Structure of INTRODUCTION:

●​ The title of the text and the text type

●​ The author of the text
●​ Target audience: Primary and secondary
●​ How is the audience being spoken to, and how does the audience react to the
message being delivered
●​ What values are being suggested
●​ The context of the audience, when was the article published and why?
●​ Purpose
●​ Reference the guiding question
●​ Thesis statement

To analyze structure:
*Focus on how the author organises their ideas and the overall effect of their choices*
-​ How is the text organized?
-​ Logical, sequential or nonlinear? Are there flashbacks or flash-forwards? Are
there special organizational structures (ex: circular structure)?
-​ Pacing - is the text fast or slow? How does the writer control the reader’s
experience through pacing?
-​ Is the text divided into sections?
-​ Are these sections clearly defined, and do they serve any specific purpose?
Analyze how the sections contribute to the overall meaning and impact of the
text.
-​ Does the author use any specific organizational techniques?
-​ Are there short or long paragraphs? Look out for one-sentence paragraphs
(they are used for emphasis)
-​ Consider the presence of repetition, juxtaposition, shifts in tone/perspective
and their impacts
-​ Argument/Idea Development:
-​ Thesis and development: What is the central idea that is introduced and built
on?
-​ Counter Arguments: Are there other viewpoints addressed or dismissed?
 -​ Persuasive structure: ex - problem-solution, cause-effect,
point-example-explanation,...

To analyze narrative structure:

1.​ Narrative Voice and Perspective:
-​ Who is telling the story, from what position?
-​ How does the narrative perspective shape the reader’s understanding and
interpretation of events, characters, and themes?
2.​ Plot Structure and Pacing:
-​ Organizational structure of the text (chronological, nonlinear, cyclical,
circular?)
-​ What is the exposition? What are the key events and turning points? What is
the climax? What is the falling action? What is the resolution?
-​ How does the pacing of the narrative affect the reader’s engagement and
understanding?
3.​ Setting and Atmosphere:
-​ Where and when does the story take place?
-​ How does the setting influence the characters, plot and themes?
-​ What atmosphere or mood is created through the description of the setting
and events? Is the atmosphere sustained or shifted throughout the narrative?
4.​ Use of time:
-​ How is time manipulated in the narrative?
-​ How does the manipulation of time affect the reader’s perception of events
and characters?
5.​ Narrative Techniques:
-​ Are there any specific literary devices used to structure the narrative or create
particular effects? Ex: foreshadowing, suspense, irony, symbolism, motifs,...
6.​ Consider the relationship to the genre and text type
7.​ Purpose and Effect:
-​ What is the overall purpose of the narrative? How does the narrative
contribute to achieving this purpose and creating a specific effect on the
reader?

To analyze tone:
1.​ Identify the author’s intended effect on the readers:
-​ What message is the author trying to convey? What emotions do they want
the reader to feel?
2.​ Identify the tone + overall mood of the text
3.​ Recognize the key elements of tone
4.​ Consider tonal shifts (if present) and its effects
5.​ Connect the tone (and its elements) to the author’s purpose + its effects on the
reader
-​ Tone shapes the reader’s emotional response. It guides how they feel about
the text’s content, ideas and characters.
-​ Tone can signal whether the writer is praising/condemning something, inviting
empathy/critiquing social norms, celebrating, warning,...
 -​ Tone can build trust or alienate the reader (ex: conversational/humorous tone
makes the reader feel included while angry/didactic tone alienates the reader
and can provoke resistance)
-​ Tone can deepen meanings and reinforces the text’s themes/main argument

Key elements of tone/Writers create tone through:

-​ Diction (Word choice)
-​ Syntax (Sentence structure)
-​ Imagery - evokes emotion
-​ Figurative language - metaphors, similes, irony, hyperbole,...
-​ Sound devices - alliteration, rhythm, onomatopoeia

To analyze narrative voice:

-​ Point of view:
-​ If it’s 3rd person, is it omniscient (knows all), limited (focuses on one
character’s perspective), or objective (only reporting actions)?
-​ How does the chosen POV influence the reader’s understanding of the events
and characters?
-​ Reliability of the Narrator (not present in all texts):
-​ If unreliable, why might this be? Is it due to limited knowledge, bias, or
intentional deception? How does this shape the reader’s interpretation?
-​ Tone and Voice:
-​ How does the narrator’s tone influence the mood and atmosphere? Is it
formal, casual, ironic or sarcastic?
-​ What are the characteristics of the narrator’s voice? Does it reflect personal
bias, education, or cultural context?
-​ Shifts in narrative voices (if present):
-​ Does the narrative voice remain consistent throughout the text, or are there
shifts in perspective or tone? If so, why might the author have chosen to do
this? What effect do these shifts have on the reader's understanding?
-​ Connections of narrative voice with other elements of the text:
-​ How does it shape our understanding of the plot and its unfolding?
-​ How does it contribute to the creation of the atmosphere and mood?
-​ How does it reinforce or challenge the themes of the text?
-​ How does it contribute to the author’s overall purpose and intended effect on
the reader?

To analyze imagery:
Vivid and descriptive language that appeals to the 5 senses to create mental pictures or
sensations in the reader’s mind.
1.​ Identify the sensory details
2.​ Analyze the connotations of the images:
-​ What associations and feelings do these sensory details evoke? Are they
positive, negative, neutral or complex?
3.​ Explore the patterns and motifs of imagery:
 -​Are there recurring types of images? What might these patterns suggest
about the themes or concerns of the text?
4.​ Consider the purpose and effect of the imagery:
-​ Creating mood and atmosphere
-​ Symbolism
-​ Emphasising themes
-​ Engaging the reader

To analyze diction:
Refers to the author’s deliberate selection of specific words and phrases - encompasses
vocabulary, syntax and formality
1.​ Identify key words and phrases:
-​ Which words stand out? Are they formal or informal, abstract or concrete,
literal or figurative?
2.​ Analyze the connotations and denotations of the words:
-​ What are the literal meanings (denotations) and the associated feelings and
ideas (connotations) of the chosen words?
3.​ Consider the level of formality:
-​ Is the language formal, informal, colloquial, or slang? How does the level of
formality contribute to the tone and the portrayal of characters or situations?
4.​ Examine the syntax:
-​ Are the sentences long and complex, or short and direct? How does the
sentence structure contribute to the rhythm and pace of the narrative and
emphasize certain ideas?
5.​ Look for patterns in diction:
-​ Does the author consistently use certain types of words (e.g., technical
jargon, emotionally charged language)? What do these patterns suggest?
6.​ Analyze the purpose and effect of the diction:
-​ Establishing tone
-​ Creating emphasis
-​ Evoking emotion
-​ Building credibility (ethos) and appealing to emotion (pathos)

To analyze juxtaposition:
The placement of two or more contrasting elements close together to highlight their
differences and create a specific effect
1.​ Identify the contrasting elements
2.​ Analyze the nature of the contrast:
-​ What are the key differences between the juxtaposed elements?
-​ Are they opposites or simply significantly different
3.​ Explore the purpose and effect of the juxtaposition:
-​ Highlighting differences and creating tension
-​ Revealing irony or paradox
-​ Emphasising themes
 -​ Creating a deeper understanding: Does it force the reader to consider the
relationship between the seemingly disparate elements in a new way?
-​ Generating a specific emotional response: Does it evoke feelings of shock,
pity, anger or understanding?
4.​ Consider the context of the juxtaposition and its influence on the meaning and
effect

To analyze persuasion:
1.​ Tone & Register
-​ Is the tone formal, informal, emotional, rational, sarcastic, etc.?
-​ How does this tone help persuade the audience (e.g., emotional tone to build
empathy)?
2.​ Appeals to Logos, Pathos and Ethos
-​ Logos (logic) – facts, statistics, logical reasoning
-​ Pathos (emotion) – anecdotes, vivid imagery, emotional language
-​ Ethos (credibility) – referencing expert opinions, personal authority, shared
values
3.​ Structural Features
-​ How is the text organized?
-​ Are persuasive points built logically?
-​ Is there repetition of key phrases or a climactic structure?
4.​ Language & Diction
-​ Word choices: emotive language, loaded terms, euphemisms, jargon
-​ Persuasive rhetorical devices:
-​ Rhetorical question
-​ Imperatives (“Act now!”, “Join us”)
-​ Repetition
-​ Inclusive language (“we,” “our”)
-​ Hyperbole
5.​ Imagery & Figurative Language
-​ Metaphors, similes, analogies – how do they frame the argument or appeal to
emotion?
6.​ Audience and Purpose
-​ Who is the target audience?
-​ How are authorial choices tailored to persuade that specific group?
7.​ Visual Elements
-​ Layout, color, font, images – how do they support or reinforce the persuasive
message?

Advertisement:
1.​ Problem and benefit - the success of any advert depends on appealing to the
desires of its readers
2.​ Image
3.​ Slogan - should be short, catchy and memorable + should have a relationship with
the image
 4.​ Association - ads sell products, but also values so should be alert to the abstract
concepts that the advert is associating with its product/brand
5.​ Testimonials of customers who already used the product and are delighted with their
purchase
6.​ Persuasion

Charity Appeal:
1.​ Persuasive - to make the reader take action, in the form of money or time. Adjacent
to this is the need to raise awareness of social problems.
2.​ Pathos - charity ads are likely to be more emotive than regular adverts, appealing to
emotions to make it more likely that you will want to respond.
3.​ Hard-hitting visual elements
4.​ Credibility - charity appeals need to be more trustworthy than regular persuasive
texts so need facts and statistics
5.​ Metonymy: social problems like hunger and poverty are too large for one person to
help solve; so charity ads often introduce you to a single individual who represents all
those whose donation goes towards helping.
6.​ Direct address: charity ads will often address the reader with the word ‘you’, striving
to make a strong connection. If a person in the advert is making eye contact with you,
this is a kind of visual direct address.

Speech:
1.​ Ethos: the speaker establishes his or her credibility and may allude to a moral, social
or spiritual leader with whom the audience cannot disagree.
2.​ Logos: clear, reasonable arguments, facts and statistics and quoting experts in the
field are all ways of establishing a logical appeal.
3.​ Pathos: emotive language and imagery are ways of helping the audience empathize
with the feelings of others.
4.​ Persuasive: the speaker attempts to make his or her listener think in a certain way,
believe something or take action.
5.​ Direct address: the speaker tries to draw closer to the listeners by addressing them
as ‘you’ – look out for the use of ‘we’ or‘ us’ to include the speaker and listener on the
same side – and be wary of attempts to compliment the listener.
6.​ Modality: modal verbs are small but important words (such as ‘must’, ‘need’,
‘should’, ‘might,’ and so on) that reveal the speaker’s degree of certainty and strength
of feeling. You can study modality here.
7.​ Rhetorical devices: all kinds of rhythmical, structural, auditory and linguistic tricks
can be employed by a skilled speaker.

Opinion Columns:
1.​ Perspective: as an expression of a personal viewpoint, the first person is most
commonly adopted for opinion pieces. Look out for ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ – a clever way
of implying the viewpoint is commonly held.
2.​ Solid Arguments: an opinion piece might open your eyes to the reality of an issue,
providing facts, statistics and information to help convince you of the writer’s
 viewpoint. Expect to see opinions backed up by studies, research or evidence of
some kind. Keep an eye out for assertion, though, where a writer presents an opinion
as if it were a fact.
3.​ Anecdotes: sometimes a writer will relate a small story from his or her personal
experience in order to demonstrate a thoughtful approach to the topic at hand + can
act as a hook.
4.​ Structure: the writer of an opinion piece is not trying to keep you in suspense and
the opinion is often obvious from the title or first few lines of the article. The rest of
the article should support or develop the writer’s point in a number of ways. The
ending should be strong and certain, perhaps reiterating the writer’s position.
5.​ Register and tone: you should be especially alert to the writer’s choices in this
regard. Opinion pieces are often formal, but the writer may adopt an irreverent tone,
be passionate, conversational, friendly, challenging, even sarcastic depending on the
tactics used to convince you of a particular opinion.
6.​ Concession: Although similar in many ways, opinion pieces are not quite the same
as persuasive speeches, so the writer is not necessarily trying to change your
opinion. In this case, you might find concessions to the other side of the argument or
even an acknowledgement that the writer’s opinion is flawed in some way.

Infographics:
1.​ Audience: normally infographics are designed to reach as wide an audience as
possible. As always, look out for technical language that might indicate a niche
audience.
2.​ Simplification: the main purpose of infographics is to simplify complex knowledge or
data. Look out for all kinds of simplification techniques including summary, bullet
points, images with captions and more.
3.​ Illustrations
4.​ Copy: Infographics are multimodal, meaning there will be some brief text included.
Look out for headlines, labels and snippets (brief chunks of text).
5.​ Structure: good infographics are little visual narratives that tell a simple story, so
look out for structural elements that help you decode the sequence of events.
6.​ Design: infographics are supposed to be eye-catching. Color, typography, font and
other design features should combine to help you get information and also engage
your interest.

Blogs:
1.​ Viewpoint: blogs normally represent the interests and opinions of an individual, so
are normally first person.
2.​ Purpose: Blogs are guided by individual interests or concerns so the purpose is
flexible. A blog might seek to inform readers about an area of interest, topic or
movement. They may also discuss an event or issue. Blogs might even function like
an online diary, describing the day’s events and reflecting on an experience.
3.​ Diction: depending on the topic, writers of blogs could employ a specialist
vocabulary or use technical terms.
4.​ Visuals: blogs may illustrate the text with cartoons, images or photographs
 5.​ Structure: again dependent on the individual text, but you can look out for
chronological and linear structures with subheadings, clear connectives or other
features helping organize the text.

Scientific Articles:
1.​ Informative: the purpose of scientific writing is to share knowledge, so look out for
informative features such as facts and statistics and clear explanations. Some
articles will also simplify concepts for a more general readership.
2.​ Diction: inevitably, writing about science and nature will involve using a specialist
vocabulary of technical and precise terms.
3.​ Comparisons: some scientific concepts are quite abstract or complex, so writers of
scientific articles might use similes and comparisons to make them easier for a wider
readership to visualize.
4.​ Visuals: photographs, diagrams, charts and graphs are all likely to accompany and
illustrate scientific concepts. Look out for more examples of simplification.
5.​ Credibility: research, authoritative sources, and quotations by experts make far-out
concepts more credible.
6.​ Structure: look out for both linear and non-linear structures and layouts, depending
on the content. A text might provide a timeline or historical overview. Boxouts,
summaries, explainers, glossaries can all help communicate complicated ideas.

Descriptive Passages:
1.​ Diction: the aim of descriptive writing is to help you visualize what’s in the writer’s
head, so vague language is not helpful. Descriptive writing employs concrete
language in precise ways.
2.​ Imagery: as writing which is drawn from direct experience, description always
involves imagery. Humans perceive the world vividly using our visual sense – but
don’t forget about other ways of perception: sensory images can also be auditory,
tactile, kinesthetic, and even olfactory (the sense of smell).
3.​ Figurative Comparisons: similes, metaphors, and personifications are commonly
found in descriptive writing.
4.​ Modifiers: the function of adjectives and adverbs are to describe.
5.​ Perspective: one of the most important features. For example, a piece from an
outsider perspective will contain very different thoughts and feelings to a piece
written from an insider’s point of view.

News Report:
1.​ Masthead: a strip across the top of a newspaper front page containing the name of
the newspaper, the date of publication and the price.
2.​ Headline: the choice of words in a headline is essential to the tone and angle of the
story. There are many techniques involved in creating headlines and you should
definitely learn: slammer; pun; alliteration; elliptical headlines (which only include the
keywords).
3.​ Visuals: all newspapers make use of photographs to accompany stories. Look out
for pictures of people’s faces, which reveal emotion and create bias.
 4.​ Copy: the main text of the article. Features you should be on the look out for are:
sensationalism; vague language; emotive language and euphemism.
5.​ Embedded interviews: you can expect to find witness recounts, expert opinions and
statements from authority figures in almost all newspaper reports.
6.​ Bias: all kinds of bias exist in newspaper reports, from selection bias (the choice of
what content to include and what to exclude) to name-calling, to the use of certain
facts and statistics and more.
7.​ Figurative Language: News reports are a rich source of metaphor, simile,
hyperbole, and exaggeration, often distorting reality in some way.

Interview/Podcast:
1.​ Question-Answer: a recognisable feature of interviews in this format, which
presents the questions asked and responses using quotations (direct speech).
2.​ Register: as a record of a spoken conversation, a written interview is likely to contain
examples of language that is more like speech. Look out for colloquialisms, idioms,
contractions and even jokes.
3.​ Quotation: as an alternative to the question-answer format, you might see interviews
written up as a magazine article. In this case you will see a mixture of direct quotation
and indirect free speech.
4.​ Topics: the interview may be focused on one issue or may range across various
topics. Look out for the interviewer asking leading questions to take the conversation
in a particular direction.
5.​ Perspective: the interview presents a one-sided view on a topic or person, so is
likely to be highly subjective. The interviewee may use assertive statements which
present opinions as if they are facts.
6.​ Them-and-us: Look for ways in which the text creates a divide between hosts and
‘us’, the reader, or represents the interviewee as special in some way.

Travel Writing:
1.​ Viewpoint: travel writing often documents the personal experiences of someone
exploring a new place or country so is often first person.
2.​ Perspective: an outsider’s perspective is common when reading travel writing,
particularly if the destination is new, exotic or remote. Alternatively, the piece might
be written from an insider’s perspective and is inviting you to visit or share an
experience in a different part of the world.
3.​ Structure: look out for chronological timelines, past – present structures or a linear
journey of discovery.
4.​ Information: travel writing often seeks to be informative and can present you with
facts and figures, names and dates, historical or architectural or geographical
information and more.
5.​ Description: if the writer is trying to make the destination tantalizing, or to help
transport the reader, you might find examples of visual imagery, vivid description,
even figurative comparisons, helping you visualize a far-off place.
6.​ Visuals: photographs, maps, or floor plans of famous locations are all visual features
that you might encounter in travel writing.
Advisory Texts:
1.​ Tone: authoritative, reasonable, commanding or trustworthy. Look out for opinions
presented as if they are facts.
2.​ Tense: the imperative tense (also called the command tense) can be recognized by
the position of the verb at or near the start of the sentence.
3.​ Modality: modal verbs such as ‘must’, ‘will’, ‘should’ and ‘ought’ transmit strength of
feelings.
4.​ Credibility: expert sources, research and scientific evidence might be used to
establish credibility.
5.​ Register: official advice will be formal and persuasive; friendly advice will be
delivered in a reassuring or intimate way. Sometimes, advice will include a warning.
6.​ Structure: look for cause-and-effect structures, step-by-step guides or linear
structures that are easy to follow.