Analysis of a text - college agreement

ANALYSIS OF TEXT - 'Agreement between the College and Students'

The primary purpose of this text is to inform the students of the College's expectations and to formulate an agreement between the student and the College about expectations, behaviour and so on. The text is designed to educate the students about what the college will provide and vice versa. We can see that the audience of this text is the prospective students of the college as the first subheading in the passage directly addresses the intended reader as 'you', this informs us that the person is aware of what the text is about. Furthermore, in the first paragraph, it is outlined that the college is speaking to and negotiating an agreement with the students.

 

Firstly, the graphological features of the text make us aware of the formality and seriousness of the content, this reinforces the purpose of the text also. Throughout the extract, a simple ariel font is used. I think that this is because this way there is no elaborate distractions from the writing and this will keep the readers focus onto what is important. Additionally, the text is relatively small and this means that the reader becomes aware of the formality once again. The bullet pointed discourse structure makes the text easy to read, this is important because it shows that the students are young and appreciated their unwillingness to read lengthy and wordy texts, this adds to the effect and purpose of the text. Below the first list is a statement written in capital letters, this makes this part of the text stand out hand highlights its importance to the reader.

 

Throughout the text is a use of different types of word classes and word phrases. To begin with, noun phrases are used in order to make certain parts of the text stand out. For example, one of the first bullet points says, 'initial and continuing guidance about courses'. This noun phrase elaborates on the head word 'guidance' and provides a more detailed explanation of the type of guidance that can be expected from the college. The post-modifier in this phrase is the informative part and contains two

 disyllabic words to describe the guidance. This implies that the writer is educated and professional which is expected of a college, therefore this meets the expectations of the reader. Another type of phrase used is the verb-phrase which highlights the importance of actions that will be carried out by either the college or the student. One example of this is in the middle of the text, where the student is asked to, 'please read this carefully'. The head word within this phrase is 'read', this is an imperative word which instructs the reader of what to do. This harsh word however, is softened by the pre-modifier of 'please'. This turns this verb phrase into a more inviting imperative sentence which makes the college seem kind and non-intimidating. Furthermore, the post-modifier, 'carefully' reinforces the significance of the text to follow and makes the reader see its importance.

A type of word class used within this text is the verbs, particularly modal. One example of this is within the first subtitle, 'the college 'will' provide for you'. This modal verb makes the text seem serious and proposes a promise to the prospective students because the word 'will' is definite and decisive, informing the students of the security of this promise.

Another word class used within this text is pronouns, predominantly in first person such as 'we', 'you, and 'us'. This impacts the reader but portraying inclusiveness and solidarity. This is important because student will want to feel belonging within a college and so this will appeal to the reader.

 

In conclusion, this text uses a variety of linguistic levels in order to create a formal piece of writing which fits in with the purpose of the text. The graphological features along with the discourse structure allows the reader to be focused on the page and to be able to simply comprehend the writing. This along with the grammar used makes the text easy to read and therefore a successful text as its purpose is achieved.