2.2 C: How the author deals with ideas he does not like...

The author rejects the opposite view (or: position)

rejects the view (or: position) that ...

refutes (or: undermines / disproves) the idea that ...

By these arguments the author wants to convince the reader that ...

persuade the reader that ...

underline his conviction (or: belief) that ...

2.2 D: How the author finishes...

The author concludes that ...

draws the conclusion that ...

arrives at (or: comes to / draws / reaches) the conclusion that...

the conclusion (or: bottom line) of this text is that...

2.2 E: How you find the author´s arguments...

the author presents his arguments in a neutral (or: balanced) fashion

he weighs the advantages and disadvantages of...

the author appears to (or: seems to) present his arguments in a balanced way, but...

he gives the impression of weighing the advantages and disadvantages of..., but...

his line of reasoning is convincing (or: consistent / logical / conclusive...)

his line of reasoning is unconvincing (or: simplistic / inconsistent / illogical...)

his line of argumentation is (or: seems to be / can be seen as) ...

his line of arguments is (or: seems to be / can be seen as) ...

(Non-fiction) argumentation and structure

the text is (or: the arguments in the text are) arranged in a simple (or: complex / clear / obvious / intricate) pattern

the text has (or: possesses / shows) a ... structure

the text has a balanced (or: effective / complex ...) structure in its argumentation

the argumentation is (or: appears to be / seems to be / can be said to be...) linear (or: very direct / straightforward)

the argumentation is (or: appears to be / seems to be / can be said to be...) dialectical (or:

makes use of theses and antitheses) [sing.: thesis; antithesis]

the argument that xyz is based on (or: founded on) the idea (or: theory / concept...) that...

the author presents strong (or: good / convincing / solid) arguments for...

the author presents weak (or: poor / unconvincing / dubious) arguments for...

he supports (or: corroborates / proves) this argument with...

he refutes (or: confutes / disproves) this argument with...

the author uses (or: puts forward) this argument because... (or: in order to...)

the author arrives at (or: comes to / draws / reaches) the conclusion that...

he concludes that...

the conclusion (or: bottom line) of this text is that...

the author presents his arguments in a neutral (or: balanced) fashion

he weighs the advantages and disadvantages of...

the author appears to (or: seems to) present his arguments in a balanced way, but...

he gives the impression of weighing the advantages and disadvantages of..., but...

his line of reasoning is convincing (or: consistent / logical / conclusive...)

his line of reasoning is unconvincing (or: simplistic / inconsistent / illogical...)

his line of argumentation is (or: seems to be / can be seen as) ...

his line of arguments is (or: seems to be / can be seen as) ...

The Press (Quality Press and Popular Press)

Quality papers ("Heavies") and tabloids

a) Overall layout and typographical level

Certain devices of (the) layout facilitate [= make easier] the reading of news stories:

- a headline attracts the reader´s attention, it serves as an eye-catcher

- this headline may be printed in large block letters: a banner headline

- the headline may cover as much space as the body of the text

- sub-headlines devide the text into different sections

- headlines and sub-headlines may be underlined

- columns and paragraphs visibly break up the text

- the text may be printed in narrow or broad columns, short or long paragraphs

- different sizes and kinds of type act as orientation aids [= draw attention to things]

- the sizes of types in the paragraphs may differ from one another

- headlines and sub-headlines may be printed in bold type (thick letters) or italics (letters that lean over to one side)

- key words may be put in inverted commas [= " " ]

- illustrations may be inserted in the body of the text

- there often is a caption printed below the illustration

These are some of the most important (or: obvious, easily recognized) features of the layout

Example:

Daily Readers´ Rag printed London, New York, Tokyo, Hamm Date: today, of course

BANNER HEADLINE - READ THIS NEWS STORY NOW!

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

important blabla (underlined!)

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablabla in a different type

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablabla in bold type (wow!)

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablab in italics (important?)

blablabla.

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablabla.

"blabla" in inverted commas

blablablab.

Subheadline (underlined)

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablabla.

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

blablablablablablablablablabla

This text is printed in three columns of equal length and width.

It has a banner headline and a sub-headline, which is set in column one, between paragraphs one and two. The text is devided into five paragraphs - all of them composed of a lot of useless blabla, some of which has been stressed by various typographical devices.

b) Compository level

- the presentation of the news story is in the form of the inverted pyramid story :

- the news story progresses from the general to the particular :

- there is general-to-particular stucturing

- the news story consists of three main parts: headline - lead(s) - body

- the headline informs the reader of (or: gives the reader some information on) the most important aspect of the news story

- the lead sums up the news (or: gives the most important information)

- in the lead(s) the "w-questions" are answered: Who? Where? When? What? (Why?)

- additional information is given in the body of the text

- the body provides more details, particularly... (or: for instance... / such as... )

- in the body, the facts given in the lead(s) are reported in greater detail

c) Semantic level / choice of words

- the language is reader-orientated (= is chosen with a certain kind of reader in mind)

- the tone of a news story may be objective (or: neutral) or it may be emotional

- the objective tone of the text is underlined by.... (examples of choice of words)

- the emotional tone of the text, typical of the popular papers, is apparent in ...

- the journalist uses emotive (or: dramatic) words

- the text contains a number of abstract words

- the news story may show biased reporting or unbiased reporting

- the high proportion of emotive / abstract words aims at... (i.e. arousing interest )

- there may be evidence of a wide range of words or a limited range of words

- the level of language employed can be seen in the use of colloquialisms / slang expressions

- much of the vocabulary refers to the field of ...(i.e. politics education / sociology ...)

d) Syntactic level

- the news story can contain a high percentage of complex sentences

- it may be composed of short, simple sentences

- the complexity and the average length of the sentences suggest that...

- the overall style of the news story, as seen in syntax and semantics, may be elevated (or: formal, elaborated) - on the other hand, it may be simplified (or: simple)

- the style and tone employed in this text indicate that it is aimed at... (a certain type of reader)

e) Some common features of headlines

- use of a simplified tense system

- omission of articles

- use of quotations (with or without quotation marks)

- use of idioms, slang, colloquialisms

- use of abbreviations

- use of colon [:] or dash [-]

- use of monosyllabic words

f) Finally, some useful phrases

[ News stories ( contents, language, layout ) and their reader ]

- the journalist has a particular readership in mind

- the purpose of [XYZ] is to enable the addressee to form his own independent opinion of facts / events (without being influenced by the reporter)

- the necessity of attracting the reader's attention

- the reader will (not ) expect to be presented with...

- to appeal to the reader's emotions

- to satisfy a desire for sensationalism

- to persuade the reader to accept this opinion by selecting (only details of ...../ words which...)

- the reader is presented with an objective description or a subjective description of...

- to maintain the reader's attention by ...

- ...is meant to evoke an emotional response

- the popular press (or: yellow press / possibly: gutter press) is aimed at a certain readership

- the quality papers are targeted at a certain readership