Graphology Framework

1
Graphology Framework

• AS Level English Language

2
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.

3

• 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.

4

• 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.

5

• 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
6

• 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?

7

• 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

8

• 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
9

• 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
10

• 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.
11

• 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!
12
Headings shows clear definition
Bullet points showing organisation
Short, concise paragraphs
White space making the advert look uncluttered
Columns showing clearly ordered text
13

• 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.
14
Logo tells you instinctively what the text is
Caption
Pink the colour of love (softness)
Drawing of a heart
Mocked up photograph
15
Now you have the tools to analyse a text using
the graphology framework!
The End!