About Text Forms And Their Styles - Example

The following two text forms are selected from the writing resource book and these have been described in detail with examples. These text forms and their examples have been taken from the real life experiences. Their analysis is given describing their organizational framework and language features that indentify them as a particular text form. These features have been duly annotated. 1- Narrative text form: this text form is used in giving the description of various scenes, people or places. Such text forms are used in short stories or novels. For instance “a black bear was seen running after a white deer in the jungle at dusk while there was a dangerous lull before the storm in the atmosphere. My heart was throbbing with fear and insecurity as I was left alone by my comrades on their misunderstanding that I was already dead”. Following are the impressionistic peculiarities of a narrative text form (Yale University Library 2010). A- Purpose: the description in the narrative text form of writing has a very clear purpose of creating the impression about a person, a particular place or an event as has been done in the above example created by myself. The purpose of above narrative text is to attract the attention of reader about the sordid experience of a soldier in a far-flung forest. The purpose of narrative text given above is also to set a mood of the reader and sensitize him about a place some beasts, and to create their imagery in the mind of reader so that the reader keeps on reading till he finds the end of story. The purpose of the narrative form text is the entertainment of the reader and the service of his interest (Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). Narratives are also created to change the attitudes of the people through television dramas, soap, operas and raising interest of people in various topical issues. The common structure of a narrative text is also called story grammar. Usually the story is organized around some events which are reinforced by the characters. Usually there is main theme or main idea of the story aimed at a resolution that is the achievement of the goal of writer. B- Features: narrative text form also carries particular features that create characters, set the mood of the reader, and instill life into the words and sentences thereby, creating a particular atmosphere. In this way attention of the reader is kept engaged throughout the reading. Features of narrative text forms like short stories, novels, descriptive poems etc keep this literary text form distinct from the other text forms like, science fictions(W. Ratter / H. Bendy, 2008). C- Language: there is a precisely chosen vocabulary which uses particular adverbs, adjectives and nouns focused on those aspects of the description of events that appeal the senses of reader and he can hear, see, smell, taste, feel and mind the noises, flesh, aroma, similes, images and pictures of the events. Powerful use of verbs and precise nouns described the language of a narrative type. D- Narrative text form example ‘A lesson learned… I wonder, is it at all possible to learn harsh lessons of our life? Indeed, in most spheres of human activity we can hope to take our previous mistakes into consideration and avoid them in the future. But concerning human feelings, is it right to blame ourselves if it turns out that we had made a mistake by sincerely investing a part of us into a wrong person who has lead us into the devastating emotional state? And can we avoid such mistakes in the future without becoming desensitized? Confusion over these questions constitutes the kaleidoscope of my memory of Kim, the relationship with whom ended with the shattering argument over one of the most important questions – what is the nature of commitment between man and woman?’ quote ; http://essayinfo.com/blog/a-lesson-learned/# Annotated analysis of the above text Purpose feature language Organization Description of a place, Catching reader’s attention. Precise vocabulary Characters event Setting mood Focused nouns Resolution Person Creating atmosphere Similes, adjectives Theme Landscape Bringing life to the text Metaphors and imagery Based on story map Narrative text form applies to all the age groups according to its usage. Short stories in the school children books apply to them as junior users of narrative text form. The novels, poems and history books apply to the senior readers. 2- Expository text form: this text form is quite different from the narrative text form in its purpose, feature, language and organization. Mainly these text forms are found in the science reports. Description of experiments, business letters etc. following makes the expository text form different from the narrative text form. An example of expository text form is as follows. Mr. James has been appointed as a new CEO of the company with immediate effect. He will also look after the work of CFO till the regular appointment of incumbent on the post. Mr. James has an experience of twenty years having worked in different capacities in the private sector. He comes from a business family and knows how to look after production, HRM and marketing. All concerned are advised to note and follow his instructions till further orders. A- Purpose: from the above example of an internal memorandum of a company it is clear that expository text form is quite different in purpose from the narrative text form. This is used to describe facts, actions and results through a text. The style of this text form is objective and factual. Science reports are based upon the facts as presented in this text form on the basis of accurate data and information. The main purpose of this text form is to inform the reader about the things on the basis of as is, where is. B- Features: the expository text form has the main feature of information, increasing knowledge of the reader and tabulating data into the mind of the reader. Expository texts are also usually scientific and technical in nature and attract the readers from their particular fields of life. The reports of zoological surveys, botanical experiments, sociological research, engineering reports, and architectural descriptions are given in the form of expository text form. C- Language: straight, simple and direct form of language is used in the expository text forms. Every paragraph opens with an opening sentence. Material action verbs are used and linking verbs are utilized to condense the language. Stylistic elements make the expository descriptions different from the narrative ones. Examples of such form of text are the research papers, process essays, summaries, editorials, interviews, resumes, memos, and applications etc. D- Expository text form example “In 1997, 175,000 volunteers picked up three million pounds of garbage along the coasts of the United States. As a result, both people and sea animals can enjoy cleaner and safer environments. Glass bottles, lumber, and syringes are less of a threat to barefooted beachgoers. Fewer seabirds, fish, and crabs will die entangled in plastics can holders, fishing nets, and fishing line. People put trash in the oceans, but by volunteering their time to help clean up after them, people are also the solution to the problem.” quote http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Example_of_expository_writing Tabulated Analysis of the above text Purpose features language Organization Information Direct Simple A clear introduction Knowledge Objective Active Opening sentences Research Factual Precise Divided paragraphs Communication accurate Condensed conclusion Expository text forms apply to all age groups including students of primary school to the university and adults depending upon the level of reader. The junior level text books of science are the examples applicable to the school children. The memos issued in the companies to the employees exemplify the readers of adult age group. If we analyze the expository form of writing then we can easily find that such text form is marked with high frequency words and another sophisticated tool called collocations and concordant which means portraying the direct idea into the form of expository writing. Part 2: a)Modeled Writing Session: My choice of writing text form is the expository text form. A modeled writing session with the students of grade 1 would be like below (Osportfolio.org. http://www.osportfolio.org/); 1- Welcome session (morning/thirty minutes); I will use the morning story board and encourage the students to write and paste their clip charts in whatever the manner and style they write. Children would use circle sounds, words, sentence structures. I will leave misspelled words for the students to correct them. I would encourage students to sing their favorite songs using the words on their flip charts. The objective is encouraging the students about tracing letters and teaching them correct letter forms. Teaching them how to copy words, copying sentences and copying punctuation. 2- Literacy session three times a week (one hour duration with three rotations of twenty minutes each); students will warm up and practice for ten minutes from the book reading and word play. Then the whole class will play the phonetics game of word spelling. One group will do reading with me; the other group will do quite reading another group will do computer activity. The objective is copying from larger selections and copying the student’s simple narration in the picture forms. 3- Whole class activity (two times per week); modeled writing activity, modeled reading activity focused on handwriting, phonics, spellings activities. 4- Language experiments (one time per week); on every Friday students will be asked to narrate and write their simple experiments like how to pick apples, how to make tea etc. 5- Math session rotation (one hour evening program); computer math workbook, worksheet, number work, missing numbers, number chart etc. 6- Afternoon session; silent reading after main session and three books to be kept on their desk. 7- Outcome; improvement of vocabulary, enhancing reading skill, writing skills, creating stylistic abilities. b) Modeled Writing Procedure: A modeled writing procedure starts with the basics for the teacher and the student (Ministry of Education (2006). It involves various steps like posture, pencil grip, paper position and then telling the student about how to copy the words from number books, family books, journals, picture books. Then comes the turn of copying sentences and copying punctuation. The students are told how to use the blank note books as writing treasures and use the copy book as a useful tool of learning, how to write accurately. Then, comes the turn of writing from dictation. This is a major modeled writing step in which the confidence of the student is checked, rechecked and restored. Then the students are encouraged to copy larger sections of the texts given to them like letters poems, sermons and speeches. This process goes on till the students understand how to write from verbal dictation of the larger sections. When the students become confident about such dictations they are encouraged about copying their own narrations. On the successful achievement of this stage the students are asked about writing narrations of their own. Finally, students are told how to take advantage of different language styles. This step encourages the students to take interest in writing. Stylistic elements are actually the nuts and bolts of sentences and the students are encouraged to use them in their own styles. Then students are encouraged to add different phrases and clauses to the sentences. In this way students can change the sentences in their own suitable choice. Then the last step is teaching the students about using the stylistic elements of metaphors, similes, dialogues, alliteration and short sentences. In this way we can say that modeling is an effective way of teaching the students about text forms and their styles. This modeling technique is used across all the ages of students mainly depending upon the purpose of text form. This is the excellent method focused on text forms. Students are chosen in which text form they can shine. Writing becomes exciting and fun for them in which they explore new words and inspire others. Students are then familiarized with journals, diaries, clustering, personal essays, riddles, poems, summaries and interviews. So it can be said that a modeled writing procedure is effective pathway to achieve the basic purpose of teaching the students how to effectively write both narrative and expository text forms. References 1. W. Ratter / H. Bendy, (2008) Your Companion to English Texts: Comprehension - Analysis - Appreciation - Production, ISBN 3-7863-0299-5. pp. 91 – 102 2. Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling: A functional linguistics approach. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum 3. "The Development/Learning Plan" Yale University Library http://www.library.yale.edu/training/stod/staffdev/learningplan.html. Retrieved 20 September 2010. 4. Osportfolio.org. http://www.osportfolio.org/ Retrieved 20 September 2010 5. Ministry of Education (2006) the New Zealand curriculum. learning media limited. Read More