English GCSE Non Fiction Reading and Understanding

GCSE ENGLISH

Reading and understanding non-fiction and media texts 

This overview is suitable for any exam board

What your assessment looks like will depend on whether non-fiction texts form part of your exam or part of your controlled assessment. The skills you will need are the same, but the tasks are slightly different.

• If your GCSE course puts non-fiction in the controlled assessment, you will have to analyse two texts from a selection. 
• If it is an exam, you will need to read three non-fiction texts and answer four related questions in total. 
• Foundation candidates will need to answer five shorter questions.
  
  The same skills apply for success in the controlled assessment (in the form of one essay) or in the exam questions.
  
  
  In order to succeed in the exam on non-fiction texts, you need to prepare for the types of text you might be asked about and which of the four different areas you will write about.

To prepare for both of these you should:

1. know how to define non-fiction texts
2. know how to identify the purpose and audience of the texts
3. show you understand what the writers of each text are trying to say
4. show you understand how the writers use presentational features
5. be able to compare the way the writers use language to meet their intended purposes and audiences

These Revision Notes should help you to:

1. understand what non-fictions texts are
2. prepare for the four types of question you will be asked. You will be asked to:
   • look for information
   • identify presentational devices
   • explain what a text suggests
   • compare writing techniques

What are non-fiction texts?

Non-fiction is a type or genre of writing based on facts and real life rather than a made-up or fictional story. Non-fiction includes any kind of text designed to give information. There are a range of forms for non-fiction including:

• Information leaflets
• Newspaper or magazine articles
• Travel writing
• Biographies
• Company websites
• Advertisements and advertorials
• Film and book reviews

Once you know what kind of text you are looking at, you need to know two more key details:

• Audience - who is the text aimed at (eg men or women, adult or youth)?
• Purpose - what is the text trying to do (eg inform, persuade, argue or advise)?

So remember the three key elements you need to recognise are: genre, audience and purpose. Next you need to work on  your exam technique.

Know exactly what you are being asked

1. Recognise the type of question you will be asked.There are only four types of question that are going to come up in the exam:

• look for information
• identify and explain presentational devices
• understand and interpret meaning
• compare the effectiveness of language techniques
  
  

  Reading non-fiction texts: questions

  
  

  There are four types of question you might have to answer. These questions ask you to find information, explain your choice, discuss presentational techniques and compare texts.

  • The question on looking for information

  The first type of question tests your understanding of a text.

  To answer this well you need to do two things:

• Find the information the question asks for.
• Explain why the information you have chosen answers the question.

The key skill tested here is how to summarise an argument. For this you need to identify what the text is about and then decide if the writer thinks the topic is a good or a bad thing.

You can do this by looking at:

• The heading or title - this should help you decide on the main subject of the text.
• Vocabulary - the kinds of words (nouns) used to give information will also indicate a particular subject. For example, an article about global warming will include words such as "environmentalist, carbon footprint, greenhouse gasses and sustainability".
• Attitude - adjectives and intensifiers should tell you what the writer thinks about their subject. Look for words like "totally brilliant, absolutely ridiculous, complete nonsense, straight forward common sense".
• Argument - the author will use points to develop their argument. Look for discourse markers - phrases such as "on the contrary, what is more, and another thing, as a result, in conclusion".

Tips and traps

When reporting what a writer says in a text you should summarise what they say and how you know. Do this by quoting a line of text and saying where it is from.

The main points a writer makes tend to come at the end of each paragraph. A good way of checking the overall argument is to compare what the writer says at the end of the first paragraph with what is said at the end of the last one.

Be careful about quotations. Lines that are reported and spoken by other people will not always be the opinions of the writer. Look at the adjectives and intensifiers the author uses to work out if the writer agrees or disagrees with the people quoted.

• The question on identifying presentational devices

The second question relates to the way the text looks. To get all the marks on this question you need to do two things:

1. List the presentational devices the text uses.
2. Explain why these devices are used and what effect they have.

To answer the first part of the question you need be able to recognise presentational devices such as:

• Headings (titles) and sub-headings
• Photos
• Pictures
• Illustrations
• Font size and style (bold, italic etc)
• Colour
• Layout features (bullets, boxed text)
• Structure (short or long paragraphs)
• Quotations (things people said either in quotation marks or highlighted in the text)

A good way of revising is to analyse any text you see or read. Pick up a magazine and look at a page at random. You should be able to spot a whole range of devices being used.

Why presentational devices are used

The devices used depend on:

• Purpose - what the text is trying to do (eg inform, advise, persuade).
• Audience - who it is trying to talk to (eg children, adults, men, women).

Choices in layout (such as the use of pictures, diagrams and lists) are made to meet a specific purpose and communicate with a specific audience. Choices in colour and font, for example, can be made to appeal to a specific target group. You might use lively colours and playful fonts in a text for kids and more serious fonts and colours for adults. Different presentational devices create different effects.

Remember: there are three main reasons for using presentational devices: mood, memory, clarity.

Mood

A piece of writing will always try to express feelings. The mood created could be fun and excitement (eg in a brochure for a theme park) or perhaps fear and concern (eg in an advice sheet about road safety). The feelings should always be in tune with the target audience.
Devices to look out for in mood:

• Pictures
• Fonts
• Colour
• Quotes

Memory

If the main purpose of a piece of non-fiction writing is to inform, then it is important that readers find and remember key bits of information. These can include website addresses or phone numbers, advice or statistics.
Devices to look out for that are used to aid memory:

• Bold text
• Headlines and sub headings
• Bullet points
• Diagrams, maps and illustrations

Clarity

Most non-fiction texts are written for people in a hurry, so it is important that the purpose and audience of a text is clear. This will make the right people pick it up and read it. The information within the text also needs to be clearly presented otherwise people will stop reading.
Devices to look out for to aid clarity:

• Bold text
• Bullet points
• Sub-headings
• Paragraphs
• Colour
• Images and captions
• Quotes

• The question on your understanding of a text

Like the first type of question, this question tests your understanding of the text, but while the first type asks for information given in the text (eg facts that you can quote), this kind of question asks you for ideas or feelings that are implied by the text (eg attitudes which are not necessarily clearly stated).

You therefore have to infer meaning, which means reading between the lines, so you need to decide what someone thinks from how they say things, not just from what they say.

Inferred meaning

We use this kind of indirect language everyday, to give our words a certain effect. An example is when we are sarcastic: "'Mmm, delicious,' she said looking at the solitary sandwich on the table."

Even without any context (like where this is happening or who the person is) we know the person does not think the sandwich is delicious. The clue is in the single adjective "solitary". It makes us see the sandwich on its own and suggests the person involved would much rather see several. We might infer the person is hungry or doesn't like sandwiches.

The key to understanding the attitude of a text is to consider how the writer feels about the subject.

• Do they feel good or bad about this subject?
• Is it funny or serious?
• Are they happy or sad?

When inferring meaning, you might simply know what the writer feels. If it is not clear, then you need to look closely at detail and similes.

Details

Writers often use indirect language. Rather than just describing a scene, they might engage readers by describing how you would see or feel the scene. Feelings will therefore come from the kind of things being described (eg colourful, interesting descriptions with positive associations or used, broken objects with negative associations).

Similes

Similes and metaphors are common techniques for suggesting feelings or attitudes. For example, "He looked like a lion fresh from the jungle". This statement suggests a positive feeling, because we think of lions as big and strong, the kings of the jungle. So the writer is impressed by the person being described.

• The question on comparing writing techniques

There are three steps to answering this question.

• You need to identify writing techniques used in a text.
• You need to say what effects these techniques have - why are they used?
• You then need to do the same for another text, saying which techniques and effects are similar and which ones are different.

This means in your answer you will have to write at least four paragraphs describing:

1. which writing techniques are used
2. why these techniques are used
3. how these are similar or different from writing techniques from another text
4. why these similar or different writing techniques are used in the other text

Your marks will be spread evenly across these four sections.

Identifying writing techniques

The question is similar to question 2, but instead of identifying presentational devices, you will be identifying and comparing writing techniques. You therefore need to know what writing techniques to look for and why each of them is used. Different techniques will be used to appeal to different audiences or meet different purposes.

These are the techniques you should be able to identify:

• Words: are they simple or difficult, formal or informal?
• Sentences: are they short or long?
• Paragraphs: are they short or long? Are they all the same length, or do some stand out for emphasis or dramatic effect?
• Personal pronouns: does the text use the personal pronoun 'you' or 'we' to address the reader? Using 'we' is a technique the text could use to create a close personal relationship.
• Persuasive techniques: does the writer use rhetorical questions (eg "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a billionaire?"), groups of three (eg "The good, the bad and the ugly...") or alliteration (eg "sizzling sunshine")? These can all be used to persuade the reader to feel a certain way about something.
• Discourse markers: does the writer use casual, chatty discourse markers (eg "anyway, you know what I mean, so") or more formal ones (eg "nevertheless, therefore, however")?
• Emotive vocabulary: are the words colourful (eg "extraordinary, teeming, resplendent") or plain (eg "good, full of, organised").
• Exclamations: does the writing sound angry and argumentative (eg "This must stop..." or "We must think again...") or is the writing more thoughtful (eg "probably, it might be, on the other hand").
• Facts and opinions: does the text use lots of facts and statistics or are there more opinions? Is the text intended to inform or to persuade, review and entertain?

Exam wisdom

When you sit down to do the exam, try to remember this checklist:

• Read through the whole paper (all questions and all three items) before you start writing.
• Before you answer each question, read through the related text again. If you are answering more than one question on a text, read the text before answering question 1, then read it again before answering question 2.
• Note how many marks you get for each question and use this as a guide for how many points to make in your answer to each question.
• Know exactly what the question is asking - which of the four types of question is it? Remember the question will either be about finding information, presentational devices, inferring meaning or explaining language techniques.
• Always put your explanations in your own words. Don't just repeat what a text says or point out the presentational devices used - you must say why or how you know this about the text.
• Always give evidence to support your explanations - ie, choose the right quotation, presentational device or language technique and quote it in full.
• Always link your point to the writer's intention - ie, say how a device or technique meets both the text's purpose and audience.
  Reading non-fiction texts: questions
  
  
  

  Test yourself No 1:

  1. Summarising an article means: 

  
  

  Giving your opinion out it
  Talking about the layout
  Saying what the writer says in your own words

  
  

  2. You can work out what the article is about by looking for: 

  
  

  Design features that make the information clear (presentational devices)
  Groups of words about the same subject (lexical sets)
  Language techniques such as groups of three

  
  

  3. Presentational devices refer to:

  
  

  The technology an article is viewed on (eg phone or computer)
  The way an article looks on the page
  The arguments the writer uses

  
  

  4. Which of these is NOT a presentational device? 

  
  

  Headline
  Font
  Rhetorical question

  
  

  5. What are the main purposes of presentational devices?

  
  

  To help mood, memory and clarity
  To boost sales and give information
  To make information clearer and more attractive

  
  

  6. A language technique refers to: 

  
  

  The way an article looks on the page
  The way the article is printed or digitally produced
  The way the writer uses language for specific effects

  
  

  7. Which of these is NOT a language technique? 

  
  

  Sub-heading
  Alliteration
  Exaggeration

  
  

  8. Question three asks you to infer meaning from the text. This means: 

  
  

  Saying what the writer thinks or feels but doesn't say directly.
  Summarising the main points in the text.
  Quoting the part of the text that is relevant to the question.

  
  

  9. Which of these is an example of 'indirect' language? 

  
  

  Anger
  Sarcasm
  Boredom

  
  

  10. You can work out what a writer thinks about their subject by looking for: 

  
  

  Design features that make the information clear (presentational devices)
  Language techniques such as groups of three
  Discourse markers such as "on the contrary" or "what's more"
  
  

  Test yourself No 2:

  1. Which of these do you NOT have to identify in your exam?

  
  

  What the writer means
  Presentational devices
  Facts and opinions

  
  

  2. Which of these is NOT a non-fiction text?

  
  

  Newspaper article
  Novel
  Advertisement

  
  

  3. You can tell what type (eg advertisement, newsletter, biography) of non-fiction text it is by looking at the: 

  
  

  Layout
  Language
  Pictures

  
  

  4. Which of these will depend least on presentational devices?

  
  

  Newsletter
  Biography
  Advertisement

  
  

  5. GAP stands for: 

  
  

  Good answers have points
  Genre, Audience, Purpose
  Gesture, Articulation, Presentation

  
  

  6. To work out what a text is trying to DO (eg inform or persuade), you need to identify: 

  
  

  Purpose
  Audience
  Style

  
  

  7. Which of these is NOT a purpose? 

  
  

  Argue
  Persuade
  Respond

  
  

  8. To work out HOW a text is written (eg formal or informal), you need to identify:

  
  

  Audience
  Genre
  Style

  
  

  9. To work out WHO a text is trying to talk to (eg teenagers or adults), you need to identify: 

  
  

  Purpose
  Audience
  Genre

  
  

  10. To work out WHAT kind of text it is (eg a website or magazine article), you need to identify: 

  
  

  Purpose
  Genre
  Style

  
  

  Resources:

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/schools/gcsebitesize/english/quizengine?quiz=reading_questions&templateStyle=english