Analysis Language

Question 0

Alliteration and assonance

Answer 0

Repetition of initial consonant sounds (alliteration) and vowel sounds (assonance)

‘Sydney’s slippery slide’ (alliteration)
‘The elite meet and greet’ (assonance)

Question 1

Active and passive voice

Answer 1

Active: ‘they released the report’
Passive: ‘the report was released’

Question 2

Appeals

Answer 2

Attempts to persuade through emotional manipulation

‘Long-range weapons don’t discriminate; we are all a target’ (appeal to a sense of social security)

Question 3

Attach

Answer 3

Means of criticising or opposing and individual or idea

‘Teachers must be held accountable for these appalling literacy levels’ (scapegoating)

Question 4

Bias

Answer 4

Overt preference or sympathy for a particular point of view

An advertisement for the Liberal party announcing benefits of it’s changes to Australia’s workplace legislation

Question 5

Cliché

Answer 5

Overused phrase or opinion, shows a lack of original thought

‘Take a bow’
‘A gold-metal performance’

Question 6

Connotation

Answer 6

Positive/negative implications, loaded language that evokes an idea or feeling, either positive or negative

‘Her reckless behaviour was questioned’

Question 7

Adjectives

Answer 7

Describing words

Beyoncé was flawless

Question 8

Colourful language

Answer 8

Vulgar or rude language

‘Who gives a toss about the Queen anyway’
‘The whole policy is a dogs breakfast’

Question 9

Design

Answer 9

Appearance and layout of a text, including colour, font selection and page presentation

A letter from a principle on formal school letterhead

Question 10

Evidence

Answer 10

Material used in support of argument
- facts and statistics, expert testimony, research findings, anecdotal evidence

‘The city’s 1.5 million households used over 500 billion litres of water’ (statistics)

Question 11

Formal/informal language

Answer 11

Formal: elaborate, precise, sophisticated
Informal: colloquial, everyday or slang terms

Question 12

Generalisation

Answer 12

Broad statements inferred from specific cases

‘It is clear from the evidence at this school that all girls benefit from single-sex VCE classes’

Question 13

Gesture

Answer 13

Use of the body and face to communicate meaning and sentiments

An interviewee crossing his arms to indicate dissatisfaction

Question 14

Humour

Answer 14

Being amusing through the use of puns, irony, sarcasm, satire, wit etc.

‘George Dubbya Bush and his weapons of mass distraction’

Question 15

Hyberbole, exaggeration

Answer 15

Exaggeration or overstatement used to imply something is better, worse, more/less important etc.

‘We’re all being brainwashed by mind-numbing reality TV shoes’

Question 16

Imagery, figurative language

Answer 16

Images and metaphorical language to illustrate points and make comparisons: similes, metaphors etc.

‘Australia is a fabric woven of many colours’ (metaphor)
‘Citizenship was tossed around like confetti’ (simile)
‘Bodies were piled up in make shift roadside graves in gutters’ (imagery)

Question 17

Inclusive and exclusive language

Answer 17

Personal pronouns (I, you, we, they, their, our etc.) to either involve (inclusive) or distinguish/alienate (exclusive)

‘They had their own laws, their own beliefs’ (exclusive-distinguishing)

Question 18

Irony

Answer 18

Humour in contradictory situations, often through use of sarcasm

‘In order to ensure our freedoms, more control is required’
‘The woman was hit but an ambulance’

Question 19

Logic

Answer 19

Reasons; justifiable and valid arguments to sway an audience

‘Research has proven that a prison term for a minor offence only hampers rehabilitation; therefore we must adopt a new approach, as locking people up simply doesn’t work’

Question 20

Repetition

Answer 20

Reuse of words or phrases for effect

‘We cannot imagine the horrors they faced; cannot imagine the strength of their spirit. And we cannot allow it to happen again’

Question 21

Rhetorical question

Answer 21

Question that does not require an answer

‘And why do we do this? Because we are fair’

Question 22

Sarcasm

Answer 22

Use of irony to mock or show contempt, by implying the opposite of what is actually said

‘Why stop at thirty students to a class when we can cram at least fifteen more in?’

Question 23

Satire

Answer 23

Use of exaggeration to expose, criticise or ridicule

Political cartoons

Question 24

Sensationalism

Answer 24

Provocative language and images, and exaggeration

‘Paris Hilton exposed again”
“Juvenile joyriders terrorise community”

Question 25

Sound and sound effects

Answer 25

Musical, effects and other audio to enhance a multimodal text

Background music during a current affairs report to create a particular mood

Question 26

Vocabulary choice

Answer 26

Careful selection of particular words with a clear connotation, positive or negative

‘terrorist’ versus ‘freedom fighter’