Assignment 1: Analysing texts

This is for part two ONLY of the assessment.

Assignment 1: Analysing texts

Part 1: Completing weekly language analysis practice tasks

You will be given a mark out of three (3) for the responses to the practice language analysis tasks you have posted to the forum for each topic.

Write your answers to Parts 2A, 2B and 2C into the spaces provided below.

When you have finished, save the document as a pdf, and upload as Assignment 1.

Before you save the document, ensure the pages are well laid out e.g. tables, or at least table rows, fit onto one page.

Part 2A: Analysing the features of a written text

To complete this assignment, you will need to read and view the following texts:

• Text 1 and Text 3 (written texts)
• Text 2 and Text 4 (images)
• Text 5 (multimodal text)

Read the two (2) written texts: Text 1 and Text 3. Then answer the questions below.

1. i) Use a complete sentence to write your answer into the spaces below.

Name the type of text (e.g. This text is a procedure):

Text 1

Text 3

Identify the social purpose of the text. (e.g. The purpose of this text is to instruct):

Text 1

Text 3

Label the stages of each text; then in the space below, list the stages of the text. (e.g. The stages of this type of text are: Goal, Materials and Steps).

Text 1

Text 3

Describe the variety of language used in each text in terms of field, tenor and mode (register).

Write your answer into the table below.

Register (context)           Language variety

Field

1. a) What is the text about?

(e.g. cooking)

Text 1: _________________________

Text 3: _________________________               b) What ideas are expressed in the text?

(e.g. ideas about cooking a soufflé)

Text 1: ___________________________________

Text 3: ___________________________________

1. c) Is the language everyday or specialised/technical?

Text 1: ____________________________________

Text 3: ____________________________________

1. d) How are the ideas connected?

(e.g. implied logic, conjunctions, text connectives, logical verbs and/or nouns)

Text 1: ____________________________________

Text 3: ____________________________________

Tenor

1. e) Who is producing the text? (e.g. an expert, a storyteller)

Text 1: _________________________

Text 3: _________________________

1. f) Who is the target audience? (e.g. students, novices)

Text 1: _________________________

Text 3: _________________________               g) How is the text producer interacting with the audience? (e.g. The expert uses commands to instruct the novice. The text producer uses evaluative language expressing feelings and attitudes to build suspense, or evaluations to inform.)

Text 1: ___________________________________

Text 3: ___________________________________

vii) Is the language informal or formal? Why?

Text 1: ___________________________________

Text 3: ___________________________________

Mode

1. h) What is the channel of communication? (e.g. a written recipe)

Text 1: _________________________

Text 3: _________________________               i) How is the text organised? (e.g. in paragraphs, dot points, a dialogue)

Text 1: ____________________________________

Text 3: ____________________________________

1. j) Is the language concrete or abstract?

Text 1: _____________________________________

Text 3: _____________________________________

(ii) Language features from each text have been selected. Show how each language feature is structured and what it does.

Example 1:  Add                an action verb which instructs the reader what to do

Example 2: the addition of beaten egg whites    a noun group in which the nominalisation addition is the main noun; the pointer/article the is in front of the noun; an adjectival phrase, of beaten egg whites, placed after the noun adds extra information

Text 1

1. Vocabulary: classiest, jealous, plotted, bodyguards, shoot, mad, rage

Word groups: the classiest dame in New York; the death of beautiful Snow White; the poisoned cherry that had been stuck in her throat

1. Sentence: One day the stepmother read something that made her very jealous.
2. Sentence: When Snow White sang the next night, a newspaper reporter was in the club.

Text 3

2. Paragraph: Describe the information flow pattern in Paragraph 2.
3. Sentence: The carbon cycle is the flow of carbon between the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.
4. Noun group: a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere
5. Technical vocabulary: hydrosphere, lithosphere, photosynthesis, combustion

(iii) Write a paragraph of about 100 words to explain how Texts 1 and 3 might be relevant to your personal and community interests, and/or educational and professional goals.

To help you write this paragraph, and other paragraphs in this assignment, use the information on the Academic Skills Office website about how to write paragraphs: https://aso-resources.une.edu.au/academic-writing/paragraphs/

Part 2B: Analysing the features of an image

View the two (2) images: Text 2 and Text 4. Then answer the questions below.

i)

Name the type of each image (narrative or conceptual).

Text 2

Text 4

Identify the social purpose of each image (e.g. to entertain; to instruct, to explain, to inform).

Text 2

Text 4

Describe the field, tenor and mode (register) of the image

Field

1. a) What is the image about?

Text 2: _________________________

Text 4: _________________________               b) What ideas are expressed in the image?

Text 2: ___________________________________

Text 4: ___________________________________

1. c) Is it an everyday or specialised image?

Text 2: ____________________________________

Text 4: ____________________________________

Tenor

1. d) Who is producing the image? (e.g. an expert, an illustrator)

Text 2: _________________________

Text 4: _________________________

1. e) Who is the target audience? (e.g. children, students)

Text 2: _________________________

Text 4: _________________________

1. f) How is the image producer interacting with the viewer? (e.g. by expressing feelings and attitudes, degrees of reality, credibility, power)

Text 2: ___________________________________

Text 4: ___________________________________

Mode

1. g) How is the text designed/laid out? (e.g. photograph, drawing, cartoon etc)

Text 2: _________________________

Text 4: _________________________

1. h) How is the image organised? (e.g. in the centre of the page, inside a frame, in focus etc)

Text 2: ____________________________________

Text 4: ____________________________________

1. ii) In each image, find features that contribute to the different types of meanings made by the image. Circle whether the features are related to the field, tenor or mode. Describe each feature and how it contributes to the meanings in the image. (See Topic 5 notes.)

Text 2

1. Find one or more features in this image that express ideas? field – tenor – mode
2. Find one or more features, in this image, that help the image producer interact with viewers. field – tenor – mode
3. Find one or more features, in this image, that contribute to its organisation. field – tenor – mode

Text 4

1. Find one or more features in this image that connect ideas? field – tenor – mode
2. Find one or more features, in this image, that help the image producer interact with viewers. field – tenor – mode
3. Find one or more features, in this image, that contribute to its organisation. field – tenor – mode

(iii) Write a paragraph of about 100 words to explain how these texts might be relevant to your personal and community interests, and/or educational and professional goals.

Part 2C: Analysing the features of a multimodal text

View the multimodal text: Text 5.

Write a paragraph in which you explain how the written text and the image work together to create the meanings made by the multimodal text. In your paragraph, consider the following questions.

• How are ideas expressed in the text? Are the meanings everyday, literary or specialised meanings?
• How are the ideas connected?
• Are the interactions between author/illustrator and the readers/viewers formal or informal? Are feelings and opinions expressed in the text?
• How is the text organised and are the meanings concrete or abstract?

Your paragraph should be at least 200 but no longer than 300 words long. It should have a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence.