Graffiti

Graffiti

Pencil and paper
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This task is about personal viewpoint.

The two letters below come from the internet and are about graffiti. Graffiti is painting, drawing, and writing on walls and public spaces - usually this is done without permission.

Read the letters then answer the questions that follow.

Dear _______
 
I'm simmering with anger as the school wall is cleaned and repainted for the fourth time to get rid of graffiti. Creativity is admirable but people should find ways to express themselves that do not inflict extra costs upon society.

Why do you spoil the reputation of young people by painting graffiti where it's forbidden? Professional artists do not hang their paintings in the streets, do they? Instead they seek funding and gain fame through legal exhibitions.

In my opinion buildings, fences and park benches are works of art in themselves. It's really pathetic to spoil this architecture with graffiti and what's more, the method destroys the ozone layer. Really, I can't understand why these criminal artists bother as their "artistic works" are just removed from sight over and over again.

Helga
Dear _______
 
There is no accounting for taste. Society is full of communication and advertising. Company logos, shop names. Large intrusive posters on the streets. Are they acceptable? Yes, mostly. Is graffiti acceptable? Some people say yes, some no.Who pays the price for graffiti? Who is ultimately paying the price for advertisements? Correct. The consumer.

Have the people who put up billboards asked your permission? No. Should graffiti painters do so then? Isn't it all just a question of communication – your own name, the names of gangs and large works of art in the street?

Think about the striped and chequered clothes that appeared in the stores a few years ago. And ski wear. The patterns and colours were stolen directly from the flowery concrete walls. It's quite amusing that these patterns and colours are accepted and admired but that graffiti in the same style is considered dreadful.

Times are hard for art.

Sophia

© OECD (2002). Reproduced with permission.

  1. The purpose of each of these letters is to

(A) explain what graffiti is.     

(B) present an opinion about graffiti.     

(C) demonstrate the popularity of graffiti.     

(D) tell people how much is spent removing graffiti.

 
 
  1. Why does Sophia refer to advertising?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  1. Which of the two letters do you agree with? Explain your answer by using your own words to refer to what is said in one or both of the letters.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  1. We can talk about what a letter says (the content) and about the way a letter is written (the style). Regardless of which letter you agree with, in your opinion, which do you think is the better letter? Explain your answer by referring to the way one or both letters are written (think about the content and the style).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper.
Copyright: 
© OECD (2002). Reproduced by permission of the OECD. 
Level:
5
Curriculum info: 
English, Making meaning, Reading
Key Competencies: 
Thinking
Keywords: 
pisa, letter, comparison, opinion, purpose, think critically, text features
Description of task: 
Students read two letters about personal viewpoints on graffiti and answer questions about the content and style of the letters.
Curriculum Links: 
 
Links to the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading:
This resource helps to identify students’ ability to:
  • evaluate and integrate ideas across a small range of texts
  • identify author’s message
as described in the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading at: http://www.literacyprogressions.tki.org.nz/The-Structure-of-the-Progressions.
Learning Progression Frameworks
This resource can provide evidence of learning associated with
Making sense of text: processing system, sets 6-7
within the Reading Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
    15yo (09/2000)
a) B 84%
b) Answers which recognise that a comparison is being drawn between graffiti and advertising, and are consistent with the idea that advertising is a legal form of graffiti. For example:

  • To show us that advertising can be as invasive as graffiti.
  • Because some people think advertising is just as ugly as spray-painting.
  • She's saying that advertising is just a legal form of graffiti.
  • She thinks advertising is like graffiti.
  • Because they don't ask your permission to put up billboards. [The comparison between advertising and graffiti is implicit.]
  • Because advertisements are placed in society without our permission, as is graffiti.
  • Because the billboards are like graffiti. [A minimal answer. Recognises a similarity without elaborating on what the similarity is.]
  • Because it is another form of display.
  • Because advertisers stick posters on the wall and she thinks they are graffiti as well.
  • Because it is on the walls too.
  • Because they are equally nice or ugly to look at.
  • She refers to advertising because it is acceptable unlike graffiti. [Similarity of graffiti and advertising is implied by contrasting attitudes to the two.]

or

Answers which recognise that referring to advertising is a strategy to defend graffiti. For example:

  • So that we will see that graffiti are legitimate after all.
 50%
c) Answers which explain the student's point of view by referring to the content of one or both letters. They may refer to the writer's general position (i.e., for or against) or to a detail of her argument. The interpretation of the writer's argument must be plausible. The explanation may take the form of paraphrase of part of the text, but must not be wholly or largely copied without alteration or addition. For example:

  • Helga because I am against graffiti. [Minimum answer]
  • Sophia. I think it's hypocritical to fine graffiti artists and then make millions by copying their designs.
  • I sort of agree with both of them. It should be illegal to paint over walls in public places but these people should be given the opportunity to do their work somewhere else.
  • Sophia's because she cares about art.
  • I agree with both. Graffiti is bad but advertising is just as bad so I won't be hypocritical.
  • Helga because I don't really like graffiti either but I understand Sophia's point of view and how she didn't want to condemn people for doing something they believe in.
  • Helga's because it really is a pity to spoil the reputation of young people for nothing. [Borderline case: some direct quotation, but embedded in other text.]
  • Sophia. It is true that patterns and colours stolen from graffiti appear in stores and are accepted by people who consider graffiti dreadful. [The explanation is a combination of phrases from the text, but the amount of manipulation indicates that it has been well understood.]
 77%
d) Answers which explain opinion with reference to the style or form of one or both letters. They should refer to criteria such as style of writing, structure of argument, cogency of argument, tone, register used, or strategies for persuading readers. Terms like "better arguments" must be substantiated. For example:

  • Helga's. She gave you lots of different points to consider and she mentioned the environmental damage that graffiti artists do, which I think is very important.
  • Helga's letter was effective because of the way she addressed the graffiti artists directly.
  • I think Helga's letter was the better one of the two. I thought Sophia's was a bit biased.
  • I thought Sophia put forward a very strong argument but Helga's was structured better.
  • Sophia, because she didn't really aim it at anyone. [Explains his/her choice in terms of quality of content. Explanation is intelligible when interpreted as "Doesn't attack anyone."]
  • I like Helga's letter. She was quite dominant getting her opinion out.
 55%

© OECD (2002). Reproduced by permission of the OECD.