How do everyday community texts inform and persuade, and how do you read them critically to take part as an active citizen?
Students analyse and respond to everyday community texts such as advertisements, public notices and information texts that inform, persuade and connect people
A focused answer to the Living and working in the community dot point on everyday texts. How advertisements, notices and information texts inform and persuade, how to read them critically, and how to compose clear community texts of your own for HSC English Studies.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
What this dot point is asking
This elective is about the English you meet every day outside school: the ad on a bus stop, the notice at the medical centre, the council letter about bin collection, the flyer for a local market. The dot point asks you to analyse how these everyday community texts work and to respond to them. They do real jobs: they inform, they persuade, they connect people. Learning to read them critically helps you take part in your community as an informed citizen, and learning to write them is a practical life skill.
The answer
Community texts are easy to overlook because they are everywhere, but they are carefully designed. A council recycling flyer chooses simple words, bold headings and a friendly image on purpose. An advertisement for a local gym chooses an upbeat tone and a special offer on purpose. Every choice is aimed at an audience and a purpose. Your job is to see the design.
Three jobs: inform, persuade, connect
Most community texts do at least one of three things.
- Inform: give you facts you need (a notice about a road closure, a leaflet on a health service). The test of a good informative text is clarity. Can the reader find what they need fast?
- Persuade: get you to do or buy something (an ad, a fundraising appeal). Persuasion uses emotional language, benefits and a call to action.
- Connect: build community (a newsletter, an event flyer, a noticeboard post). Connecting texts use a warm, inclusive tone.
Many texts mix these. A flyer for a community vaccination day informs (the date and place), persuades (why it matters) and connects (everyone welcome).
Reading critically
Reading critically means not just understanding a text but questioning it. Useful questions:
- Who made this and what do they want from me?
- What is the text not telling me?
- How does the design (colour, image, layout, font size) push me toward a response?
- Is a claim a fact or an opinion dressed as a fact?
An advertisement that says "the best value in town" is making a claim, not stating a fact. A critical reader notices the difference. This is the skill of an active citizen: you can be informed without being manipulated.
Persuasive techniques in everyday texts
Watch for these common moves.
- Emotive language: words that trigger feeling ("protect your family", "don't miss out").
- Imperatives: command verbs that prompt action ("Call now", "Join today").
- Inclusive language: "we" and "our community" to build belonging.
- Visual hierarchy: the biggest, boldest element is what the maker most wants you to see.
- Statistics and authority: numbers or expert names used to seem trustworthy.
Name these when you analyse, and explain the effect each has on the reader.
Composing your own
The portfolio often asks you to make a community text: a poster, a flyer, an information sheet, a short newsletter piece. Apply what you have learned by reading. Decide your audience and purpose first. Use clear headings, plain language and a strong call to action if you are persuading. Keep informative text accurate and easy to scan. Good community writing is judged by whether it does its job for its reader, not by long words.
Examples in context
Take an original poster for a local library's free homework help program. The biggest words read "Free Homework Help, Every Tuesday". A warm photo shows students at a table. Smaller text gives the time, place and a phone number. A line at the bottom reads "All welcome, no booking needed." A strong response identifies the visual hierarchy (the offer is largest because it is the main message), the inclusive language ("all welcome") that lowers the barrier to coming, and the practical detail that makes the poster genuinely useful. The poster informs (when and where), persuades (free, easy) and connects (welcoming). That is the dot point in one text.
Common mistakes
Try this
- Find a real community poster or flyer and identify whether it mainly informs, persuades or connects.
- List three design choices in that text and explain the effect of each on the reader.
- Draft a short flyer for a real local event with a clear heading, the key details, and one call to action.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of NESA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
2021 HSC4 marksCompare the different ideas about happiness that are presented in Text 1 and Text 2.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark Section I question comparing an infographic (Text 1, the "10 Keys to Happier Living") with a nonfiction extract (Text 2, by Bill Bailey). Both are everyday texts of the kind this dot point covers, so the skill is the same: read each text critically and compare how it communicates its idea.
Set up the comparison. The infographic presents happiness as a set of small, practical actions anyone can take ("Give it a go" tips), while Bailey presents it as personal, unpredictable and even "frivolous", something to notice rather than follow a formula for.
Show the contrast in how each text works. The infographic uses a confident, instructional list to inform and direct a wide audience, whereas Bailey's reflective first-person voice ("I have no magic theory, or equation, or diet") resists the idea that happiness can be reduced to steps.
For full marks, make at least two clear points of comparison, support each with brief evidence from both texts, and focus on the different ideas about happiness rather than summarising one text at a time.