Graphology Framework
Uploaded by
Ashok GuptaGraphology Framework
Uploaded by
Ashok GuptaGraphology
Framework
AS Level English Language
What is graphology?
Originally, graphology applied only to the
appearance of a person's handwriting
For the purposes of your course, however,
it applies to any aspect of the form and
appearance of a text that modifies
meaning in any way.
Importantly, it is the
graphological
qualities of any
written or printed
text that we first
notice.
For example, on the
text on the right we
can see from the
graphological
qualities that this
text is a newspaper.
Because these features are what you first
notice you would do well to apply the
graphology framework first in your
stylistic analyses
Although the graphological framework is
not considered as important as others it is
often overlooked.
You should not focus too much on this
framework, but properly applied
graphological analysis can be very useful
and subtle and add marks to your analysis.
When you are analysing a text using the graphological
framework, you will need to consider the following points:
The nature of the characters – are they handwritten or
printed, upper case or lower case?
For example: Uppercase text
Uppercase text
Lowercase text
Of course, it is not acceptable merely to
comment that the letters on this text are a
mixture of upper and lower case words.
You will have to say what effect these
features have.
For example:
“The main focus of the text is the initial
headline – “BUSH KNEW”, the use of
upper case letters adds emphasis to the
statement and lets the reader know what
the article is about.”
What could you say about the other
examples pointed out?
Mentioning what font the text is presented
in is also useful, although you are not
required to know various different font
types e.g. Tahoma, Palatino Linotype,
Times New Roman
Also mention the font size
And also the font style, is it in bold,
underlined or in italics
You will also need to mention graphemes
Graphemes are the letter or letter combination
that make up a sound (phoneme)
So for example:
Grapheme
Grapheme
From the example given,
you can see that ‘AR’ are
both graphemes, BUT, they
represent two different
phonemes
The AR in HARLEY is a
different sound to the AR in
EARL
There is much to say about
graphemes as the entire
text is made up of them!
However in the exam it is
better to comment on a few
related examples or
graphemes that are unusual
For example:
Grapheme of EZ used instead of
ES – can tie this in with lexis
Punctuation is a key feature of any written text
and it is important to mention this within the
graphology framework
For example:
The use of full stops here in
between the words ‘TOMMY
GUN’ replicates the sound and
action of a machine gun.
Another key feature of graphology is the
organisation of the text
This basically means how it is laid out on
the page
Therefore you need to mention such
things as:
Headings, columns, bullet points,
numeration, borders, boxes, paragraph
size, line spacing and use of white space
Again, it is important to mention the effect these
have on the text rather than just saying “there is a
lot of white space in this text”!
Headings – shows clear definition
Bullet points –
showing
organisation
Short, concise
paragraphs
White space
making the
Columns – showing clearly ordered text
advert look
uncluttered
Finally the last things you need to mention
regarding the graphology framework are:
Use of colour
Logos
Drawings
Photographs
Captions
Diagrams
Charts
As stated before, you need to state what effect
these features have on the text as a whole and if
they are effective in achieving their aims.
Logo – tells
you
Caption instinctively
what the text is
Pink – the
colour of love
(softness) Drawing of a
heart
Mocked up
photograph
Now you have the tools to analyse a text
using the graphology framework!
The End!