Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Context
Context
OBJECTIVES
define context;
define intertext.
MOTIVATION
Do you think that an author’s personal background, as well as the environment where he/she lived in,
influence his/her writing? If so, can you cite some authors and the proof of their work? An example is
done for you.
Jose Rizal Noli Me Tangere He described Spanish-era Philippines, from the architecture to the cul
LESSON PROPER
CONTEXT
There is always an inspiration behind the writing of a text, and often, it leaves clues about the situation
or the reality that served as the backdrop of the text. This backdrop, this situation, this reality is known
as the context of the text.
When you consider context as you write things, be guided by the following reminders:
When using context, try to represent several perspectives—by citing different sources.
If you are writing fiction and aim to integrate your context into it, remember to not make the
tale too far off from human and worldly reality. Works like Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings,
and Ibong Adarna, while they are fictional, have a lot of the human touch in them—making
them relevant to audiences.
Text Development
There are several ways by which a text is developed. You learned in junior high school about the forms
of essays: descriptive, narrative, expository, and argumentative. In this book, you will learn about the
other forms that fall under expository texts.
Each form has its own way. of developing the text, but here are the essentials that you need to
remember:
Purpose. Tt must have an aim or an objective. You need to know the reason why you are writing
the text, and what you intend to achieve from your readers—to make them laugh, to convince
them to take action, to let them understand something, and to educate them, among others.
Audience. Do not forget to know your target audience. Is it for the youth? Is it for adults? Is it
for experts? Is it for novices? Remember that you cannot always resonate to every single person
in the world; you need to focus on a target audience. In this manner, you will be able to adjust
the content, your use of language, and your style of presentation.
Content and meaning. Your work needs to have substance. Apart from being considerate of
your target audience, what will make them read the work is its content and meaning.
HYPERTEXT
One of the recent developments in reading has been brought about by the advancement of technology.
Let’s take a look at the technological advancements that you’re familiar with. Circle those that you
actually have as possessions.
tablet laptop
desktop computer smartphone
Perhaps you encircled most of these. If you did and you read texts through the said gadgets, you may
have noticed that some web pages have texts that have hyperlinks (normally underlined and in blue
color).
What makes hypertext unique is the speed at which you can shift to different texts. When the first text
mentions the concept that is also discussed in another text, all you have to do is to click the hyperlink
and the other page will load.
There are now so many news websites and applications that are accessible via the internet. Often, when
you read a news article – especially one that belongs to a series – you will see hyperlinks that will bring
you to other related news stories. This helps the reader get a better understanding of the whole story.
Always remember that true comprehension is being able to understand the whole picture.
INTERTEXT
Intertextuality draws origin from literature and asserts that texts can only be understood in relation to
other texts. Also, present-day texts are believed to have been based on or at least inspired by
previously-published literature – from the style to the content, to the context, etc.
While intertextuality has remained researched largely in the field of literature, it has applications for
academic and technical reading (academic is for school; technical is for work). Let’s take a look how we
can benefit from intertextuality:
We can widen our knowledge. Reading more leads to knowing more, and that can help broaden
what you know about the topic.
We can view different texts and different perspectives. Referring to different texts and authors
helps give you other perspectives about the same topic, preventing you from having a
fundamentalist view of things.
We can be more certain of what we know. Finding out that your ideas match the ideas of the
previous authors helps validate the things you know. It likewise increases the credibility of the
information.
THE WRAP
A text’s meaning can be determined based partly on the context in which it was developed.
Hypertext allows people to shift to different texts as fast as the internet loading speeds allow.
LEVEL UP!
A. Put a tick (/) mark on good practice for both reading and writing, or an X mark for something that’s
not.
______ 1. Stick to one source of information.
______ 2. Consider other references as invalid.
______ 3. Be open to other ideas.
______ 4. Look at an author’s references and read them, too.
______ 5. Acknowledge your sources.
______ 6. Add as many sources as possible to your work.
2. social media
a. ________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________