Paratextual features
Textual elements surrounding the primary text, including titles, epigraphs, prefaces, author's notes, illustrations, and layout, which frame interpretation and guide reader approach.
Real World
The title 1984 and Orwell's austere cover design prime readers to expect bleakness and political warning before a single word of the novel is read — the paratext frames every subsequent interpretive choice.
Exam Focus
Always discuss paratextual features in relation to how they position the reader's expectations before and during reading, not just what they describe.
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