Housing prices in Australia have been on the rise for almost a generation now, and it is now at the point where it is unaffordable for an average person. This is exactly the issue author; Dean Watson is trying to make in a newspaper article published in The Age on 21/4/14. The article, 'In our lives, the backyard goes on forever,' was written by Watson as he believes houses with backyards are too expensive for the average person. In a passionate tone, Watson uses a variety of anecdotes and humor to embrace the memories and life stories created by backyards. Addressing homeowners, adults that grew up with backyards and people looking to buy homes, Watson emphasizes the point that drove him to write this article, the children of today are not…show more content… Watson uses imagery, humor and personifications to position the audience to see the harm this increase in house prices is having on people, especially children. He further re-enstates this point by using yet another anecdote,'Sadly, the five-year-olds of today may never have the opportunity to set chooks loose on their dad's veggie garden, drop them in the pool or toss them over the fence.' By using examples, the audience is positioned to sway towards the side of expensive housing being negative. The author's passionate belief in backyards being a necessity creates a profound sense of hope that if the audience ever has children, they can experience haveing a backyard. Watson further exaggerates the negativity the government is bringing towards certain memories as Watson hopes 'it (his backyard) never gets subdivided, sub-multiplied, subtracted or whatever the government is into these days,' the thought of memories being destroyed may create a sense of hate towards the government. Watson also implies that backyards are an important part of our life when he says that 'our backyards whisper,' our most beloved memories 'when we need it the most.' Watson identifies the variety of experiences children are missing due to the unaffordable prices of houses with
