Getting your teeth into a text!

Look closely at the newspaper article on Heather Mills.

Heather’s rants wrecking case

Got the wind up ... Mucca with papers at GMTV yesterday

By VICTORIA NEWTON Showbiz Editor
Published: 09 Nov 2007, The Sun

HEATHER Mills was last night looking for new divorce lawyers – after the top firm she hired “fired” her over her bizarre TV war against Sir Paul McCartney.

Lady Mucca, 39 – who went on GMTV AGAIN yesterday – was phoned by legal eagles Mishcon de Reya and told they could no longer represent...

Coursework Essay Introductions

How does Jonathan Swift satirise contemporary attitudes towards the poor in Ireland in A Modest Proposal? Consider:

• The language and rhetorical devices Swift uses and their effects
• The structure of the piece
• How Swift’s writing may have been influenced by his social, cultural and historical context.

Here are 3 sample introductions to your coursework essay. They have some good points.

Task 1: See if you can identify these good points and explain why they are good.

However, as you can tell having studied the...

Design some junk mail for yourself.

Junk mail hits our doormats and email inboxes daily.

• How do you stop the recipients simply sticking it straight in the bin?
• How do you ensnare potential customers?
• What ruses do you employ?
• Which psychological tricks do you use to your advantage?
• How do you make people think the envelope is worth opening?

Gather some junk mail and see what the professionals do. Cut out bits to help you in your design.

Think of a product you would like to push!

Just take a look at an email I received recently. This is a...

Read the following article from The Guardian and then the poem by Carol Ann Duffy that has caused all the fuss.

You might also like to read the comments on the TES English Forum about the decision to remove the piece from the examination syllabus.

Knife crime is certainly in the news. Should this poem be banned?

Top exam board asks schools to destroy book containing knife poem
Three complaints about Carol Ann Duffy work
 - Children’s laureate Rosen accuses AQA of censorship

Polly Curtis, Education Editor
The Guardian, Thursday...

Some Examples…

1. Rhetorical Question

Are they expecting us to take this lying down?

2. Emotive Language

Heather’s rants wrecking case!

3. Parallel Structures

To show kindness is praiseworthy; to show hatred is evil.

4. Alliteration

As busy as a bee

As dead as a doornail

As good as gold,

As right as rain

5. Contrast

Sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind.
(Note that this includes alliteration too)

6. Description and Imagery (using metaphor, simile, personification)

While we wait and do nothing, we must not forget that the...

Language in Action

Daily Mail makes up with Poles

Stephen Brook
The Guardian, Tuesday August 5, 2008

The Daily Mail has reached a peace deal with Britain’s Polish community over its coverage following negotiations brokered by the Press Complaints Commission.

The Federation of Poles in Great Britain lodged a formal complaint with the PCC that the newspaper had defamed Poles working in Britain, accusing the Daily Mail of printing articles that gave rise to “negative emotions and tensions between the new EU immigrants and local communities”....[ read full article ] »

The Language of Persuasion

What approaches do advertisers take to grab our attention?

Look at some magazine advertisements and note the technique they employ. Tick off the following categories from the list when you spot it being used.

The same ad may use a combination of these approaches.

• Humour
• Economics
• Sex appeal
• Celebrity endorsement
• Science
• Time limits
• Machismo
• Popularity
• Insecurity
• Luxury
• I laugh or smile when I see this
• I think I could save money
• I find this person attractive
• I would like to be like this person
• I think this product...