First up, we are going to do some work on your vocab. Look up the following words and then use it in a sentence, referring to a text you have studied.
Implies
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Suggests
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Positions
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Illustrates
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Demonstrates
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Depicts/Portrays
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Reinforces
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Encourages
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Challenges
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Subverts
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Juxtaposes/juxtaposltion
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Contrasts
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Symbolises
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Reflects/Conveys
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Represents
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Promotes
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Patriarchal values
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Cultural norm(s)
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Idiom
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Rhetoric
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Tone
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Mood
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Style
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Purpose: such a story is simply another way of presenting an argument. This particular text is designed to convey the proposition that school lessons can be artificial and alienating, in contrast with the more authentic lessons of daily life.
How: The writer's chosen strategy is illustration. Cowan shows the contrast, but does not comment on it, leaving the reader to assemble the preferred reading from details embedded in the narrative. The two settings are arranged in a three-part structure, which we can diagram like so:
The description of the schoolroom is the static, foreground scene that opens the story. The boy's daydream punctures that