the “satellite
phone” instead of calling the rescue agencies, this seems similar to how a child would have run to their mother after getting into trouble. The
explorers are further presented as childish and immature. The writer portrays them as comical characters.

Meanwhile, distress signals were being beamed The writer indirectly uses sarcasm and mocks Mr Brooks, as him receiving
from the ditched helicopter and from Mr Brooks’ an “Breitling emergency watch” for “a wedding present” suggests that it is
Breitling emergency watch, a wedding present. well known by others that Mr Brook gets into trouble often

The signals from the aircraft were deciphered by Falmouth1 coastguard and passed on to the rescue coordination
centre at RAF Kinloss in Scotland.
 The Royal Navy’s ice patrol ship, HMS Endurance, which was 180 miles away surveying uncharted waters, began
steaming towards the scene and dispatched its two Lynx 30 helicopters

Detailed descriptions of the rescue mission are given The writer had also said that the “HMS Endurance” had been “surveying
to the reader, to both create credibility and to convey uncharted waters” before they had gone off to rescue the explorers. This tells
the extent of trouble the two explorers’ adventure the reader that because of the troubles these two men had caused, even
had caused to the rescue agencies important duties had to be abandoned. Creates a tone of criticism.

One was driven back because of poor visibility but the

Further details of the rescue mission are given the readers to evoke
second was on its way when the men were picked up unpleasant feelings about the explorers.
by a Chilean naval vessel at about 10.20am British
time.

Though the pair wore survival suits and the weather at the spot where they ditched was clear, one Antarctic
explorer told Mr Brooks’ wife it was ‘nothing short of a miracle’ that they had survived.
Dismissive tone is used The words of an Antarctic explorer (an expert) are quoted to make the readers further question the foolish
actions of the two men.

Both men are experienced adventurers. Mr Brooks, a property developer from London, has taken part in expeditions
to 70 countries in 15 years. He has trekked solo to Everest base camp and walked barefoot for three days in the
Himalayas. He has negotiated the white-water rapids of the Zambezi River by kayak and survived a charge by a silver
back gorilla in the Congo. He is also a qualified mechanical engineer and pilot.

The sentence, “Both men are experienced adventurers” is a short The writer informs the reader about the qualifications and
sentence meant to convey the irony of the writer. experiences of the two explorers after he had talked about their
negative qualities. By doing so, the writer persuades the reader
into further questioning the actions of the two men, instead of
The writer had also specifically stated that, Mr Brooks is a “qualified
being impressed by their qualifications
mechanical engineer and pilot”. Which leads the audience to question
Mr Brooks decisions on taking a plane with only one engine into the
Antarctic, when he, “a qualified mechanical engineer and pilot” should He and his wife spent their honeymoon flying the
obviously know the danger of doing so. helicopter from Alaska to Chile. The 16,000-mile trip
took three months.
Mr Smith, also from London, claims to have been flying
since the age of five. He has twice flown a helicopter The information given above isn’t really necessary, but the writer
had decided to include it in his article to further create a tone of
around the globe and won the world freestyle helicopter
irony and sarcasm. Mr Brooks had spent his “honeymoon flying
flying championship. the helicopter” which further suggests that Mr Brook knew a lot
The word, “claims” suggests that the writer is doubtful whether it is about helicopters, but that didn’t stop him from taking on a foolish
really true is he had “been flying since the age of five. expedition. Audience further questions Mr Brooks actions.

Despite their experience, it is not the first time they have hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.
With the use of the word, “Despite” the writer expresses that no matter how experienced or qualified the two explorers are, it wasn’t the first
time the two men had “hit the headlines for the wrong reason”.

The use of a single sentenced paragraph further emphasises on the extent of troubles the two explorers had caused not only once but on
other occasions as well.

In April, Mr Brooks and another explorer, Graham Stratford, were poised to become the first to complete a crossing
of the 56-mile-wide frozen Bering Strait between the US and 50 Russia in an amphibious vehicle, Snowbird VI, which
could carve its way through ice floes and float in the water in between.
But they were forced to call a halt after the Russian authorities told them they would scramble military helicopters to
lift them off the ice if they crossed the border.

Gives detailed information about another of their failed expeditions, to tell the reader that it wasn’t the first time they have gotten into trouble
because of their immaturity and childish actions. By giving the reader information about this expedition the writer further portrays them as
childish, as it is well known that in a child’s point of view, they believe that everyone in the world is friendly and passing from one country to
another is very simple, but in reality, the world is more complex than in a child’s eye.
Ironically, one of the aims of the expedition, for which Mr Smith provided air back-up, was to demonstrate how good
relations between east and west had become.
Further shows the immaturity of the two explorers, as they didn’t really know how the affairs between countries work.

The wisdom of the team’s latest adventure was questioned by, among others, Günter Endres, editor of Jane’s
Helicopter Markets and Systems, said: ‘I’m surprised they used the R44. I wouldn’t use a helicopter like that to go so
far over the sea. It sounds as if they were pushing it to the maximum’.

The writer quotes from an expert, to let the reader know that he wasn’t the only person questioning the two men’s’
adventure

A spokesman for the pair said it was not known what had gone Use of irony, because if the weather had been “excellent”
wrong. The flying conditions had been ‘excellent’. then how did they end up in such trouble.

The Ministry of Defence said the taxpayer would pick up the bill, as was normal in rescues in the UK and abroad.
The spokesperson said it was ‘highly unlikely’ it would recover any of the money.
The writer keeps on repeating throughout the article that it is the money of the taxpayers that is being wasted because of the failed ex pedition
of the two men. This further adds to the reader’s anger and resentment.

Last night the men were on their way to the Chilean naval base Eduardo Frei, where HMS Endurance was to pick
them up. Ms Vestey said: ‘They have been checked and appear to be well. I don’t know what will happen to them
once they have been picked up by HMS Endurance — they’ll probably have their bottoms kicked and be sent home
the long way’.

The writer has used factual information, “Chilean naval base There is obvious lack or respect and care. The men are portrayed as
Eduardo Frei” to create credibility. comical figures

The article ends with a quote from Ms Vestey (the wife of one of the explorers), this quote further emphasises
on the fact that the rhetorical question has been given an answer, that the two men are indeed, “boys messing
around”, just like Ms Vestey had mentioned earlier.
Throughout the article the writer makes use of indirect criticism to convey to the audience his perspective of
the two explorers, he makes use of other people’s opinions and factual information to portray the two men in a
negative light

The use of informal language, humour and conversational, fairly simple sentence structures and shorter
paragraphs with loosely packed information, engages the reader easily and effectively.

[Explorers or boys messing around?]