Approaching The Exam

Question 1

1.

Answer 1

What is the topic of the text?

Question 2

2.

Answer 2

Who is the writer

• Who is the actual writer of the text
• Is that important? - who could be the implied writer?
• How much knowledge do they proclaim to have on the topic?
• Do they reveal their own personal opinion in the text?
• How do they position themselves and represent themselves?
• What’s the purpose of their text?

WHERE

Question 3

3.

Answer 3

Who is the audience
- Is there an intended/implied audience?
- How does the writer address the reader/audience
- What fo they assume about the audience?
- Is there an implied discourse community.
- What do they assume about the audience
- How does they position themselves audience and represent the reader?
- What’s the time period of the text - how is this reflected?

WHERE

Question 4

4. Essay structure

Answer 4

•Brief introduction (stating the Genre/ Audience/ Purpose/ Time period and point of view of text)

•Analyse representation of topic and point of view on topic (and how language is used to reflect it.)

•Analyse purpose of text (and how language is used to reflect it.)

•Analyse how audience is represented and how writer represents itself (and how language is used to reflect it.)

•Analyse how the time period is reflected and represented in text (and how language used to reflect it.)

• Within each of these sections you are looking at a variety of linguistic choices from the range of frameworks, it may be lexis, grammatical, phonological, semantic, pragmatics… but focusing on WHY and HOW it’s used. (You don’t need to use the framework titles in your essay.)

Question 5

Intro

Answer 5

Brief introduction (stating the Genre/ Audience/ Purpose/ Time period and point of view of text)

Question 6

P2

Answer 6

Analyse representation of topic and point of view on topic (and how language is used to reflect it.)

Question 7

P3

Answer 7

Analyse purpose of text (and how language is used to reflect it.)

Question 8

P4

Answer 8

•Analyse how audience is represented and how writer represents itself (and how language is used to reflect it.)

Question 9

P5

Answer 9

•Analyse how the time period is reflected and represented in text (and how language used to reflect it.)

Question 10

Question 3: The audience would like you to compare…

Answer 10

· Audience/reader (language used to engage them address them/ represent them/ pragmatics)

·Writer’s self representation/ positioning

·Mode/Genre (affordances/ language choices linked to mode choice)

·Time (language choices/ pragmatics/ context differences)

·Purpose (language used to fulfil purpose)

·Tone of voice/ register (language used to establish that)

·Historical variations

·Technological factors

·Social changes

·Linguistic choices – similarities or differences

Question 11

Question 3: Similarities and differences?

Answer 11

•What are the differing viewpoints on the shared topic in the 2 texts?

•Why might that be? Audience? Writer? Time period? Purpose?

•How do they use language similarly or differently to put across those viewpoints?

•What’s the most significant differences or similarities in how the texts are written? Why?