Factfile

Preparing for the Portfolio and the controlled written exam:
Click here for text type definitions
1. Reports
- Purpose: to give factual information about something, eg. a subject, and event or a place
-Typical readers: readers of a specialist magazine, eg. school/college magazine, or food magazine
-Organisation of the text:
a. start your report by stating what it's about and how it's organised
b. you can use bullets points to mark different points
c. paragraphs can have headings
-Features:
a. language style: usually neutral to formal
b. sequencing words such as "firstly", "secondly", "finally", "in conclusion" are often used
c. use words/ phrases such as "below" to refer to something you're going to say; or "as explained above" to refer to something you've said
- REMEMBER
a. where appropriate include a heading (not included in word count)
b. the report should be clearly organised into paragraphs with section headings
c. where appropriate end with a conclusion
d. you may use bullet points, tables, diagrams, percentages and statistics
2. ARTICLE
- Purpose: articles can have many different purposes; eg. to describe something, to discuss and argue a point, to inform readers about something, to report an event, to advise on something
- Typical readers: readers of school/ college magazine, a travel magazine, etc.
- Organisation of text: depends on the purpose
a) include an interesting and informative title (not included in word count)
b) clearly introduce the subject that will be discussed in the article
c)the main text should be divided into paragraphs with one topic discussed in each paragraph
d) conclude the article with a brief summary
- Features:
a) cohesive devices discourse, connectors, linking expressions can be used
b) language of opinion and rhetorical questions can also be used
3.REVIEWS
- Purpose: to give information and opinion about something you've experienced, e.g. a film, a concert, book , etc.
- Typical readers: readers of a local newspaper, magazine readers,etc.
- Organisation of text:
a. start with basic information about the event/book/ film, etc. e.g. title, genre, author/ director, characters/actors, etc.
b. for a book or filmn, briefly describe the plot (what it's about); for a concert, the music that was played;for a restaurant, describe the food you ate.
c. mention particularly good - or bad- aspects
d. finish with your opinion and recommendation to the reader
- Features:
a. language style: informal, neutral or formal - it depends on what publication the review is for , e.g. a review of a rock concert for a music magazine is likely to be informal.
b. reviews often include strong opinions about events/books/films etc.
- REMEMBER:
a. include a title (not included in word count)
b. clearly introduce the subject
c. the main text should be divided into paragraphs
d. it may contain a descriptive summary, an evaluation- the weak and the strong points- a comparison with other examples
e. a final recommendation to the reader may be included.