What is the difference between the terms "text" and "context?"

The term “text” refers to the written words in literature or other verbal communication; this includes dialogue, description, narrative comment, and everything else contained in the words of the piece.

“Context” is more a social term, referring to the social or communication vehicle or body in which an utterance or communication takes place. An example of “text” might be “It was a dark and stormy night; the wind blew and the rain fell. A band of fifteen robbers were sitting around a campfire. ‘Jack’ said the captain, ‘tell us a story.’”

Comparing this to an example of context would be: “Tell us a story” is a phrase that changes connotative meaning depending on the environment in which it is uttered – a child’s bedroom or a campfire setting or an interview room – because the relationship of the requester and the listener gives the denotative value to the speech act, from request to demand to inquiry.

The prefix “con” here makes the word “context” mean “a text within something larger (a social milieu or a longer piece).