Comparing Texts - Sample answer - version three
Question
Compare how the two writers convey their attitudes towards food and the people they are visiting.
In your answer you could:
- compare their different attitudes
- compare the methods they use to convey their attitudes
- support your ideas with references to both texts
Both of these pieces depict a writerâs first hand experience of visiting an establishment where food is served. In the cookery book extract from the 19th century, Soyer visits a house in a poor area of town. He has not been there before and admits early on that he has âlittle confidenceâ in the quality of food he might be served. His initial attitude to his hosts is patronising; he intends âgiving them a lessonâ in how to prepare coffee. In contrast, the reviewer visiting the restaurant books her table âthree monthsâ in advance to ensure she gets âa table at allâ.
Both writers describe their surroundings with a sense of wonder and delight. Soyer tells us of a âlittle parlourâ that is clean and âornamentedâŠwith wall flowers from the neighbouring gardenâ. The reviewer is similarly impressed by the restaurantâs âvery own walled-gardenâ where the food for the restaurant is grown. She claims this proximity of garden to restaurant âmakes the flavours more intenseâ. Her use of positive adjectives amplifies the sense of her enjoyment. Soyer is also impressed by the produce of the neighbouring garden (Covent Garden) and is delighted with the way the wall flowers are âgenerously dispensing their perfumeâ.
Whereas Soyer visits the house in St Giles alone, the reviewer brings a companion and shows us her friendâs reactions to her first visit to the restaurant. This use of a second person validates the reviewerâs opinions, confirming that the restaurant and its surroundings are pleasing. The companion is âwowedâ and âimpressedâ by the views. These verbs reinforce the reviewerâs positive attitude to the place. Likewise Soyer is received âgenerouslyâ, âcordiallyâ and he works âcheerfullyâ. These adverbs reveal his amicable attitude to the people he meets.
In terms of the food, Soyer is delighted to be met by âpyramids of muffins and crumpetsâ. Care has been taken in arranging the food and we feel that he is pleased by this. The reviewer is also pleased by the spectacle of food growing in the walled-garden. She is âadmiringâ of the vegetables and uses lush language to describe them. The Cavolo Nero is âvelvetyâ, the carrots are âfeatheredâ the beetroots are âearthy globesâ. This visual language creates a positive and enticing image and reveals a positive attitude to the food and the restaurant where it grows.
Feedback - even better
This answer:
- moves smoothly from one text to another throughout using comparative linking words and phrases such as âbothâ, âwhereasâ and âin contrastâ
- considers the attitudes of the writers, as well as the language employed
- shows both the similarities and the differences between the texts
- uses plenty of quotations, which are embedded into sentences
- includes points about the text that are developed and linked to other points