Structure

The article “I’ve lost my conversational mojo – can I relearn the art of small talk?” by Rhik Samadder has a circular structure. The beginning of the article mentions the situation of the honeyeater, a bird on the verge of extinction that has forgotten how to interact with members of its species. This is compared to how people have forgotten how to talk to each other during lockdown (ll. 21-23). At the end, the article mentions the honeyeaters again, this time stressing the idea that people can relearn social interactions if they give themselves time (ll. 113-115).

In the headline of the article, Samadder presents the impact social isolation had on him and wonders if he can somehow rediscover the ability to make small talk. The rhetorical question i...