Linear and Non-linear Text

Biography of Nelson R. Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South

African politician and activist. On April 27, 1994, he was made the first President of
South Africa elected in a fully represented democratic election. Mandela was also the
first black President of his country, South Africa.
Mandela was born in Mvezo, South Africa to a Thembu royal family
.His government focused on throwing out the legacy of apartheid by
ending racism, poverty, inequality, and on improving racial understanding in South
Africa. Politically a believer in socialism, he served as the President of the African
National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997 and adopted new Constitution of South
African in 1996 that prohibits all discrimination, based
on language, religion, handicap and sexual orientation, not only on racism.
Internationally, Mandela was the Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from
1998 to 1999.
Mandela received more than 250 honors, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize,
the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is often
referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata ("Father"). Mandela was
described as a hero, and his actions gave thousands of people hope.
Mandela was sick for several years during his retirement. He was hospitalized
in late summer of 2013 from a continuous lung infection. Mandela died on 5
December 2013 in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg from a respiratory tract infection.
[3]
 He was 95 years old.

Crafting the Timeline

A. Directions: Read the biography of Nelson Mandela then construct a

timeline of significant events in the life of Mandela using a ladder map.
Please use the graphic organizer below in answering this activity.

Biography of Nelson R. Mandela

NAME:
  The teacher will give feedback for your answer on how the activity is presented.

B. Directions: Re-read the biography of Nelson R. Mandela then answer

the following questions using your notebook.

1. Who is Nelson Mandela as presented in the text? Write your answer in a

complete sentence.
2. How has he become the president of Africa? Elaborate your answer.
3. Enumerate the achievements of Nelson Mandela in paragraph form,
4. If you were Mandela, how you will render yourself as a unique citizen of
the country or how you will help your country?

C. Directions: Which from the given activities above (A&B) would you
prefer? Explain your answer. Please use your notebook.

D. DISCUSSION ABOUT LINEAR AND NON-LINEAR TEXT

What is Linear Text?

Linear text refers to traditional text that needs to be read from beginning to the
end. Here, the reader makes sense of the text according to
the grammatical and syntactic arrangement of the words. Moreover, this type of text
has an order or sequence; it’s typically the author of the text who decides the order of
the text, or its reading path. Generally, texts printed on paper are considered as linear
texts. Novels, poems, short stories, letters, educational texts, all those texts we read
from the beginning to the end, are linear texts.

Figure 01: Linear Text

Linear text is the most common type of reading. It is the traditional method of
reading we are taught as children. However, linear text or linear reading is not always
advantageous; it may prove disadvantageous when you are in a hurry and need to find
some information quickly. This is because reading a linear text involves reading the
whole text from the beginning to the end, and it may take a considerable amount of
time to find the specific information you need.
What is Nonlinear Text?

Nonlinear text is the opposite of linear text. As its name suggests, it is nonlinear
and non-sequential. In other words, the readers do not have to go through the text in
a sequential manner in order to make sense of the text. This type of text has many
reading paths since it’s the readers who decide the sequence of reading, not the author
of the text.

There are many definitions of the term nonlinear text. Most people consider
texts with visuals or graphs along with it as examples for nonlinear texts. Some
examples include flowcharts, charts, and graphs (ex: pie chart, bar graphs), graphical
organizers such as knowledge maps and story maps. In fact, any text that is not read
from beginning to the end falls into the category of nonlinear text.  For example,
consider an encyclopedia or a telephone directory. We do not read them from
beginning to the end; we skim through them to obtain the specific information we
need.
Figure 02: Nonlinear Text