Jo Bonello’s opinion piece, ‘Pigeon plague in our cities’ presents the problem surrounding the ‘pests’ of Australia. Bonello’s use of an evidence driven piece employs a factual and fearful tone to express the troubles that have arisen from the pigeon immigration. This tone is an attempt to persuade local citizens and Melbourne’s government as a means for eliminating the destruction caused by these “feral pigeons”.
When describing these ‘pests’, Bonello’s use of emotive language prescribes the pigeons as a large problem for Australia. By referring to pigeons as “feral… pests” she employs the citizens of Australia to abandon their “stumbling and slithering across the footpaths” to dodge the “pigeon droppings”. These words are associated with