In the Retail Temple... ' and 'Darkness at the Heart' try to convey the same point, but they both do it in very different ways.

The articles use emotive language, statistics, quotations, colloquial language and the present tense in different ways and amounts to provide evidence in support of their opinions. The articles also pre-empt the argument, and use personal anecdotes and humour to reinforce their opinion. Repetition, alliteration, tri-colon and sounds are also used extensively by both articles. All of these methods can be manipulated and used by journalists to persuade readers to a certain point of view.

Emotive and colloquial language is used expansively in both of the articles, although each article uses them in a fundamentally different tone. Emotive language is widely used by journalists to make the article they are writing have more of an impact and to make it seem more significant. 'Gawping, shuffling peoplescape' is just one example from the Retail article, and 'altogether darker explanation' is another example from the Darkness article. There is a clear difference in tone between these two quotes, showing how each author approaches the same issue in alternate ways.

Colloquial language is also used in both articles, although not to the same degree as emotive language. Colloquial language is used by the authors in order for readers to relate to the article and compare it to their own lives. Thus 'stand still in the gangway is to cause a pile-up' is colloquial from the Retail article, and 'splurge out on big ticket items' is another example of colloquial language in the Darkness article. These two rhetorical devices are especially used by journalists in their reports and articles to make the issue seem more significant and be more noticeable.