Edexcel English IGCSE: Your Guide to Beach Safety by V Denman

Although this leaflet delivers serious warnings about the dangers of the sea, it is important that it is appealing to read, so that people will pick up the leaflet and take its warnings seriously.

The leaflet’s layout makes it easy to read, meaning that people are more likely to take in the information contained in the leaflet. The headings are very large, which draws the reader’s attention and allows them to go straight to sections they feel are relevant to them. Bright primary colours make the leaflet attractive and cheerful. However, these colours have the dual meaning of danger. The use of these colours make people likely to pick  up the leaflet and read it: it is bright, so will stand out amongst other leaflets, and also has the appearance of something giving important warnings.

Advice and instructions to the reader are presented in an attractive way, to make the reader more likely to read and follow them. The use of bullet points makes the information easy and quick to read. People rarely read every word of a leaflet, so it is important that information is portrayed briefly and clearly. Furthermore, the bullet points are in the shape of stars, which makes the information look attractive. This also creates a lighter tone than the content of the leaflet would suggest; using stars to provide life-saving instructions avoids a ‘preachy’ and over-serious tone. The diagrams of the man caught in a rip are askew, and have the appearance of having been pasted onto the leaflet. This makes it look informal and fun, preventing the tone becoming too instructive and grave.

Another way in which the leaflet appeals to the reader is through emotional engagement with the content. This occurs mainly in the “True Story”, in which a mother recounts an experience in which her sons nearly drowned. The use of emotional vocabulary such as “terrifying” and “relieved” appeals to the reader’s sympathy and encourages them to consider how they would react in such circumstances. The writer creates tension and drama, for example in the alliteration used to describe the boys’ reaction: they were “shaking with shock”. The story has a happy ending, in which the boys are rescued. This is probably because this leaflet could be attractive for children, and it would be inappropriate to narrate a story with a tragic ending. The story also serves as a creative way in which to portray the life-saving activities of lifeguards. It ends with a poignant and reflective tone, created with the use of the conditional: “my boys would have drowned.” The first person possessive pronoun here reminds the reader of the terrible personal impact that such an outcome would have had.

This leaflet, despite containing life-saving content, is appealing to the reader. Its appearance makes people likely to pick up and read it, and the engagement with the reader’s emotions makes them more likely to follow its important instructions.

Edexcel English IGCSE: Your Guide to Beach Safety by V Denman

In this leaflet, the writer does not aim to frighten the reader away from the beach, but must nevertheless portray its potential dangers effectively. The writer successfully strikes the delicate balance between emphasising danger and fun.

The appearance of the leaflet is attractive, whilst also highlighting the dangers of the beach. The picture on the front cover captures both fun and danger in one image. The children are screaming, clearly in play, but it provides a subtle reminder of how things could go wrong. A lifeguard is in the background, looking ready to take action, showing that if something did go wrong, help would be at hand. When providing important advice and information, the writer avoids a threatening tone by using attractive presentational features, such as stars as bullet points, and cartoon-like images of flags. This important balance allows the reader to recognise that the beach is a place for leisure and enjoyment, whilst still providing potentially life-saving information.

Lifeguards are portrayed as a necessity, showing that the beach can be safe, so long as lifeguards are present. In the “True Story”, the reader learns how a fun day out can become sinister. The image of the family “relaxing on the beach” is familiar, but this quickly turns into a life-threatening situation, which was “terrifying” for the boys’ mother. Such emotive language encourages the reader to consider the impact on their own family if a similar thing happened to them. This portrays vividly how easily a fun day out can become highly dangerous. Importantly, though, the story has a happy ending, with the boys being rescued, and still returning to the beach to have fun, so long as the beach is patrolled by lifeguards. This story cleverly combines the danger of the sea with the opportunities for safety offered by the comforting presence of lifeguards.

The beach activities described in the leaflet are acknowledged to be fun, but requiring certain skills and knowledge to be safe. The writer uses superlatives and alliteration to emphasise the enjoyable nature of water activities: “swimming is one of the best all-round activities” and “surfing and bodyboarding are the most fantastic fun”. However, this praise is quickly qualified with a reminder of the potential dangers of these activities. In this section, the writer provides very clear instructions, using the absolute terms “always” and “never”, showing that there should be no compromise on these rules. In the background of this section is an attractive image of someone walking with a surfboard, showing that, whilst direct and important, these instructions should not discourage people from taking part in water-based activities.

The priority of this leaflet is to make people aware of the potential dangers relating to the beach. However, the writer also succeeds in presenting the beach as a fun and safe place, if the advice in the leaflet is followed.

Edexcel English IGCSE: Your Guide to Beach Safety by V Denman

In this leaflet, the beach and sea are portrayed as fun places to visit, which can nevertheless be fraught with life-threatening dangers. Lifeguards ensure that visitors’ time on the beach is both fun and safe.

The appearance of the leaflet reflects the writer’s portrayal of the beach as both fun and potentially dangerous. The picture on the front cover shows two young children playing happily in the sea, which shows how fun the beach can be when people are safe. There is a lifeguard on a jet-ski in the background, showing that he can respond quickly to any dangerous situations and reminding the reader that things can go wrong. The leaflet uses bright primary colours; whilst these colours are associated with childhood and fun, they are also colours of danger and warning, reflecting the fun but dangerous nature of the beach. Information about how to stay safe is presented in an attractive way. For example, in the section about ‘Rips’, the writer is describing a potentially life-threatening situation. However, the bullet points are stars, and the pictures seem stuck in like a scrap-book. This gives the information a non-threatening appearance, reflecting that the beach can be fun if certain rules are followed.

The beach activities described in the leaflet are presented as enjoyable, but sometimes unsafe. In the section entitled “Swimming, Surfing & Bodyboarding”, the same structure is used to open the first two paragraphs. The activity is first described in positive terms: swimming is described as “one of the best all-round activities”, and surfing and bodyboarding are described with alliterative enthusiasm as “fantastic fun”. Following this positive description is a clause beginning “but”, which then describes the potential dangers of the activity. The writer does not intend to discourage people from enjoying water activities, but still wants them to be aware of what can go wrong.

Lifeguards are presented as vitally important in ensuring that the beach is a fun and safe place to visit. In the “True Story”, the necessity of lifeguards is shown through a description of an event in which two boys would have drowned if a lifeguard hadn’t helped them. The story is dramatic, with the use of language techniques such as alliteration to highlight the impact of their experience: the two big teenagers were “shaking with shock”. Importantly, Carolyne and her sons have not been put off going to beaches, but they will “certainly always” go to beaches where lifeguards are present. Again, this shows that the beach is fun and can be safe, but only when lifeguards are there to help in emergencies.

This leaflet does not attempt to scare people or suggest that the beach is too dangerous to enjoy. However, it describes the things that can go wrong, so that people are aware of the potential threats to their safety.