Language Analysis: Response Structure, Revision and Practice

By

 

Revision

Make sure you revise all materials covered last term regarding language analysis, including the relevant sections of you Using Language to Persuade textbook.

 

 

 

Structure of a Language Analysis Essay

A language analysis essay is a type of analytical essay, which is a type of essay that, by now, you should be very, very familiar with. A language analysis essay follows many of the same rules that all essays follow:

  • there is an introduction, body and conclusion;
  • paragraphs must be used to separate out ideas;
  • paragraphs should begin with topic sentences;
  • it must be written formally;
  • it should be written in the third person (the first person should never be used);
  • evidence must be used to support your arguments.

All of the same basic conventions of essay writing still apply.

The main difference between a language analysis essay and, for example, a text response essay, is that you are not being asked to formulate your own arguments. Rather, you are being asked to identify and explain the arguments presented by another person.

As a result, in your introduction you do not establish your own contention; rather, you identify the contention of the author of the text you are analysing. Likewise, a body paragraph does not begin with your argument; rather, it begins by identifying an argument that the author of the text you are analysing has presented.

The structure for a text response essay, and the specific information that should be included in each section, is as follows:

 

Introduction

  • What is the ISSUE being discussed?
  • What is the CONTEXT of the article?
      • Who is the writer and what is the title of the article?
      • What is the form of the article?
      • What is the name of the publication?
      • What is the writer’s relationship to the issue (if you know)?
      • Is there any vested interest in the issue (if you know)?
  • What is the CONTENTION of the article?
  • What is the TONE of the article?
  • Who is the likely AUDIENCE of the article?

 

Body Paragraphs (repeat for as many arguments as you can identify)

  • What is the FIRST ARGUMENT/IDEA presented in the article?
  • What TECHNIQUES are used to express this argument? Give examples.
  • What LANGUAGE is used to express this argument? Give examples.
  • What is the possible/likely EFFECT on the audience of the article?

 

Final Body Paragraph

  • What VISUAL ARGUMENTS are presented?
  • What TECHNIQUES are used (i.e. ANALYSE the visual source)? Give examples.
  • What is the possible/likely EFFECT on the audience of the article?

 

Conclusion

  • Restate the writer’s contention eloquently.
  • What has the writer tried to achieve?
  • Who have they tried to convince (audience)?
  • Are they LIKELY to have convinced them? How successful have they been?

 

You can access a copy of the slides used in class, which include how to plan and structure a language analysis essay, here:

 

 

You can also download a copy of the essay structure here:

You should also look at the following advice on writing a language response essay carefully, and use it when practicing your own response:

 

 

Persuasive Techniques Revision

You need to ensure that you can correctly identify and analyse all the persuasive techniques listed in your Using Language to Persuade textbook. There are numerous resources on this blog and on STL Link which will also assist you.

Remember that you must be using the checklist from last class to help ensure that you can correctly identify and analyse all relevant persuasive techniques. You can download a copy here:

A good revision technique is to make FLASH CARDS of all the persuasive techniques. You will find Part 3 of Using Language to Persuade, particularly the table at the start of the chapter, is an extremely valuable resource for this.

Create flash cards for each of these terms/techniques. Have an example on one side, and the name of the technique, a definition and a statement of the general effect on the other. Creating multiple versions of each technique, each with a different example, will further enhance your ability to identify that technique in a wider range of situations.

 

 

Practice Writing a Language Analysis Essay

There is very little time before the upcoming assessment task. It is important that you are familiar and have practice in writing a language analysis essay, as this is something that you will be required to do in year 12.

You can use the documents below to practice and apply your language analysis skills and practice writing a language analysis essay.

You must be extremely careful in how you approach this task. Practice and planning are essential. Careless and lazy errors are a major problem for many students – if you do not train yourself to be focussed, careful, detailed and specific in your reading of an article and response to it, it can become very easy to fail a language analysis task.

 

Language Analysis Assessment Criteria:

 

Practice Language Analysis Assessment Task:

 

An article for further practice:

 

Sample Responses: (Updated 16/6)