1.5.1

Discourse Structure

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Discourse Structure

Discourse structure is concerned primarily with how the text is structured – essentially the journey a text takes from start to finish.

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Analysis of discourse structure

  • An understanding of how a text functions for the reader can help you attain the very highest AO1 marks in textual analysis questions. But it is not the sort of structure that you will have been asked to look at for GCSE English Language.
  • More than anything, a text will want to be cohesive which means features work together to produce the end result. You will need to look at a couple of areas: referencing and reader guiding.
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Referencing

  • In terms of referencing, texts can look forward or back. It wouldn’t be interesting for the reader if all that was written was:
    • Rachel drove to work. Rachel then walked into her classroom. Rachel then made a cup of tea.
  • The piece becomes more effective if we use a reference which refers back to something we already know:
    • Rachel drove to work. She then walked into her classroom. She then made a cup of tea.
  • Okay, the piece is still boring, but it is more cohesive.
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Anaphoric and cataphoric references

  • Replacing ‘Rachel’ with ‘she’ is called an anaphoric reference. Anaphoric references look back at what has already been said.
  • On the opposite side of that, cataphoric references look forward (think cataphoric and catapult – a catapult flings you forward). For example:
    • After she drove to work, Rachel walked into her classroom and then made a cup of tea.
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Reader guiding

  • A reader can be guided through a text in many ways, and often you will have to think on your feet in the exam to spot this.
  • But most texts will use discourse markers which segments a discourse into sections.
  • In addition, headings will also clearly guide the reader to either a part of interest to them or to sum up what that section will be about.
  • Remember, the examiner does not want to see you just spotting these features – they want you to explain their function in guiding the reader.

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3Language Diversity & Change

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