Analysis and Evaluation

This Week: Monday: Analysis and Evaluation (reading) overview and practice (to be finished for Thursday). Thursday: Analysis and Evaluation (first sitting). Next week: Monday: A&E listening Practice – A&E listening first sitting. Thursday: Poetry; 8pt question.

What is it? You must be able to read a text and show that you are able to understand, analyse and evaluate it. Using thinking skills of applying, analysing and evaluating.

Outcome 1 Understanding, Analysing and Evaluating Detailed Written Texts. You will be asked to read and respond to either a fiction or non-fiction text. – 1.1 Identify and explain the purpose and audience, as appropriate to genre; – 1.2 Identify and explain the main ideas and supporting details; – 1.3 Apply knowledge and understanding of language to explain meaning and effect, using appropriate critical terminology.

Outcome 2 Understanding, Analysing and Evaluating Detailed Spoken Language. You will need to be able to watch and listen to an extract from a film, television programme, trailer or commercial/advert and answer questions: – 2.1 Identify and explain the purpose and audience; – 2.2 Identify and explain the main ideas and supporting details; – 2.3 Apply knowledge and understanding of language to explain meaning and effect.

Outcome 1: Purpose As you read any text, ask yourself these questions: Why? Why has the writer written the piece? What? What is the writer saying? How? How is he/she saying it? How effective? How effective is the piece?

Writing Purposes to present a point of view to complain/di sagree with something to express feelings to record/shar e experiences to entertain to give information to present a balanced view of two sides of an argument to analyse/co mment on a topic to promote a product or service to explain something

Purpose Practice 1.An article debating the value of a university education compared with the advantages of going straight into work. 2.A newspaper report from a war zone. 3.An article detailing personal experience of treatment for cancer. 4.A newspaper article advocating reducing the voting age to sixteen. 5.A comic strip. 6.A letter to a newspaper objecting to cuts in social services for the elderly. 7.A magazine article on the star of a film that is about to be released. 8.A personal diary. 9.A leaflet accompanying a smartphone. 10.An article looking at the effect of texting on children’s writing. to present a balanced view to give information to record/share experiences to present a point of view to entertain to complain/disagree with something to express feelings to analyse/comment on a topic to promote to explain something

Register Writers use a register that is appropriate to his/her purpose. Register is made up of sentence structure and word choice. Example: An article containing Scottish words and phrases would be appropriate for a local newspaper, but probably wouldn’t appear in a UK- wide paper. What would be the register of a science textbook? A story book for toddlers? A form of language used in particular circumstances

Tone Tone is an aspect of register. The tone might be personal or impersonal. The manner in which a text is written and the attitude of the writer that this reveals. Personal: The writer’s personality may come over strongly The word ‘I’ occurs frequently Writer’s thoughts and feelings are expressed Dear Julie, How are you? I just have to tell you about my holiday! What a disaster! Impersonal: Does not reveal anything about the writer Concentrates on facts and information Expresses ideas without revealing the writer’s own feelings The Ming dynasty of China was established in 1368 by Chu Yuan Chang. TONE BANK: Angry Questioning Persuasive Ironic Serious Sarcastic Humorous Pleading Mock-serious Disappointed Playful Frightened Resentful Thoughtful Shocked Tongue-in- cheek

Audience Writers have to think about who they are writing for. Examples: – Small children – Teenagers – Members of a profession or people with expert knowledge – People with a special interest in a topic – People who would enjoy a particular theme (fiction rather than non-fiction) They adopt different styles and registers according to the readership they are aiming for and also at times to achieve a particular effect. The group of people most likely to read a text

Practice I will show you several extracts of writing written in different registers to fulfil different purposes. For each extract, explain: a)the purpose of the piece b)the intended readership c)two or more features of the register used.

Extract 1: Example This Last Will & Testament is made by me, William James McDonald of 20 Park Road, Glasgow, G46 2PW. I revoke all previous wills and codicils. I appoint as executors and trustees of my will Peter William McDonald and Jennifer Rachel McDonald, both of 20 Park Road, Glasgow, G46 2PW.

Extract 1: Example This Last Will & Testament is made by me, William James McDonald of 20 Park Road, Glasgow, G46 2PW. I revoke all previous wills and codicils. I appoint as executors and trustees of my will Peter William McDonald and Jennifer Rachel McDonald, both of 20 Park Road, Glasgow, G46 2PW. Purpose: (will) to give information Audience: Lawyers, executors of the will (professional people with knowledge of legal affairs and language) Tone: impersonal – does not reveal anything about the writer; gives information only. Serious. legal language Formal, proper language used appropriate to the purpose of the extract

Extract 2 The little pig built a house of sticks. Just after the house was finished, along came a wolf. He knocked at the door of the little pig’s house and said ‘Little pig, little pig, let me come in.’ The little pig answered, ‘No, No, by the hair of my chinny chin chin, I’ll not let you in.’ Then the wolf said, ‘The I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.’ So he huffed and he puffed until he blew the house down and ate up the little pig.

Extract 3 Today 11:54 good thanks being lazy today. Got 0 work done lol. Hi hows you??

Main and Supporting Ideas Main ideas: The most important points of what you read (key points). They make up the general message of the piece. Supporting ideas: The facts, ideas and examples used to develop and explain the main ideas. They help us understand the key points. These are used in fiction as well as non fiction. In fiction, these are the incidents and plot points that support the key message of the piece.

Language Features: Review When analysing language you must show that you are aware of how it is written. This means identifying the language features used, and explaining their effect. 1.Alliteration 2.Onomatopoeia 3.Simile 4.Metaphor 5.Personification a)He looked as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a cake b)His house was now his prison c)The ringmaster cracked his whip d)Death stalked the battlefield e)The rifles rapid rattle

Sentence Structure (BBC) How a sentence is built up or constructed. Repetition: When single words, or groups of words, are repeated Lists: If a list is present, look at the order in which the points are listed. If they lead up to the most important item at the end, there is a build-up to a climax. Sentence length: Short sentences may be used to build up tension. Longer sentences may be used for explanation. Sentence types: Questions and rhetorical questions might be used. An exclamation such as “How amazing!” can be used to indicate a strong emotional reaction. Inversion: Where the normal word order is reversed, usually in order to place emphasis on a particular word. Contrast: Individual words or groups of words can be placed side by side – in juxtaposition – to stress the contrast between ideas. Parenthesis: Where extra information is included in the middle of a sentence, contained within dashes, brackets or commas. Ellipsis: Where three dots (...) are used to indicate something more could be added. Punctuation: Punctuation is often key to sentence structure. There are many possibilities for punctuation that can help you with sentence structure. A colon (:) or single dash (-) can be used to introduce an idea, a list or an explanation. A semi-colon (;) may show contrast in the ideas before and after. Use of question marks is always worth consideration. Questions may be rhetorical, but not always.

Word Choice The writer has picked this particular word instead of another – your task is to explain why they have done this. Ways to do this: 1. Think about connotations of the word – what do you associate with it? ‘slender’, ‘slim’, ‘thin’, ‘lean’, ‘skinny’ These words all mean the same thing, but some are positive and others are negative ways to describe something. Denotation: The dictionary meaning of the word. Connotation: What is implied by the word. 2.Are the words formal or informal? 3.What effect is created by the words?

Practice ‘The Flowers’ by Alice Walker is a text included in our short stories studies for the exam. However, your first reading will be your practice for the A&E assessment. 1. Read through the story and underline any important details. Think about purpose, audience, main ideas, tone, sentence structure, word choice and any other literary techniques. 2. Then answer the questions as best you can.