Compare Texts Using Narrative Voice, Purpose and Context

Comparisons Between Texts

When comparing two texts it is important to identify the similarities the texts have but also what is different about them.

It might be a mixture of the two.

Perhaps both texts have the same audience but a different purpose.

Perhaps both texts are stories but are completely different genres.

Maybe both texts are articles but use different language features.

Maybe both texts use the same language features but for a different effect.

The list is endless!

In this activity, we are going to focus on a few ways we can begin to compare texts.
 

For example, you could compare texts on:

Format

What sort of text type has the writer used? Letter, article. speech, poem?

Narrative voice

Is a text written in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd person?

Character

What do you know about the character? Their age, gender, marital status?

Setting

Is the text that you're reading set in the future or in the past? In England or on Mars?

Context

When was it written? What was happening at the time that might have influenced the writer?

Purpose

Why has the text been written? Is it to entertain, persuade, advise or inform?

Structure

Is the text written in chronological order? Or are their flashbacks or flash forwards? What has been described in detail?