Various Visual Communication Methods of Biology - Assignment Example

Topic: Assessment Tasks Name: Couse Code: Institution: Professor’s Name: Text 1 The genre used in this text is information. This is because the main purpose of writing the text was to inform the reader about mechanism through which glucose is regulated in the body of animals. For instance; it explains the method through which insulin is produced and its role in regulating glucose as well as the role of the liver in conversion of excess glucose to glycogen. In addition, it was aimed at informing the reader about various methods through which plants store food. Finally, it informs the reader about an experiment that can be performed to determine the amount of energy stored in a food substance. Various technical languages have been used to enable the reader understand the context of the reading. For instance, insulin which is causes removal of glucose from blood and its transportation to the liver. Another technical language is glycogen which is the form in which the liver converts excess glucose and stores in in muscle tissues. These technical languages create an understanding of the main areas that the text focuses its discussion so that the reader can also read in that context. The other technical language used is starch which is the form in which plants store food in their bodies. The text also contains clauses composed of nouns, verbs, adjectives that create a more detailed understanding of the content of the text. Thus, the there is a high lexical density in the text. For instance, in the sentence, ‘It is then carried to the liver, which converts it into the main animal storage carbohydrate, glycogen’. This sentence includes nouns such as liver and glycogen and verbs such as ‘carried’, ‘converts’ and adjective ‘animal storage’ which creates a better understanding of the sentence as a result of high lexical density. There are a number of nominal groups that have been used in the text to enable understanding of some clauses. This has been achieved by use of words which describe particular information in details so that a better understanding can be achieved. For instance, in the sentence, ‘Your liver then converts some glycogen back into glucose so that it may be released into the bloodstream and keeps your blood sugar balanced’. This sentence provides a better understanding of the characteristics of the liver in the process of converting glucose to glycogen as well as its contribution in converting glycogen back to glucose when it is needed by the body. An example of nominalization is the sentence, ‘Your pancreas contains special cells that sense when there is too much glucose in the blood and then it releases insulin into the bloodstream’. This sentence combines a lot of information and the reader is able to get a more information about the role of pancreas by just reading this sentence. The writer of the text has organized the information in a manner that enables the reader focus on each section of the text in different ways. For instance, the first part explains the manner in which excess glucose is stored in animals, the second part explains the manner in which excess food is stored in plants and the last part explains the manner in which energy content of a food substance can be established. The writer has also used words and phrases which creates relationship between the reader and writer. For instance, in the experiment section, the writer uses self-mention to put emphasis that the writer actually participated in the study. This is illustrated by the use of the word, ’we’. This makes the claims made by the writer more credible to the reader. Various visual communication methods have been used in the text. For instance, there is a diagram illustrating various forms in which foods are stored in plants such as seeds, grains and nuts as well as a diagram showing the setup of experiment aimed at studying the amount of energy released when a food substance is burned. Text 2 The genre of this text is description. This is because it describes the methods through which transport takes place in cells. The principle of diffusion is described in the exchange of gases in the lungs and a special case of diffusion; osmosis in facilitating transportation of water molecules in cells is also described. In order to enable the reader understand the text effectively, various technical languages have been used. The reader is then able to read with more emphasis on these technical languages. For instance, diffusion which is the spreading out of substances from where there is a high concentration to where concentration is lower is explained. Other technical terms explained in the text include; osmosis and active transport. Lexical density in the text has been achieved by use of clauses composed of nouns, verbs and adjectives that gives the reader a better understanding of the content of information in a particular text. For instance in the text, ‘It happens in many parts of our bodies such as our lungs, intestines, muscle cells and kidney’. The nouns in this sentence are ‘our bodies’, ‘intestines’, ‘muscle cells’, and ‘kidney’ while the verb is ‘happens’ and the adjective is ‘many’. This combination of verbs, nouns and adjectives creates a sense of meaning to the reader. Nominal groups have been illustrated by statements which show more description of particular nouns such as in the statement, ‘The air we breathe into our lungs is rich in oxygen’. This sentence provides a better understanding of the characteristic of the air we breathe in. Nominalization is also used so that a point can be described by use of a few words rather than a long sentence. For instance in the sentence, ‘Osmosis is faster when the difference in concentration is greater’: this sentence describes the impact of difference in concentration on osmosis by use of a few words. This enables the reader understand the content of the text without the need to read in details. Information in this text has been organized so that the reader is guided on each section of the text to understand it well. The first section involves an illustration of the concepts of osmosis and diffusion, the second section illustrates the applications of diffusion in daily life such as during gaseous exchange and the last part illustrates an experiment aimed at understanding the concept of osmosis. The relationship between the writer and reader has been enhanced by use of attitude markers which associate the reader with the text. For instance in the sentence, ‘carbon dioxide diffuses from our blood into the air, and then we breathe it out’, uses the words ‘our’ and ‘we’ to associate the reader with the text. This makes the reader more interested in reading the text. The writer has also used visual communication to enable the reader get a better understanding of the concepts being illustrated. For instance, there is a diagram showing exchange of air in the lungs, diagrams showing movement of water into and out of a cell as a result of difference in concentration and a diagram illustrating an experiment to understand the concept of osmosis. Text 3 The genre is this text is description. This is because it describes the structure of the cell membrane and the importance of transport system in elimination of waste products from organs during organ transplant. There are a number of technical languages which enable the reader understand the context of the text. For instance, languages such as; cell surface membrane, plasma membrane, lipid layer, fluid mosaic theory; enables the reader understand the areas that the text focuses on so that more focus can be put on these areas. In order to ensure sentences make more sense, lexical density has been enhanced by combining nouns with verbs and adjectives which enhance the readers’ understanding of the texts. For instance, in the text, ‘It has little physical strength, but it plays a vital role in regulating the materials that pass in and out of the cell’. Nouns in this sentence include; ‘role’, ‘materials’,’ cell’, adjectives include ‘little’, ‘in and out’ while verbs include ‘plays’ and ‘regulating’. This makes the sentence more credible in its description of the cell membrane. Nominal groups have been used to illustrate additional information related to particular nouns. For instance in the sentence, ‘Many of the organelles of the eukaryotic cell are also made up of membranes’. This sentence provides additional description of a eukaryotic cell to be made up of a cell membrane. Nominalization is used in various sections of the text so that the reader is able to understand a point by reading a point in a brief manner. An example is the sentence, ‘The solution is to cool the cell so that their metabolic demands are lowered’. This sentence enables understanding of the role of cooling during preservation of tissues for transplant purposes. Information organization in the text involves first illustrating the concept of tissue preservation during transplant, followed by explaining the composition of cell surface membrane and finally illustrating a theory that explains the function of a cell membrane. The relationship between the writer and readers has been enhanced by use of studies that were conducted by Singer and Nicholson in 1972 to explain the structure of the cell membrane. This makes the claims made by the writer more credible to the reader. There are various visual methods of communication us used. For instance, there is a diagram illustrating a kidney transplant process, a diagram illustrating internal structure of an animal cell and a diagram illustrating a detailed composition of the cell membrane. This makes the reader have a visual understanding of the information illustrated by the writer. Text 4 The main genre of this text is description. This is because it describes various achievements that have been made in the study of plant cells. It also describes various distinctions between prokaryotes and eukaryote cells. In order to enable the reader understand the main areas of focus of the text, a number of technical languages have been used. Examples of technical languages used include prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Prokaryotes are plants whose DNAs are not enclosed in a membrane while eukaryotes are plants are plants where the DNAs are enclosed in membranes. Lexical density has been used by combining nouns, verbs and adjectives so that sentences used in the text make more sense to the reader. This has resulted into a high lexical density in such situations. An example of a case where high lexical density has been achieved is the sentence, ‘In eukaryotic cells, the chromosomes are surrounded by an envelope, made up of two membranes, which separates them from other cell contents’ this sentence has nouns such as ‘chromosomes’, ‘envelop’, ‘membranes’, and ‘cell contents’ and adjectives such as ‘two’, verbs such as ‘surrounded’ and ‘separates’. This combination of nouns, verbs and adjectives gives convincing information to the reader. Nominal groups have been used to illustrate particular information which gives a better understanding of themes under discussion. For instance in the phrase, ‘The DNA in eukaryotic cells is linear and tightly bound to special proteins known as histones, forming a number of chromosomes that are structurally more complex than bacterial chromosomes’, the writer has provided a deeper description of the DNA of a eukaryote by providing more information about its chromosomal composition and its comparison to bacterial chromosomes in one sentence. Nominalization involves various sentences whish are explained by use of few words. This provides a summary of a paragraph so that the reader does not have to read for a long time before understanding a point. Example of such a text is, ‘This region, known as the nucleoid, is not surrounded by a membrane’. This statement provides a better understanding of the characteristic of the nucleoid without the need to read deeply into the text. Information organization involves first explaining the history of the study of plant cells followed by various theories that have been formulated to explain the study of cell biology and finally an explanation of the distinction of eukaryotic cells from prokaryotic cells. This organization of information ensures the reader is able to organize the reading process into stages. The relationship between the writer and readers has been enhanced by use of theories which were formulated in other studies to illustrate a point. For instance, this text provides studies that were conducted by Matthias Schleiden in 1838 to explain the organization of plant tissues as well as a study conducted by Rudolf Virchow, a pathologist to explaining the emergence of new cells from existing cells. These references enable the reader understand the authenticity of the claims made by the writer, thus improving the relationship with the writer. The main visual methods of illustration used in the passage include the Hooke’s microscope and the cell structures he observed, a diagram showing the structure of Escherichia coli bacteria that inhabits the digestive system of humans and a diagram showing internal structure of a eukaryotic cell of a maize plant (Zea mays). References Boyle, M. & Senior, K. (2002). Biology (2nd ed.), London: Collins pp68 – 70. Coffin, C. (2009). Historical discourse: The language of time, cause and evaluation. London: Continuum. Evert, R. & Eichhorn, S. (2013). Biology of Plants. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company pp38 -41. Haire, M., Kennedy, E., Lofts, G. & Evergreen, M. (2004). Core Science 2. (2nd ed.), Milton, Qld: Jacaranda Press pp128 – 129. Laidler, G. & Sartor, A. (2001). Science Search Book 4. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Teich, E. (2003). Cross-linguistic variation in system and text: A methodology for the investigation of translations and comparable texts. Berlin ; New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Read More