‘Comparison Question: Angels & Falling from the Sky’ by Safa Aman

After taking both texts into account, I strongly believe that Text Two does a more impressive job at giving an account of someone who survives life-threatening situations as compared to Text One. Hence, I choose Text Two.

Firstly, Juanita Watson adds short sentences for a more dramatic effect. These short sentences make her already heart-gripping story even more breath-taking and shocking. This can be noted in the following examples: “And it’s especially great to be alive” and “I suddenly found myself falling. Sixty feet”. Instead of composing it into one, long sentence, the writer breaks it down with exaggeration; therefore, grasping the reader’s attention.

Second of all, Watson gives an account of her feelings at the time of her “adventure”. She narrates about the trauma she almost fell into and the wounds that adorned her body, but how she was sensible enough to take action despite these obstacles. For example, “The odds were stacked against me. But I didn’t let my mind focus too much on that”. The writer describes how she aided to her own wounds and nursed her broken hip. She pushed the thought of death away, prayed and kept going.

I did not choose Text One for the reason that it lacked detail. Sally Williams overlooked several essential details including an account of how she personally felt regarding the life-threatening circumstances. Her story was nerve-wrecking and cringe-worthy; however, she failed to deliver it in an appropriate and suitable manner. One might observe this in the following example: “Koepcke didn’t have any tools for survival such as a machete or plastic boots”. Williams is at a loss when it comes to emotions, hence unable to connect with her readers. As if that was not enough, that statement (along with many others in the passage) were mundane and flat. Where were the expressions? Where was the emotional appeal? The writer truly has a long way to go before she can actually get her readers hooked.

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‘Comparison Question: Handwriting is on the wall for a moment & the dying art of handwriting’ by Safa Aman

After taking both texts into account, I strongly believe that Text One does more justice to the relating topic as compared to Text Two.

Text One — ‘The Dying Art of Handwriting’ — not only explains that handwriting is slowly being eradicated, but explains why this ancient practice is being extinct day by day. In the passage, Margaret Rock (the author of the brilliantly composed text) uses logos. She backs her content up with scientific proof which leads readers to believe that it is a hundred percent accurate. This can be seen in the following sentence: “According to brain imaging studies, cursive writing, in particular, activates parts of the nervous system that stay quiet during typing”.

Another reason why Text One trumps over Text Two is because of the chatty tone. Its conversational style keeps boredom at bay and makes something as simple as handwriting less mundane. For example, in “Remember that saying, ‘Write it down so you won’t forget it?'”, the writer questions the reader and tries to connect to her audience. This keeps the readers involved and more interested in whatever is being discussed.

As entertaining as Text Two may seem, it lacks logical reasoning. The writer drones on about how handwriting is becoming obsolete; however, he does not give enough evidence to  support his statement. This can be noted in, “truth is, I am out of practice, and it’s all the fault of the computer” — But, why? The writer fails to provide sufficient information.

Which text is more successful is giving an account of someone who survives life-threatening situations? You may choose either Text One or Text Two but you must explain your choice carefully. Give two reasons why you choose this text and one reason for not choosing the other text. You may wish to comment on the writer’s language and technique. You should support your points with evidence from the text. By Roha Khan

Compared to Text Two, I think Text One does a better job at achieving its purpose, that is, to inform the reader about the feelings of a person moving to a foreign country. To make his point clear, the author describes Allen’s feelings using words and phrases like “a source of wonder for Allen”, “bizarre” and “excitement”. This intends to give the reader a clear idea about the character’s mix of emotion.

The author has used imagery to tell about the changes. Without any direct comparison, the writer tells about the differences, for example, “so smooth, no potholes, no wild bends”. He even writes about how London is quieter, compared to Ethiopia,   especially using the words, “Can you hear the nothing, Father?”  This makes the reader realize the change in the environment better. The writer also addresses the character’s sense of smell−“to the strange smell of English breakfast”−which help the reader understand how different things are.

Text Two, on the other hand, is in first person and gives an impression of being “rescued” rather than “moving”. The author does not understand the language that is being spoken, but rather comments on people’s attitude towards her, for example, “generosity” and “gratitude”. Except for in the first paragraph, the author fails to tell us about the new place or city.

 

Comparison Question: Moving to another country by Swayyed Rehman

Which text is more successful is giving an account of someone who survives life-threatening situations? You may choose either Text One or Text Two but you must explain your choice carefully. Give two reasons why you choose this text and one reason for not choosing the other text. You may wish to comment on the writer’s language and technique. You should support your points with evidence from the text. By Faryal Shuja

I believe Text One “Sole Survivor: the woman who fell to earth” is far more successful in giving an account of someone who survives life-threatening situations. I believe this for many reasons, the first being it connects with the reader more, and gives a personal tone, despite it not being written in first person. Examples of this are: “just a girl in a thin cotton mini dress” in line 22 and “didn’t her mother tell her about the birds?” in line 42. The detailed description of Koepcke allows the reader to truly connect to her, as she is wearing very ordinary clothes. This visual of her appearance connects the reader, making them think that they could have been in that very same situation. This makes the reader put themselves in her position, and therefore makes Text One superior at giving an account of a life threatening situation.
The second quote in which the author uses a rhetorical question is also extremely successful, as it humanizes Koepcke, to make it seem as if she truly is a lost girl, still trying to remember her mother’s advice. This once again makes the reader sympathetic towards Koepcke, and gives them a further understanding of her situation. This all makes Text One far superior to Text Two.
The second reason I chose Text One was the extremely well executed literary techniques. The author uses techniques such as a hyperbole, tripilism, emotive language, and much more. An example of a hyperbole is: “danger behind every bush”. This creates a heightened sense of danger, causing the reader to feel anxiety and fear for the life of Koepcke, making them understand just how she felt. There is also tripilism when “there were jaguars, scorpions, and poisonous snakes” is written. This once again begins describing and emphasizes just how dire Koepcke’s situation was to the reader. Finally there is the descriptive and emotive language used, examples are: “lurching”, “catastrophic”, and “vanished”. These are all dramatic and emotion evoking words that illustrate to the reader all that has happened to Koepcke, thus making them aware of all that had happened. All this is why I have chose Text One as the more successful of the Texts, it’s ability to inform the reader while still writing beautifully is commendable.
I did not choose Text Two, “Angels in the Wilderness” as it was not as interesting or captivating. Despite its captivating title, and interesting story it seemed boring, due to the writing, as it was an interview. It was more matter-of-fact, and less engrossing. There was a significant lack of figures of speech and emotive or descriptive language. Instead, there were short, and choppy sentences, and though sometimes it added dramatic effect, most times it didn’t. An example of this is: “I had enough water. I had fallen near a stream”. This sentence adds nothing to the drama of the scene, and it does not captivate the reader. A simple addition of the word thankfully, or instead of writing “enough water”, writing “just enough water” would have changed the sentence completely. These small changes easily could have improved the Text, and made it a more successful account. I believe this because if a reader cannot connect with, or at least be captivated by a text, it is unsuccessful. This all makes Text Two far less successful than Text One.

Which text is more successful in showing what it is like to move to a different country? You may choose wither Text One or Text Two but you must explain your choice carefully. Give two reasons why you chose this text and one reason for not choosing the other text. By Wishka Syed

I believe that text two is more successful in showing us what it is like to move to a different country. Text two’s style of writing is descriptive which lets the reader feel, hear, smell, see and touch all the character’s feelings and emotions as he moves to a different country; “white house with its perfectly mown lawns and flowers lining the entrance and a carpet in every room”, “a landscape so white, so pure, could only dazzle us, blind us, intoxicate us.” By reading such description, the reader for example, feels as if he himself is standing with the landscape right in front of him. The author uses description to create an image in the reader’s mind and to give him a closer look of the story.

 

I also chose text two because of the amount of figurative language used in it; “like a mother duck, she walked ahead of us”, “garment over another, layer by layer, like the homeless”, “The town of Granby sheltered us.” FOS makes sure that the description does not bore the reader and from time to time adds sparkle to the text. The author uses them to captivate the reader and give them something to relate to.

 

The reason I did not choose text one was because of the abundant usage of short sentences like, “The taxi pulled up outside the hotel.”, “Alen watched television.” These short sentences although might add emphasis, but over usage of them makes it look like the author is an eight year old! Short sentences lack proper description which, I believe, cannot give the reader a full show of what it is like to move to a different country.

Comparison Question: Survivors of a life threatening situation by Azwa Azwa

Both Text One and Text Two do an excellent job of presenting information regarding the difficulties and hardships encountered while moving to a different country, but I personally felt that Text Two was more superior and successful in it’s portrayal of the topic. Text One and Text Two are both book extracts.Text One was written by Benjamin Zephaniah, while Text Two was written by Kim Thuy.

The purpose of both texts is to inform and they have a general audience.However, Text One is tailored to suit a wide range of audiences, while Text Two has a more sophisticated audience. Although the language used in Text One is simple,clear and easy to understand, I prefer Text Two. Text Two has a more mature perspective and uses vivid imagery to enhance it’s appeal. There are also well-chosen adjectives e.g.”A landscape so white, so pure”,”short-sleeved orange pullover” which allow the reader to create a clear image in their mind.

Text Two is more interesting and amusing and is able to effectively grasp the reader’s attention making it overall more enjoyable to read. Text One lacks this quality and hence it appears more dull and fails to maintain the reader’s interest.

Text One contains a majority of short sentences and short paragraphs. This makes the writing seem more simple and childish e.g.”but there were no people”,”Alem watched television” etc. Text Two allows the reader to relate to the author and feel more attached to the text. The long sentences and relatively longer paragraphs enhance logos significantly.

Text One comparatively contains much less figures of speech than Text Two. Text Two is therefore much more alluring e.g.”like a mother duck” Text Two is made much more beautiful and enchanting.

Text One although reader-friendly has a major flaw-it lacks vivid and crisp descriptions. It is simple and this simplicity does not appeal to me as much as Text Two. Text One and Text Two have an informal tone and both relate personal experiences. Text Two is more successful as it effectively presents the hardships in a more graceful manner.

Another reason why I prefer Text Two is because of its wonderful vocabulary that is very impactful and entrances the reader immediately. I also feel that Text Two contains more information and essential details. It is extremely well-written in my opinion. Text One lacks these redeeming qualities which make it very inferior in comparison.

Comparison Question: Moving to another country by Ilsa Tariq

I chose Text Two because it gives a very descriptive view of what it feels like to reside in a foreign country. The writer has used the ethos technique to sway the reader on feeling the same misery as the writer, for example, “I felt naked, if not stripped bare.” The reason for the writer to use this technique is to emphasise on the character’s situation and what they are going through.

Another reason I chose this text is because it provides us with both the benefits and the cons of living abroad. The positivity in the passage does not only overshadow the hurdles of living away from your country but also lifts up the energy of the reader, for example, ” A landscape so white, so pure, could only dazzle us, blind us, intoxicate us.” The writer through such techniques intends to excite the readers and bring out the pros of the situations that can seem difficult to cope with otherwise.

On the other hand, the reason I did not chose Text One is because it is more of a narration than the idea to what it is like living abroad. The writer is giving an outline of his experience which can often uninterested readers, for example, “They spent the evening in the hotel room.” Such trivial details do not matter to the reader and can intend to bore the them.

Comparison Question: Which text is more successful in showing what it is like to move to a different country? You may choose either Text One or Text Two, but you must explain your choice carefully. By Zaina Shahab

I believe Text Two, as compared to Text One, is more successful in showing what it is like to move to a different country. The purpose of Text Two is to entertain, as well as to inform the reader of what it is like to be a refugee and move to a completely foreign country. For e.g. “In the airport, I was surprised by all the unfamiliar sounds that greeted us and the strange food”. The intended of this purpose is to involve the reader on an emotional level and show him what it is like to move to a different country.

 

In Text Two, the writer uses a variety of figures of speech, such as similes, metaphors and personification, which make the text more interesting. For e.g. “A landscape so white, so pure, could only dazzle us, blind us, intoxicate us”, “Like a mother duck, she walked ahead of us”. By using this technique, the writer intends to keep the reader involved in the story till the very end.

 

Text One, though an effective story including dialogues, fails to impact the audience as strongly as Text Two. Written in third person, Text One does not seem to involve the reader as much as Text Two, which is written in first person. For e.g. “Alem thought it was all very bizarre”.

Comparison Question: Moving to another country by Esha Anjum Khan

Text one and two focus on the difficulties faced by people who move to different countries as refugees, in their childhood. As they are children, there are many questions in their mind regarding the environment of the different countries.

 

I like Text One ,” Refugee Boy” which is written by “Benjamin Zephaniah”. I like Text one better as it gives the description of everything which will or would seem unusual to a new boy. For example, ” It was so straight and wide; the ride was so smooth, no potholes, no wild bends, just the sound of the engine.” It tells the feelings of a child who is new in the environment, “Alem thought it was a;; very bizarre.” The writer uses different types of adjectives to grasp the attention of the audience, “chilly October day, black taxi’s interior, damp strange smell etc.”. Text One can be associated with any kind of audience such as an article or even a book. The range of audience is very wide. It even provides information for its audience for example,” Marble Arch, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, The houses of Parliament and the Tower of London.”. The writer uses simple language for the people to understand.

 

Whereas Text Two does not have a detailed description of the refugee crises, although it emphasises on the feelings of the child it does not give a clear idea of the surroundings. It does not emphasise on the relief he got by changing his life. It even has a very vague ending, ” For a whole year, Granby represented heaven on Earth, I couldn’t imagine a better place in the world.”.Whereas it had to tell about its experience and how did he settle in anew world. The passage does not include a lot of adjectives and attention-grabbing words as well.

 

Therefore, I like Text One better then Text Two as it fills in every aspect of an article.Both poetry the same objective yet Text One has a better content.