English Paper 1 - Reading non-fiction texts

Mind the G.A.P - Genre, Audience & Purpose:

Genre:

• Knowing where the document is from helps to think about the intended audience

Audience:

• Who the text is aimed at
• How you need to answer the question, in what style of writing

Purpose:

• What the text wants you to do: entertain, inform, persuade e.t.c
• How the text makes you do it

Make a L.I.S.T - Language, Information, Style & Tone:

Language:

• Is it persuasive, informative, descriptive, aimed at children, or aimed at adults
• Is the language emotive, and how it makes you feel
• Does the writer address the reader directly

Information:

• Is it factual or opinionated

Style:

• Paragraphs with pictures or no pictures
• Interesting and eye catching

Tone:

• Serious, humorous, sad

• Inform the reader
• Persuade the reader
• Give advice to the reader
• Describe a person, place, feeling or object
• It has a purpose
• It has an audience
• Give evidence from the text to support your answer

• Why was the text written
• Who is it aimed at
• It could be aimed at a certain age group, men or women, those with a common interest, people from a certain area, people who buy or use a particular product
• How technical the language is
• Photographs are used to support the text

Purpose:

• What is the text trying to do
• Why was it written, provide instruction, create awareness, inform about facts, report news
• Written with purpose to explain, inform or persuade
• Easy too understand if it is clearly broken up into sections and if there are lots of photos and pictures

• Emotive language can be used to persuade you to believe an opinion