Hi. This is a practice of the unfamiliar texts test I have done using resources found online. Could you please give me some feedback on how I’ve done and how I could improve to get excellence. Thanks so much in advance and sorry that it’s so much text.
Questions:
Resource booklet:
Question one: Narrative prose
The writer of the text uses adjectives to describe the road trip. This can be seen when the writer states “The boot is sat on once, twice, three times to make it clutch tightly on to everything else you’re supposed to take with you on an epic road trip.”
The use of the word “epic” as an adjective in this text shows that the writer has been told that the road trip would be epic. This is emphasised by the writer repeating it throughout the text, using the language feature repetition. This also shows that the expectations for the road trip are high. Another language feature that has been used in this text is personification. This is shown when the car breaks down 53 minutes into the road trip and the writer states “Fifty-three minutes later, on the hill before Waitati on State Highway 1, the Triumph 2000 dies.” Overall, throughout the text the language features; adjectives, repetition, and personification have been used. It is shown that the expectations of the road trip had been raised high but in the end, the road trip didn’t even end up happening.
Question two: Poetry
The writer of the text uses contrast in the book that the mother is reading to the child. This can be seen when the writer states “Mice as big as teapots come into a story”.
There are a variety of different language features used throughout this text. One of these is the use of adjectives. An example of this is when the writer states; “She detests the mice, the ridiculousness of teapots.” The use of the adjective; “ridiculousness” tells the reader that the child is not enjoying the story read to her by her mother. Another language feature used in this text is a simile when the writer states; “Then a dog, a greyhound, skinny as a one-line drawing of a dog”. This was used to show the reader how skinny the dog was. At the end of the text, the writer states “the child is grinning from there into town. She has seen the world and named it.” This tells the reader that the child is happier and is enjoying the world. Overall, the language features; contrast, adjectives, and simile have been used throughout the text. It is shown that at the beginning of the text the child is bored, angry, and sad but that upon seeing a greyhound, the child becomes happy.
Question three: Non-fiction
The writer of the text uses similes throughout the text. This can be seen when the writer states “I do little more than recoil like Dracula drenched in holy water” while talking about his reaction to the smell of fish.
The simile language feature in the text helps me to understand the writer’s attitude towards the seafood throughout the text. It does this by describing the writer’s reaction when their partner has had seafood in their house. Another example of a simile used in the text is when the writer states “There’s a fish market in Newmarket I don’t even like driving past unless the vents are off and the windows are up. Kind of like the old Westfield freezing works in Otahuhu.” The writer also makes use of rhetorical questions in the text. An example of this is in the last paragraph of the text when the writer asks “So, really, what is it about seafood? Have you looked at an oyster?” This shows that the writer doesn’t understand why people enjoy eating seafood and makes the reader think. Overall, the language features; similes and rhetorical questions have been used throughout the text. These help to show the writer’s attitude towards seafood.
