Factual Writing

Courtney Day

‘How to’ instructions

These instructions are very clear and they will have to be in order to be able to tell it’s audience exactly what to do. The instructions are displayed with the use of large gaps to show which order the instructions are to go in as it separates them clearly. The use of diagrams also make it easier to understand and give the audience a chance to see whether they are completing the instructions properly. They also use a larger image to show the audience how the style of knot should look when they have finished. This image can also be used to show the audience what the knot will look like and whether they want this style. There isn’t a lot of explanation with each instruction. Each instruction is quick and simple. This is so the audience see the task as being easy and don’t feel over powered by a lot of orders. Each sentence is also short and snappy, making the task seem as though it is simple and easy to achieve. The facts and instructions which the tutorial is giving are pretty accurate based on what the task is which they are trying to achieve. As the information is clear which short, snappy text and diagrams to add a little more explanation I don’t think this instruction manual leaves any room for the audience to add their own interpretation on how to achieve the knot. The as these are instructions the language is pretty formal as there is no need for it to be informal. The text is simply telling it’s audience how to tie a knot. It is not trying to achieve anything other than this. There is no need for descriptive or emotive language, descriptive fonts or images.

Leaflets The text on this leaflet is all set out clearly and simply using different sized fonts, lower and upper case letters, bullet points and different font colours. It also used banners and images to make their information clear. The writer will have done this so the audience can read and gather all the information they need without being scared of mass amounts of information. They have mentioned the important parts, the stuff the audience need to know and information that will hopefully get the desired effect; people quitting smoking for health benefits.This leaflet contains facts about healthy living, what can occur if you follow the tips they have given you and numbers you can call if you want more/specialist information. These numbers and facts will be accurate and true in order to help their audience achieve what they want to achieve. This leaflet is very biased towards quitting smoking. It gives you advice and tips on how to stop smoking and how to get more specialist advice on how to stop smoking. There is no where in this leaflet that suggests the benefits of smoking. This is because the leaflet is wanting to convince, nearly order you top stop, so rather than tell you all the good things that come with smoking they will just tell you the bad. The language used in this leaflet is quite informal but formal enough to let the audience know that this is a subject which is serious. As they want the audience to know how serious you health and smoking can be, they use language that doesn’t make the matter seem like a joke, or something which can be shrugged off the audiences shoulder. They use punctuation such as exclamation marks which will attract the audience’s eye but also show that this is a matter that needs your attention and needs to be dealt with. They also use upper case letters to grab the attention and show how important they think smoking is. However the leaflet does use contractions like ‘don’t’ to appeal to the audience and make it seem as though this is relaxed enough for you to read.

Newspaper Article This article from the sun uses a range of colours, borders and boxes and columns in order to make it clear for the audience. Some of the text is bolder and in a different font from the main body of text and other sections of text are in a box, separate from the main body. This makes the whole article easier to read as you can clearly see a headline, columns and a separate body of text. You know which direction to read in as it directs your eye down and across. The columns are clear and the font is also smooth in order to make the eye find it easier to follow. As this is a magazine article it is giving as much information about the subject without overpowering the audience with information they are not interested in. If there was more words and information the audience will feel less inclined to read on and may just think the headline gives all the information they need. It gives a mixture of fact and information about the subject and then a section on someone’s opinion which will give the audience time to think about the subject in a more personal way. This article uses big names of doctors, hospitals and services in order to let the audience know that what they are saying is true. The audience will trust in these names that sound big and important and this will leave little room for the audience to add their own interpretation on the events. This article shows little bias. Obviously the main body of text is explaining the subject and why it is/should be happening. It is giving quotes and opinions from important sounding doctors and tells the audience of how this will help many people. However there is a separate body of text which tells the audience of people who are against this and why they don’t like the idea of this subject. This will let the audience know of the arguing opinions which surround this subject. The newspaper that this article would have been featured in typically uses more informal language compared to a other broadsheets such as The Guardian. This is because the average reader of this newspaper is of less education than someone who is in/ was in university. The informal and relaxed language will make the audience feel more at home and comfortable reading the article.

The article shows both opinions of the argument when it comes to helping people who are obese. The main body of the article explains the benefits and how this could help people who are obese. It’s informing people and trying to convince them that this could be a good thing by using quotes and opinions from a doctor and evidence from a hospital in London. The article also uses some emotive language to try and get the point across. There is also a separate section of text which displays the opinion of people who are against some of the subjects raised in the article. It will give the audience the chance to decide which side of the argument they agree with more. The quotes that this article has used to make sure what it’s talking about is true are all correctly attributed using quotation marks and labeling where the quote came from. Any information about research and statistics are also labeled with where the research was conducted and who by. This makes the article seem more believable and more based on the facts rather than someone’s opinion on what should or is happening. It stays clear of someone interpreting the article in a different way and twisting words. It will make the audience believe that something needs to be done. As this is a journalistic piece of writing they will have had to stick to the journalist codes and regulations making sure that no on was harmed or put at risk. There is no libel in this piece of writing and the journalist will have had to make sure that the information is true. This journalist has differentiated between fact and opinion by putting both sections of text in different areas of the page. The journalist has not: • Intruded into anyone’s life • Produced material that will cause hate • Promote their own work or product • Avoided plagiarism

This journalist will have had to stuck through many other codes such as getting permission for any photo’s used, obtaining the information in an honest way and protecting the identity of people if need be.