Reading Non-fiction and Media Texts
How to read a non-fiction or media text closely: working out purpose and audience, recognising the effect of language choices, and explaining with evidence how a writer sets out to influence the reader.
Use it, the way the marks are given
Free interactive practice at using the material, which is what the marks are for.
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Reading non-fiction and media
Non-fiction and media texts are written to do something to a reader: to inform, to explain, to argue or, very often, to persuade. To read one well you do more than follow what it says. You work out its purpose and who it is aimed at, you notice the choices the writer makes with words, grammar and layout, and you explain the effect those choices have on the reader. The marks are never for spotting a technique on its own. Saying that a text uses a rhetorical question earns almost nothing; saying what that question makes the reader do is where the marks sit. This module works on one short campaign text, written for this module, so you can practise reading it closely and backing every point with evidence from the text itself.
The campaign text
Read this short campaign text carefully. Every question that follows works on it. *Imagine your local park with no litter at all. No crushed cans in the flower beds, no plastic bags snagged in the hedges, no broken glass on the grass where children play. It can happen, but only if you act. Our parks are gifts we all share, and they are being buried under rubbish that none of us wants. Will you walk past the mess one more time, or will you be the person who picks it up? Join the clean-up this Saturday. Bring your friends, bring your family, bring your energy. Together we can hand our park back to the people who love it.*
The reading toolkit
Learn what each term lets you DO with a text, not just what it is called.
How to analyse a text choice
Read a non-fiction or media text in the same disciplined way every time. Begin by deciding its purpose and audience: what it wants, and who it wants it from. Then choose one word, phrase or layout feature and quote it exactly. Name the technique precisely, whether that is emotive language, a rhetorical question or a list of three. Last, and this is where the marks are earned, explain what the choice does to the reader: what it makes them think, feel or do. Anchor every claim in evidence lifted from the text, never in an idea brought from outside it.
Match the device to what it does
- a rhetorical question
- direct address
- a list of three
- emotive language
- makes the reader supply the answer for themselves
- speaks to the reader as you and draws them in
- builds a memorable rhythm that drives the point home
- stirs a strong feeling that moves the reader to act
Find the rhetorical question
Here are three lines from the text. Tap the one that is a RHETORICAL QUESTION.
- The writer describes
- plastic bags snagged in the hedges
- , then challenges the reader:
- Will you walk past the mess one more time, or will you be the person who picks it up?
- and finally commands:
- Join the clean-up this Saturday.
The effect of direct address
The text speaks to the reader again and again as you and your. What is the main effect of this direct address?
- It makes each reader feel personally spoken to and responsible for acting.
- It tells the reader the exact date and time of the event.
- It proves that the writer has met the reader before.
- It lists the different types of litter found in the park.
Persuasion in one line
Look at the line "Bring your friends, bring your family, bring your energy." Select the TWO techniques it uses.
- A list of three that builds rhythm
- Repetition of the imperative verb for emphasis
- A simile comparing friends to family
- A statistic backing the claim with numbers
Fact and opinion count
A short article makes 5 claims in total. 3 of them are backed by evidence and counted as facts, and the rest are opinions. Subtract to find how many of the claims are opinions.
Complete the reading facts
A text that argues a case and tries to change what the reader does is a _____ text. The group of readers a text is aimed at is its _____. A question asked for effect rather than for a real answer is a _____ question. Naming a technique earns little on its own, so a strong point must always explain its _____ on the reader.
Build the analysis point
Build one analytical sentence about the text by choosing the best option for each gap.
Order the campaign text
Put the four moves of the campaign text in the order they appear, first to last.
- It pictures a park with no litter at all
- It warns that the parks are being buried under rubbish
- It challenges the reader with a direct question
- It ends with a call to join the clean-up
Read like an analyst
Read each case and choose the best response, with a reason.
- You begin analysing the park text. What should you work out first to analyse it well?
- You want to write about the phrase "buried under rubbish". You have quoted it and named it as emotive language. What must you add to earn the marks?
- The text states that "our parks are gifts we all share". How should a careful reader treat this claim?
Explain how to analyse the text
A friend has to analyse how the park campaign text tries to persuade its readers and does not know where to start. Explain how to read and analyse a non-fiction or media text like this one.
- Explain how to work out the purpose and audience of a text
- Explain what it means to recognise the effect of a language choice
- Give two persuasive techniques the park text uses and the effect of each on the reader
- Explain why every point needs evidence quoted from the text
- Finish by explaining the difference between fact and opinion in a persuasive text