Context: personal and composer

Introduction

It is important to remember that whenever we approach a written text, we are communicating with another person. In any given text there is a responder(audience or reader) and a composer (writer, director etc). One way of remembering this is to think of each text as a dialogue.

Think to yourself, in an email to another person, what factors affect the way that you write to them? Will the way you write change if you are writing to your best friend, your mother, your teacher? How will the way you write change if you are asking for a favour or demanding something from someone else? Is the way you write affected by your upbringing or culture? Do different people place a stronger emphasis on different things according to their interests and beliefs?

If you can answer some, or all, of these questions then you already understand the concept (idea) of context. Now it is a matter of recognising when matters of context arise when you are reading or composing a written text.

Context

The context, put simply, is the situation in which an individual or text is located. These situations refer to anything that may influence the content (what the text is about) of a text or the way in which the text is presented. Read on to understand this idea more completely.

Personal context

Think about your own personal context or personal circumstances. The factors that influence the way you perceive (look at) the world can include:

• family
• ethnicity (cultural background)
• gender (male/female)
• neighbourhood
• friends
• school and teachers

It can also include interests and hobbies from sport and music to model building and stamp collecting, educational background and even things you like or dislike. All these factors influence howyou relate to the world and what you think is important. They are responsible for defining you as a unique person as they shape your beliefs and your values.

Refer to the 'Personal context' animation

Now, considering that you are a unique individual, how is somebody else different from you? These differences will affect the way in which we, as individuals, analyse a text.

A person with a keen interest in football, for example, will have a clearer understanding of a newspaper article written about the weekend fixtures. A person who comes from Poland and who can speak Polish will have a different understanding of a novel that is set in Poland compared with a person who knows very little about Poland.

Let's have a look at a text. This is an email, a written text.

Dear Fran, On the weekend my father and I went to the Zoo. It was terrific! There were lions and monkeys but my favourite was the elephant - it was so big! Later on Dad bought some chocolates and fizzy drinks for us. It was a really fun day. Mark.

Text One

How would different people respond to this text?

If Fran were an animal lover she would be most interested in Mark's description of the animals.

She might compose an email in response like this:

Dear Mark, I also love elephants! Did you get to feed them peanuts? I hope you took some pictures. Can you send me some? Fran

Text Two

If Fran were a sweet tooth (a person who likes sweet, sugary food) she would be mostly interested in the chocolates and fizzy drink.

She might compose an email in response like this:

Dear Mark, It is really awesome that your Dad bought you chocolates and fizzy drinks! What did you get? I really love to eat Mars bars and drink Fanta. Fran

Text Three

Complete the 'Personal Context Activity one' animation to practise using the concept (idea) of personal context.

Complete the 'Personal Context Activity two' animation to practise using the concept (idea) of personal context.

Composer's context

Just as you have a personal context which affects the way that you respond to a text, composers also have personal context. Let's look at Text One, which is the composer's context.

How does our reading of the text change if Mark's context includes that his father has been away working for a year? Our reading will change because now we understand that the focus of Mark's email is on the fact that he spent the day with his father, rather than focusing on the animals or the food.

Fran's response might read something like this:

Dear Mark, I am really happy that your father is back in Australia! It sounds like you had a really good time! Fran

Text Four

How does our reading of the text change if Mark's context includes that he has always been afraid of the zoo?

Fran's response may be something like this:

Dear Mark, It is so great that you finally went to the zoo. It is a lot of fun, isn't it? Maybe we can go together next weekend? Fran

Text Five

Complete the 'Composer's context activity one' to practise using the concept (idea) of the composer's context.

In this chapter

In this chapter we have examined the effects that context has on how written texts are composed and how responders interpret texts.

Personal context is where a responder brings to a text their own interests and ideas. These will influence the way in which a responder interprets a text. Texts Two and Three demonstrate how one email can be perceived in a different way according to the responder's interests or context.

A composer's context is the effect of context on the way a text is written. This will influence the words and subject matter that a composer uses. In Texts Four and Five we can see how Fran's knowledge of Mark's context changes the impact and meaning of the email.