Year 12 English Analysis of written and visual languageAnalysis of written and visual language

What is the task? The analysis of written and visual languageThe analysis of written and visual language There will be a many aspects of the text to comment on – choose the words and phrases that you think are most important. You must comment on any visual. It could be a photograph, a cartoon, a drawing, a logo, slide from a PowerPoint presentation. There may be more than one visual. Nothing is put there by chance. Comment on all visual elements. detailed examination of the elements or structure of something

Process – how should I go about this task?

Read: Read the background information FIRST and then the article/letter/editorial/blog etc. (be able to identify the different text types) What is the article/letter/editorial/blog about? What is the article/letter/editorial/blog about? What is the writer’s contention? (What is the main argument?) What is the writer’s contention? (What is the main argument?) What is the context? (Why did the writer write it? Does the writer’s place within the context influence his or her language/tone. Hint: the background information usually gives you information about this.) What is the context? (Why did the writer write it? Does the writer’s place within the context influence his or her language/tone. Hint: the background information usually gives you information about this.) What are the supporting arguments? (What sub-arguments does the writer use to convince the reader of the main argument?) What are the supporting arguments? (What sub-arguments does the writer use to convince the reader of the main argument?) Can you identify 4 or 5 powerful words. This will help to keep your focus on the importance of word choice in presenting the argument. Can you identify 4 or 5 powerful words. This will help to keep your focus on the importance of word choice in presenting the argument.

Analyse: Here you move from considering WHAT the writer is saying to thinking about HOW the writer is manipulating words and phrases. How does the writer convince the reader of the supporting arguments? Which words/phrases/tone does the writer use to do this?Which words/phrases/tone does the writer use to do this? How do the words ‘work’? What are the implications/connotations?How do the words ‘work’? What are the implications/connotations? What does the writer hope to make the audience think or feel? (This is the Intended Reader Response – IRR. Be specific about this.)

Write: How do you structure your response? There is no one way to do this. Depending on the text, you may choose a different way to present your ideas. No matter how you structure your response the goal is always the same:No matter how you structure your response the goal is always the same: To explore HOW a writer USES language to have some sort of impact on the reader. It is not about showing that you know different techniques. Don’t go ‘looking’ for techniques. You won’t get any marks for this and chances are you may get it wrong.

Structure: 1.Use the main points in the text as a starting point.1.Use the main points in the text as a starting point. ‘The writer attempts to persuade parents that…’‘The writer attempts to persuade parents that…’ Then move on to explain HOW the writer does this. You many find examples (these may be words/phrases/statistics/images/anecdotes etc.) but your focus must be not on identifying WHAT the examples are but explaining how they work. 2. Step through the article. This is a popular way to approach the task but be careful not to fall into summarising the arguments. 3. Track the ways in which the writer’s tone changes in the text.3. Track the ways in which the writer’s tone changes in the text. Each of these approaches require careful consideration. Only when you have read the text can you decide which structure might be appropriate.

Avoid: Do not: Label – don’t write about inclusive language, rhetorical questions, statistics and expert opinion unless you are going to explain how they work in a detailed way. Do not just explain the obvious (‘the writer uses statistics to give his writing credibility‘…’) Write: ‘In the first paragraph…’, ‘in the 3 rd paragraph…..’ Write: ‘… and so the reader reads on’, ‘… the writer grabs the reader attention’, ‘the writer uses the word ‘fear’ to make the reader fearful.’ Make assumptions: ‘and so the reader will….’ use ‘might, could, may…’ Make generalisations: ‘all parents know the value of ….’ Evaluate: ‘the writer’s excellent use of the word…’

Do: Do: Review your own work. Take note of the mistakes you have made. Fix these mistakes. Review your own work. Take note of the mistakes you have made. Fix these mistakes. Rewrite, taking into account your teacher’s corrections/suggestions, sections of your work. Rewrite, taking into account your teacher’s corrections/suggestions, sections of your work. Read your work out aloud. You make pick up some useful sentence patterns and vocabulary. Read your work out aloud. You make pick up some useful sentence patterns and vocabulary. Consult the Analysis page on englishconnect. Read the reports posted on this page. These contain examples which are useful. Consult the Analysis page on englishconnect. Read the reports posted on this page. These contain examples which are useful. If you follow these steps, your work will gradually improve and you stop repeating mistakes.