Blog - Exam Practice Paper 1 Question 2

 The excerpt has a couple of typical text conventions that are used mainly for books so in the form of a narrative which is seen through the usage of the footer that defines words in the text that may need defining in order for the reader to understand the context. For example, it defines ‘Susquehanna’ and ‘Q’ in the footer. Although this is not necessarily a typical text convention for narrative writing, it is possible to be seen in narrative writing such as a book.

The excerpt is also written in first person which is seen for the usage of the words we and I which is typical of a narrative type of text. This is due to the fact that a narrative type of text uses a main character so the whole story is seen through the perspective of the main character. This produces an effect of intimacy. This gives the reader more personal information to work with from the main character due to the nature of seeing it through their perspective.

The writer also uses a whole paragraph to transition the narrative into more of a conversation. I won't quote the whole paragraph, but it is paragraph 2 in the specific excerpt. The writer uses the whole paragraph to switch the effect of the text into more of a dialogue kind of text. With certain elements of reflection on the past as well. The overall effect of the whole paragraph is a change of effect into getting the main character in more of a reflective and open kind of mood which progresses the story.

There is anaphoric structure in the text, which is where there is a reference (through the usage of a word/phrase) to the preceding word/phrase such as the use of a noun and then a pronoun. This is seen specifically in the text through the usage of the words ‘Old Man Susquehanna’ and ‘his’. 

The writer uses pretty large paragraphs which are full of depth in the excerpt. The large paragraphs help to provide more description and lore for the story. This helps develop the narrative since it allows for more set up to be put in place so that the reader is more subject to the varying effects such as tone/mood that the author places in each paragraph. 

There is a specific usage of an adjective in the beginning of the text, ‘diminishing’ which is used to describe the store and its popularity and relevance across America. This gives an effect of longing which helps develop the story and set up the transition into the thinking of the zeppelins that the main character is largely interested in that were prevalent in the past. 

The excerpt also uses a couple of dialect words such as ‘zepplin’, ‘hoagie’, ‘bomber’ and ‘grinder’. These dialect words help create an effect of casualness since those are all regional words that are being used in specific regions in order to say a sub. 

The excerpt also uses a casual dialect word through the use of ‘to everyone’s sorry’. This creates an effect of informality within the text which further supports the casual tone used by the writer already through the usage of other dialect words. 

The excerpt also uses alliteration in the excerpt which is typical of narrative types of texts since they use linguistic devices such as imagery like alliteration to convey mood/atmosphere. This is seen through the use of ‘p’ at the beginning of the words to mention the two different types of ‘peppers’ and ‘pepperoni’. This gives an effect of rhythm which helps the whole sentence run more smoothly since it is a list of food that go into the sub which would be difficult to read through from default.