This document contains summaries of different types of factual writing:
- A how-to guide on photography is evaluated. It uses a semi-formal tone and clear typography but could be more concise. Photos with details support the text.
- A product manual for installing a baby seat is very formal and concise for safety. Illustrations paired with numbered steps leave no ambiguity.
- A newspaper article is shown to have a biased and ambiguous tone that questions its accuracy. It aims to rile readers rather than provide facts.
2. ⢠You will critically evaluate the qualities necessary for effective
factual communication in print products with supporting arguments
and elucidated examples, and consistently using subject
terminology correctly.
⢠You will look at a wide range of different factual products and pieces
of writing and show how and why the techniques have been used.
⢠You should critically evaluate the use of supporting illustrations and
diagrams as well as typography choices.
⢠You should discuss in detail the need for clarity, conciseness,
accuracy, avoidance of ambiguity, bias, register, evidencing of
argument, referencing sources, legal constraints and codes of
practice.
3. How to guide
A how to guide is a piece of factual copywriting which tells you how to go about doing something. This can include a large variety
of things such as how to bake a cake, how to compose yourself in an interview and how to play an instrument. These guides
will usually be clear and simple, step by step guides, giving information on the basics of this task. They will usually include
illustrations or diagrams, making it easier for people to understand. The language and register these how to guides can vary,
but usually they are very laid back, yet the information is still written with simple and clear words that everyone can
understand and make sense of. How to guides have to be clear in their typography, they have bold headings and will usually
have diagrams or pictures, informing the reader in a different way, which compliments the text along with it. Because these
are telling people what to do they must be clear but also accurate or the producer could run into trouble is the information
on this is false.
In this how to guide, it is telling you how to take photos which look
professional and help the reader improve their photography skills. The first
thing I am going to evaluate is the factual communication this how to guide
has with its reader, and how it creates this relationship with them. The way
the how to guide uses it register is in a semi-formal way. The text is formal,
but also friendly. It does this by using formal words with a friendly tone,
such as how the text is using formal words which are quite technical, like
âdiverging, wide-angle view, and over warm colour balanceâ, but then the
piece is made more personal by referring to someone else's name, in this
instance the persons name is Paul. This makes the reader feel more at ease
and less intimidated by the guide and the technical aspects of it. The
information in the how to guide is very clear in its words but not as concise
as it could be, the information could use less technical, long words to help
prevent confusion. But the accuracy of this how to guide is good and
detailed this means there is no ambiguously about this how to guide.
The colours in the typography have been kept very simple, all the text is white,
apart from the page number, which is in yellow. This is to make the page
number stand out against the rest of the text, so it doesnât blend in with the
rest of the text, so this is not so confusing, even though the difference is subtle,
the guide is trying to look sophisticated and sleek. The text is mostly in a classic,
serif font. The headings for the text doesnât change apart from the size, where
it enlarges a couple of sizes to make it stand out and look like it is a heading of a
paragraph and a new piece of information. I think that the headings should be
made more obvious and clear, by making them underlined or bolder. The text is
small, and I would argue that for a how to guide that it is too small for this kind
of information, to be able to pick out small areas of information quickly, the
text is too small to read quickly.
4. How to guide
Here in the how to guide there is pictures to accompany the
text. The pictures are an outcome of the information that has
been given in the how to guide, an example of what your
photos could be like if you follow this guide. These photo
outcomes are made more believable because of the names
the guide has given to the photos, so they had an identity,
that a normal, inexperienced person can take these photos,
like Sarah Arnold took the top photo, and there is a quote
from her to back up how easy it is to learn how to take photos
like this. The photos are also accompanied by the kind of
camera and settings that were used on this photo, things like
aperture setting, shutter speed. The setout of the photos is
showing one main photo, which is made obvious by the size
and largeness of it, then 2 other smaller alternative photos.
5. Leaflets
Leaflets are a piece of factual text that inform the reader on a certain subject.
These are usually very informative but also one sided and bias, so even though
the facts may be accurate, both sides of the argument of the subject are not
being put forward. These leaflets are usually very clear in their text and in the
way they are set out, making sure they are easy to read. Leaflets also have
concise information, so it is straight to the point, usually listed and bullet
pointed, with main facts highlighted in some way, making sure there is no
ambiguities. Leaflets will usually use photos or illustrations to break up the text,
so it is more interesting to read. The leaflets usually stick to a theme, with a
certain font and colour, which is clear and easy to read, and gives off a friendly
feeling. In this leaflet it gives you information about the Green Party policies on
animals. The register in which this leaflet comes across to the reader is semi-formal,
it doesnât use any heavy, long, inappropriate language, but instead uses
simple language that everyone would be able to understand. The way it also
addresses the reader is in an almost desperate way, desperate for the justice of
animal suffering. They also make the leaflet more personal by putting a face to
the words and facts, they include a picture of Caroline Lucas who is an MP for
the Green Party, which talks to the reader and makes them feel like they know
who is behind this leaflet. Because this is a factual leaflet there are facts and
numbers about animal slaughter, a fact is â850 million animals are slaughtered
for food every yearâ. Even though this is a detailed fact which doesnât have any
ambiguities, it still may not be accurate are there are no references to sources
to where this fact was figured out, the same goes for a lot of the number facts
on here, which makes it questionable whether it is a fact, and that it could not
be accurate. With this leaflet it is very bias and The Green Party is a left wing
political party, so they are going to push all their side opinions and blank any
other opinion, so this leaflet doesnât include any other opinion for any other
political party. The leaflet is essentially an argument about what they think is
right and correct, and their argument had evidence and is backed up by morals
and shocking facts and numbers, for example 1.6 million animals were used in
experiments and 92% of these experiments fail human tests. To make this
argument stronger the leaflet should reference where the information was
collected from.
6. Leaflets
The typography in this leaflet is very simple and clear. The font is a thick, easy to
read, san-serif font. The san serif font makes it look more modern and up-to-date.
The fonts are broken up into headings, important text and normal text.
The headings are either green or white with a green background, these are
also a larger sized and are in bold, the green squares around the white
headings make for a underline type of style, so these break up the different
sections and create some structure. Some parts of the text has been made into
bold, which makes it stand out and easier to pick out against the other text,
this also tells the reader that this piece of information is important and can be
read without the rest of the context around it and it will make sense. The
colours used are green, white and then black for the font. These simple colours
look clean and fresh and not overbearing. The green reflects the leaflet and
what it is about, it being about animals and the environment, which the colour
is related to organic products and nature. The leaflet is made to look clean,
sharp and straight to the point. I think that a change of font throughout the
leaflet like changing the headings to a different font that has a more natural
and organic feeling about it.
To illustrate this leaflet picture have been used to accompany the text and subject
body. The pictures used have been put in certain places to get a certain point
across, having different kind of subject matters in the pictures depending on
the text. So on the front of the leaflet, there are pictures of happy and healthy
animals, these are surrounding the green party logo, so the read associates the
green party with happy animals. Then in the leaflet the pictures are more
graphic and disturbing, showing pictures of animals in distress. These pictures
are put in the leaflet to support the point theyâre making, showing that there is
evidence of their facts.
7. Instruction Manual
An instruction manual is a piece of factual writing, it is usually in a booklet. An instruction manual is something that contains
information on how to build something, working something or take something down, for example, how to build a wardrobe,
how to work your new phone or how to keep your car working. Instruction manuals can have information about a product
like a car, like where certain parts are like the oil compartment or how to build a wardrobe from a flat pack. Manuals will
usually contain some sort of illustrations to accompany the information, making the information easier to understand. The
information is usually detailed and long with some specific words associated with the subject of the manuals. The
typography in instruction manuals is usually very plain and very simple, black small, simple font on a white background, with
underlined bits of text breaking up the sections. Because of the amount of detailed information being given, where the
information is very important, it has to be very simple and clear, where it has to be accurate and have no ambiguity. Also the
register in these are usually formal to make it feel more important and it would also be easy to understand for everyone.
This is a instruction manual for how to fit a baby seat into a car. With this piece of factual
text the way the register the reader is in a very formal, sharp way, to give the reader the
understanding that is is imperative that this is how the baby seat is fitted. Formal words
are used like do not instead of donât. The register is also quite broken up and short in its
sentences. This makes it easier for the reader to follow each step of the manual at a time,
this makes this manual concise and straight to the point, which is important because the
reader doesnât want to waste time and get bored, so they will be less likely to follow the
instructions which could potentially be dangerous. This also accurate which is also
important, as for this car seat they make it clear this can only be done one way which is
the only safe way. To avoid ambiguity even more the text is paired with numbers, which
then match up to the different illustrations to make sure the reader knows exactly what
to do. This manuals writing has to be accurate up to a point where it passes codes of
practice like the the motor industry codes of practice and the DVLA codes of practice,
strict ones that deal with childrenâs safety when in a car. If these are not followed and the
information on the childâs seat is wrong or not following codes of practice this means the
company who is responsible for it could face legal actions.
8. Instruction manual
In this instruction manual the layout is very simple and clear to understand.
The font is a san serif which is small for it to all be able to fit in the
same area on the page, which is important when the manual is being
used and being read the reader doesnât want to have to keep swapping
pages. Some of typography is highlighted in bold, this sticks out of the
page and against the other texting, making it obvious that this
information is very important. The headings for the different sections
of the manual look different from the actual informational text. It is a
larger size font and also more spread across the page rather than the
letters being more squished together. The simple layout of the black
and white look professional, it also looks like the information is being
taken seriously and like the reader can trust it.
The illustrations on this manual are drawn and they are very detailed. They
are showing how to perform each step of the written instructions. This
is made even more obvious by the numbers that are floating above
each picture, the number 1, 2, 3 etc relates to step 1, 2, 3 which is
written next to it, these numbers act like a key where they are matched
up. On the illustrations there is a second colour from black, pink is also
used as a highlighting colour, used for arrows and important parts of
the removal of a seat pad, for example in picture 7 the seat cover is
pink, making it more clear where the seat cover is rather than having
confusing black lines everywhere. The pictures are there as a
supporting aid to the writing, just incase the reader can not understand
how to change the seat just with the writing.
9. Newspaper
Newspapers are a compilation of different articles written by different journalists. The standard thing for a newspaper to deliver is a non-bias, accurate story.
Some newspapers focus on different things, for example a local newspaper like the Selby Times will have articles about things that people have
achieved in the local area, like school students, events that have happened and maybe some local crime stories. Then bigger newspaper companies like
the independent and the daily mail focus on issues that are going on around the world, the most relevant news that is trending. Even though
newspapers are supposed to be accurate and non-bias usually thatâs the way they are not. For example the Daily Mail has shown a very bias leaning
towards the right wing politics parties, and are very against immigrants and migrants. Other newspapers also twist stories making them not accurate in
some cases newspapers have been taken to court because of the false and harmful information that they release. The set out for newspapers has a
basic standard, on the front page there is a giant heading which will be something that is worded in a way to catch peopleâs attention. The front page
heading is Usually the largest size and the font it is in is a serif font, because this is a traditional style that has always been used in the newspaper
industry, then the set out will be there is the article underneath the large heading. The story if it is the most important or relevant will be accompanied
by a photo to help illustrate the story or put a face to the people in the story.
This newspaper is a front page of the the Daily Mail. The register in this newspaper
would be expected to be formal, but actually it isnât and you can tell this straight away
by the use of a contraction in the heading, straight away there is an informality of using
âcanâtâ instead of can not. Then underneath the title there is a subheading that adds
some attitude to this paper, this line is âand yes, you can blame human rights againâ
which almost seems to want to create some atmosphere of tension and like the writer
wants to get the reader on one side, to blame someone and create an argument, so
straight away you can see that this newspaper is controversial and this isnât always a
good thing. The way they have also worded their heading shows that they are bias, bias
against foreign people in Britain as they make a deal and seem more disgusted at the
fact that the murderers and rapists are from a different country rather than their
crimes. The accuracy of this paper is questionable after the bias shown, as they are only
going to mention information that backs up their article, leaving other important
information out, and no mention of any sources in the article just a vague stab at
âhuman rightsâ whoever that is being directed at. The newspaper is also written in an
ambiguous way, so the reader will read it in a way which will work in the papers favor.
This article is all to rile up the reader and to create an argument, the most prominent
evidence of this argument would be the sub-heading, blaming someone, which is the
basis for an argument. This newspaper must follow codes of practice
http://www.pcc.org.uk/cop/practice.html . Here you can see that this paper may be
breaking codes of practice, which means legal actions can take place, legal actions
would be taken through the press complaints commission.
10. Newspaper
The layout of this newspaper is very standard to every other newspaper out
there. There is a large heading on the front page, this is worded in a way to make
it seem interesting, controversial and so that it grabs peopleâs attention. The font
for the heading is very large and in a serif font, it nearly takes up the whole page,
then underneath the actual story/article is in a lot smaller text, this is in a san
serif font. The first paragraph of this article is in caps and a serif font, because
this is traditional and the standard format for a newspaper and it would be
unusual for a newspaper to do anything different. All the text of the article is in
one place so its easy for the reader to read and not lose their place. The page is
broken up by an underline underneath the heading and subheading, this gives
the page more structure and order, so the reader has more idea where
everything is and knows which story is matching to which heading and picture.
The name of the newspaper is right at the top, this layout structure is a visual
hierarchy, where the most important thing is at the top, then the least important
thing is at the bottom, and everything going in the middle going down in order of
importance.
Most important
Middle
importance
Least important
In this newspaper front page there is a picture of two people. The picture is a
photograph, the subject matter of the photo is actually not relating to anything on
the front page, but actually being used to advertise a story and entice readers, as
they could be fans or just interested in the picture that is being shown. Also on the
page there is an advertisement at the top advertising a family holiday for ÂŁ15, and
there is also a picture on this advertising the deal or offer, the photo is a stock
photo of a family playing in the sea. The photos that journalists accompany stories
with are always in a certain style, if a story is about a celebrity, the photo will be
one that has been taken with a large flash, where a celeb has attended an event of
some sort, and there is no difference here in the photo shown on the newspaper.
The photo accompanies the story which is assumingly on the next page.