A student today asked me to help him, just days before the exam. He was trying to do the 2013 Music response about language features and how used for effect. So, I did this for him.

Now read Source 3, ‘Music Studio’ an extract from a brochure advertising activity holidays for Teenagers. How does the writer use language features in the brochure?

Source 3 is presented as a leaflet for young, budding musicians of a teen audience who are aiming to make a way in the music industry, or who just want to improve their skills on their given instrument.

The writer uses a range of features from adjectives to imperatives in an attempt to get the reader to join the event taking place, trying to argue that if the reader wants the best, then they have to use this service.

For example, the writer begins with rhetorical questions to begin each section. The use of words like “what’s it all about” and “you are here” denote a young readership intent on success as musicians. Coupled with the promise of “trained and experienced music technicians” in the description of what is available makes this sound too good to miss for any budding musician.

The writer also uses lots of subject specific language in the assumption that the reader will understand fully what is being stated. Examples of this are “hip hop,” “house” and “garage” when referring to music as a genre. Only the very aware musically would be able to associate this use of language with something positive. An older reader for example would respond cynically to such words.

Other language features that are used are the use of the word “you” in both its contexts. The writer uses the word in the singular style, asking the reader a personal question, but the piece is aimed at every reader, not just one. This is a technique used by writers to employ persuasion over the reader. In this way, the young man or woman feels that they are a part of a readership and should respond positively.

The use of the imperative exclamation mark at the end of the second section illustrates the persuasion happening in the piece. It is saying that if you go on this holiday, then “you can pack in loads of other experiences too!” Such language only reinforces the use of the word “you” in the ways it is being used, along with the rhetoric applied, resulting in many a young reader feeling that this holiday is just the thing they are looking for.

Finally, there is one phrase that fully illustrates the persuasive power of this piece of writing and that is the use of the word “specialist” at the bottom. By the time the reader, as young as they are, get to the bottom, they will feel like they are indeed, specialists in the music field in need of some further training. Couple that with a holiday and you have the dream young musician’s holiday!

When you get to section B, there can be all sorts of things they ask you to do. One student decided to do a “describe” task as a story. Here it is….

My phone rang as I negotiated the tricky part of the run, hard left, just skirting the rocks, shit, that was close. Then right through the middle of two huge pines, sentries guarding the last of the shadowy woods and finally out into the brilliant sunshine, the snow all around reflecting the dazzling light back to the heavens.

“Pronto” I tried to answer in my best Italian, my chest still heaving, desperately searching for oxygen in the cold, rarefied mountain air.

“We ave a parcel for you ere, Meester Opes , I tink whatever was in it is dead. Come very quickly please!”

I collected my parcel from the impossibly beautiful alpine chalet that was the Post Office, and walked back along the snow covered road, towards my apartment, the temperature dropping like a stone now the life giving Sun had dropped behind a craggy peak.

I had decided to do one last season as a Ski Instructor, and here, high, in the Italian Alps, I sat, on Christmas Eve, at the kitchen table of a Snow Covered Farmhouse and opened my Parcel.

The beauty of it took my breath away again, but the air I now sought for my lungs was now warm, the crackling log fire and it’s heady intoxicating pine fragrance saw to that.

It sat, truly magnificent, on the table, a prime chunk of fine English Stilton, defiant and proud in it’s new Italian surroundings. There was something else too, a twelve pack of Quavers and a note from my Brother, which simply said, “Enjoy”.

Happy tears welled from nowhere. Someone, so far away, cared enough to do this, my dearest brother, my love for him as warm as the crackling fire.

The door flew open, cold air rushed in to fight with the warm, and in tumbled, my two, far from unattractive, chalet mates, full, quite literally, of Christmas spirit!

“What you got there Mattie?” Amy giggled, her tanned skin glowing with soft firelight.

I must add at this point that It is well known in skiing circles that a Chalet Girl will, after half a season “in Resort” will do almost anything (in reality you can drop the almost) for a jar of Marmite, what would these do for a share of two pounds of finest Stilton and some Quavers (whilst Italian cuisine is amongst the best in the world, their crisps are mind blowingly bad!), it was party time!

We sat, with the balcony doors open, the twinkling lights of the resort stretched out like a Christmas Tree on massive scale, eating such a humble meal of cheese, cut with a penknife, fresh bread ripped, whilst still warm from the loaf and rough local Red wine from plastic beakers. Such a simple fare you could not imagine, the complexity of feelings however was indescribable.

The beauty of that rustic meal, the laughter, the comradeship of friends and the love of family will live with me forever.

Did the Stilton and Quavers work their magic with the Chalet girls? Well, that’s another story…

The news was expected yet brutal and shocking when it came.

My girlfriend (now wife) had bought a couple of really nice pieces of Sirloin Steak on the way home, a treat for us both on a dreary, February evening.

I set about seasoning them in preparation for cooking when the phone rang.

The normally welcoming sound so often bringing cheer, news and reassurance from dear friends and family now had an ominous, sinister and threatening tone.

I glanced at Hayley, who tried, and failed to smile reassuringly.

“You get it,” she said.

“It’s Dad, I have some bad news I’m afraid”. My fathers voice sounded calm, his ability even now, to make those around him feel safe shone through.

The rest of the conversation passed in a blur, key words rose and fell, driftwood on the swell.

Six months, respite care, nothing more can be done, comfortable, be strong.

I replaced the receiver, no words to my wife were needed, my face did not just tell a story, it told of a lifetime, now passing.

Tears would not come, only an impossible emptiness, yet being on a dizzying precipice I dared not peer over the edge.

I returned to the Kitchen and began to cook the steaks, why I have no idea. The thought of eating seemed so alien, such an impossibility, so wrong.

The smoking pan almost grabbed at the meat, finally having something to transfer its malevolent heat to, one rare, four minutes, one medium six minutes. Dad liked his well done, but I did not need to remember the cooking time, nor would I.

We ate in silence, and when the silence became too noisy, we made pleasantries; we even talked of late trains and what should be done.

The steak was beautiful, and I feel guilty remembering that till this day.

I was hungry but could not face eating, my wife urging me to try and eat a little more but every mouthful felt wrong, rebuilding my body whilst my father’s wasted away would never again seem right.

Years and many, many meals  have passed since. Some people are missing from the table of life, but where they sat new, small mouths fill the void. Life on a plate.

As part of a lesson tonight, I asked my students to think about the best meal they had ever tasted and the worst. It was based on a previous paper and so, they had to sit down for 25 minutes and write an article for a foodie website, telling about their best and worst meal experience.

This is mine and it took me 15 minutes……..eat yer heart out Gordon Ramsey.

The Best and The Worst

It was the best of worlds. It was the worst of worlds. It was the best meal I have ever tasted and yet, it was the worst, for I have never suffered so much from one meal time than on that day way back in the last century.

I was a young lad, a trusting teenager, a lad who could eat his way through the front end of a donkey, let alone the back end and on this day, I met my match in the indomitable form of Mama Romero and her culinary delights in St Etienne du Rouvray, northern France. She was my brother’s mother in law and let me tell you this, Gordon Ramsey and Heston Bloominthing had nothing on this lady. She could blow them out of the kitchen with a single beat of her wooden spoon. For she was and remains to this day, the lady who managed to out face this young piglet of a man in one sitting.

Imagine for a moment sitting down to a meal and thinking how wonderful this rustic French cuisine will be; home cooking at its French/Algerian best. Imagine sitting there thinking you could eat anything they threw at you and you would get somewhere close to my mentality on that day.

But I was wrong, for she cooked what turned out to be a ten course family meal, using aperitifs and starters that blew your palate apart with that glossy garlicky flavour. I was hooked from the very first bite. I devoured every little morsel and when she saw how much I was enjoying it, sampling robust French red wines per course, she asked me if I wanted some more. I answered in the affirmative rapidly on each occasion and before long, my brother was trying to warn me to slow down.

Did I listen? You guessed it right…

The first course slid effortlessly into the second and third; a fish dish to simply astound you in a ragout like sauce that to this day, defies all logic and sensitivities. The smooth, glossy and wonderful texture of that sauce as it went down is a taste sensation that I remember to this day, nearly four decades later. Then came the garlic potatoes and the Coquille St Jacques, or was it the other way around? I am not sure now as one thing effortlessly glided into the next and my stomach began to groan under the volume of food.

Papa Romero made comments about how much my liking of the food was a compliment to the chef at the time and she beamed that lovely smile she always had, serving up one thing after another in oblivious delight. By the time the sorbets and the dessert courses had been devoured, I had gone way past the ‘full’ stage and was heading into dangerous territory, somewhere this lad’s belly had never been, before or since.

You see, the trouble was that I did not, and still do not, know when to say enough is enough. And when you consider the different textures going down with all that magnificent Munster cheese, the smelliest but most gorgeous thing I know to come from a cow, you begin to see why it can be considered the worst meal.

I loved every second of it but as I climbed the stairs of their house to my bed, I knew I was in trouble and you know, I do not think I ate another thing for three days. The struggle to keep the food down was immense, but I would not succumb. I must have had 10,000 calories in that one magnificent meal, but I also know that if I had the chance all over again, I would still not want to make her feel awful and would still eat it all in the same way.

Well, perhaps every course, but not double portions! That perhaps, was a mistake, but one I remember now, with fondness and affection. It was after all, the best of meals and the worst of meals, all because my eyes are bigger than my belly. If you ever want to know just how glorious it was, go out to a swanky French restaurant and order the Coquille St Jacques.

That alone will astound you!

Have a look at this and look at how it is written. Who knows, you may be asked to write something about the provision in society for the young in the exam this year. It is a topic that has not been in the exam in recent years, so I am expecting something aimed at the 15 year old market this year.

After all, the majority of people taking the exam will be 15 or 16.

There is an exam question that deals with something called ‘Presentational Devices.’ AQA and all the other exam boards offer advice on each one, as does the BBC Bitesize site, but here for you, are just a few ideas. It is the question that always catches everyone out in Section A of the exam and so, take real notice of this in your revision. It is vital you understand these concepts as listed below…

PRESENTATIONAL DEVICES – well, some of them! 

1. Illustrations and photographs

Writers use devices like these in order to find a visual way to engage the reader’s interest in a particular topic.  However, this is not the only reason.  Often, an illustration of photograph can be used to impact on the reader’s point of view about a particular topic.

2. Captions

It is important to look closely at the caption that accompanies a particular picture.  Very often the caption does more than just explain what is in the picture: it can be used to inflect additional meaning on to the image. 

3. Colour

Colour is a subtle way to control the reader’s interpretation of material.  Very often, a specific colour carries specific connotations and associations.  It is important to think about the colours that are used in a text and the possible emotions or feelings that the writer is trying to evoke as a consequence.

4. Charts and diagrams

Simply, charts and diagrams allow the writer to condense facts and statistics into an easily accessible visual form.  It allows the writer to take raw data and present it clearly so that the reader comes to think that the writer’s ideas have a basis in quantifiable fact.

5. Logos and Slogans

Logos and Slogans are important because they are visual representation of an individual’s or organisations collective identity.  In some texts identity is a powerful element of why the text is convincing: that is, because the reader can identify with the values of the group or individual promoting a particular idea, they are more likely to accept it.

6. Font  Styles

The different font styles that a writer employs are key to their strategy in communicating with the audience.  The writer may adopt particular font styles in order to draw the attention to a specific point or to distinguish between different words or phrases in the text.

7. Titles

Titles play a central role in any text: they dictate the tone and meaning of the text from the outset.  A title is more than a description of a text’s content, it indicates to the reader the approach that the writer is taking to a topic.  Titles may carry concealed or implied meaning that only becomes clearer once the text has been read; alternatively, they might also indicate, from the outset, the writer’s perspective on a particular topic.

8. Sub-headings

Sub-headings are both a presentational and structural device.  At a very simple level, sub-headings help to divide information clearly so that the reader can follow a writer’s argument with clarity.  However, they also form a much more subtle purpose when used effectively.  Sub-headings can also be used to condense a complicated argument into carefully managed segments.  This approach is not simply concerned with helping the reader to follow the argument, but also leading them to believe that each stage of the argument is leading to a logical conclusion.  In turn, the text can be ultimately more persuasive. 

A Note about Presentational Devices

You should see presentational devices as integral to the success of any text.  They have not been included by the writer or design team primarily for decorative effect.  They help to enhance and extend the meaning of the text that the writer has produced.  When writing about persuasive devices, you need to think about what they add to the text.

Illustrations and Photographs

Illustrations and photographs are key elements of a text’s construction.  The use of visual images is both engaging and stimulating for the reader.  It is important to remember that each individual sees something different in a visual image.  In other words, how we interpret visual imagery is subjective.  However, illustrations and photographs help us not only to engage with a topic, but they might also visually represent the image that is being written about, or be included to alter our perception of a particular topic. 

Describing Visual Imagery

Although our interpretation of visual imagery is subjective, there exists a methodology for analysing visual texts.  In order to think about what a picture is showing us we can think about what is illustrates superficially, but also what it implies beneath the surface. 

Captions

Captions do not simply describe the contents of a picture.  Instead, they offer an additional comment on the topic matter.  Very often the writer will use an image to add meaning to their text.  In turn, the caption is another way that the writer can control the way that the reader thinks about a particular topic.

Colour

Colour is a slightly more subtle device that writers or designers can use to enhance the meaning of their texts.  This is because of the subconscious associations that we make with what different colours represent.  It is important to think about how colour is used in a text.  Very often it can be used as a way of directing us to think in a certain way because of what we associate the colour with. 

Logos

Another key presentational device used by writers and designers are logs.  Logos are important because they do two central things.  The first is that they promote the identity of an individual or organisation with which we associate the logo.  Secondly, the logo itself promotes the values and ideals of that person or organisation.

Slogans

Slogans are effective tools that writers use in their texts.  Essentially, a slogan is a short and pithy phrase that sums up the essence of a product or organisation.  Some slogans use what is called phonological patterning.  This is devices like alliteration and assonance, for example, which are designed to make the slogan memorable by using the same sounds in the slogan.  Alternatively, the slogan might just be a very short phrase that focuses the reader on a particularly unique element of the product or text in general.

Fonts

Like the use of colour, font styles are another way that the writer and designer can subtly control how you perceive a piece of text.  Fonts carry with them a number of perceived meanings.  One of the first things to think about is the level of formality implied by the font.  The second is to ask yourself if the font is being used to draw your attention to a key idea in the text.  The third, is the font designed to draw a distinction between ideas in the text.

Headings

Headings are another key element of a text.  They work to provide us with an initial sense of the writer’s topic, but also their purpose.  That is, headings are more than just illustrations of what will be contained in the piece, instead they can offer us an early insight into the writer’s perspective on a particular topic.  You should look closely at headings to determine whether or not the writer is presenting their ideological perspective in addition to an indication of what they intend to write about.

Subheadings

As well as the main titles in a text, you might also think about how the writer’s approach is developed by their use of sub-headings.  This will be important because very often, sub-headings do more than simply ‘break up’ the text; instead, they often provide a way for the writer to guide the reader through their argument by continuing to insert headings that deliver their ideological impact.

As we head towards June 3rd this year, and the exam in English, assuming you are doing the AQA 4700 course of course, I am reminded of some of the tasks that the exam sets and so here is one for you to consider.

Just how much could you write in 35 minutes, which is the time allowed? They specify a page, but I say if you can do more, then be prepared to do so. An example of one of these scripts is to be found on this blog.

Have a go at this in your own time and see. Make sure you knock up a 2 minutes spider diagram beforehand. You can do this in the exam booklet to keep you on task.

TASK: Your school or college has set up its own radio station. Write the script for a short radio broadcast informing students about a good place to visit in your area.

Remember to:

 write a script

 use language to inform.

Try to write approximately one side of your A4 answer booklet.                      (16 marks)