Weighting - 35%
External Assessment Details: Higher Level (HL)
Paper 1: Guided textual analysis
Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes
Weighing: 35%
Paper 1 contains two previously unseen non-literary passages and students are instructed to write a separate guided analysis of each of these passages. A guided analysis in this context refers to an exploration of the passage supported by a guiding question which asks the students to consider a technical or formal aspect of the passage. The passages could be taken from any of the text types listed in "Course requirements." Each of the passages will be from a different text type.
The passage for analysis may be either a complete piece of writing or an extract from a longer piece.
One guiding question will be provided for each passage on a central technical or formal element that may provide an interesting point of entry into the text. Although it is not compulsory to answer this question, students should be aware that it is expected that the analysis will be focused on a particular aspect of the text. Students may propose an alternative point of entry about any other technical or formal element of the text they feel important in order to provide such a focus.
The Learner Portfolio and Paper 1
The learner portfolio is not specifically assessed but it is an important tool in helping students prepare for formal assessment. It provides a platform for students to practice and develop the skills necessary for performing successfully in paper 1.
In relation to the preparation of the paper 2, the learner portfolio provides an opportunity for students to:
Paper 1: Guided textual analysis
Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes
Weighing: 35%
Paper 1 contains two previously unseen non-literary passages and students are instructed to write a separate guided analysis of each of these passages. A guided analysis in this context refers to an exploration of the passage supported by a guiding question which asks the students to consider a technical or formal aspect of the passage. The passages could be taken from any of the text types listed in "Course requirements." Each of the passages will be from a different text type.
The passage for analysis may be either a complete piece of writing or an extract from a longer piece.
One guiding question will be provided for each passage on a central technical or formal element that may provide an interesting point of entry into the text. Although it is not compulsory to answer this question, students should be aware that it is expected that the analysis will be focused on a particular aspect of the text. Students may propose an alternative point of entry about any other technical or formal element of the text they feel important in order to provide such a focus.
The Learner Portfolio and Paper 1
The learner portfolio is not specifically assessed but it is an important tool in helping students prepare for formal assessment. It provides a platform for students to practice and develop the skills necessary for performing successfully in paper 1.
In relation to the preparation of the paper 2, the learner portfolio provides an opportunity for students to:
- record responses to a passage or text read for the first time
- formulate guiding questions for different passages, using them as a lens through which to view those passages
- assess which of the skills involved in paper 1 they feel less confident in and use the portfolio to track their progress in the development of those skills
- keep a record of the text types covered in their practice of paper 1 skills, make sure that they have covered as many text types as possible from those that might appear in paper 1, and assess how much of a challenge each one presents to them
- compare their successive practices of paper 1 to the first one thy have done and monitor the evolution of their overall performance in the paper
How To Score Well On Paper 1
Please read the following information taken from https://dougslangandlit.blog/20-20/ website. This is extremely useful in helping to raise your score on the Paper 1 exam.
Whether you are a standard or higher level student, Paper 1 tests your ability to analyse unseen texts. If you are a standard level student, you will have to analyse one text out of a choice of two. If you are a higher level student you will be given the same two texts but you will have no choice: you must write an analysis of both texts. The texts will be unconnected – the topics and text types will be different – and you are not required to compare or contrast at all. You will essentially complete the same exercise twice. This is to reflect the greater number of lessons you will have had to explore a wider range of texts types, and the greater ability you should have when approaching texts by yourself. HL students will be given more time: 2 hours and 15 minutes compared to 1 hour and 15 minutes at standard level. All students will be given an optional guiding question that will focus your attention on important elements of the text, providing you with a ‘way in’ and helping you structure a worthwhile analysis.
There’s no doubt that paper 1 is a challenging exam. It represents 35% of your grade at SL and 25% at HL. It will be impossible to predict the topics and exact texts that may appear in this exam paper. The range of possible text types is wide, as illustrated by the examples given in the IB syllabus guide. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare for likely text types. In the past, comics and cartoons, advertisements, speeches, opinion pieces, magazine articles, news reports and travel writing have frequently appeared on this paper. Less common examples have been song lyrics, movie posters, letters and even texts from the past, such as an extract from Samuel Pepys’ diary – he was an eyewitness to the Great Fire of London in 1666! Moreover, the IB subject guide is explicit in that you are not meant to exhaustively memorise features of different text types just in case one appears in your exam. Instead, you can learn approaches that are transferable to any text you are given and learn to recognise patterns of language that can help you analyse a text, ascertain its purpose and intended audience, and evaluate its success.
Scroll down to find explainers and key conventions, along with sample papers and responses. All these answers would score highly if produced in this exam; perhaps even 20 out of 20. However, it is important to note that these responses demonstrate only one possible approach each time. Alternative responses can also be valid. Discuss the responses with your classmates and teacher as you go through the course, and revise before your assessments and exams. Once you have read and written a few sample responses, you’ll be able to find strategies that work for you and will allow you to succeed in Paper 1, whatever text you may encounter.
Travel Writing. This kind of writing is less a text-type and more a category of writing. Travel writing can be as recognisable as a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide recommendation for a trip to a foreign country or city. Or it might take the form of an article, describing the experiences of the writer in a strange place, accompanied by photography, maps, or diagrams. It’s possible for Travel Writing to be ‘literary’ in tone and mood, full of imagery, vivid descriptions, and figurative language, recreating the characters and situations the writer met along the way like a novelist. Common themes in travel writing include the search for the self or one’s roots; curiosity about other people; the desire to be informed; the search for a religious, spiritual or abstract experience. If you want to find out much more about this genre, you can visit the course page for this unit of study. Or, simply browse this selection of Paper 1 materials from the category of Travel Writing:
SAMPLE RESPONSES: TRY FOR YOURSELF:
KEY FEATURES OF TRAVEL WRITING
SAMPLE RESPONSES: TRY FOR YOURSELF:
KEY FEATURES OF ADVERTISEMENTS
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF NEWS WRITING
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF BLOGS
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF SPEECHES
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF OPINION COLUMNS
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF COMICS AND CARTOONS
SAMPLE RESPONSES: TRY FOR YOURSELF:
KEY FEATURES OF MAGAZINES
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF INFORMATION TEXTS
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF DIARIES
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF LETTERS
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF INTERVIEWS
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF ADVISORY TEXTS
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF TEXTS FOR CHILDREN
SAMPLE RESPONSES: TRY FOR YOURSELF:
KEY FEATURES OF CHARITY APPEALS
SAMPLE RESPONSES: TRY FOR YOURSELF:
KEY FEATURES OF RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGNS
Whether you are a standard or higher level student, Paper 1 tests your ability to analyse unseen texts. If you are a standard level student, you will have to analyse one text out of a choice of two. If you are a higher level student you will be given the same two texts but you will have no choice: you must write an analysis of both texts. The texts will be unconnected – the topics and text types will be different – and you are not required to compare or contrast at all. You will essentially complete the same exercise twice. This is to reflect the greater number of lessons you will have had to explore a wider range of texts types, and the greater ability you should have when approaching texts by yourself. HL students will be given more time: 2 hours and 15 minutes compared to 1 hour and 15 minutes at standard level. All students will be given an optional guiding question that will focus your attention on important elements of the text, providing you with a ‘way in’ and helping you structure a worthwhile analysis.
There’s no doubt that paper 1 is a challenging exam. It represents 35% of your grade at SL and 25% at HL. It will be impossible to predict the topics and exact texts that may appear in this exam paper. The range of possible text types is wide, as illustrated by the examples given in the IB syllabus guide. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare for likely text types. In the past, comics and cartoons, advertisements, speeches, opinion pieces, magazine articles, news reports and travel writing have frequently appeared on this paper. Less common examples have been song lyrics, movie posters, letters and even texts from the past, such as an extract from Samuel Pepys’ diary – he was an eyewitness to the Great Fire of London in 1666! Moreover, the IB subject guide is explicit in that you are not meant to exhaustively memorise features of different text types just in case one appears in your exam. Instead, you can learn approaches that are transferable to any text you are given and learn to recognise patterns of language that can help you analyse a text, ascertain its purpose and intended audience, and evaluate its success.
Scroll down to find explainers and key conventions, along with sample papers and responses. All these answers would score highly if produced in this exam; perhaps even 20 out of 20. However, it is important to note that these responses demonstrate only one possible approach each time. Alternative responses can also be valid. Discuss the responses with your classmates and teacher as you go through the course, and revise before your assessments and exams. Once you have read and written a few sample responses, you’ll be able to find strategies that work for you and will allow you to succeed in Paper 1, whatever text you may encounter.
Travel Writing. This kind of writing is less a text-type and more a category of writing. Travel writing can be as recognisable as a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide recommendation for a trip to a foreign country or city. Or it might take the form of an article, describing the experiences of the writer in a strange place, accompanied by photography, maps, or diagrams. It’s possible for Travel Writing to be ‘literary’ in tone and mood, full of imagery, vivid descriptions, and figurative language, recreating the characters and situations the writer met along the way like a novelist. Common themes in travel writing include the search for the self or one’s roots; curiosity about other people; the desire to be informed; the search for a religious, spiritual or abstract experience. If you want to find out much more about this genre, you can visit the course page for this unit of study. Or, simply browse this selection of Paper 1 materials from the category of Travel Writing:
SAMPLE RESPONSES: TRY FOR YOURSELF:
KEY FEATURES OF TRAVEL WRITING
- Viewpoint: travel writing often documents the personal experiences of someone exploring a new place or country so is often first person.
- 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.
- Structure: look out for chronological timelines, past – present structures or a linear journey of discovery. Guidebooks will have clear headings and subheadings and will probably include box-outs and the like.
- 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.
- Description: if the writer is trying to make the destination tantalising, or to help transport the reader, you might find examples of visual imagery, vivid description, even figurative comparisons, helping you visualise a far-off place.
- Visuals: photographs, maps, or floor plans of famous locations are all visual features that you might encounter in travel writing, particularly guidebooks.
SAMPLE RESPONSES: TRY FOR YOURSELF:
KEY FEATURES OF ADVERTISEMENTS
- Problem and benefit: also called ‘benefit and need’, the success of any advert depends upon appealing to the desires of its readers. These needs may be genuine – more often the advert will construct a need for you.
- Image: a major component of modern advertising, images often tell visual narratives, or employ tactics such as ‘shock value’ or ‘sex sells.’
- Slogan and copy: as the image is so important in ads, text is kept to a minimum. Slogans should be short, catchy, memorable and should have a relationship with the image; this is called anchoring. Look for typographical features such as bold fonts, underlined words and the like.
- Association: adds sell products but also values and you should be alert to the abstract concepts that the advert is associating with its product and brand.
- Testimonial: adverts often include the satisfied quotations of customers who already used the product and are delighted with their purchase. Some ads feature celebrity testimonials.
- Advertising claims: favourites include the use of weasel words, scientific claims, vague language, or bandwagon claims. There are many more for you to look out for, and you might also keep an eye out for jargon which sounds impressive, but doesn’t communicate meaning.
- Persuasion: adverts are always persuasive. Even ads that are not trying to sell you a product or service might be asking you to think something, change your behaviour or help someone. Look out for any and all kinds of persuasive devices in advertising.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
- UK Weather Report
- 100 Meter Sprint
KEY FEATURES OF NEWS WRITING
- Masthead: a strip across the top of a newspaper front page containing the name of the newspaper, the date of publication and the price. Tabloid papers from the UK are called ‘red-tops’ because of the red colour of the masthead.
- 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).
- Visuals: all newspapers make use of photographs to accompany stories. Tabloid papers are dominated by images while broadsheet papers tend to use smaller photographs. Look out for pictures of people’s faces, which reveal emotion and create bias.
- Copy: the main text of the article. Features you should be on the look out for are: sensationalism; vague language; emotive language and euphemism.
- Embedded interviews: you can expect to find witness recounts, expert opinions and statements from authority figures in almost all newspaper reports.
- 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.
- Figurative Language: anyone who still thinks the news is purely factual needs to go back to the start of the course! News reports are a rich source of metaphor, simile, hyperbole, and exaggeration, often distorting reality in some way.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF BLOGS
- Viewpoint: blogs normally represent the interests and opinions of an individual, so are normally first person.
- 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.
- Diction: depending on the topic, writers of blogs could employ a specialist vocabulary or use technical terms.
- Visuals: blogs may illustrate the text with photographs, often taken by the writers themselves.
- Structure: again dependent on the individual text, but you can look out for chronological and linear structures with clear connectives and other signal words helping organise the text.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF SPEECHES
- Ethos: the speaker establishes his or her credibility and may allude to a moral, social or spiritual leader with whom the audience cannot disagree.
- Logos: clear, reasonable arguments, facts and statistics and quoting experts in the field are all ways of establishing a logical appeal.
- Pathos: emotive language and imagery are ways of helping the audience empathise with the feelings of other – often vulnerable – people.
- Persuasive: the speaker attempts to make his or her listener think in a certain way, believe something or take action.
- 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.
- 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.
- Rhetorical devices: all kinds of rhythmical, structural, auditory and linguistic tricks can be employed by a skilled speaker. They are too many to list here, but rhetorical strategies can be studied and learned.
- Logical Fallacies: also called ‘argumentation fallacies.’ Common fallacies in speeches are glittering generalisations, simplification and slippery slope.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF OPINION COLUMNS
- First Person: 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.
- Perspective: opinion pieces are most likely to be subjective and one-sided.
- Solid Arguments: expect to see opinions backed up by studies, research or evidence of some kind.
- 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. You may find the opinion piece begins with this story, which acts as a kind of hook into the main article.
- 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.
- Informative: 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.
- 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.
- 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.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF COMICS AND CARTOONS
- Structure: comics and cartoons are drawn in square boxes called panels, arranged in sequence and read in a linear fashion. The white space between the panels is called gutters.
- Speech and thought bubbles: so you can read the internal and external dialogue of the characters.
- Mechanics: spatial mechanics is the use of space within each frame. Temporal mechanics is the way time can be slowed down, speeded up or stopped.
- Voice over: akin to narration and exposition in a novel, text that tells the story is presented in boxes not speech bubbles.
- Artistic style: comics are drawn purposefully and with intention. Are the pictures crisp, heavy, weighty, light, cartoony, realistic, bright, dark? Can you tell whether the artist used pencil, pen and ink, or brush? Words that describe mood and tone can be useful when analysing style – and look out for symbolic uses of colour.
- Emanata: action lines indicating movement.
- Caricature: people and issues can be simplified, distorted or exaggerated for effect.
- Humourous tone: look out for satire, parody, irony or even sarcasm, particularly in political cartoons.
SAMPLE RESPONSES: TRY FOR YOURSELF:
KEY FEATURES OF MAGAZINES
- Headline: bold text that reveals the topic of the article and should provide a hook for the reader.
- Images: photographs of people and places are common features of magazine articles. They are almost always posed, not natural, and are often as prominent as the copy.
- Layout: look out for box-outs, bullet points, ears and other kinds of layout features.
- Entertainment: although they might be topical and current, most magazine articles are designed to entertain. Information may be displayed in an appealing way, with pull quotes and subheadings.
- Buzzwords: being up-to-date, relevant and current means some articles make use of buzzwords and words that are popular at the time of publication.
- Interactive Features: increasingly, articles that would traditionally have been printed in magazines are being published online. In this case, look out for interactive features such as embedded videos, hyperlinks and tabs.
- Embedded interviews: experts on or participants in the topic at hand are often interviewed and quotations are used throughout the article. In the case of celebrity articles, the whole piece could be the write-up of an interview.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Mexican Cookbook
KEY FEATURES OF INFORMATION TEXTS
- Neutral language: aiming to inform above all else, the register should be formal or semi-formal, the language accessible and the tone neutral.
- Diction: some informational texts are aimed at particular readers and employ technical terms or specialist language.
- Layout: these kinds of texts normally have a clear, easy to understand layout. They might use box-outs, lists, bullet points, page dividers and other organisational features to help guide you step-by-step through the text.
- Facts and Statistics: presented in all kinds of ways: percentages; graphs; charts or numbers. Look for credible sources that are cited.
- Typography: look for fonts, capitalisations, bold or italicised words, underlined words, or other features that help emphasise key points.
- Images: often in the form of diagrams, images should reinforce the written text or be broken into step-by-step guides. They may be simplified.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF DIARIES
- Viewpoint: as one of the most personal text types, diaries are written in the first person and always express thoughts and feelings.
- Perspective: diaries are written to be private as the reader and writer are the same person. Confessional is a particular form of diary writing that reveals a secret.
- Structure: diaries function as records of the day’s events and are largely chronological. Look out for flashbacks when the writer begins at the end, then goes back to explore how and why an event happened.
- Register and tone: most diaries are written in an informal or semi-formal register, using language the writer feels comfortable with. Look out for language which reveals the attitude of the writer (tone): it is not uncommon for diaries to be thoughtful and reflective, scathing and caustic… or anything in between.
- Colloquialism: the writer might write as if he or she is talking and may use figures of speech in an original or entertaining way.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF LETTERS
- Name and address: formal letters are posted to the recipient, so they normally contain both the sender and receiver’s address, allowing the recipient to reply. The sender’s address is traditionally placed on the right hand side, with the date below it.
- Purpose: people send letters for all kinds of reasons; to complain, to seek advice, to connect with a loved one or even to pass gossip. The purpose of this text type is completely flexible.
- Register: letters can be formal or informal depending on the purpose and relationship between the sender and receiver. The tone can vary widely too: compare a formal letter of complaint with an intimate letter between lovers.
- Salutation: a direct address to the recipient. Depending on context, they can vary from the formal ‘Dear…’ or even ‘To whom this may concern…’ to a quick ‘Hi…’
- Sign off: you can tell a lot about the relationship between the reader and the writer from the way the letter ends. Formally, ‘yours sincerely’ is used if the recipient’s name was used and ‘yours faithfully’ is used when the writer does not know the name of the receiver. Non-conventional sign-offs can be used for a variety of reasons; check the end of the letter to see if the writer expects a reply.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
- Bernie Ecclestone
- Celebrity Big Brother
KEY FEATURES OF INTERVIEWS
- Format: most interviews are either presented in question and answer format or as an article with responses embedded inside narration. Check to see if the balance of content is evenly split or if the focus is on the interviewee. If the interviewer’s own thoughts and feelings are apparent this is called authorial intrusion.
- Colloquialism: 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 ellipsis, idioms, contractions and even jokes.
- Quotation: almost all interviews will feature direct quotation. Something the interviewee said might even provide the title. The writer may use reported speech at times, either for brevity or as a stylistic device.
- Structure: it is not uncommon to see a question- answer interview sandwiched between an introduction and conclusion written by the interviewer. The interview may be focused on one issue or may range across various topics.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
KEY FEATURES OF ADVISORY TEXTS
- Tone: authoritative, reasonable, commanding or trustworthy. Look out for opinions presented as if they are facts.
- Tense: the imperative tense (also called the command tense) can be recognised by the position of the verb at or near the start of the sentence.
- Modality: modal verbs such as ‘must’, ‘will’, ‘should’ and ‘ought’ transmit strength of feelings.
- Credibility: expert sources, research and scientific evidence might be used to establish credibility.
- 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.
- Structure: look for cause-and-effect structures, step-by-step guides or linear structures that are easy to follow.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
- Time
- Journey of a Lifetime
KEY FEATURES OF SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES
- Diction: inevitably, writing about science and nature will involve using a specialist vocabulary of technical and precise terms.
- 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 visualise.
- Visuals: photographs, diagrams, charts and graphs are all likely to accompany and illustrate scientific concepts. Look out for examples of simplification.
- 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.
- Credibility: research, authoritative sources, and quotations by experts make far-out concepts more credible.
- Structure: look out for both linear and non-linear structures and layouts, depending on the content. Boxouts, summaries, explainers, glossaries can all help communicate complicated ideas.
SAMPLE RESPONSES:
- Tiktok and the Nome King
- Enid Blyton
KEY FEATURES OF TEXTS FOR CHILDREN
- Allegory: like symbolism, in children’s stories characters and objects often stand for things greater than themselves. Think of the Wizard of Oz as a good example of allegory.
- Diction: it would be unusual for children’s texts to contain too much difficult vocabulary, although stories and rhymes often use synonyms.
- Visuals: look out for colourful visuals, vividly drawn people and places.
- Fable: a particular type of children’s writing that anthropomorphises animals, who stand in for human characters.
- Didactic: some texts for children are designed to teach a lesson or moral. You can look out for didactic messages in children’s texts.
SAMPLE RESPONSES: TRY FOR YOURSELF:
KEY FEATURES OF CHARITY APPEALS
- Visuals: like conventional advertising, charity appeals rely on visual elements such as photographs to quickly convey relevant information. Look out for body language and facial expressions that reveal need.
- Statistics: in order to convey not only the scale of the problem, but also how the organisation has helped in the past. May be presented in summary or graphical form.
- 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 who your donation goes towards helping.
- Pathos: charity ads appeal to your emotions by trying to make you sympathetic; by feeling sorry for someone you are more likely to help.
- Headings: look for headings and sub-headings that are impactful and emotive.
- Persuasive: charity adverts are strongly persuasive, so look out for all kinds of rhetorical features including direct address, use of imperatives, modals and more.
SAMPLE RESPONSES: TRY FOR YOURSELF:
KEY FEATURES OF RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGNS
- Visuals: can be wholly visual, but likely to have some accompanying text (multi-modal).
- Slogans: text may be minimal or in the form of slogans which are designed to be catchy. Pay attention to typography, fonts and emphasised words.
- Persuasive: the purpose of a recruitment campaign is to persuade you to sign up to a cause or join an organisation. Recruitment drives are almost certain to use direct address and imperatives.
- Pathos: the core of a campaign is often emotional, aiming to elicit feelings such as patriotism and duty on one hand, or guilt if one is not to sign up.
- Card-stacking: a common feature of recruitment drives is they often fail to show the downsides of joining up! Ignoring parts of the argument that don’t fit your agenda is called card-stacking.
- Simplification: along with a host of other fallacies, recruitment campaigns reduce complex issues to simple solutions. They may also invoke stereotypes.
- Symbolism: elements of the text will connote concepts that are integral to the writer’s message. Look out for metonymy, where an individual is made to stand for the whole.