ANALYSING TEXT PURPOSE
Reasons a text is produced. Disclose
text purpose(s), specify purpose clues, evidence and explain it.
Types of purpose
Primary purpose
Secondary purpose
Categories of text purpose.
1. To inform- A text that has purpose to inform or explain is normally non-fiction (real life)
e.g Magazine, articles, letters, reports, leaflet etc. Here you are telling readers about a topic
that they may not know much about.
Informative text conventions (clues)
Headings and subheadings
Definitions
Instructions
Explanatory details
Exemplification or Illustration
Use of graphs, diagrams, visuals, tables, charts
Facts
Declarative sentences
Statistical evidence
Expert evidence
Anecdotal evidence
Quotes
Procedures or steps outlined
Nouns
List
Measurements
2. To persuade
To convince or influence the reader to agree with the writer’s point of view.
Persuasive texts: advertisements, leaflets, scripted speech, letter to the editor.
Persuasive text clues
Direct address
Imperatives
Question tags
Emotive lexicon
Positive lexicon
Negative lexicon
Superlatives
Triples-annoyed, appalled and irritated
Repetition
Sensory language
Figurative language
Statistical evidence
Anecdotal evidence
Testimonial evidence
Images
3. To entertain
Entertaining texts are normally fictional (imaginary/not real).
Conventions
Colloquialism- chatty style will sometimes be adopted to create more personal
tone.
Humor- sarcasm, irony, satire.
First and second person narrative voice.
The purpose of the text is to persuade readers to buy a product. To achieve the intended purpose,
the author incorporates imperatives ‘Get yours now’ ‘Don’t worry about transport’ and ‘hurry
while stock lasts’ in order to compel the audience to decide urgently on the purchase of the product.
The imperatives further create a commanding tone which leaves the audience with no option but
see necessity of having the product.
TEXT ANALYSIS
1. Present your analysis chronologically
Focus on features of form, features of structure and then features of language.
2. Clear statement of features through use of appropriate linguistic terminology.
The word ‘must’ has been used to convey a commanding tone.(Wrong)
The modal auxiliary verb ‘must’ has been used to convey a commanding
tone.(Correct)
3. Provide appropriate referencing; indication or provision of text feature evidence. Do not
merely state text feature, you should also provide their examples (Evidence)
In order to create a chatty style, the writer has employed slangs to convey the
message in a way that brings the audience closer to the text and allow them to
assimilate the content effectively and efficiently as everyday register is used. For
instance, “ASAP” and “Cop”.
4. Vary how you present evidence e.g. to exemplify…, to substantiate…, to elucidate…, for
example…, for instance…, …such as…
Introduce evidence using brackets, e.g. the contractions (‘don’t’, ‘It’s’ and
‘couldn’t’) have been used to create a conversational approach.
Introduce evidence with semi-colon (;) e.g. the rhetorical question; ‘What hinder
him?’ has been used to draw the audience closer to the text.
Introduce evidence directly after mentioning text features e.g. the personal pronoun
‘I’ shows that the author shares personal experience.
Shorten a longer text evidence by inserting ellipsis e.g. The compound sentence;
‘They were blissful…and decided to…’has been used to provide explanatory
details.
5. Provision of text features effect (Explanatory comment/Evaluation)
Text feature effect- the impact of the text feature on the audience, how the author manages
to achieve the text purpose or the importance of the feature in the text.
Text Analysis Paragraphing
You may commence with the presentation of text feature, followed by referencing and
explanatory comments.
The author has used imperatives “Get yours now’ ‘Don’t worry about transport’ and ‘hurry
while stock lasts in order to coerce the audience to decide urgently on the purchase of the
product. The imperatives further create a commanding tone which leaves the audience with
no option but see the necessity of having the product.
You may also commence the presentation of explanatory comment, followed by text
feature awareness and referencing.
In order to share the personal experience that discloses the author’s expertise in overcoming
all challenges and continually be happy, there is use of personal language marked by first
person narrative voice ‘I’. The use of this pronoun fully shows that the author has
experience of what he talks about as also reflected in the declaratives ‘I’ve been cheated’
and ‘I have overcome loss and depression’. Further, this has been cemented by the
specialized lexis of human emotions such as ‘hurt’, ‘anger’, ‘and exuberance’ and ‘heart-
broken’. The author has gone through diverse emotion phases and manages to evoke the
audience emotional response
