Comparing
and grouping texts:
Strong inclusions A, B, C and D are all adverts to some
extent. A and B appear in magazines, which would be browsed through and could
catch the eye of a variety of audiences with A using a large image to entice
the reader along with both using adjectives and metaphors.
A uses “your skin is alive” this adds to the large image of
human bodies which emphasises the fact that ‘your skin is alive’. The
participant A also uses a rhetorical question “what are you doing to keep it
healthy?” this could make the reader think about what they are doing to keep
their skin healthy. It could also suggest that you need to feed and take care
of your skin, just like you do with the inside of your body. This product could
also suit an audience that could have skin conditions “sensitive skin” this
broadens the audience even further as it could attract the attention from
mothers caring for their children, to adults and an older generation who want
to look after their skin. Text C is the back of a shampoo bottle, whilst the
purpose isn’t strictly to persuade as the consumer may have already purchased
the product, it seems the primary purpose is to inform the audience as it
includes philosophy, tips and why you should use their shampoo. C uses a lot of
verbs which is how the audience could be persuaded “driven”, “dedicated”,
“create” these verbs might make the audience believe that the company are
focused on giving the best care for the consumer.
Text D is the label of a water bottle the purpose of the
product is to inform the purchaser about how the water is made “tasty
hydration” the adjective “tasty” could suggest that this particular brand of
water would be more enjoyable as it is flavoured. The word “tasty” is mentioned
many times throughout the product label this could be to encourage the audience
to buy the water. Text B has a primary purpose which is to persuade as it is an
advert for holidays, it is from a newspaper therefore it could be glimpsed
though by a range of audiences. Text b uses the adjective “enticing” this makes
the audience want to see more to see why the adjective is used. The word
“tempting” is used many times throughout the text this makes the audience
curious as to see how they can be tempted.
Texts A and B can be grouped on the genre of the pieces, they
are from a magazine and a newspaper which means they can be viewed as the
readers are flicking through the newspaper/magazine. The target audience for A are
adults as it is a shower gel
specialising in products that contain less chemicals to make your skin healthier,
this could persuade this target audience to buy the product as they could have
children, skin allergies or just want to benefit their skin. This is similar
for participant B as it is an advert for a cruise, the audience would be adults
as they would have to be eighteen to book the cruise and able to afford to pay
for it.
Texts C and D are similar as they are labels from the back of
a water bottle and a shampoo bottle. Text C is the back of a shampoo bottle,
the purpose is primarily to inform the consumer about the product however there
is a secondary purpose which is to persuade as it uses rhetorical questions,
and imperatives to instruct on how to get the best out of their product. Text D
is the back of a water bottle, again the same principles apply in that its main
purposes are to inform and persuade by explaining how the water is filtered, and
verbs are also used to entice the reader. The audience for text D I find is
more for young adults, as there is a combination of words between the adjective
fantastic and the word lemon to create “Lemontastic” this appeals to a younger
audience. Additionally text C also could appeal to a younger audience although
I think that it could include older adults too as it is informative.
Some good features identified. Work on the range of groupings - all of these are genre groupings (adverts, from a magazine/newspaper, labels), so revise the different frameworks and ensure at the planning stage that each group is from a different aspect of GAP or a different framework. Also, you said about being browsed through in magazines/newspapers in your first group and then you made a group out of it later - good planning will ensure you avoid this kind of repetition.
ReplyDeleteIf they are only adverts 'to some extent', they are probably not strong inclusions. Strong inclusions obviously belong but you have to justify how weak inclusions belong (in what way they are, in this case, adverts).
Indent between texts in a group and leave a line between groups for clarity.
Work on explaining exactly how certain language forms certain impressions in the audience's mind. Try and establish who the target audience might be and then suggest what they might think of (connotations) when they read/hear particular lexical choices e.g. examine the implicature in the lexical field of the dynamic verbs on the shampoo bottle: "driven", "create" and "dedicated" (check they are verbs in that grammatical context as "dedicated" and "driven" could be adjectives) e.g. these could be seen by men as connoting progress and advanced technology and that the shampoo will transfer those qualities to them, whereas women might see that as creating an impression of a powerful company that will care for their needs by delivering the best products (according to gender stereotypes). Your ideas about language a re there, you just need more terminology and more consideration of the effects of language on specific target audiences that you tentatively identify.
Good spotting of patterns like the repetition of "tempting". Again, tentatively explore why they have focussed on that adjective for that audience. The analysis of "tasty" is convincing as it contrasts what their selling point is against mineral water - you cna be even more explicit about that to show how the persuasion might work on specific audiences.
If you say they could be viewed as readers are flicking through, you must examine which techniques would make particular readers stop and read in more detail. It is good to consider how the text gets into the hands of the audience and what their attitude is towards the text. Vital for top band marks.