IB Diploma Programme Language A: Language and Literature – Non-literary text types and their conventions Revision Notes

These revision notes cover non-literary text types and their conventions for IB Diploma Programme Language A: Language and Literature, at SL and HL. They follow the current IB subject brief (first assessments for SL and HL 2021) and belong to the area of exploration Readers, writers and texts, under the objective to know “features of particular text types and literary forms”. For full explanations and worked examples, read the study guide first.

Then try the practice questions. Course links: Language and Literature hub · printable checklist · Paper 1 revision notes · Readers, writers and texts revision notes.

Key definitions

• Text type: a kind of text defined by purpose, audience and form (advert, speech, news report).
• Convention: a feature readers expect in a text type.
• Multimodal text: a text that makes meaning through more than one mode, such as words, image, layout and colour together.
• Register: the level of formality of the language.
• Persona: the version of themselves a writer or speaker presents.
• Call to action: a direct instruction telling the reader what to do next.
• Standfirst: the short summary under a headline.
• Byline / dateline: the writer’s name / the place and date of a report.
• Inverted pyramid: most important facts first, background last.
• Pull quote: a line from the text repeated in large type to catch the eye.
• Salience: how much an element stands out.
• Anchorage: words (usually a caption) that fix the meaning of an image.

Conventions at a glance

Text type	Main purpose	Core conventions	Question to ask
Advertisement	Sell or build a brand	Logo, slogan, headline, dominant image, body copy, call to action, small print	What does the image promise that the words do not state?
Editorial	State the publication’s view	“Our view” label, unsigned, institutional “we”, concession, recommendation	Whose authority is behind “we”?
Speech	Persuade or mark an occasion, aloud	Opening address, reference to occasion, inclusive “we”, repetition, lists of three, signposts	How is it built for listeners, not readers?
Blog	Share experience or opinion over time	Dated posts, newest first, first person, persona, links, images, comments	What relationship is built with regular readers?
Infographic	Make data quick to grasp	Headline figure, charts or icons, colour coding, little text, source line	Which number is seen first, and what is left out?
Photograph	Record, document or persuade	Shot distance, angle, framing, focus, lighting, colour, gaze, caption	What choices did the photographer make?
Editorial cartoon	Comment on a topical issue	Single panel, caricature, visual metaphor, symbols, labels, caption, irony	What must the reader already know?
News report	Inform about recent events	Headline, standfirst, byline, dateline, third person, quotations, inverted pyramid	What is placed first, and who is quoted?
Formal report	Present findings to decision-makers	Title, summary, headed sections, findings, recommendations, passive voice	How does the register build authority?

Visual and layout toolkit

Feature	Words to use
Shot distance	close-up, medium shot, long shot
Angle	high angle (subject looks smaller), eye level (equal), low angle (subject looks larger or stronger)
Gaze	demand (looks at viewer), offer (looks away)
Composition	foreground, background, centre, edge, symmetry
Colour and light	warm, cool, muted, saturated, high contrast, shadow
Typography	typeface, weight, size, capitals, hierarchy of type
Layout	columns, grid, white space, reading path, alignment

Method in steps: analysing an image

1. Describe before you interpret: shot distance, angle, framing.
2. Find the most salient element and the reading path.
3. Note gaze and any vectors (lines that lead the eye).
4. Note colour, light and focus.
5. Read the caption or nearby words: how do they anchor it?
6. Explain the combined effect on the target audience.

Method in steps: using conventions in an answer

1. Name the text type from its conventions (give 2-3).
2. Pick the convention most relevant to the question.
3. Quote or describe it precisely.
4. Explain the job it does for this audience and purpose.
5. Note any convention that is missing or broken, and why.

Small worked reminders

Original text written for Marlbridge, a blog opening: “Day 12. Still no hot water. Still no regrets.” The date-style heading is a blog convention; the repeated “Still” and the contrast between hardship and “no regrets” build a cheerful persona readers return for.

Original text written for Marlbridge, a formal report sentence: “It was found that 3 of the 5 sites did not meet the standard.” The passive “It was found” hides who found it, so the finding sounds objective rather than personal.

Original text written for Marlbridge, an advert slogan under a photograph of an empty beach at dawn: “Nobody else. Just you.” The caption anchors the empty beach as exclusive luxury, not loneliness.

Original text written for Marlbridge, a speech opening: “Neighbours, we are here because of a hedge. Yes, a hedge.” The address “Neighbours” names the audience, and the repeated “a hedge” is built for listeners: it gives them a pause and a laugh before the argument begins.

Must-know distinctions

• Editorial vs opinion column: editorial is unsigned and speaks as “we” for the paper; a column is signed and speaks as “I”.
• News report vs feature: a report leads with the latest facts (inverted pyramid); a feature often opens with a scene or a person and explores a topic at length.
• Advert vs public information text: an advert sells a product or brand; a public information text asks you to change behaviour for safety, health or the common good.
• Speech vs transcript: the speech is the spoken event; the transcript is a written record that loses tone, pauses and gesture.
• Photograph vs illustration: a photograph appears to record reality, which can make it seem more trustworthy; an illustration is openly made up.
• Editorial cartoon vs comic strip: a cartoon is usually one panel making a point about a current issue; a strip tells a short sequence, often for entertainment.
• Demand vs offer: direct gaze at the viewer creates contact; looking away invites us to watch.
• Label vs analysis: “low angle” is a label; “low angle makes the engineer look in control” is analysis.

Quick self-test

1. Name three conventions of a news report.
2. What is the difference between an editorial and an opinion column?
3. Define anchorage.
4. What effect does a high-angle shot often have on how the subject appears?
5. Give two conventions of a blog that other text types rarely have.
6. What is a source line, and why does it matter on an infographic?
7. Why do speeches use more repetition than written articles?
8. In “Nobody else. Just you.”, what does the caption do to the beach photograph?
9. Name two conventions of an editorial cartoon.
10. Which voice is typical of a formal report, and what effect does it have?
11. A subject in a photograph looks straight at the camera. Is this demand or offer?
12. An advert shows no product at all. Why is that worth commenting on?

Answers

1. Any three: headline, standfirst, byline, dateline, third person, quotations from sources, inverted pyramid.
2. An editorial is unsigned and gives the publication’s view as “we”; a column is signed and gives one writer’s view as “I”.
3. Words, usually a caption, that fix the meaning of an image by narrowing its possible readings.
4. It makes the subject look smaller, weaker or more vulnerable.
5. Any two: dated posts shown newest first, a comments section, tags, links, an ongoing persona.
6. A line naming where the data came from; it asks the reader to trust the figures and lets them judge reliability.
7. Listeners cannot re-read, so repetition helps them follow and remember key points.
8. It anchors the empty beach as exclusive and private rather than lonely.
9. Any two: single panel, caricature or exaggeration, visual metaphor, symbols, labels, caption, irony.
10. The passive voice (“It was found that…”); it removes the person doing the action, so findings sound objective.
11. Demand.
12. It breaks a strong convention, so the reader notices; the advert may be selling a feeling or lifestyle rather than an object.

Where marks are usually lost

• Naming the text type without saying which conventions show it or what they do.
• Calling an editorial “the writer’s opinion” when it speaks for the whole publication.
• Treating a news report or formal report as neutral and missing the effect of order and selection.
• Describing an image vaguely (“a nice photo”) instead of naming angle, distance, gaze and colour.
• Analysing the words and the image in separate paragraphs, never showing how they combine.
• Reading an infographic’s numbers without asking which one the design makes salient.
• Missing a broken or absent convention, which is often the most interesting choice in the text.
• Explaining a cartoon’s image without the topical context the reader needs to understand it.
• Discussing a speech as if it were read silently, with no comment on how it sounds.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Diploma Programme Subject Brief, Language A: language and literature, first assessments for SL and HL 2021 (2019). The short examples on this page are original texts written for Marlbridge.