How to compare texts - EdexcelHow to answer a summarise and synthesise question

Comparing a writer’s methods

Writers use different methods to achieve their purpose. The form of a non-fiction text will also affect the writer’s choice of method. A comparison of two texts should focus on HOW the writer’s methods are similar and/or different. For example, you could focus on a writer’s use of:

• tone, eg humorous, serious, satirical
• language, eg word choice, literary techniques, rhetorical devices
• structure, eg order of ideas, repetition, sentence structure

The writer’s choice of method will have an effect on the reader’s response: it’s important to think about the impact on the reader when comparing texts. This is also where you can share your opinion about a text. You are the reader, so think about how the text is making you feel and respond.

Example

Read these two extracts that both focus on describing a dramatic event.

Extract 1

Experience: I fell out of the Sky

I pulled the brake lines to increase the angle of the wing for extra life. But I forgot that I had tightened them before take-off and made them far more sensitive. I pulled too hard. That, combined with the eddies swirling from the trees and building ahead, caused a break in the airflow under the canopy. Instantly, it began to deflate.

I had just enough time to look up and see the thin material of my wing falling towards me like an enormous bunch of useless laundry. I was dropping like a stone.

Tumbling through the air with no way to stop is a sensation of utter helplessness: a truly stomach churning moment where you know you’re not going forwards or upwards; you’re just falling. There is no time to think. One second became two, two became three. I closed my eyes. Wallop.

Magazine article, The Guardian Weekend, 2014

Skydiver survives 14,000 foot fall after his parachute and backup BOTH fail

A thrillseeker survived a 14,000 foot fall when both his parachute and the emergency backup failed to deploy during a skydive in Melbourne, Australia. Brad Guy was doing a tandem skydive, strapped to an instructor, when he plummeted towards the ground as his family watched helpless in a nearby field. After making the jump, which was a gift for his 21st birthday, Brad felt the main parachute deploy as they passed 4000 feet, but shortly after he heard his instructor begin to swear.

The parachute had torn as it opened, causing the pair to spin wildly as they fell.

Recognising something was wrong, Brad asked his instructor: "Are we going to die?" The only response his instructor, a veteran of 2000 tandem jumps, could give was "I don't know."

The backup parachute deployed at about 500 feet, but tangled with the remains of the main parachute as they continued to spiral downward.

Guy told local newspaper the Herald Sun: "Survival wasn't in my head at all. I was thinking, 'This ground's going to hit me and when it does, I'll be gone. I've brought my family here to watch me die.'"

Brad's mum Julie, dad Brian, boyfriend Artie and his three sisters and their families all watched in horror as the nightmare unfolded.

News report, The Mirror, Mikey Smith

Analysis

Here are some similarities and differences between the two texts. In an exam you wouldn’t have to cover all of these points.

Similarities

• Purpose - both are informing and entertaining the reader.
• They are both about a similar topic, an airborne accident.
• Both use a specialist semantic field - The Guardian article refers to “brake lines…take-off…canopy…” The Mirror report uses “deploy” and “tandem skydive”.
• Both use dramatic, emotive language to excite the reader. The Mirror report uses dramatic choices like “thrillseeker… plummeted… horror… nightmare” whilst The Guardian article uses phrases like “utter helplessness” and “stomach churning.”
• Both structure the last paragraph in the extract with a dramatic phrase. In the news report “… as the nightmare unfolded” and in the article ‘Wallop’.
• Both texts are written in the past tense and the readers know from both headlines that the men survived.

Differences

• Different form - extract 1 is a magazine article and extract 2 is an online news report.
• The Mirror report is describing details of the accident after the event, so the reader is presented with the emotions of the onlookers: “…his family watched helpless…all watched in horror.” This emphasis on the man’s family watching makes the incident more dramatic for the reader.
• The paramotoring article is written from the perspective of the man involved in the accident, so the reader is presented with his emotions. The focus is on his experience of this dramatic event.
• The multi-clause sentences in The Mirror report build a sense of anticipation, as the details of the dramatic event unfold.
• In the paramotoring article, lots of single clause, short sentences build the tension. The informality of the word “Wallop” in the paramotoring article is shocking and also perhaps creates an amusing tone for the reader.
• The humour is also suggested by the simile, “like an enormous bunch of useless laundry…” The contrast of this humour with the serious subject matter makes the text very effective.
• The tone in The Mirror report is more factual: “…14,000 foot fall…2000 tandem jumps…” The use of lots of statistics gives the report a more informative feel.
• The paramotoring article is more descriptive and uses simple, effective images: “I was dropping like a stone.” This simile gives a vivid, dramatic sense of the man’s experience.
• The Mirror report uses first person interviews, "Survival wasn't in my head at all…”, to make the story more dramatic.