Practising Writing Concisely

Prose
1.Outline two ways in which Pilkington gives you a sense of perspective in the first 8 lines of the text? [2 marks]
Pilkington gives us, the readers, a sense of perspective in the first 8 lines of the text by using descriptive language. Additionally, he expresses his opinions to display perspective and also uses a substantial amount of imagery to give us, the readers, the idea that we are there and actually experiencing what is happening.

1. Identify two ways in which the author makes the description of the toad killings memorable. [2 marks]

The author uses many different techniques to do this. One of the ways I have noticed was the fact that the author uses certain diction to display this act of brutality and this gruesomeness through specific diction such as the word "massacre." Furthermore, he uses everyday objects to add a more personal touch which is unorthodox and so it leaves a larger impact on us the readers.

1. Select two examples of humour from the text and analyse the effect of each on the reader. [4 marks] The following quote is a quote from the book. "This sounds like a normal diet around here." This is humorous as the author uses irony to add a comedic effect. This is ironic as earlier in the book it informs us of how the Chinese people are very protected about the way they are perceived, however, later the book makes a stereotypical remark and perceives them in a negative manor.

Furthermore, the author uses the following quote "people had told me about the street food in China but not food that crawls on the street." This is humorous as this is sarcastic remark and makes sort of eases the current situation and what is happening in the book.

Video

1. Outline two ways in which sound plays a role in this scene. (Do not include comments on the use of voice-over here). [2 marks]
   The use of diegetic sound is there as you can hear people conversing and shouting in the background which once again relates to my first point of how they use perspective to give us the idea that we are actually there experiencing what is happening. Moreover, there is synchronous sound where they peal the egg to signify it and create a larger impact on the audience as this is a very gruesome scene.

2. What is the overall effect of the voice-over in this extract? Select two examples of voice over commentary and analyse their effect on the viewer. [4 marks]
   The voice over is in some cases, quit humorous which eases the situation for the viewers as what is happening is quite disgusting. To add on, the voice over sort of opinionated the situation as we are presented with the opinion of Pilkington himself over what is currently happening.

3. Outline two ways in which Pilkington makes the scorpion eating scene humorous through his spoken language in the scene. Give an example of each. [4 marks]
   Pilkington adds humorous voice over on some particular scenes to ease the situation as I have mentioned before. An example of this would be where he says "Oh which bit should I have first the head or the arse?" This is humorous as we would not usually expect this unusual slang in a video like this. Furthermore, he says "What if there is a spider int he bathroom, what does she do, oh good I'll leave the croisant for tomorrow I'll eat that now." This is a sarcastic and judgmental remark which the audience finds quite humorous.

15 minutes