7.2 Text-Type Conventions, Layout & Headlines
Key Takeaways
- Text-type (genre) conventions are the expected features of diaries, recipes, reviews, ads, scientific reports, webpages, and similar forms—ICAS often tests whether you recognise them.
- Layout features (headings, subheadings, columns, bullet lists, captions, one-sentence paragraphs) are craft choices that organise meaning and control emphasis.
- Headlines and titles use wordplay, alliteration, and loaded diction to frame how the body text will be read.
- Reviews typically mix description, evaluation criteria, and a clear judgment or recommendation; spotting that pattern is a high-value skill.
- A quick framework for identification: purpose + typical structure + language register + visual layout signals.
7.2 Text-Type Conventions, Layout & Headlines
Persuasive devices live inside sentences. Text-type conventions live at the level of the whole piece: what kind of text is this, what features do readers expect, and how does layout guide the eye? On ICAS English, writer's-craft and comprehension items often depend on recognising genre—diary versus recipe, review versus scientific report, webpage versus traditional article—and on explaining why a heading, bullet list, or one-sentence paragraph is there.
Quick Answer: Conventions are the usual features of a text type (e.g. dates in diaries, ingredients lists in recipes, star ratings in reviews). Layout is how space, headings, and typography organise those features. Headlines frame attitude before you read a word of the body.
Why conventions matter on ICAS
If you misidentify the text type, you misread purpose. A dramatic first-person voice in a diary is expected intimacy; the same intensity in a lab report would be a craft mismatch (or comedy). Framework skills across papers ask students to work with a range of literary, factual, and visual/digital texts. Conventions are the map.
Framework: fast text-type identification
Use four checks in order:
| Check | Question | Clues |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Purpose | Why was this written? | Entertain, instruct, persuade, record, inform, sell |
| 2. Structure | How is it organised? | Chronology, steps, claim–evidence, Q&A, sections with subheads |
| 3. Language register | How formal is it? | Slang and contractions vs. technical passive voice |
| 4. Layout signals | What does the page look like? | Date lines, bullets, hyperlinks, captions, bylines, stars |
When two options both seem possible, the layout + structure pair usually breaks the tie.
Genre features by text type
Diary / journal entry
Typical features: date or day; first person; personal feelings; informal or semi-formal voice; chronological recount of a day or event; may address "Dear Diary."
Original mini-example:
Tuesday 12 May
Coach put me in midfield again. My legs still hum from Saturday. If we win on Friday I might finally sleep without replaying that missed tackle.
Craft note: Intimate voice and private reflection. Not written for a general public the way a news story is—though exam extracts can present a diary for public reading.
Recipe / procedural text
Typical features: title; ingredients list (often bulleted or measured); numbered method steps; imperative verbs (stir, bake); time and temperature; optional tips.
Original mini-example:
One-Pan Lemon Chickpeas
Ingredients: 1 can chickpeas, 1 lemon, 2 cups spinach…
Method: 1. Warm oil. 2. Add chickpeas. 3. Wilt spinach. 4. Finish with lemon.
Craft note: Clarity and sequence matter more than emotion. Imperatives address you as the cook.
Review (film, book, product, restaurant)
Typical features: name of the thing reviewed; description of key aspects; criteria (plot, taste, battery life, acting); evaluative language (flat, superb); comparison; star rating or clear recommendation; often a byline.
Original mini-example:
GadgetShelf: Orbit Earbuds 3
Bass is punchy enough for the bus ride home, but the case scratches if you glance at it. At this price, buy only if you need the extra hour of battery—not for style.
Conventions of reviews to lock in:
| Review move | What it does |
|---|---|
| Context | What is being reviewed and for whom |
| Description | Concrete features (not only feelings) |
| Evaluation | Judgments against criteria |
| Evidence | Examples that support the judgment |
| Verdict | Buy / avoid / worth it if… |
ICAS may ask what function a sentence serves in a review (e.g. verdict vs. description).
Advertisement
Typical features: brand or product name; headline; benefits not only features; slogan; call to action; price or offer; visual layout with short blocks; direct you; positive loaded diction.
Ads often borrow review-like praise but omit balanced criticism. That imbalance is itself a convention of selling.
Scientific / factual report style
Typical features: objective tone; technical vocabulary; passive or impersonal constructions (was measured, results indicate); headings such as Method / Results; data, tables, figures; cautious modality (suggests, may).
Original mini-example:
Results
Mean germination was higher in the filtered-light tray (78%) than in the full-sun tray (51%). The difference was consistent across three trials.
Craft note: Authority comes from method and measurement, not from I was amazed.
Webpage / digital text
Typical features: navigation labels; hyperlinks; short paragraphs for screen reading; subheadings for scanning; possibly menus, buttons (Download, Learn more); multimodal elements (icons, images with alt-style captions in exam printouts); update dates.
Original mini-example:
Home › Storm Ready › Sandbags
When to collect
Free sandbags are available from 4 p.m. at the rec centre car park.
[Find your nearest drop-off point →]
Craft note: Hierarchy of headings and link text guides action; layout is part of meaning.
Other quick conventions (for breadth)
| Text type | Signature conventions |
|---|---|
| News report | Headline, byline, lead paragraph (who/what/when/where), quotes, relatively formal |
| Formal letter | Address, date, salutation, formal close, polite modal verbs |
| Play script | Character names, dialogue, stage directions in brackets/italics |
| Poem | Line breaks, stanzas, compressed language, sound devices |
| Brochure / flyer | Panels, bullet benefits, contact details, persuasive + informative mix |
Subheadings and sectioning
Subheadings chunk information so readers can scan. They also frame what each chunk means.
Compare:
- Subhead: Optional extras → softens cost; sounds non-essential.
- Subhead: What every rider still needs → makes the same products feel necessary.
Same product list; different subheads change the persuasive angle. On ICAS, a question may ask why a writer used a particular subheading—answer with navigation + framing, not only "to look neat."
Layout affecting meaning
Layout is not decoration. It is craft.
| Layout feature | Possible effect |
|---|---|
| Bold headline | Sets topic and attitude first |
| Bullet list | Equalises items; easy to scan; suggests completeness |
| Numbered steps | Implies order that must be followed |
| Sidebar / box | Marks tip, warning, or extra fact as special |
| Caption under image | Directs how to interpret the visual |
| White space | Creates pause; can feel calm or luxurious |
| Columns | Separates topics; newspaper-like authority |
| One-sentence paragraph | Isolates a line for punch or drama |
One-sentence paragraphs for effect
A full paragraph can develop an idea. A one-sentence paragraph stops the eye.
The committee voted at midnight.
Nobody cheered.
Effect: The isolated second sentence lands like a verdict—emptiness, disapproval, or shock—because layout withholds company for that line. Fiction and feature journalism use this move; persuasive blogs do too.
Exam tip: If asked about a short paragraph, mention emphasis and pacing, not only "the writer likes short sentences."
Headlines and wordplay in titles
Headlines compress attitude. They may use:
- Alliteration: Council Chaos Over Coastal Cycleway
- Pun / wordplay: A Bridge Too Far for Peak-Hour Trains
- Question: Is the New Timetable Fair?
- Number lead: Five Fixes for the Friday Canteen Crush
- Contrast: Record Heat, Empty Pools
- Emotive load: Forgotten Fields: The Sports Grounds Left Behind
Original headline set (same event, different frames):
| Headline | Framing effect |
|---|---|
| School Wins National Robotics Prize | Celebratory, pride |
| Budget Blowout After Robotics Win | Critical, cost-focused |
| Tiny Team, Giant Trophy | Underdog admiration; contrast |
| Robotics: What the Win Means for STEM Electives | Analytical, future-focused |
The body text might be similar; the headline tells the reader how to feel on the way in. Craft questions about titles often hinge on that framing, or on identifying wordplay.
Wordplay under the microscope
Title: Net Gains for the School Wi-Fi Upgrade
Net gains plays on network and the idiom net gains (overall benefits). Effect: Clever, upbeat, memorable; signals a positive stance toward the upgrade before evidence appears.
Worked identification (original multi-feature extract)
Harbourview Eats — Reader Review
★★★☆☆
The chowder arrives steaming and thick enough to stand a spoon in—genuine comfort on a wet Thursday. Service, though, crawls once the ferry crowd hits.
Would I return? For the soup, yes. For a quick lunch before the 1:10 sailing, no.
Identification: Review—not recipe (no method for cooking), not pure ad (includes criticism), not lab report (personal I, stars, recommendation).
Layout craft: Star rating gives instant verdict hierarchy; bolded aspect labels (The chowder, Service) mimic subheads inside a short form; the final Q&A line packages the recommendation.
Common traps
- Content ≠ type: A text about cooking is not automatically a recipe; it might be a memoir or review.
- One feature fetish: Hyperlinks alone do not prove "webpage" if the stem is a printed letter with one URL mentioned in passing—weigh the whole pattern.
- Headline-only reading: Answering from the title without checking whether the body supports that frame.
- Layout blindness: Ignoring why a list or one-sentence paragraph sits where it does.
- Review vs advertisement: Ads rarely volunteer serious faults; balanced critique points to review (or news), not pure selling copy.
Exam stems and tactics
Typical stems:
- This text is best described as…
- Which feature is most typical of a…?
- What is the effect of the subheading / headline / one-sentence paragraph?
- Why has the writer used a bullet list here?
- Which sentence gives the reviewer's overall judgment?
Tactics:
- Run the four-check framework (purpose, structure, register, layout).
- Circle genre markers (date line, ingredients, stars, Method heading, nav crumbs).
- For layout questions, name the reader action the feature supports (scan, follow order, pause, click).
- For headlines, state framing in one clause (presents the policy as a crisis).
- Separate what is said from how the page is built.
Text-type conventions and layout tell you what kind of machine you are reading. The next section zooms into finer craft signals—modality, font/type emphasis, and tense—that reveal purpose and audience even inside a single paragraph.
A text opens with a date line, uses first person, and records private feelings about a lost match. Which text type do these conventions best indicate?
In a feature article, the writer places the sentence "The river had already won." in its own one-sentence paragraph after a long description of failed sandbagging. What is the most likely craft purpose of that layout choice?