Sunday, 14 July 2013
Answering Question 4
You've had lots of practice at this people. All you're doing is finding LANGUAGE FEATURES which the two texts do SIMILARLY or DIFFERENTLY and then comparing them and talking about which has a better effect on the target audience.
Here is a STEP BY STEP guide to writing your answer.
FIRSTLY - IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE AND MAKE THIS CLEAR. You can identify your target audience by looking at what sort of text it is, what sort of language it uses, whats sort of colours and pictures it uses etc. Explain who the TA is for each text and why you came to this conclusion.
Then, use your highlighter to look out for language features such as:
FORMALITY
TONE
IMAGERY (SIMILES, METAPHORS)
FACTS, FIGURES, STATISTICS, QUOTES, SURVEYS
REPETITION
VARIED SENTENCE TYPES AND LENGTHS
ALLITERATION
DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
ETC
Once you've found your language features to comment on, all you have to do is to tell me:
WHAT YOU FOUND
WHERE DID YOU FIND IT
DOES THE SECOND TEXT DO THE SAME THING, OR DO IT DO SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT?
WHERE DID YOU SEE THAT?
WHICH IS BETTER, AND WHAT EFFECT MIGHT THESE LANGUAGE FEATURES HAVE ON THEIR TARGET AUDIENCE?
For Example:
One language feature that the author of text 1 does to make the text more effective is the use of exaggeration. Exaggeration is a really useful feature as it can make an article stand out from the rest of the feature in a newspaper or magazine by making it seem more exciting. Text one uses exaggeration when talking about the trip when it says, 'masses of gear' and 'an army of river guides'. This makes the piece of writing sound more interesting as if there is a great adventure to read about. As this is taken from THE GUARDIAN ONLINE, the piece of writing will be aimed at older people, and the rest of the articles may be a little more factual and boring. Exaggeration will make this sound more like an adventure and make it stand out more. In a similar way, the second text uses exaggeration too when it says 'FEARSOME t-rex', or when it describes the animal as a 'beast.' This article too seems to be quite scientific, but uses a bit more humour so it may be aimed at younger people, Exaggeration will help to hold their interest because it will make the topic sound more fun, and people are used to dinosaurs cropping up in fun settings such as movies and games. I think the second text does this better because the article is actually quite scientific but makes a potentially boring subject sound more fun.
And that's all you have to do. Find about 6 ways to compare the articles and write a paragraph where you say:
WHAT HAS EACH TEXT DONE
IS IT SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT?
HOW WILL EACH APPEAL TO ITS AUDIENCE
WHICH IS BETTER
Here is a STEP BY STEP guide to writing your answer.
FIRSTLY - IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE AND MAKE THIS CLEAR. You can identify your target audience by looking at what sort of text it is, what sort of language it uses, whats sort of colours and pictures it uses etc. Explain who the TA is for each text and why you came to this conclusion.
Then, use your highlighter to look out for language features such as:
FORMALITY
TONE
IMAGERY (SIMILES, METAPHORS)
FACTS, FIGURES, STATISTICS, QUOTES, SURVEYS
REPETITION
VARIED SENTENCE TYPES AND LENGTHS
ALLITERATION
DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
ETC
Once you've found your language features to comment on, all you have to do is to tell me:
WHAT YOU FOUND
WHERE DID YOU FIND IT
DOES THE SECOND TEXT DO THE SAME THING, OR DO IT DO SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT?
WHERE DID YOU SEE THAT?
WHICH IS BETTER, AND WHAT EFFECT MIGHT THESE LANGUAGE FEATURES HAVE ON THEIR TARGET AUDIENCE?
For Example:
One language feature that the author of text 1 does to make the text more effective is the use of exaggeration. Exaggeration is a really useful feature as it can make an article stand out from the rest of the feature in a newspaper or magazine by making it seem more exciting. Text one uses exaggeration when talking about the trip when it says, 'masses of gear' and 'an army of river guides'. This makes the piece of writing sound more interesting as if there is a great adventure to read about. As this is taken from THE GUARDIAN ONLINE, the piece of writing will be aimed at older people, and the rest of the articles may be a little more factual and boring. Exaggeration will make this sound more like an adventure and make it stand out more. In a similar way, the second text uses exaggeration too when it says 'FEARSOME t-rex', or when it describes the animal as a 'beast.' This article too seems to be quite scientific, but uses a bit more humour so it may be aimed at younger people, Exaggeration will help to hold their interest because it will make the topic sound more fun, and people are used to dinosaurs cropping up in fun settings such as movies and games. I think the second text does this better because the article is actually quite scientific but makes a potentially boring subject sound more fun.
And that's all you have to do. Find about 6 ways to compare the articles and write a paragraph where you say:
WHAT HAS EACH TEXT DONE
IS IT SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT?
HOW WILL EACH APPEAL TO ITS AUDIENCE
WHICH IS BETTER
Answering Question 3
I think we've probably spent enough time in lesson covering question three.
Just remember, you're talking about what the text IMPLIES to you. Use quotes which tell you things, and DON'T just repeat the wording of the quotation. There's no reward in that!
Just remember, you're talking about what the text IMPLIES to you. Use quotes which tell you things, and DON'T just repeat the wording of the quotation. There's no reward in that!
Question 2 - Tips!
Question 2 is the question where it asks you to comment on how important the Headline, subheading and pictures are.
You HAVE to see these items as being more than just A HEADLINE or A PICTURE.
You have to split them up into their individual parts.
Think about what we did in class with the Dinosaur article and how well the students in our class were able to comment on the size and position of the dinosaur, the perspective of the way it looked huge compared to the people standing near it etc.
Think about the individual words in the headline and how they have a particular effect on the target audience.
The MAIN thing you have to remember is where it says 'HOW THEY LINK TO THE TEXT IN THE ARTICLE'.
this means that you have to use quotations from the rest of the article as well.
Like this:
The word FEARSOME in the headline is important because it grabs your attention and makes you want to read about this frightening beast. This also links to the picture, as the dinosaur looks very fearsome due to the fact that the people next to it look so small. The photo is taken from the head end of the skeleton which makes you focus on its FEARSOME teeth. Also, this links to th rest of the article because the article refers to the dinosaur as a 'beast' which makes it sound even more fearsome, and describes its '13 metre length' which makes it sound terrifying as there are no meat eating animals of that size around today.
A few paragraphs like that, and you'll be fine!
You HAVE to see these items as being more than just A HEADLINE or A PICTURE.
You have to split them up into their individual parts.
Think about what we did in class with the Dinosaur article and how well the students in our class were able to comment on the size and position of the dinosaur, the perspective of the way it looked huge compared to the people standing near it etc.
Think about the individual words in the headline and how they have a particular effect on the target audience.
The MAIN thing you have to remember is where it says 'HOW THEY LINK TO THE TEXT IN THE ARTICLE'.
this means that you have to use quotations from the rest of the article as well.
Like this:
The word FEARSOME in the headline is important because it grabs your attention and makes you want to read about this frightening beast. This also links to the picture, as the dinosaur looks very fearsome due to the fact that the people next to it look so small. The photo is taken from the head end of the skeleton which makes you focus on its FEARSOME teeth. Also, this links to th rest of the article because the article refers to the dinosaur as a 'beast' which makes it sound even more fearsome, and describes its '13 metre length' which makes it sound terrifying as there are no meat eating animals of that size around today.
A few paragraphs like that, and you'll be fine!
How to answer the question (1)
Remember to KEYWORD the question by using a highlighter. Look exactly what it is asking you to do, and do it.
So, here, it is asking you:
she has been doing?
Example answer
One thing we learn about where she has been is that she has been 'on a boat' with her friends, but we learn that this is a potentially dangerous place to be as there is 'only one rule', to 'stay in the boa' which implies that they are not simply having a relaxed float down river.
We learn that the task they are undertaking is a massive and important one because it is in 'the grand canyon' which we know is a huge natural feature. We also learn that the task is one which they are quite apprehensive about as they 'blinked at the sight before' them, as if they can't believe what they are about to do.
We learn that this is something which you do with people who are into the same thing as you because 'they were a mixed group' which implies that they didn't really know each other very well.
We learn that it was a task which needed lots and lots of preparation as 'as much gear as they could possibly need was strapped into the boats', implying that they will need lots of specialist equipment to get through it.
SO there you can see the sort of thing you have to do. You're simply showing that you UNDERSTAND the text by picking out important bits, and backing them up with small quotations (always EXPLAINING why the quotation is important.)
The parts I've picked out aren't necessarily THE RIGHT ANSWERS, as there are TONS of RIGHT ANSWERS. It's not likely a maths or science test where you can just be plain WRONG. You have to pick out the bits that YOU think are most important.
Good luck,
NW
So, here, it is asking you:
What do you learn from Elisabeth Hyde’s article about where she has been and what
she has been doing?
Example answer
One thing we learn about where she has been is that she has been 'on a boat' with her friends, but we learn that this is a potentially dangerous place to be as there is 'only one rule', to 'stay in the boa' which implies that they are not simply having a relaxed float down river.
We learn that the task they are undertaking is a massive and important one because it is in 'the grand canyon' which we know is a huge natural feature. We also learn that the task is one which they are quite apprehensive about as they 'blinked at the sight before' them, as if they can't believe what they are about to do.
We learn that this is something which you do with people who are into the same thing as you because 'they were a mixed group' which implies that they didn't really know each other very well.
We learn that it was a task which needed lots and lots of preparation as 'as much gear as they could possibly need was strapped into the boats', implying that they will need lots of specialist equipment to get through it.
SO there you can see the sort of thing you have to do. You're simply showing that you UNDERSTAND the text by picking out important bits, and backing them up with small quotations (always EXPLAINING why the quotation is important.)
The parts I've picked out aren't necessarily THE RIGHT ANSWERS, as there are TONS of RIGHT ANSWERS. It's not likely a maths or science test where you can just be plain WRONG. You have to pick out the bits that YOU think are most important.
Good luck,
NW
Question 1
Having looked over your answers for question 1, it appears that you've all done quite well. It is a strange set up for this question.
The main skill you have to display is INFORMATION RETREIVAL. This basically means that you have to show you understand the text by writing the main/most important bits in your OWN WORDS, but backing up what you've said with small BREADCRUMB quotations from the text.
Most of you did this pretty well.
I will give you an example of some paragraphs so you can see the kind of things you're mean to do on the next post.
The main skill you have to display is INFORMATION RETREIVAL. This basically means that you have to show you understand the text by writing the main/most important bits in your OWN WORDS, but backing up what you've said with small BREADCRUMB quotations from the text.
Most of you did this pretty well.
I will give you an example of some paragraphs so you can see the kind of things you're mean to do on the next post.
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