Unit 3 Section B — Comparing language, structure and form

Building on U3.WR.SK1 (ideas and purpose), U3.WR.SK2 goes deeper into how writers achieve their effects — through specific language choices, structural decisions, and the formal conventions of the text type.

Three layers of textual analysis

1. Language choices

Lexical choices (word level):

• Connotation and semantic field: "descent into madness" (literary) vs "significant deterioration in mental health" (clinical non-literary)
• Figurative language: metaphor, simile, personification — rich in literary texts; rare in functional non-literary texts
• Hedging vs assertion: "perhaps", "might" vs "is", "proves", "demonstrates"

Syntactic choices (sentence level):

• Sentence length and variety for effect
• Embedded clauses for complexity or detail
• Coordination vs subordination — literary texts tend to use more subordination for layered meaning

2. Structural choices

Literary structural devices:

• Cyclical structure: text ends where it began — creates inevitability or entrapment.
• Flashback (analepsis): jumping back in time for dramatic or thematic effect.
• In medias res: beginning "in the middle of things" — throws the reader into immediate tension.
• Volta: a shift in direction, tone or argument (common in poetry).

Non-literary structural devices:

• Inverted pyramid: most important information first; detail follows.
• Problem-solution structure: an issue identified then resolved.
• Argument structure: claim → evidence → counterargument → rebuttal.

3. Form

Form = the text type and its conventions:

• A sonnet has 14 lines and a volta — formal constraints shape meaning.
• A feature article uses headlines and subheadings — conventions shape reading differently from an essay.
• A diary entry implies intimacy and subjectivity — the form promises unguarded truth.

Combining the three layers

The strongest responses integrate all three layers:

"Whereas Heaney's poem uses a cyclical structure [structure], the newspaper report employs an inverted pyramid [form convention] to prioritise factual outcome over emotional journey. This structural difference is reinforced at the language level: Heaney's verb choices ('squelch', 'rot') are visceral [word-level], while the report uses passive constructions ('funding was withdrawn') to strip agency and emotion [syntactic choice]."

Comparative connectives for structure and form

"Structurally...", "In terms of form...", "By contrast, the organisation of...", "Where [Text A] opens in medias res...", "Unlike the non-linear arrangement of..."