Question 3: Analysing Language and Structure Flashcards
All 21 cards in this deck
What is register?
How formal or informal the language is, chosen to suit audience and purpose.
What is emotive language, and what does it do?
Words chosen to stir strong feelings, e.g. "abandoned", "heartbreaking", so the reader shares the writer's view.
What is irony?
Saying the opposite of, or something different from, what is meant, inviting the reader to share the writer's critical view.
What is sarcasm, and how is it different from irony?
Irony used to mock or wound a particular target. It is harsher than irony and shows contempt.
What is satire?
Humour, often with irony and exaggeration, used to criticise people, institutions or society.
What is understatement?
Describing something as less serious than it is, e.g. a flooded house as "a little damp". It often creates dry humour.
What is bathos (or mock-heroic language)?
Grand language used about something trivial, or a sudden drop from the grand to the ordinary, creating comedy.
What counts as a method in a non-fiction text?
Any choice that conveys the writer's view: language, structure, tone, form, and techniques like anecdote or direct address.
What is an anecdote, and what does it do in non-fiction?
A short personal story used to make a point, making the writer's view vivid and believable.
What effect do facts and statistics have in non-fiction?
They give the writer authority and make the view seem objective, though they are still selected to support it.
What does direct address ("you") do in non-fiction?
Speaking to the reader personally, creating closeness or challenge.
What is bias in a non-fiction text?
Presenting one side favourably while ignoring or belittling the other, e.g. one-sided evidence or loaded words ("so-called").
What is a generalisation?
A claim about a whole group based on limited evidence: "Teenagers never read any more." It oversimplifies.
What is the difference between a fact and an opinion presented as fact?
A fact can be checked ("The pier is 300 metres long"). An opinion presented as fact states a view with certainty ("The pier is the town's only attraction").
What is an analogy?
A comparison that explains something unfamiliar through something familiar, e.g. "Cutting the library budget is like selling your shoes to pay the bus fare."
What is feature spotting?
Listing techniques ('alliteration, personification, a simile') without explaining their effect.
Which structural features can you write about in non-fiction?
The headline or opening, paragraph order, shifts between anecdote, fact and reflection, quotations from others, changes of time or focus, and the ending.
What is the "inverted pyramid" in a news report?
A news report structure: the most important facts first, then details, then background and quotations.
What does an anecdotal opening do in non-fiction?
A short personal story draws the reader in through a person and a moment before any facts or argument.
What is the effect of quotations from witnesses or officials in a report?
They add authority and human feeling, and break up the writer's account with other voices.
What is loaded language?
Words carrying strong positive or negative connotations that push the reader's view, e.g. 'scheme' instead of 'plan', or 'mob' instead of 'crowd'.