Chips…yum Higher Analysis Revision. How do you like your chips???

Chips…yumHigher Analysis Revision

How do you like your chips???

Let’s make ourselves incredibly hungry

• Well it is nearly dinner time…• You are going to be give a small portion of a Guardian article

titled “How to Eat…Chips” and you will be answering only analysis questions on them.

• These will focus on:• Word Choice• Imagery• Sentence Structure• Tone• Everything else – hyperbole, sound techniques, puns, etc…

• I hope you’re all hungry to learn!• I do not apologise for the million puns these slides will be full

of.

WORD CHOICE• With word choice, you are looking for a word which BEST

ANSWERS THE QUESTION. For example, if you are asked how does the writer use word choice to convey his anger, you would look for words like “furious”, “livid”, “enraged”, etc…

• Formula:• Quote the word• Give the definition• Give the connotations• Ensure you have answered the question

• At Higher, it is not enough simply to quote. You will get no marks if you just quote.

How does the writer use word choice to show that he does not approve of strange ways of presenting chips? 4A

Chef, a word …• Jenga stacks, dinky stainless

buckets, twee mini-frying baskets, fake newspaper cones, these all prompt one question: where are the rest of my chips? I count eight. This is a joke.

How does the writer use word choice to show that he does not approve of strange ways of presenting chips? 4A• Any 2 of the

following:• “dinky”• Means small and cute• Isn’t really a word you would associate with

chips – suggests that the writer would prefer a bigger container if there must be one

• “twee”• Means overly cute or pretty• Suggests that the writer thinks that chips

aren’t something that you can make pretty so clearly these people are trying too hard

• “fake newspaper cones”• Means that it isn’t wrapped in a real

newspaper from that day but wrapped in paper made to look like newspaper

• “fake” suggests that the writer considers this to be false and pretentious – they want it to look like traditional chips but don’t want the messy newspaper

IMAGERY• Imagery refers to the following:• Similes – comparison using “like” or “as”• Metaphors – direct comparison (saying something IS something

else)• Personification – giving an inanimate object lifelike qualities.

• In order to achieve full marks in an imagery question, you must deconstruct the image.

• Formula:• Quote and identify (metaphor, simile, personification)• Say what is being compared to what (in your own words)• State what they have in common using “Just as…so too…”

How does the writer use imagery to show his admiration for triple-cooked chips? 4A

An ambivalent word about triple-cooked chips• Produced by a skilled cook, they are, in their

way, revelatory. As tanned as a 60-year-old Mediterranean sunbather, the exterior shatters like spun sugar giving way to an impossibly fluffy interior. Like high-definition TV, however, the triple-cooked chip is so perfect, so precise in its detail, that it seems unreal somehow; a chip from outside our common frame of chip reference. Rather than wolf them down, slathered in gravy, they demand that you contemplate them like exquisite porcelain. Which is fine, occasionally. But oftentimes, you just want a pile of greasy, softening chips, not glassy crunch down to the last bite.


• “As tanned as a 60-year-old Mediterranean sunbather” – simile• Comparing the food to an elderly holiday-

maker• Just as an old sunbather has skin of golden

brown which looks as if it has been cooking for too long, so too do the chips which have a dark and brittle skin

• “the exterior shatters like spun sugar” – simile• Comparing the outside skin of the chips to

a delicate confection• Just as spun sugar is very delicate and

easily broken, so too is the crisp skin of the chips.


• “Like high-definition TV, however, the triple-cooked chip is so perfect, so precise in its detail, that it seems unreal somehow” – simile• Comparing the food to a very clear television.• Just as HD TV is very clear and lets you see

everything in alarmingly high detail, so too is the chip too beautiful to believe.

• “they demand that you contemplate them like exquisite porcelain” – simile• Comparing the chips to an ornament or piece

of art• Just as porcelain is delicate and beautiful and

must be handled with care, so too must triple-cooked chips.

SENTENCE STUCTURE• You are looking to comment on sentence length or

punctuation.• NEVER TALK ABOUT COMMAS!!!• Formula:• Identify technique (parenthesis, listing, shot sentence, etc)• Comment on its effectiveness/answer the question

• NOTE: with sentence structure, you do not always have to quote as these quotes could end up being quite long. Instead, use a line reference and then identify technique.

Comment on the writer’s use of sentence structure. 4A

• Sunday roast, the full English, Christmas dinner – How to Eat has been fearless in tackling the most contentious meals in the British culinary canon. This month, however, the Word of Mouth blog seeking to define the best way to eat our favourite foods is wolfing down arguably (we eat 1.6m tonnes of the things each year), Britain’s favourite foodstuff: chips.

Comment on the writer’s use of sentence structure. 4A

• Use of dash• Introduces the column’s task after the list

of typical meals they have already covered in “How to Eat”.• Use of parenthesis “(we eat 1.6m tonnes

of the things each year)”• Gives extra information about chips –

tells the reader how important chips are to the UK dinner table• Use of colon “Britain’s favourite

foodstuff: chips”• Introduces the topic of today’s column

and reveals what Britain’s favourite foodstuff actually is

TONE• Tone questions are tricky ones and to be honest the best way

to improve on these is to read a variety of different types of writing – this will mean you are able to identify different tones.

• Formula:• Identify tone• Quote an example• Explain how it led you to decide on this tone (i.e. word choice,

imagery, etc)• Types of tone:• Angry, excited, mocking, nostalgic, anxious, sombre…

Identify the tone and justify your answer:

The chips are down• 1) Oven chips, of all descriptions. A mealy,

plasticky abomination against god.• 2) Sweet potato fries. As David Bowie once put

it, albeit not about chips (at least, I don’t think so): “This is not America.”

• 3) Crinkly, curly and, particularly, “spicy” fries. How old are you? Seven… eight? Oh, you’re 34 and you’re eating curly fries. Right. OK. Enjoy your chicken nuggets.

• 4) Chunky chips: hunky, handsome and manly, eh? The gutsy uber-chip. Or a big unwieldy lump of undercooked potato. See also, potato wedges.

• 5) Scallops. It may be amusing to watch the disappointment on a southerner’s face as they unwrap their discs of potato, but, really, on their own or sandwiching a Yorkshire fishcake, the scallop is a peculiar hanger-on, which never ceases to underwhelm.


• Disgusted tone• “A mealy, plasticky abomination

against god.”• Use of hyperbole – calling a chip an

“abomination against god” suggests it is some kind of unnatural monster which seems a bit much for a chip.

• “How old are you? Seven… eight? Oh, you’re 34 and you’re eating curly fries. Right. OK. Enjoy your chicken nuggets.”• Directly addressing whomever may

enjoy curly fries. Suggests that they are children and should be eating a kids’ meal if they are out in a restaurant. The writer suggests that this is the kind of food that should only be eaten by children, not adults.


• Disgusted tone• “Or a big unwieldy lump of

undercooked potato”• The words “unwieldy” and

“undercooked” create the impression that Chunky Chips are inedible, thus emphasising his disgust.

• “the scallop is a peculiar hanger-on, which never ceases to underwhelm”• Word choice – “peculiar hanger-on”

suggests that he thinks this is a strange creation which should have been abandoned a long time ago.

• Word choice – “underwhelm” suggests that it is tasteless and not very enjoyable. In fact, more that it is quite boring.

Other Questions…• SOUND TECHNIQUES• Sound techniques could refer to techniques such as

onomatopoeia, repetition and alliteration.• In these cases you should just do the following:• Quote example• State technique• Comment on its effectiveness

• These questions aren’t incredibly common but you still want to prepare just in case.

Other Questions…• PUNS• A play on words

• Again, not a common question type but one you should keep an eye out for.

• Formula:• Quote and identify as a pun• Explain play on words (think about connotations of the word)• Answer question

• HYPERBOLE• Extreme exaggeration

• Formula:• Quote and identify as hyperbole• Comment on its effectiveness.

Other Questions…• CONTRAST• In answering a contrast question, you must identify both sides

of the contrast or you will get no marks.• Use headings to ensure you have done this correctly• Formula:• SIDE ONE:

• Quote example• Comment on its effectiveness

• SIDE TWO:• Quote example• Comment on its effectiveness

Let’s try the whole thing:

• How does the writer use language to warn the reader of having particular types of sauce with their chips? 4A

• Dips to tip BBQ sauce, the devil’s work. Brown sauce, not with chips. Any kind of sweet chilli sauce, unless your chips are made out of chicken, in which case they are chicken-dippers not chips (take them back to the point-of-sale, you have been conned). Sour cream and chive or similar, too thin with chips. Anything involving the word salsa, particularly if it utilises tropical fruit.

Let’s try the whole thing:

• How does the writer use language to warn the reader of having particular types of sauce with their chips? 4A

• “BBQ sauce, the devil’s work” – metaphor• Compares the dip to some kind of great

evil• Just as the devil’s work is wicked, cruel and

of no good to anyway, so too is BBQ sauce

• “Any kind of sweet chilli sauce, unless your chips are made out of chicken, in which case they are chicken-dippers not chips (take them back to the point-of-sale, you have been conned).”• Use of a humorous tone – created by

hyperbole (chips made out of chicken) and parenthesis to suggest that someone has actually bought chicken-dippers and thought they were chips.

• Short sentences create a list of sauces that should not be used.

How effective has the writer been in using humour to convey his opinion of chips and cheese? 5A/E

Some thoughts on cheesy chips• There are, of course, cheesy chips and cheesy

chips. For instance, Sticky Walnut in Chester serves parmesan and truffle chips which make your brain dance with serotonin. However, that is yer la-di-dah restaurant tucker, whereas we are talking about chips served as a stand-alone meal, generally in a café or chippy, where the choices are usually grated cheese grilled on fries (not unpleasant but inessential, and frequently OTT – no-one needs mozzarella on chips), or chips slathered in thick, processed, glow-in-the-dark cheese-type-cheese gunk (disgusting). Cheesy chips is one of those things (eg. a threesome; taking a year out to write a novel; the Smiths reforming), better left as an idle fantasy. It sounds exciting, but it could well end in disaster.

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Chips…yum Higher Analysis Revision. How do you like your chips???