Nature of language, literature and non-literary texts practice questions.

Which convention most strongly signals that a text is a print advertisement rather than a news article?

• An inverted-pyramid structure that places the key facts first, at the very top
• Direct address and imperative verbs urging the audience to act
• Attributed quotations from named officials
• A byline and dateline at the top of the text

Answer: Direct address and imperative verbs urging the audience to act

Advertisements characteristically use direct address ('you') and imperatives ('Buy now') to move the audience to action; inverted pyramids, bylines and attributed quotations are conventions of news reporting.

Compared with most non-literary texts, literary texts characteristically…

• foreground the imaginative and aesthetic possibilities of language
• present only strictly factual, verifiable and objectively true information
• avoid any persuasive purpose
• must be written in verse

Answer: foreground the imaginative and aesthetic possibilities of language

The literary is marked by a foregrounding of language's aesthetic and imaginative functions; literary texts can still persuade, use fact, and appear in prose.

A eulogy shifts from formal vocabulary to affectionate slang when the speaker recalls personal anecdotes. Which term best describes this shift?

• A change in genre
• A change in medium
• A change in narrative perspective
• A change in register

Answer: A change in register

Register is the level of formality of language chosen for audience, purpose and context; moving between formal diction and slang is a register shift, not a change of genre or medium.

The words 'childish' and 'childlike' refer to the same basic quality but produce different effects. They differ mainly in…

• word etymology
• connotation
• register
• syntax

Answer: connotation

Both share a denotation (resembling a child) but carry opposite connotations: 'childish' is negative (immature) while 'childlike' is positive (innocent).

Which of the following is a paratextual element of a novel?

• The protagonist's interior monologue
• The rising action of the plot
• The publisher's cover blurb
• The narrator's tone

Answer: The publisher's cover blurb

Paratext refers to material surrounding the main text — titles, covers, blurbs, prefaces, footnotes — which shapes how readers approach the work before and while reading it.

An opinion column (op-ed) is best distinguished from a hard-news report by its…

• use of headlines
• the mere fact that it happens to be published in a daily newspaper
• reference to recent events
• openly argumentative stance in the writer's own voice

Answer: openly argumentative stance in the writer's own voice

Both text types share headlines, newspaper publication and topicality; what defines the op-ed is an explicit, personal argumentative stance, whereas hard news aims for impersonal balance.