Descriptive text type

Descriptive text type

Based on perception in space. Impressionistic descriptions of landscapes or persons are often to be found in narratives such as novels or short stories. Example: About fifteen miles below Monterey, on the wild coast, the Torres family had their farm, a few sloping acres above the cliff that dropped to the brown reefs and to the hissing white waters of the ocean ...
Purpose Description is used in all forms of writing to create a vivid impression of a person, place, object or event e.g. to: • describe a special place and explain why it is special • describe the most important person in your life • describe the animal's habitat in your report Descriptive writing is usually used to help a writer develop an aspect of their work, e.g. to create a particular mood, atmosphere or describe a place so that the reader can create vivid pictures of characters, places, objects etc.
Features Description is a style of writing which can be useful for a variety of purposes: • to engage a reader's attention • to create characters • to set a mood or create an atmosphere • to bring writing to life.
Language • aims to show rather than tell the reader what something/someone is like • relies on precisely chosen vocabulary with carefully chosen adjectives and adverbs. • is focused and concentrates only on the aspects that add something to the main purpose of the description. • sensory description - what is heard, seen, smelt, felt, tasted. Precise use of adjectives, similes, metaphors to create images/pictures in the mind e.g. their noses were met with the acrid smell of rotting flesh. • strong development of the experience that "puts the reader there" focuses on key details, powerful verbs and precise nouns.

[edit] Narrative text type

Based on perception in time. Narration is the telling of a story; the succession of events is given in chronological order.
Purpose The basic purpose of narrative is to entertain, to gain and hold a readers' interest. However narratives can also be written to teach or inform, to change attitudes / social opinions e.g. soap operas and television dramas that are used to raise topical issues. Narratives sequence people/characters in time and place but differ from recounts in that through the sequencing, the stories set up one or more problems, which must eventually find a way to be resolved. The common structure or basic plan of narrative text is known as the "story grammar." Although there are numerous variations of the story grammar, the typical elements are: • Setting—when and where the story occurs. • Characters—the most important people or players in the story. • Initiating event—an action or occurrence that establishes a problem and/or goal. • Conflict/goal—the focal point around which the whole story is organized. • Events—one or more attempts by the main character(s) to achieve the goal or solve the problem. • Resolution—the outcome of the attempts to achieve the goal or solve the problem. • Theme—the main idea or moral of the story. The graphic representation of these story grammar elements is called a story map. The exact form and complexity of a map depends, of course, upon the unique structure of each narrative and the personal preference of the teacher constructing the map.
Types of Narrative There are many types of narrative. They can be imaginary, factual or a combination of both. They may include fairy stories, mysteries, science fiction, romances, horror stories, adventure stories, fables, myths and legends, historical narratives, ballads, slice of life, personal experience. Features • Characters with defined personalities/identities. • Dialogue often included - tense may change to the present or the future. • Descriptive language to create images in the reader's mind and enhance the story.
Structure In a Traditional Narrative the focus of the text is on a series of actions: Orientation: (introduction) in which the characters, setting and time of the story are established. Usually answers who? When? Where? E.g. Mr. Wolf went out hunting in the forest one dark gloomy night.
Complication or problem: The complication usually involves the main character(s) (often mirroring the complications in real life).
Resolution: There needs to be a resolution of the complication. The complication may be resolved for better or worse/happily or unhappily. Sometimes there are a number of complications that have to be resolved. These add and sustain interest and suspense for the reader. Further more, when there is plan for writing narrative texts, the focus should be on the following characteristics: • Plot: What is going to happen? • Setting: Where will the story take place? When will the story take place? • Characterization: Who are the main characters? What do they look like? • Structure: How will the story begin? What will be the problem? How is the problem going to be resolved? • Theme: What is the theme / message the writer is attempting to communicate?

[edit] Expository text type

It aims at explanation, i.e. the cognitive analysis and subsequent syntheses of complex facts. Example: An essay on "Rhetoric: What is it and why do we study it?"

[edit] Argumentative text type

Based on the evaluation and the subsequent subjective judgement in answer to a problem. It refers to the reasons advanced for or against a matter.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_types

lish Home Page  

Text types in English

There two types of category of text types which students must be competent in using-Literary text types and factual text types. Every text type has structural and language features. An outline is provided below:

Text Type	Purpose	Structural Features	Language Features
Narrative	To entertain, amuse or instruct	Orientation complication series of events coda	Noun groups to describe characters and settings time words     Action verbs
Report	To classify and/or describe	General statement Description	Technical language, simple present tense, Generalised Terms
Recount	To retell a  series of events	Orientation sequence of events	Descriptive language, past tense, Time words to connect events, Words which tell us where, when, with whom, how

Procedure	To instruct someone how to do something	Goal material or equipment steps	Verbs usually at the beginning of each instruction Words or groups of words which tell us how, when, where, with whom
Explanation	To explain how or why something occurs	Phenomenon identification Explanation sequence	Technical language Use of words such as because, as a result, to establish cause and effect sequences
Exposition	To persuade by arguing one side of an issue	Thesis        Arguments Reinforcement of thesis	Words that qualify, eg usually, probably Words that link arguments eg firstly, on the other hand
Response	to respond to an artistic work	Context of artistic work          Description of artistic work Judgement	Words which express judgements  Descriptive language

The writing process Writing is a process which involves four stages. Stage 1 - Planning This stage requires students to plan their writing. the focus for this stage is thinking about the task in relation to identify the structural and then to identify the structural and language features of that text type. Once this has been done a planning scaffold of that text type should be completed. Stage 2 - First Draft Stage 2 requires students to write their first draft. During this stage students need not to be too overly concerned with accuracy of their writing but more so with adhering to the structural elements of their writing and content or ideas. Stage 3 - Editing At this point a student needs to focus on what they have already written. Students need to ask themselves whether what they have written is well organised, whether their expression is clear and whether their ideas are expressed carefully. It is here that students need to fix up spelling, punctuation and paragraphing problems but more so they should also focus on how appropriate their writing is to the task or question they have been given. Do they need to add more information or do they need to change the structure ? At this point a student may need to re-draft their work. Stage 4 - Publishing Now is the time to  prepare for the finished copy. At this stage a student needs to think about how their work is to be presented and in what format. If instructions about presentation have been given with the task then these need to be followed. However if there is no instructions  about presentation have been given then a decision needs to be made. points to think about at this stage may include the layout of the work, should images or graphics be use of other technologies be appropriate to use for the task? Once these decisions have been made, a student can prepare their final draft or published work.

www.grchurstville.bmcc.education.nsw.gov.au/english_text_types.htm

Maszanet.blogspot.com