Laura Tingle: “piggy in the middle” analysis column
A breakdown of the language techniques and tone only, not the politics. Read the full column at the source, then use the technique flow and tone collage below.
ABC News
Analysis31 August 2024
Political analysis
The politics of the census, the culture wars and the Greens
Where this is from
- Author
- Laura Tingle, chief political correspondent, ABC 7.30
- Publication
- ABC News (a weekly written analysis column)
- Date
- 31 August 2024
- Form
- Political-analysis column
- Read it
- abc.net.au — full column →
This column is copyright the ABC. The page below is original analysis for study; it quotes only a few short phrases. Read the full text at the link.
From device to effect
Technique
Playground metaphor
In the column
piggy in the middle
Effect on reader
tactics become a picture; government looks played
Technique
Explainer voice
In the column
what this actually means…
Effect on reader
reader feels let in, not lectured
Technique
Dry understatement
In the column
a sharp verdict in a flat sentence
Effect on reader
the criticism lands harder for being quiet
Key tones and their effect on the reader
Form and register in one line
Tingle's analysis columns explain how Canberra actually works to readers who do not follow it hour by hour. The register is conversational and often wry, and she frequently reaches for a single homely image to organise a complicated week.
Language techniques
-
Extended metaphor from a children's game
The government is cast as
piggy in the middle
, with other parties throwing the ball over its head.Effect: a familiar playground image turns a tangle of parliamentary tactics into a picture the reader can hold, and quietly frames the government as the one being played with.
-
The explainer voice
Sentences that step back to say what is really going on:
what this actually means is…
Effect: positioning herself as translator builds trust; the reader is being let in on something rather than lectured.
-
Rhetorical questions
Questions posed and then answered in the next line.
Effect: the question raises exactly the doubt the reader might have, so the answer feels like a conversation rather than an assertion.
-
Dry understatement
Sharp judgements delivered mildly, often with an aside in brackets or a short flat sentence.
Effect: the restraint makes the criticism land harder and keeps the column entertaining without tipping into rant.
-
Colloquial register
Everyday phrasing and idiom rather than press-gallery jargon.
Effect: the plain language widens the audience and reinforces the idea that politics can and should be understandable.
-
Returning to the image
The game metaphor is picked up again later to tie the piece together.
Effect: circling back to the opening image gives a loose weekly column a shape and a satisfying close.
Practice angle
The whole column hangs on one image from a children's game. Write a paragraph on how an extended metaphor can carry an argument, and what it quietly asks the reader to assume about who is winning and losing.
Write a response to this column
Draft an analysing-argument response using the techniques above, then send it for marking against the VCAA criteria, with detailed feedback in 72 hours.
See essay marking