1. Presentational Devices
In section A of your English paper you are being asked to demonstrate
your ability to read unseen texts, identify the arguement (the main
points the writers are making), and compare the ways different writers
use language and presentational techniques to make their work more
engaging and achieve a particular purpose. However, one of the most
powerful resources available to writers is that of presentational
techniques, which can include anything from bold, dazzling
photographs of celebrities to subtle use of font and colour to enhance a
point or draw the reader's eye. Our job as English students is to be to
identify these techniques and explain why they are being used and what
the effect is on the reader.
Presentational Devices / Techniques
Adverts - come in a variety of styles and forms, but with the
purpose of selling a product or an idea to the you, the consumer.
Patterns (e.g. fish scales on a fishing magazine)
Fonts for effect (size, shape, patterning). Bubble writing is visually
appealing to younger people. It is informal and somewhat childish,
but what about more angular fonts like Times New Roman? Or All
Caps?
Layout (the position of things on a page) - what comes first and last
2. is always significant
Tone (formal/informal) - is it posh or not?
Lists (easy on the eye - quick information)
Quotes (bold, stand-alone quotes)
Contrast – Think about colour & tone
Juxtaposition (powerful contrast & emphasis)
Reverse print – black on white / yellow on black (bold & contrasting)
Captions - desribe images, graphs etc
Pictures - pictures are worth a thousand words! Ask yourself why
that picture has been chosen. Is it biased? Is there a hidden
agenda? How well does it appeal to the Target Audience? Is it
appropriate? Thought provoking?
Statistics & graphs - are they purposefully misleading?
Illustrations - How are they targeted that audience?
Cartoons - Fun, but also be serious, satirical even controversial
Colour schemes - hot or cold / natural or cosmetic?
Teasers - little 'trailers' for other stories inside
Straplines - long text boxes that highlight a point
Text boxes - different shapes and sizes
Humour - difficult to pull off, but writers often use humour to
soften us up and engage us
Offers and competitions - reasons to buy
Structure –How has the writer organised the order or sequence of
his/her points to strengthen their argument?
3. One way to think about presentational devices is think about the power
of visual advertising. Typically, the exam board will issue an exam
paper with a balance of text and image, but we can't rely on this, so we
need to make sure we can identify and write about a range of
presentational devices. The ones listed above are just a selection of the
more common devices or techniques and before you sit the exam you
should make sure that you understand most of the terms and feel
confident writing about them.
