Higher English – Analysis and Evaluation: Listening Assessment

Internally assessed but you must pass in order to be presented for your exam.

Listening Assessment

You will listen to/watch a short extract. You will then answer questions on it.

The clip can be played as many times as requested.

You can make notes as you listen.

Pass/fail.

We are going to look at how to approach this assessment today and then have some practice.

Listening Assessment

Three key areas assessed: Understanding – what is being said? Analysis – how is it being said? Evaluation – how well does it work?

These are similar skills you use in Close Reading. The only difference is that you are engaging with the text in a different way.

Listening Assessment cont...

You need to be able to identify:

The purpose The intended audience The main ideas of the text The supporting details

Purpose – why something has been created

To inform To persuade

To convince To entertain

To provoke To instruct

To recount To describe

To advise To warn

To advertise To explain

To express emotion

Here are some common purposes:

Your job is to relate the purpose to the text. It will not be enough at Higher to simply state that the purpose was to inform or to persuade.

Inform of what?Persuade of what?

Audience – who the text has been intended for

If asked about audience, always ask yourself: Age Gender Interests Opinions Education

You must be able to support your answer with reference to the text

e.g. I think the intended audience would be people interested in politics and issues that affect society. The text refers to policies and has lots of statistics relating to unemployment.

Main ideas – what are the major points the speaker is trying to get across?

You are being asked to summarise what the main ideas were

Listening Assessment cont...

You will also need to be able to identify language features and comment on their effectiveness.

Features of spoken language You will need to be able to recognise these features.

1) Register: Speakers will vary their language depending on context/audience.

e.g. Someone delivering a speech will most likely use formal language free from contractions or colloquial words.

Pay attention to whether or not someone is using formal or informal language, speaking

with a broad accent or in a dialect – think about why they have chosen to speak this way.

Features of spoken language

2) Tone – the emotion behind a speaker’s words. HOW are they saying it? Tone is much easier to identify through speech than writing.

Word choice and tone can reveal whether a speaker is happy, being sarcastic or sad.

Features of spoken language 3) Pace – quickly or slowly? Does the speaker

slow down at a particular place? WHY? Do they pause at a particular place? WHY?

Often, speakers will “pause for effect” – give the audience a moment to reflect on what they’ve just said – what do they want the audience to reflect on?

Sometimes speakers will say certain things slowly, deliberately, for emphasis – what are they trying to emphasise?

Features of spoken language

4) Word choice – just as in Close Reading – speakers use certain words. Ask yourself why. Are they trying to have an emotional appeal, are they trying to provoke, to persuade?

Features of spoken language 4) Persuasive devices – different techniques used

to achieve a desired effect Rhetorical Questions: asking the audience

involves them Repetition: emphasises a point, makes it stick Power of three: repeating a key idea three times. Emotive images Exaggeration Use of personal pronouns such as “us”, “we”

and “our” Forceful statements – “I urge” “I demand” “I

need”

Before listening...

You will be given background information about the extract for assessment. Think about:

Who is speaking? If you know who is speaking, what do you

already know about them? Identify the topic – what sort of ideas would you

expect to hear? Do you know anything already about the topic? What would you like to find out? Do you have any questions you would like

answered?

During listening...

Think about:

Are the participants saying what you expected?

Is there anything you don’t understand?

Did I notice anything about the way they were delivering their speech? Pace, rhetoric?

After listening...

What were the main points? Can you summarise the main points? Did you stay interested as you were

listening? Why were you interested or not

interested? What did you notice about the

speaker? Can you tell someone else about

what you heard and discuss it with them? What did they think?

Jimmy Reid’s Rector Speech - Extract

Jimmy Reid was a famous Trade Unionist and was elected rector of Glasgow University in 1971.

He was seen as a hero of the working class. Speaking out against injustice and encouraging social responsibility.

It was his acceptance speech delivered to students. It was a time of great political, societal and economical change.

It has become a world-famous speech, The New York Times called it “"the greatest speech since President Lincoln’s Gettysburg address".

His speeches earned him a reputation as a fiercely passionate man who was a great orator – able to motivate and provoke through his delivery and use of language.

http://news.stv.tv/west-central/193644-jimmy-reids-speech-to-glasgow-university/

Jimmy Reid’s Rector Speech1. Comment on his opening statement in this extract (00.26-29secs). 2. Identify one persuasive device relating to word choice between 30-38 secs

and comment on its effect. 3. Comment on his delivery of “insult” and “Reject” at 34 secs and 39 secs.

What is the intended effect? 4. In your own words, what does Reid warn the students against? 39 secs to

1.01 mins.5. Explain image does Reid set up and return to throughout this extract? b)

What is the intended effect on the audience? 6. Listen carefully at 1.16 mins – comment fully on Reid’s tone and pace.7. In your own words, what does Reid tell the students the cost is? 8. Why does he quote from the Bible at the end of this section? 9. Comment on and explain the effect of Reid’s register throughout the

extract. Why is it important? Think of the setting of the speech and Reid’s background.

10. What is his main point in this extract? 11. What is the purpose of this extract? 12. Do you think the speech achieves it purpose? Explain your answer fully.

Reference features of spoken language in your answer.

Jimmy Reid’s Rector Speech We’re human beings and people insult us when

they talk about our participation in a rat race. Reject the insidious pressures in society that would blunt your critical faculties to all that is happening around you, that would caution silence in the face of injustice lest you jeopardise your chances of promotion and self-advancement. This is how it starts, and before you know where you are, you're a fully paid-up member of the rat-pack. The price is too high. It entails the loss of your dignity and human spirit. Or as Christ put it, "What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?"

Earl Spencer’s Eulogy for his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales - Extract

This was delivered at her funeral in 1997.

It was widely analysed in the media for its criticisms of the Royal Family and the media.

It was televised world wide.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/z8whyrd

Earl Spencer’s Eulogy for his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales - Extract

1. What picture does Earl Spencer build of Diana 0-1.10min? b) How does he do this? Refer to word choice, tone and content.

2. How does Earl Spencer feel towards the media? b) Identify two words or phrases which convey this to the audience. Explain your choices fully.

3. Identify the link he makes at 1.184. In your own words, what reason does he give for Diana’s ill-

treatment at the hands of the press? 5. “It is baffling.” Comment on the technique used here and the tone it

is delivered in. 6. Explain fully the reason he includes a reference to the Greek

Goddess, Diana.7. Comment on Earl Spencer’s use of pronouns at the beginning of the

Eulogy and at the end.8. What are the main ideas of this short extract? 9. What is the purpose of this extract? Does it fulfil the expected

function of a eulogy?

Earl Spencer’s Eulogy for his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales

The last time I saw Diana was on July 1, her birthday in London, when typically she was not takingtime to celebrate her special day with friends but was guest of honour at a special charity fundraisingevening. She sparkled of course, but I would rather cherish the days I spent with her in March whenshe came to visit me and my children in our home in South Africa. I am proud of the fact apart fromwhen she was on public display meeting President Mandela we managed to contrive to stop the everpresent paparazzi from getting a single picture of her - that meant a lot to her. These were days I willalways treasure. It was as if we had been transported back to our childhood when we spent such anenormous amount of time together - the two youngest in the family. Fundamentally she had notchanged at all from the big sister who mothered me as a baby, fought with me at school and enduredthose long train journeys between our parents' homes with me at weekends. It is a tribute to her levelheadedness and strength that despite the most bizarre-like life imaginable after her childhood, sheremained intact, true to herself. There is no doubt that she was looking for a new direction in her lifeat this time. She talked endlessly of getting away from England, mainly because of the treatment thatshe received at the hands of the newspapers. I don't think she ever understood why her genuinelygood intentions were sneered at by the media, why there appeared to be a permanent quest on theirbehalf to bring her down. It is baffling. My own and only explanation is that genuine goodness isthreatening to those at the opposite end of the moral spectrum. It is a point to remember that of allthe ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this - a girl given the name of the ancient goddessof hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age. [...] "I would like to end bythanking God for the small mercies he has shown us at this dreadful time. For taking Diana at hermost beautiful and radiant and when she had joy in her private life. Above all we give thanks for thelife of a woman I am so proud to be able to call my sister, the unique, the complex, the extraordinaryand irreplaceable Diana whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from ourminds.

Emma Watson’s “HeForShe” Launch Speech at UN in New York

World famous actress for her Harry Potter role Appointed UN Ambassador for Women Well-known for being articulate and outspoken

about various societal issues.

https://celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/emma-watson-delivers-stirring-speech-at-u-n-204442194.html

Emma Watson’s “HeForShe” Launch Speech at UN in New York

1. Explain the two distinct sections of this extract.2. Explain what the “HeForShe” initiative is. 3. Comment on the effect of “I am reaching out to you.”4. What personal pronoun does Watson continually use.

b) Why? 5. Comment on Watson’s use of word choice at 0.40secs.6. Look at her delivery of the word “man-hating” at 1.10min.

Comment on her tone, facial expression and pace. 7. Comment fully on Watson’s delivery of “This has to stop.” 8. In your own words, why did Watson start to question “gender-

based” assumptions?9. What persuasive technique does Watson use between 1.58-2.0910. What are the main ideas in this extract?11. Who would be the intended audience for this text? Justify your

answer with reference to the text.12. What is the purpose of the text?

Emma Watson’s “HeForShe” Launch Speech at UN in New York

Today we are launching a campaign called “HeForShe.”

I am reaching out to you because we need your help. We want to end gender inequality—and to dothat we need everyone to be involved.

This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try and galvanize as many men and boys aspossible to be advocates for change. And we don’t just want to talk about it, we want to try and make sure it istangible.

I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for U.N. Women six months ago and the more I have spokenabout feminism the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often becomesynonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop.

For the record, feminism by definition is: “The belief that men and women should have equal rightsand opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.”

I started questioning gender-based assumptions a long time, when I eight I was confused at being called “bossy,”because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our parents—but the boys were not.

When at 14 I started to be sexualized by certain elements of the press.

When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports teams because they didn’t want toappear “muscly.”

When at 18 my male friends were unable to express their feelings.

I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shownme that feminism has become an unpopular word.