Readers, writers and texts flashcards

Topic 1: Readers, writers and texts

What is the core question of Readers, writers and texts?

How a writer's choices of language, form and structure shape meaning, and how a reader actively constructs an interpretation rather than passively receiving it. Analyse in two steps: name a specific choice, then explain its effect on the reader.

What does Paper 1 involve in Language and Literature?

A guided analysis of unseen non-literary passages from different text types, each with a guiding question. SL: 1 hour 15 minutes. HL: 2 hours 15 minutes, analysing both passages. 35% at SL and HL.

How do you plan a Paper 1 answer?

Underline the key words of the guiding question; read for gist (text type, audience, purpose, context); annotate features with effects; write a one-sentence thesis; plan three body paragraphs by idea, each Claim → Evidence → Effect → Link; check every paragraph answers the guiding question.

What is a text type, and what is a convention?

A text type is a kind of text defined by purpose, audience and form (advert, speech, news report). A convention is a feature readers expect in that text type.

What is the inverted pyramid in a news report?

The most important facts come first and background comes last. A feature article, by contrast, often opens with a scene or anecdote.

Editorial versus opinion column

An editorial is unsigned and speaks as "we" for the newspaper. An opinion column is signed and gives one writer's personal view.

What is anchorage in a multimodal text?

Words, usually a caption, that fix the meaning of an image, steering the viewer towards one reading of it.

Demand versus offer in an image

Demand: a direct gaze at the viewer creates contact, so the viewer feels addressed. Offer: the subject looks away, inviting us simply to watch.

What effect do direct address and inclusive pronouns have?

Direct address ("you") makes the reader feel personally involved. Inclusive pronouns ("we", "our") build a shared group with the reader. Always test the effect against the text in front of you.

Why is technique-spotting without effect weak?

Naming a device ("low angle", "metaphor") is only a label. Analysis explains what the choice does: "the low angle makes the engineer look in control". A shorter answer that links device to effect scores higher than a list of devices.

Narrator versus author, and speaker versus poet

The narrator is the voice telling the story, not the author: write "the narrator claims", not "the author believes". The "I" of a poem is a constructed voice, the speaker, not automatically the poet.