READING AND COMPREHENDING TEXTS

TASKS FOR THIS BRIEF: You need to read and respond to 3 different texts 1. An essay (Rowan Williams ‘Why we need Fairy Tales now more than ever’) 2. A press release for an Exhibition (Exhibition: Fairytale Fashion) 3. A Fairy Tale of your choice (or, there is one on Blackboard called ‘The Girl Without Hands)

You need to read through this presentation and complete the tasks to help you understand the different aspects of texts. We will look at ‘meaning’, ‘style’ and ‘context’.

You then need to fill out a question sheet for each text, writing in as much detail as you can. On slide 15 and 16, you are asked to ‘create a profile…’. You should use and fill in the ‘text in context sheet.

You can annotate directly onto the texts and you will need to hand these in, along with your 3 question/ answer sheets. If you have any questions, please contact me over easter! DO NOT WAIT until we get back. Hand in for this assignment is Wednesday 13th April. Can I remind you that if you hand it in late and you have not met all the assessment criteria listed on the question sheet, you will fail.

TYPES OF TEXT:LetterEmailNovelPoemNewspaper articleBlog

Press ReleaseA recipeA noteInstructions for DIYWriting on a websiteEtc. etc.

MEANING IN TEXTS What does ‘meaning’ mean? definition, sense, explanation, interpretation

Texts can have meaning in different ways;

Explicit and Implicit

EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT MEANING

Explicit Is where the meaning is clearly and directly stated.

For example; “The way we consume fashion is unsustainable”

Implicit Is where meaning is buried underneath. We need to ‘read between the lines’.

For example; We consume fashion at a fast pace and in a number of different ways. This is increasing year by year.

READ;‘ROWAN WILLIAMS. WHY WE NEED FAIRY TALES NOW MORE THAN EVER’

Task 1;

Find examples of explicit meaning in the text. You can annotate straight on to the paper, maybe you could use different colours for implicit and explicit.

Task 2;

Suggest what implicit meaning there might be in the text. Again, you can write directly onto your paper.

WHAT IS A TEXTS PURPOSE?To Describe... To Inform...

WHAT IS A TEXTS PURPOSE?To Instruct... To Persuade...

INTERPRET:‘ROWAN WILLIAMS. WHY WE NEED FAIRY TALES NOW MORE THAN EVER’

Task 3.

Decide what the purpose of the text is. Choose from the 4 given in the previous slide. It may be more than one.

Task 4.

Underline 3 different parts of the text that support your choices.

BRIEF AND TASKS;

Answer questions 1 and 2 on your Q&A Sheet for Rowan Williams’ essay.

BREAK-GO AND FIND AND PRINT A FAIRY TALE OR FOLK TALE OF YOUR CHOICE FROM THE LIBRARY. THERE MIGHT BE FAIRY/ FOLK TALE BOOKS THAT YOU CAN PHOTOCOPY. DON’T MAKE IT TOO LONG,

STYLE AND FORM

Writing style refers to the manner in which an author chooses to write to his or her audience. A style reveals both the writer's personality and voice, but it also shows how he or she perceives the audience.

Language used; is it suitable for the audience? Is the language complicated? Simple?

Verbs? Are there lots of ‘doing’ words?

Adjectives- does the writer ‘describe’ a lot.

We need to refer back to the purpose

Are words repeated again and again to make a point?

Are the sentences long?Or short and to the point?

Is it written in the first person? ‘I’

Do we hear the writers voice? Opinions?

Look at question 3 on your Q&A sheet

Does the writer make us see particular ‘images’ through their language?

WHAT IS CONTEXT?

So what is context?

-When the text was written

-What the society was like at the time the text was written

-What or who influenced the writer

-What political or social influences there would have been

-When the text was written and when it was set may also have an important part to play in what is written.

WORKING IN PAIRSLook at the ‘Text in Context’ sheet on blackboard. Create a profile for the Rowan Williams’ text to explore any social, historical or cultural contexts that might change the meaning of the text.

For example, might different audiences read it differently? Is Rowan Williams coming from a certain point of view?

NOW DO THE SAME FOR YOUR CHOICE OF FAIRY TALE

Create a profile for your fairy/ folk tale so that you can think about the social, political and cultural context that it was written in. Would the message from the tale be different then?

Find out as much as you can in 15 minutes.