TEXT ANALYSIS

TEXT ANALYSIS

by Clara Serrano

​WHAT IS GENRE?

A genre is a type of text, defined by its purpose and intended audience, and identified by its format, style and language.

​

An advertisement, a letter, an e-mail and a fairy tale are all examples of genres.

​Purpose

​There are three basic reasons why authors write. It's as easy as...

​Source: https://www.crewilliams.net/authors-purpose.html

​PIE!

Multiple Choice

What is the author's purpose?

"Dogs are the best pets. They are very loving and helpful. It's fun to teach them new tricks. You should get a dog."

• Persuade

• Inform

• Entertain

Multiple Choice

What is the author's purpose?

"Sally always looked forward to winter because of the

Snowflake Festival. She loved the rides and really enjoyed

the shows."

• Persuade

• Inform

• Entertain

Multiple Choice

What is the author's purpose?

A newspaper article about a winter storm....

• Persuade

• Inform

• Entertain

Audience

Who will read it?

​An audience is a person - or group of people - reading a text, listening to a speech, or watching something, eg an advertisement or film.

​

When writing a text, authors imagine an ideal reader - someone who will respond in a way that achieves the purpose of the writing.

​

For example, someone who visits a place of interest after reading a tourist guide designed to inform and encourage them to visit.

Multiple Choice

Who is most likely the target audience for a novel or short story about the old West and cowboys?

• young girls who love romance

• individuals who are interested in high -tech toys

• people who love horses and who wear western wear

• an English teacher who loves Shakespeare's sonnets

Multiple Choice

What is the intended audience of this advertisement?

• Future buyers

• A friend

• A manager

• A person who cooks

​FORMAT

• ​General format (e.g. does it have a title? What appears where on the page?)

• ​​Overall organisation (e.g. what type of information is included in each paragraph?)

Multiple Choice

Headings are typically ___________ than body text.

• larger

• smaller

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT a layout feature?

• Pictures
• Titles
• Purpose
• Use of colour

Multiple Choice

What are typical layout features of an application letter?

• Pictures and numbered points

• Two addresses at the top, date, salutation and closing

• Symbols and emojis

STYLE

​ Formal, informal or semi-formal?

​

Multiple Choice

"Is the following email informal or formal?"

Dear Great Aunt Terri,

I hope that you have been well. I am sorry to have missed your birthday, but I was glad to hear that you spent it with so many family members! I look forward to seeing you at the next family reunion.

Much love,

Your great niece

• Formal

• Informal

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of an informal writing?

• Business email

• Scientific report

• Advertising post

• Academic essay

Multiple Select

How would you define the style of a recipe? (choose two)

• Fairly formal

• Polite

• Concise

• Direct

​LANGUAGE

• ​A poet might use words in the exact way they sound or in a different way (assonance), playing with initial letters of the words.

• Writers may use verbs depicting motion when they want to show some kind of emergency like running or something else.

• ​Sentence structure (e.g. complex or simple)

• ​​Grammar​ (e.g. do any specific tenses predominate?)

• ​Vocabylary

​READ MORE: https://www.makemyassignments.com/blog/characteristics-and-features-of-language-analysis/