GCSE English Language: Comparing Texts

Kyle Walker:
In your exam, you could be asked to compare two texts from two different periods of time.

Kyle Walker:
These could be fiction or non-fiction. The skills we'll show you in this film apply to both. I'm Kyle Walker, BBC radio presenter, and Manchester born and bred. Here we're going to look at two texts written about the city. No a Guide to Manchester by Ben McGarr, published in 2012, and With the World's Great Travellers, Ed Charles Morris and Oliver H G Leigh, 1896.

Kyle Walker:
Comparing texts from different periods of time involves looking at their similarities and differences. And it also helps to think about the text together, rather than separately.

Kyle Walker:
I'm going to start by reading from the modern piece first.

Kyle Walker:
Manchester is aiming high. Stylish new sky-scrapers are popping up all the time, and natives returning after time away are left quite disorientated. Back in 1962, our CIS Tower briefly was UK's tallest building at 387 feet.

Kyle Walker:
A very descriptive bit of writing on the Manchester modern skyline. Now, let's compare that to the 19th century text, written over a hundred years earlier.

Kyle Walker:
The sight-seer will be charmed by the noble city hall with its tall tower, its peal of 21 bells and the public recitals on its great organ. Manchester possesses the oldest free library in the world, Chetham's. The 40,000 rare old books ranged on the shelves in the old mansion rooms, where some of them have reposed for nearly 300 years.

Kyle Walker:
So two texts. One from the early 21st century, and the other from the late 19th century. How do we go about comparing these two bits of writing? The first step is to establish the purpose and form of each.

Kyle Walker:
Purpose is what the writer is trying to achieve. They could be, for example, trying to entertain or to inform, or to persuade. Form is how it looks. That could be many things, including a blog, a letter or a book. The 21st century text starts with Manchester is aiming high. It's a simple declarative sentence, stating something as fact. Manchester is the focus of this piece. It's the first word.

Kyle Walker:
The older text states right at the beginning, the sight-seer will be charmed by this noble city, and then quickly declares, Manchester possesses. So the purpose of both is clearly to describe the city of Manchester, and to inform and entertain the reader. Now, what form do they take? Well, clearly they're both non-fiction books. Now we know their purpose and form, we can move on.

Kyle Walker:
Method can include a number of things. You can focus on a writer's use of tone, so for example, is it humorous or serious? What's the language like? What word choices do the writers make, and what literary techniques are used? Sentence structure and so on. We'll start with tone. You can think of this as the attitude of the speakers in each piece. Think about the tone of voice you might expect to hear if the writing were being spoken. Similarities first. Both mostly focus on positive aspects of the city. The modern text states that Manchester is aiming high, and stylish new sky-scrapers. The older piece has the sight-seer will be charmed by the noble city hall. So the tone in both texts is positive and upbeat, bigging up Manchester. The effect of this tone is that it might generate enthusiasm for the city in the reader.

Kyle Walker:
The modern text refers to a house being on the market for four million pounds, and refers to a building with a height of 188 metres. The older piece has its peal of 21 bells and 40,000 rare old books. So in both texts, figures emphasise and point out that Manchester is desirable and impressive.

Kyle Walker:
Now we move on to the language each writer uses. Both refer to tall and important buildings. In the modern text, the phrase, the tallest, a superlative, is used throughout the text. Tallest is repeated four times. This seems to be important to the writer. It links back to the opening statement that Manchester is aiming high. The earlier text talks about the noble city hall with its tall tower. So both texts are similar in that they emphasise the importance and grandeur of Manchester's building. The modern text refers to our CIS Tower, the possessive pronoun, our, suggests a sense of ownership and pride in the city, again in the modern text there's a line, desirable and expensive residential properties. Here the writer focuses our attention on these positive aspects of the properties. The older text uses languages for a similar purpose, to praise the city. The line, famous Free Trade Hall has echoed with eloquence, uses alliteration, that's the repetition of a single letter for added emphasis. In this case, the alliteration of echoed and eloquence is used to praise the city. So, that's some of the similarities, now let's look at the differences.

Kyle Walker:
In the old text, scarcely an American statesman or orator of note, being in England since 1856, but has been cheered by its audiences. This feels like a strange word order, or syntax, to our ears. Compare this to the modern text, which uses a more familiar word order or syntax, like, architect Ian Simpson has left his mark on both ends of Deansgate. In terms of its focus, the modern text places value on money. Flats sold and is valued at twice the price. The old text places value on age, 40,000 rare old books, talking about the library.

Kyle Walker:
The effect on the reader here is to make them aware of the change and difference in values between the two eras. Thinking about the writer's perspective now. Do they like Manchester? What is their opinion of the city? The modern text is from the perspective of a Mancunian. McGarr uses the words natives, and born there, suggesting that the writer himself comes from Manchester. Contrast that with the older text, which is from the perspective of a visitor, referring to the traveller. It also looks at the impression the city will make on tourists using a phrase like the sight-seer.

Kyle Walker:
So you've seen there are clear similarities between the texts in terms of purpose, tone and language. And clear differences in terms of perspective values and readership. This has been shown in statements and comparisons, backed up with quotes from the text.

Kyle Walker:
In an exam, when writing about two texts, you need to make links between points you've identified in each. You might like to make a separate mind-map for both texts, and then look for links between them. You could also use a Venn diagram to note similarities and differences between the two texts.