Examine the following texts and identify any significant features. What kind of text does the extract come from and how does the language differ between the texts?
Text 1
Text 2
Text 3
Text 4
Text 5
Text 6
Text 7
Text 8
Text 9
Text 10
Text 11
Text 12
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Text 1 is the introduction from a novel. Some features are: past tense narrative, introduction to characters
Text 2 is a recipe from a recipe book. Some features are: list of ingredients, instructions using imperative verbs “Trim, Add, Heat”.
Text 3 is a list of instructions from a manual for an electric kettle. Some features are: list, bullet pints, instructions using imperative verbs “Fill, Leave, Empty”
Text 4 is a business letter. Some features are layout “address, Dear Mr, Yours sincerely”
Text 5 is the beginning of a chapter from a textbook. Some features are: chapter headings, clear descriptions, definitions.
Text 6 is part of a play. Some features are: dialogue with speakers named, conversational language.
Text 7 is the introduction from an academic article. Some features are: objective impersonal language “This paper examines, It is hoped”, citations “Sinclair, 1988”, nominalisation (nouns, not verbs) “interaction, attribution”.
Text 8 is a poem. Some features are: layout – short lines, rhyme “day, May”
Text 9 is an advertisement. Some features are: layout, picture, price, positive adjectives “beautiful, great”
Text 10 is an article from a local newspaper. Some features are: layout “columns”, headings.
Text 11 is a classified accommodation advertisement. Some features are: layout, abbreviations.
Text 12 is an informal letter. Some feature are: personal language “I, you, we”, questions, use of punctuation.
