What even is a text?

What even is a text? Is it a book, is it a plane, is it…just no. Text is a form of communication. Full stop. That’s it. With that in mind, the following are forms of text;

• Books (well der…)
• Song Lyrics
• Memes
• Posters
• Body Language
• Poetry
• Dance
• Media Ads
• Instructions and instruction manuals
• Game manuals
• Dialogue (movies /games etc.)
• Tweets
• Facebook Posts
• Insta and SnapChat
• TikTok
• The list is enormous…

The important things to know about text is that is:

• Conveys a message
• Can be manipulated and can manipulate us
• Can use a theme / images / sounds / other effects to assist in conveying a message

Bearing this in mind, lets have a look at some examples;

Shakespear Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Sonnet 18 translation to modern English

Shall I compare you to a summer’s day? You are more lovely and more moderate: Harsh winds disturb the delicate buds of May, and summer doesn’t last long enough. Sometimes the sun is too hot, and its golden face is often dimmed by clouds. All beautiful things eventually become less beautiful, either by the experiences of life or by the passing of time. But your eternal beauty won’t fade, nor lose any of its quality. And you will never die, as you will live on in my enduring poetry. As long as there are people still alive to read poems this sonnet will live, and you will live in it.

Compare: Comparing is the act of looking at similarities and differences between things! This can include asking and answering questions such as:

• Who is the author?
• What is the story / theme?
• What is the message?
• How does this communicate?
• Who is involved?
• What choices have been made in communicating the message?
• What stylistic choices have been made?

Contrast: Looking at only the differences between two things. This is a more in-depth exploration of differences. When we compare we might write a list of things that are similar and different, however, when we contrast we go into exploring why things are different and how they are different.

Task for growing understanding: Choose two text types that you enjoy and are meaningful to you and sparks joy in you – this can be any text type…think a meme, song lyrics, game dialogue, movie lines, books, drama scenes etc…The only rule is one of these text types must be modern and one must be old (at least 10 years old). See if you can compare and contrast these – this can be done in a written form, verbal form, creative form, your response is entirely up to you, you just need to demonstrate that you can say ‘what is similar and what is different’ and why

Achievement Standard: Students analyse the ways that text structures can be manipulated for effect