Month: March 2021

I just wanted to use this space as an informal way of considering the different text types that we might get on the paper one exam. I’ll try to talk about the conventions of the different text types, as well as common purposes, whether they aim to appeal or to challenge values, who their target audience usually is, that kind of analysis. Do I have my paper one mock tomorrow*? Maybe, but that’s not the point.

*it has now become today

 

Political Cartoons

The context will be an issue with some sort of importance and relevancy. Usually, they’ll cover recent issues or issues with increasing importance (urgency/rarity/relevancy). Depictions of the characters will often be caricatures (perhaps of famous people), mocking them and challenging whatever it is they’re doing. If the character is doing or saying something particularly foolish, rarely will the audience be supporters of that individual, and will often oppose that person strongly. These political cartoons act as a confirmation of their views, not necessarily to educate but to reiterate a point more emphatically. There’ll also be elements of symbolism or personification (you might be able to throw in some anthropomorphism, analogies, or hypophora, maybe even a synecdoche).

 

Graphic Narration

We struggled a lot with this one at first but it’s actually really interesting after thinking about it in a bit more depth. You could point out that there may be text boxes that are differentiated from the normal speech bubbles, and often times these boxes serve the purpose of narration. The composition of the graphic gives the impression of a documentary of sorts, panning around the scene, often having a subject of interest. You could also point out the colour scheme, whether it’s warm and inviting, perhaps to entice readers to buy or invest in what they’re promoting, or whether it’s cold and harsh, maybe to point out an uncomfortable truth and challenge the complicit behaviour of the audience.

 

 

 

Magazine Covers

Although it is unlikely to get something like this on the exam (lol watch me get this on today’s mock) there’s still many things you can infer from the visual elements and composition—you just gotta be extra vigilant. If there’s a subject, what is it? What is it doing? Is it a person? What kind of person? Are there any implicit or explicit gender roles being presented? What about any products featured, what can we say about social class? What values are being promoted or challenged here? I guess these are questions you should consider for any paper one analysis. But more specifically to this heavily visual example, lookout for eyeline, frames, juxtaposition, colour scheme—whether it’s warm and inviting, or cold and contrasting. What could the purpose be?

 

 

 

There’s still a ton of other things you could get, like personal essays, advertisements, short comics, infographics, memoirs, excerpts of autobiographies. Heck, we even prepared for a eulogy. I guess the main point is look out for all the small details and try to draw it back to a main point. Using your understanding of the techniques and stylistic conventions, draw it back to a main point. I should probably continue this and you know what I’ll shush and do that.

Differences between articles: opinion, news, feature, editorial

An op-ed piece is like the special guest of the newspaper. It’s a piece that could be written by anyone, a feature article. This makes sense because it’s in its own little section, and it features a random person who submitted their opinion piece to the newspaper. Editorial is like the opinion piece of a general body, one that represents the newspaper for example. “We, at the New York Times, believe that…”. Google defines it as a piece where the editor expresses their opinion about a topical issue. Basically what I said. Opinion pieces are similar to op-eds, the opinion column is just…an opinion of the author. Not necessarily aligned with the newspaper, perhaps it could be more informal, however, it probably wouldn’t deviate too far from the newspaper’s values and beliefs.

Expanding on editorials, they seem to build on arguments and try to persuade readers to think the same way they—the newspaper/general body—do (ooHo that grammar tho). Editorials influence public thought, promote critical thinking, and maybe even inspire people to take action for an issue. This website described them as “an opinionated news story”.

Opinion pieces promote single viewpoints, using the first person ‘I’. There might be anecdotes to top off the personal tone. Again, authors will be trying to promote their viewpoint, perhaps using more ethos, pathos, logos rhetoric appeals to connect with readers and establish their importance.

To be continued…