Word Choice Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation.

What is Word Choice? Word Choice refers to specific words chosen by the writer in preference to another. The words are often verbs or adjectives. The words usually reflect the writer’s attitude about the topic. e.g. She is knowledgeable (suggests respect) She is opinionated(now she is irritating!)

DO NOT … Confuse Word Choice with Imagery. Word Choice requires you to identify the word/s which show his/her attitude to the topic. Whereas IMAGERY requires you to identify the comparison being made between the two objects (Literally and connotations)

2. Read lines 16 – 23. (b) Show how the writer’s word choice in the whole paragraph makes clear the difference between the two types of communication (real life and cyber world). 4A At the same time, this constant reassurance – that you are listened to, recognised, and important – is coupled with a distancing from the stress of face-to- face, real-life conversation. Real-life conversations are, after all, far more perilous than those in the cyber world. They occur in real time, with no opportunity to think up clever or witty responses, and they require a sensitivity to voice tone and body language. Moreover, according to the context, and indeed, the person with whom we are conversing, our own delivery will need to adapt. None of these skills are required when chatting on a social networking site. REMEMBER: “QUOTE” + COMMENT

Word Choice – Sample Answer “Stress” indicates the strain and anxiety the writer feels can be caused by face to face conversation. “Perilous” also describes face to face; this suggests extreme danger and threat. “Chatting” describes the safer world of cyberspace as it connotes warm, easy-going friendships and relationships. “Reassurance” establishes the online world as calming, comforting and encouraging.

1. (b) Show how the writer’s word choice in lines 7 – 10 (“It’s not…family life”) emphasises the extent of changes she describes.2A It’s not that nothing has changed in that time, of course. There has been turbo- charged economic growth, wave upon wave of migration, a massive shift from an industrial to a service economy, and a generation of unprecedented change in sexual politics and family life.

Word Choice – Sample Answer She describes economic growth as “turbo-charged” which links to the idea of an engine charged for power and speed. This means change will be dramatic and quick. “Massive” describes the shift from industry to service the economy. This stresses the extent of change as the word connotes a huge, unstoppable force.

1. (b) Show how the writer’s word choice in lines 1 – 3 emphasises his low opinion of “consumer society”. 2A We are caught up on a treadmill of turbo-consumption powered by the unfounded belief that having more will make us happy. We are part and parcel of a consumer society whose credentials are becoming more tarnished.

Word Choice – Sample Answer “tarnished” suggests that the gloss, the attractiveness has gone from something (in this case the appeal of consumerism). It was once shiny but now it is tainted. “part and parcel” suggests that we are no more than commodities in a warehouse, all the same and wrapped up ready for someone to use.

CLOSE READING IMAGERY Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation

How to answer an IMAGERY Question … 1.Quote the words that create the imagery. 2.Explain its LITERAL/ROOT meaning 3.Explain its connotations (i.e. how it compares to what the writer is describing)

Read lines 47 – 57. (a) Show how the imagery in lines 47 – 49 (“So what…alien?”) conveys the writer’s view of the situation we find ourselves in.2A So what are we to do, stranded in this no-man’s-land between an old civilisation that’s no longer sustainable either practically or morally, and a new one that we still resist because it seems somehow alien? Some bluster hopelessly about the need to return to the past. Other’s talk blithely as if there was no problem about abandoning the family as a useful transmitter of wisdom, and passing the whole job on to schools. But for the rest of us – well, we probably do best when we face the truth that all social change involves some measure of loss, but that the clock cannot be turned back towards attitudes and prejudices that were abandoned for the best of reasons. And, above all, we perhaps need to strive to move forward as a whole society, rather than as a bunch of fragmented individuals demanding increasingly impossible feats from our hard- pressed public services.

Imagery – Sample Answer “No man’s land” is literally the space between warring armies. This suggests we are trapped between two forces, in this case old and new attitudes, uncertain about which way to go and committed to neither side.

Discuss how effective you find the writer’s use of imagery in lines in making her point clear. You may refer in your answer to one or more examples. “Yet at the heart of this even more draconian approach to immigration policy lie a number of misconceptions. The UK is not a group of nations swamped by a tidal wave of immigration. Relatively speaking, Europe contends with a trickle of refugees compared with countries who border areas of famine, desperate poverty, or violent political upheaval. The countries of origin of the highest numbers coming here change from year to year, depending on the hotspots of global conflict. But whether they are transient or would-be settlers, they face an uphill battle trying to find legal employment. People with real skills and talents to offer us find themselves in the black economy, or unemployed, because of a sluggish system of processing applicants, allied to regulations which preclude the legal marketplace.”

Tidal Wave: is literally a large upsurge/movement in the height/amount of water that can often cause destruction on the area where it occurs This suggests that the sudden and large movement of immigration into an area can cause significant problems. Uphill Battle: is literally a significant challenge that you are likely to lose. This suggests that the immigrants coming into the country are going to be met with even greater obstacles that they need to overcome – and possibly may not be successful at this.