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Non-fiction texts are the opposite to texts of fiction. Instead of them being imaginary, non-fiction texts are based on facts and contain real information. The range of non-fiction texts is much bigger than fictional texts and they are written for many different purposes, not just to entertain the audience/reader.
The variety of non-fiction texts is much larger than fiction and so they will be split up into the following individual chapters and discussed:
- Literary non-fiction
- Advertisements
- Diaries/Journals
- Information leaflets
- Letters
- Magazine/Newspaper articles
- Reviews
- Speeches
Context
Every text has context. Context allows for a text to be fully understood. The context of a text involves the circumstances surrounding the person, event, idea or statement. For example, the content in newspaper articles will be affected by the events, ideas or worries going on in the world at the time. Shortly, we will be looking at an extract taken from Anne Frank’s diary; the context surrounding this is World War II. Understanding this context allows for the diary and the circumstances surrounding Anne Frank and her family to be fully understood. When analysing the context of a text it is important to consider:
- The type of text: is it an advertisement of a new technology product? Is it a newspaper article concerning particular events occurring at the time?
- Who is writing the text: individual people will have different opinions and interpretations about a person, event, idea or statement. For example, if someone writing a film review is a fan of the director or the cast, then they will write very differently compared to an unbiased critic.
- What the text is written for: texts can be written for many different reasons but the purpose of a text can differ depending on the era or decade it was written in. For example, back in the 1940s tobacco companies positively advertised smoking to the public. These advertisements were designed to get people to either buy cigarettes or start smoking. Now, we understand that smoking is not good for you but back then the harmful effects were not properly understood and we can only know this by researching the context behind the advertisement.
- Where the text is published: you can expect a text published in a magazine to have less formal language than an article in a broadsheet newspaper; a magazine article will also tend to include headlines, subheadings and images. With a web-based text, such as a blog, you can expect links, pictures and informal, sometimes even simple, language
- When the text is written: this refers to the time a text was written. You can expect certain features to be present depending on the era or century a text is written in. For example, you can expect a text written in Victorian England to contain archaic (old-fashioned), formal and elaborate language. A lot of lower-class children did not attend any form of education and so texts written during this time were aimed towards an educated audience. As can be seen from the Charles Dicken’s extract earlier, the sentences and words are much longer than we’d expect to see in the present day.
Purpose, Audience and Text Type
With any non-fiction text, it is important for you to work out the purpose, audience and the text type. A text can have many purposes. These include:
- To advise
- To analyse
- To argue
- To inform
- To entertain
- To explain
- To instruct
- To persuade
- To review
- To describe
Some categories of non-fiction texts have specific purposes. For example, any form of advertisement always has a purpose to persuade, as the text will be wanting the reader to buy something.
When working out the purpose of a text it is useful to think about the writer’s perspective. This refers to the writer’s attitude at the time of writing the text which involves looking at any contextual information surrounding the text.
The purpose of a text can greatly affect how it is structured, its content, the language used and the literary devices that are used. For example, a newspaper article will usually include some sort of alliteration or wordplay in the headings and subheadings to help grab the reader’s attention. It may also be structured in columns and include images. Depending on whether the newspaper article is a tabloid or broadsheet then the language will also be affected.
However, the target audience of a text also affects how it is structured, its content, the language used and the literary devices that are used. When analysing the target audience of a text you should try answering a number of questions. Firstly, will the text appeal to a certain group of people? For example, a poster advertising a new brand of make-up will appeal to a female audience. This may be shown in the colours used; perhaps they are feminine colours such as pink. You should also pay close attention to the language used and the layout. For example, a magazine article that uses shorter, simple sentences and has a larger font may be aimed at a younger audience; however, you must also look at the content of the text to fully determine this. The content of a text can tell you a lot about its audience.
The tone of a text is also an important aspect to look at when analysing the target audience. For example, the formality of a letter can tell you a lot about the intended receiver. If a letter is informal then it shows that the writer of the letter knows the receiver; perhaps they are a family member or close friend? Whereas a formal letter will likely be written to someone who the sender does not know very well or who does not know at all. Whilst looking at the tone of a text you can also look at its use of Standard English as this will affect the formality.
