AICE Lang study guide 📚

Form, structure, and language.

Brochure and leaflets

Purpose: to inform customers of a product, organization, or service.

Diff: Brochures are folded into panels, leaflets are on single piece of paper

Key features: Heading/subheaders, bullet points/short paragraphs, informative, semi formal, 2nd or 3rd p.o.v.

News Stories

Purpose: To inform readers of current events in an unbiased way. News sources=want to be credible

Short and concise

Key Features: Informative, short & to the point, short paragraphs, headers/sub headers, may include quotes from outlookers, experts, etc

Podcast

Purpose: to inform, persuade, or entertain depending on the topic

Serial set of audio files, similar to a radio show. Typically a conversation or interview about a specific topic

Key Features: written in script format, but not typically scripted. Conversational register, focused on a topic, organized by speaker, first person, tense varies. 

Biography+autobiography 

Purpose: to inform general public about the life of a significant member of society and entertain them by describing the events of their life.

Features: Register can vary, written in prose paragraphs, reflective/personal content, written in chronological order, 1st p.o.v., past teen

Difference between autobiography and biographt

Biography is nonfiction text written about another persons life.

autobiography written about the authors own life

Article

purpose: to inform readers of new information or ideas

They are published on new websites, in newspapers, magazines and professional journals

Key features: informative, written in paragraphs, may include headers/subheaders, can include graphics/pictures, formal register, 3rd person p.o.v. may cite expert information

Form and structure: P.O.V first person

(I,me, my, we, us, our). The narrator is part of the story and tells it from their own perspective.

Effect: feels personal and emotional, builds close connection between author and reader, can be biased.

Form and Structure: P.O.V second person

(you, your). The narrator speaks directly to the reader

Effect: makes the reader feel involved/responsible, common in advertisements/brochures/leaflets, creates a conversational register or commanding tone.

Form and Structure: P.O.V Third person

(he/she, they, him/her, them). The narrator is outside the story and tells what’s happens to others

Effect: feels more distant and objective, allows readers to see multiple perspectives, often used in fiction/news reports/ formal writing.

Form and Structure: Verb Tense

shown when an action happens- in the past, present, or future it affects how the readers understand time/mood/ and perspective in writing.

Structure and Form: past tense

verb ends in ed unless its irregular

ex.walked, met

effect: tells what already happened, creates distance and reflection, makes story feel complete and/or nostalgic

Structure and Form: present tense

verb ends in -s or base from

ex. walks, plays

effect: feels likes its happening right now

Structure and Form: Future tense

Uses will or is going to before the verb (will, walk, is going to play)

example: she will walk to school

Structure: Declarative sentence

makes a statement

Structure: imperative sentence

gives a command

Structure: exclamatory

makes and exclamation

Structure: interrogative sentence

asks a question

Structure: short sentence

7 words or less

Structure: mediu sentence

8-20 words

Structure: long sentence

21 words or moren.

Language: imagery

literary device that appeals to the reader’s 5 senses to create vivid mental images and sensory experiences

effects: creates atmosphere, develops characters, evokes emotions, symbolic representation. 

Register

the formality of your writing. The emphasis is on how close or distant the author is from their audience. This changes based on audience, purpose, form, and context of your piece. 

Formal, informal, semi-formal

Diction

the strategic word choice based on audience, form, and purpose of the text

Using one word over another, even when they have similar meanings can change the reader’s interpretation. Some convey subtle meaning or indirectly show character detail.

Connotation

the emotional, cultural, or implied meaning of a word (how it makes you feel)

Denotation

The literal dictionary definition of the word.