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Language Analysis An examiners Insight Top 10 tips 1.

. Read the article o Pay particular attention to voice, style and structure o The tips in the heading, by-line, background information are worth rereading at the end of the price o Read Actively you are not just skimming this, you are analysis it, your reading will be reflected in your writing. In the exam your exam must reflect your thinking, which can only be informed by your reading Why has the reader done this? How will this affect he audience? Why do writers do what they do? A strong reader understand sthe mechanics of the piece A strong reader lok for more than a rhetorical question 2. Aesthetics o What does the piece look like? A panel writes this article, a table of middle age English teachers, flatter them Why does the image appear where it does? Why a cartoon ? Why a photo? Why subheadings? Why italics? o Deconstruct their intentions o Every detail has been thought of 3. Authorial Voice o Who is writing? o Why are they writing? o What impact does their experience have on the piece? o When do we feel the author is really passionate? o Who does the author want us to think like? Agree with? Become? Reject? 4. Audience o Most likely the text will not be written for you (a group of 18 year olds who dont want to read) o What has been done specifically to engage with the specific audience of the piece. o When does the author go to extreme lengths to broaden their appeal? o Strengthen it? o Go beyond it? o Think about the text as a whole, and its intentions 5. Content pyramid o What 5% - 1-2 marks

o How 35% - 3-5 marks o Why 60% - 6-10 marks o What is the gap between the author and the reader? 6. Cumulative nature of arguments o Impact upon impact upon impact upon impact o An argument is never won by a sentence in isolation, nor as an essay understood by an idea in isolation o Analyse the connected nature of the ideas o Look at how the argument grown o If you have gotten to the end of the paragraph and have not mentioned the author youre not doing it right! o Look further than the devices!!! 7. Pick up marks here o Overall, markers do not want to read this o Overall, students do not want to write these o Be the student that commits up making this write and you will be rewarded. 8. Do it first o Be a time economist, think about the active writing needed a warm up for the other sections o Dont re0read again later o You can achieve a lot with these in an hour. 9. Look for subtleties o There are 45,000 people sitting that exam, there are 45,000 people looking for a rhetorical question go beyond labelling and find the things that will get you marks. o Look for things that other people wont 10. Marking guide o Mark globally o Hard to jump the boundaries of 3-4, 7-8 Think about the little thing which pushes you over the edge, fluency, rehearsing writing, practicing, but not memorising The exam will reflect your practice Exam Preparation Friday 30 October 2009 (88days **) 9:00 12.15 Bring dictionary, pens, highlighters, pencils, erasers No white-out, labels on water bottles, mobile-phones Our aim o To ensure that you contextualise your analysis o To ensure that you analyse the subtlety Contextualise the analysis o Have you annotated the context (a piece overall) as well as the language? Links between the author and the language
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Links between the specific target audience and the language Links between the visual and written language Links between the visual and written language Links between the beginning and conclusion of the piece The physical layout/structure of the piece How the piece crescendos/changes/connects at various stages Background information o Opinion piece A piece of writing that presents an expert, informed or specific point of view on an issue These pieces are written by a journalist, a person with standing in the community or someone who has a vested interest in the issue/ The tone of opinion pieces can be: confident, commanding, authoritative and/or assertive In strongly expressed pieces, tone can be disgusted, scathing, sceptical yet still highly focused. Author o What clues can you find? Represents the group level of trust involved. Dedicated to doing so, Identify the targe Important to note that Lyn Allison is a standing member of the Australian Democrats Party, this instantly draws attention to the possible intentions of Audience o What clues can you find about the specific targeted audiences? Media Philosopher Jeremy Bentham Talk-back radio presenter The man with the dog We, the Australians The public Activists For parents especially, Buckles message is alarming, as the education of children is too important to risk

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