1. Writing to inform To investigate how informative writing works…

2. Question 1 How does the writer hook the audience and convince them that they ought to be interested in what follows?

3. Question 2 How is the information organised and structured, and how easy is it for the reader/listener to follow? Look out for the use of section headings, panels, boxes, bullet points and sub headings in written texts.

4. Question 3 For audio texts, what use is made of different voices, music and sound effects (SFX), and how are listeners made aware of the structure of the text (the equivalent of headings and sub headings)?

5. Question 4 What does the writer of the text seem to assume about the audience and their interest in or knowledge of the topic? How can you tell?

6. Question 5 How does the writer refer to people, places, films, TV programmes, etc., and what does this say about the assumptions made about the audience? For example, if an article refers to ‘Paris’, does it simply say ‘Paris’ or’ Paris, the capital of France’, or ‘a city in France called Paris’, or even a big city in a country called France’?

7. Question 6 Identify any specialist or technical terms introduced. How, if at all, are they explained.

8. Question 7 Consider the following types of information that might appear in an informative text. What are the proportions of each in the texts you are examining? Facts and figures Diagrams, images and charts Stories, anecdotes about individuals/experiences Detailed and factual explanations Amusing or light-hearted comments.

9. Question 8 In general, what sense of formality or seriousness is maintained?

10. Question 9 If images or diagrams are used, how does the writer help the reader make sense of them?

11. Question 10 Does the text directly address the reader/listener using the second person pronoun ‘you’, and if so to what effect?

12. Question 11 Does the text use either the first-person singular ‘I’ or the plural ‘we’? This is rare in information texts. What might be the reasons for these choices?

13. Question 12 How far does the text also fulfil an instructive, entertaining or persuasive function?