How to Write a GUIDE

You may be required to create/write a GUIDE as part of your written requirement for Task & Test. It is important that you write to the specifications that designate your writing is a GUIDE.

Here are some steps to guide you through writing a GUIDE. 

How to Recognise Purpose

Learn how to recognise purpose                      

 

To work out the purpose of a text, you look at its:

• form and source

• content (sentence structure, style and vocabulary)

• format (the way a text is presented and structured).

Form and source

When you read a text the first thing you notice is its form. For example, is it a book, a leaflet, a web page?

The source of a text (where it comes from) also gives you clues about purpose. For example, the purpose of a government leaflet is to inform whereas a leaflet from your local supermarket will be trying to persuade you to buy products.

Identify the THEME

How to Identify the THEME

A theme is a central or underlying idea in literature, which may be stated directly or indirectly. All novels, stories, poems, and other literary works have at least one theme running through them. The writer may express insight about humanity or a worldview through a theme.

Don’t confuse plot with theme: While the plot is what happens, the theme is the underlying idea or message within a story.

The plot is concrete occurrences within the narrative, but the theme can be more subtle and even at times, implied. The theme can be harder to discern whereas the plot is more obvious. In Romeo & Juliet, we see themes of love and hate that appear throughout the plot.

Author’s PURPOSE

Find an Author’s PURPOSE

An author's purpose is the reason an author decides to write about a specific topic; it’s the why behind why the author selected those words in the first place. The author must decide whether his purpose for writing is to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain his ideas to the reader.

The majority of author's purpose questions will come in multiple choice format. So you won't have to come up with the reason for an author's behaviour. You'll just need to select the best choice. 

Capitalisation

 Capitalisation: Don’t Commit a Capital Crime

Over-capitalisation and under-capitalisation are crimes of a capital nature, and the punishment is lack of readership.  Generally, capital letters signify proper nouns and proper adjectives, announce the start of a new sentence, and begin quotations. 

Here are thirty good rules:

What does it mean by 'TONE' of a text?

The definition of “tone” is the way the author expresses his attitude through his writing. The tone can change very quickly, or may remain the same throughout the story. Tone is expressed by your use of syntax, your point of view, your diction, and the level of formality in your writing.

How to Find the Author’s Purpose

Authors write for many different reasons. Those reasons are called the author's purpose. Depending on the purpose, authors may choose all different sorts of writing formats, genres and vernacular.

A simple trick to summarise the three main categories of author's purpose is to use the acronym PIE, which stands for persuade, inform and entertain.

Punctuating Sentences

What is a sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense.

'She is running late.' This is a sentence.
'She is' isn't a complete sentence unless it is an answer to a question. (Is she running late? She is.)

Summarising & Mind Mapping

Summarising 

& Mind Map

We start with mind mapping so you can use it for note taking to help with writing or having a discussion. This can be the notes you take from the two sources in your task.

Understanding words in context

Understanding Words in Context: Getting Meaning by Using Context Clues:

Reading comprehension is one of the most difficult things to master on a standardized test. The test-makers evaluate skills like finding the main idea, making inferences, determining the author's purpose, and understanding vocabulary words, some of which you may have never been introduced to you before.

Grammarly: Login & Set British English

Grammarly is a useful online digital tool to use to support MS
Word.  

Use this tool to check your work in addition to MS Word.  

Identifying the Four Different Writing Styles

Identifying Writing Styles:
The definitions of these words can help you to quickly categorise writing into one of them.

(1) Expository: Also called informative writing, this style of writing attempts to relay facts for the sole purpose of spreading information. Expository writing's main purpose is to explain.

Four Different Writing Styles

TYPES OF WRITING STYLES

There are four main types of writing: expository, descriptive, persuasive, and narrative. Each of these writing styles is used for a specific purpose. A single text may include more than one writing style.

Reading: Purpose of Text - Main Idea

Finding the main idea

The main idea of a paragraph is the author's message about the topic. It is often expressed directly or it can be implied.

Where are the main ideas found?

It is easy to identify a main idea that is directly expressed in the text.

Additional help to pass the test

Check this useful link from the University of Bristol:

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/index.htm     

The Apostrophe with Numbers, Letters, and Abbreviations

Rule: The plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns are not formed with apostrophes.
Example: She consulted with three M.D.s.

Writing: Recognise the purpose of text

Learn how to recognise purpose 

To work out the purpose of a text, you look at its:

• Form and source

• Content (sentence structure, style and vocabulary)

• Format (the way a text is presented and structured).

Skimming & Scanning for Information

SKIMMING & SCANNING 
                                                                                   

Butte College

Skimming and scanning are reading techniques that use rapid eye movement and keywords to move quickly through text for slightly different purposes. Skimming is reading rapidly in order to get a general overview of the material. 

Zombie Text Features: RUN

Group Discussion Skills: Giving and Asking for Reasons and Examples