TYPES OF TEXT

TYPES OF TEXT

What are they?

Open Ended

Which types of text do you know?

There are 5 major texts types:  

Narrative

Descriptive

Directive

Expository

Argumentative

Narrative texts

-Narrative texts have to do with real-world events and time.

-They may be fictional (fairy tales, novels) or nonfictional (newspaper report).

-They are characterized by sequencing of events expressed by dynamic verbs and by adverbials such as “and then”, “first”, “second”, “third”

-Example: First we packed our bags and then we called a taxi. After that we… etc.

Descriptive texts 

• Descriptive texts are concerned with the location of persons and things in space. 

• They will tell us what lies to the right or left, in the background or foreground, or they will provide background information which, perhaps, sets the stage for narration. 

• It is immaterial whether a description is more technical-objective or more impressionistic subjective. 

• State or positional verbs plus adverbial expressions are employed in descriptions

• Examples: 1) The operation panel is located on the right-hand side at the rear; 2) New Orleans lies on the Mississippi.

Directive texts

• Directive texts are concerned with concrete future activity. Central to these texts are imperatives (Hand me the paper) or forms that substitute for them, such as polite questions (Would you hand me the paper?) or suggestive remarks (I wonder what the paper says about the weather).

• Narrative, descriptive, and directive texts have grammatical forms associated with them which may be expanded to form sequences of a textual nature

• They are all centered around real-world events and things. In contrast, expository and argumentative texts are cognitively oriented, as they are concerned with explanation and persuasion, which are both mental processes.

Expository texts

• Expository texts identify and characterize phenomena.

• They include text forms such as definitions, explications, summaries, and many types of essays. 

• are characterized by state verbs and epistemic modals (Pop music has a strong rhythmic beat; Texts may consist of one or more sentences) or by verbs indicating typical activities or qualities (fruit flies feed on yeast)

Argumentative texts

• Argumentative texts depart from the assumption that the receiver’s beliefs must be changed

• They often start with the negation of a statement that attributes a quality or characteristic activity to something or someone (esp. scholarly texts).

• They also include advertising texts, which try to persuade their readers that a product is somehow better, at least implicitly than others.

Do you have any questions?

LET'S PRACTICE

Multiple Select

1) Papers should not exceed 7000 words (including footnotes and Works Cited) and should follow the latest MLA Handbook. Papers should be submitted in double-spaced format (two hard copies and a disk) to the editors of the issue at the following addresses: Tina Krontiris, School of English, Aristotle University, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece, and Jyotsna G. Singh, Department of English, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1036.

• Narrative

• Descrptive

Poll

2) Most artists are very nervous about scientific analysis. They feel it destroys something about the human aspect of creativity. […] Some fear that too much analysis will only break the spell. Likewise, most scientists see the creative arts as an entirely subjective development that long ago left science to tread the long road to objective truth alone.

• Narrative

• Expository

• Descritive

• Directive

• Argumentative

Poll

3) Yes, I have returned to this arcaded city, unwisely, it may be. I rented a place in one of the little alleyways hard by the Duomo, I shall not say which one, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me, although I confess I worry intermittently about the possibility of a visit from the police. It is not much, my bolt-hole, a couple of rooms, lowceilinged, dank; the windows are so narrow and dirty I have to keep a table lamp burning all day for fear of falling over something in the half dark.

• Narrative

• Descriptive

• Directive

• Expository

• Argumentative

Go to this video

In this video, you will see other types of text and the advantages to recognize the different types of text

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xV7LOqLkXc

Autonomous work

Please write a paragraph having in mind the topic and ideas in the graphic organizer and the type of text that you would like to write.