Essay - Mrs Luis

The purpose of this text is to inform the perspective students about all of the rules and expectations of the college and to make sure they stick to them. The target audience of this text is students looking to join the college.

In this agreement there is a variety of language techniques such as verbs, nouns/noun phrases etc. There are some repetitive pronouns used such as you. This implies a sense of personality and individuality and is repeated because it emphasises the importance of being independent in this college. Other pronouns used are your which means speaking directly to someone and it also gives a sense of community so in this context it isn’t just about you as individuals it is the staff aswell so we can work together. The pronoun us also gives a sense of community where everyone works together to achieve the best possible and finally the pronoun used is we describe the college so this tells us what they do as the college for the students. The nouns that are used are college, this tells us what it is specifically about and the noun facilities is used to provide the students with information about what is available for them. Also in this text there are adjectives, for example the word genuine demonstrates a sense of care for the students-if they need help they will be there. The adjective appropriate means suitable and relevant-the teachers will teach them the correct things in order for them to get good grades at the end and they will also make sure that they teach them the correct manners. The modal auxiliary verb used in this text is will which creates a sense of certaincy-it will definitely happen no matter what the circumstances are. Finally the noun phrases used are appropriate teaching, careful and comprehensive advice and regular reports. The word appropriate is the determiner, comprehensive is also a determiner and so is the word regular.

Graphological features are used in this agreement. It has black text on a white background because it makes the writing stand out and shows it is the most important part. The title AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COLLEGE AND STUDENTS is in capital letters because it is the most important part as it actually tells the student what the document is and about. It is laid out in bullet points which make it easy for the reader to read, it looks tidy and professional-emphasises what the college is. The phrase PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY is also in capital letters and underlined because it is also very important and it is something that has to be done. Furthermore the phrase holidays should not be taken during term time. ALL absences to be reported to the Student Service Office is in bold letters because it is vital, it is something that shouldn’t be done and it also emphasises the college’s strict policy. This makes sure the students know that this is not acceptable and there will be consequences.

This text also includes Lexis. The writer has chosen to use the words appropriate, genuine, respect and regular. The word appropriate means suitable and relevant, genuine means care and honesty, respect means consideration and politeness and regular means often and routine. The writer has chosen to use these words because they are formal and professional and they emphasise what the college is going to do for the students. By seeing these words used the audience will want to go to the college as they imply what the college is about.

The discourse structure in the text is that the bullet points are in order of importance. This is because the students need to know what is the most important part of going to that college is and need to make sure that they follow the rules.

Finally, at the bottom part of the first section the phrase ‘Director of Sixth Form. September 2010’ is used; this creates a sense of formality which also emphasises what the college is as a whole.

The whole of the text is formal.