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What is a letter (as a text type)?
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All Flashcards in Topic 2.5
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2.5.110 cards
What is a letter (as a text type)?
A text written to one particular reader, revealing a relationship and purpose.
What does the salutation tell you?
The formality and relationship — ‘Dear Sir’ vs ‘Hey you’ set the tone.
What does 'register' mean here?
The level of formality — formal and distant vs intimate and warm.
Why does direct address matter in a letter?
A letter speaks to a specific ‘you’; how it treats them reveals the relationship.
Name three letter features to analyse.
Salutation/sign-off, register (formal/intimate), and the writer's purpose.
What can icy formal politeness signal?
Anger held under control — politeness used as a cold weapon.
First question to ask of a letter?
‘What is the relationship, and what does the writer want?’
What purposes can a letter have?
To thank, complain, persuade, apologise or console — it wants something.
Letter vs email/social post?
A letter is addressed to one named reader with a clear salutation and sign-off.
Common letter-analysis mistake?
Summarising the content and ignoring tone, address and register.
2.5.210 cards
What is a memoir (as a text type)?
A true, first-person recollection reflecting on a real moment from the writer's life.
Why does memoir use sensory detail?
Specific sights, sounds and smells make the memory feel real and carry feeling.
What is 'reflection' in memoir?
The older narrator adding what they understand now that they didn't then.
How does a small moment carry big meaning?
An ordinary event is made to stand for something larger — growing up, loss, love.
Name three memoir features.
First-person looking back, vivid sensory detail, and reflection/hindsight.
What is the now-voice vs then-self?
The older narrator recalls a younger self, often adding later understanding.
First question to ask of a memoir?
‘Why does this small memory matter to the writer?’
Memoir vs autobiography?
Memoir focuses on select meaningful moments, not a whole life story in order.
Memoir vs fiction?
Memoir presents itself as a true recollection; fiction is invented.
Common memoir-analysis mistake?
Retelling the events instead of analysing the detail and reflection that make meaning.
2.5.310 cards
What is travel writing?
A first-person account bringing a place alive through sensory detail and voice.
Why does the writer's voice matter?
Their personality colours the place and shapes our experience of it.
Why use sensory description?
Sights, sounds and smells put the reader right there in the place.
What is observation + reflection?
Noticing the place AND what the writer thinks or feels about it.
Name three travel-writing features.
Sensory description, a personal voice, and selected telling detail.
Why select one telling detail?
A single vivid detail brings a scene alive more than a full list would.
First question to ask of travel writing?
‘How does the writer make me feel this place and their response to it?’
Travel writing vs a guidebook?
A guidebook informs plainly; travel writing shares a personal, felt experience.
What tones can a travel voice take?
Dry, awestruck, weary, curious — the voice shapes how we feel the place.
Common travel-writing analysis mistake?
Listing the sights instead of analysing the detail and voice that convey experience.
2.5.410 cards
What is an essay (as a text type)?
A text that explores an idea, developing a line of thought in a distinctive voice.
Why does an essay's structure matter?
It builds — claim, complication, question — so the argument feels like a journey.
What makes an essay's voice distinctive?
A real mind speaking — thoughtful, witty or provocative, not a textbook.
How does an essay use evidence?
It supports ideas with examples, observations or small stories.
Name three essay features.
A guiding idea, a distinctive voice, and development/turns in the argument.
What does a ‘not X, but Y’ move do?
Reframes a familiar idea more sharply, making it feel fresh.
First question to ask of an essay?
‘How does the argument develop, and how does the voice carry me?’
Why might an essay open with a personal story?
To draw the reader in before widening to the bigger idea.
Essay vs opinion column?
Both argue; an essay tends to explore and develop a thought more openly and at length.
Common essay-analysis mistake?
Stating the conclusion instead of analysing how the thought develops and the voice engages.
2.5.510 cards
What is a literary extract (as a text type)?
A piece of prose fiction that builds a world and feeling through narrative craft.
What builds meaning in fiction?
Narrative craft — voice, POV, imagery, selected detail — not just plot.
Why does point of view matter?
Who tells it, and how, shapes what we know and how we feel.
How does selected detail work?
A chosen small detail reveals character or setting (a habit shows a nature).
What does imagery do in fiction?
Metaphor and vivid images build mood and meaning, not just decoration.
Name three literary-extract features.
Narrative voice/POV, selected detail, and imagery/atmosphere.
First question to ask of a literary extract?
‘How does the WAY it's told create character and mood?’
How can action reveal feeling without stating it?
A telling gesture (folding a letter smaller and smaller) carries the emotion.
Literary extract vs memoir?
A literary extract is fiction; memoir presents a true recollection.
Common literary-extract analysis mistake?
Retelling the plot instead of analysing the craft that builds character and mood.
2.5.610 cards
What is a poem (as a text type)?
A compressed text where word, line break and sound are all chosen for meaning.
Why do line breaks matter?
Where a line ends creates a pause and emphasis; the shape is a choice.
What is 'compression' in poetry?
Cutting everything inessential so every remaining word carries weight.
What does imagery do in a poem?
Metaphor and vivid pictures pack feeling into very few words.
What sound features can a poem use?
Rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, repetition — meaning you can hear.
Name three things to analyse in a poem.
Form/line breaks, imagery, and sound.
First question to ask of a poem?
‘Why THIS word, and why does the line break HERE?’
What is sibilance?
Repeated soft ‘s’ sounds, often creating a hushed or hissing effect.
Poem vs prose extract?
A poem uses line breaks, sound and extreme compression as central tools.
Common poem-analysis mistake?
Paraphrasing the meaning instead of analysing the form, sound and word choice.
Topic 2.5 study notes
Full notes & explanations for Personal & literary forms
English A Lang & Lit exam skills
Paper structures, command terms & tips
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