Components of Non Literary Text: text types and forms Main idea : The main idea of a text sums
of a text sums up the overall idea
Non-literary texts can be classified according to their purpose.
These can have the objective of disclosing information,
explaining an issue, communicating the results of an
investigation or making known how a person acts.
Modes of writing of Non Literary Text
1. Expository. It is to Inform and facilitate understanding
of a topic.
Ex: Lectures, reports, news, essays, biographies, and
others.
2. Normative. Inform and provide directions or orders
about how someone should act in a specific context.
Ex: Cooking recipes, instructions, manuals, legislative
and legal documents, political constitution, and others.
3. Academic. Communicate or disseminate knowledge
on a specific matter
Ex: Dissertations, theses, academic articles,
encyclopedic entries, monographs, scientific essays,
and others.
4. Argumentative. Expressing or communicating a point
of view or opinion with the intention of persuading or
convincing someone.
Ex: Speeches, philosophical texts, essays, opinion
articles, advertising messages, and others.
How do you identify a non literary text?
Purpose: It is another aspect of non-literary text to consider its
purpose, or why the author wrote the piece
or theme, or what information the text is trying to convey. Since
non-literary texts tend to be short and succinct, the main idea
is usually stated early on, in the title or subheading, or in the
first paragraph.
Audience : Who is your target audience and does the
rhetorical text suits the audience by considering their gender,
age, location, education,socioeconomic status, beliefs, values,
and attitudes (special interest groups)
TEXT STRUCTURES FOR READING
What is reading?
Among the four language skills, reading is the possibly the
most extensively and intensively studied skill in experts in the
field of teaching.
Theories of Reading:
1.Traditional theory, or bottom-up
2. The cognitive view or top-down processing
3.The metacognitive view
BOTTOM UP
Also called behaviorist approach and skill achievement theory.
Processing, which focused on the printed form of
a text.
Example:
1. Interpreting Road Signs
One of the ways that affordances works to support the theory
of bottom-up processing is road markings. Road markings use
several different affordances to communicate speed
requirements and the direction of the world. As you're driving
along a country road, you are not working from the top down -
you are sensing the signs on the side of the road and on the
road to determine where you are going and how fast you are
going.
Difference between bottom up and top down
Bottom up is a text based (letters, syllables, morphemes)
Top Down is readers based (own intelligence, and
experience)
Cognitive Theory or Top Down
The cognitive view or top-down processing enhanced the role
of background knowledge in addition to what appeared on the
printed page. "The Cognitive View (top- down processing). It's
the idea that our brains form an idea of a big picture first from
previous knowledge and then break it down into more specific
information. We perceive the world around us by pulling from
our perceptual set: past experiences, expectations, and
emotions. Then, we form opinions.
Example:
For example, if you are given a sentence to read such as "The
dog ran around the corner" you would use your prior
knowledge to anticipate that there will be something else
behind the corner (e.g., another dog). You already know that
dogs chase each other so your brain predicts what might
happen next in order to help you understand the sentence
fully.
Metacognitive Theory
Which is based on the control and manipulation that a reader
can have on the act of comprehending a text, and thus,
emphasizes the involvement of the reader's thinking about
what he is doing while reading.
Example:
Is when reading a text asking yourself am I understanding this
or should I go back and read prior paragraphs or chapters so
this will make more sense? The first part is knowledge of
cognition. The second part, is regulation of cognition to
maximize learning.
"As authors write a text to communicate an idea, they will use
a structure that goes along with the idea"
Meyer (1985)
Examples
Car Crash While Hitchhiking
Denis Johnson's hallucinatory story follows a young,
drug-addled hitchhiker who foresees a terrible car crash but
does nothing to stop it. The interlinked causes of the tragedy
are catalogued in the first paragraph of the story: "A salesman
who shared his liquor and steered while sleeping. A Cherokee
filled with bourbon. A VW no more than a bubble of hashish
fumes, captained by a college student. And a family from
Marshalltown who head-onned and killed forever a man driving
west out of Bethany, Missouri." In a fatalistic sense, this web of
causality is unalterable, but readers are still dragged through
the devastating effects of the crash.
Common Text Structures
1. Problem and Solution
2. Chronological order
3. Compare and Contrast
4. Cause and Effect
5. Description
The Purpose and Advantages
1. Aids to comprehend the purpose of writing if a text is used
automatically the readers would understand, why is the reader
wrote this text in the first place? what is the goal?
2. Helps to pinpoint information without difficulty.
3. Helps to develop a common understanding about how to
communicate successfully in every different situation.
What is the Importance of Text Structures?
➢ Text structures give the readers a specific purpose for
reading.
➢ Helps the reader understand what is important in text.
➢ The author usually organized their text so that readers
can clearly see what is important and isn't important.
➢ Can help the readers monitor their comprehension and
understanding the meaning of text.
Organization for Writing
Types of Organizational Pattern in Writing
Types of Organizational Pattern in Writing
● Chronological Pattern
● Order of importance
● Spatial Pattern
● Cause and Effect Pattern
● Compare and Contrast
● Problem and Solution
Chronological Pattern
This pattern is the generally straightforward manner of writing
where all vital events, dates, or ideas of the authors are
presented in a chronological order that is in increasing order.
In the case of history, this chronological pattern is always
found to move forward.
Signal words are first, second, later, before, next, as soon as,
after, then, finally, meanwhile, following, last, during, in, on,
until
Order of Importance
Most essays move from the least to the most important point,
and the paragraphs are arranged in an effort to build the
essay’s strength. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to begin
with your most important supporting point, such as in an essay
that contains a thesis that is highly debatable.
Signal words are less, more, primary, next, last, most
important, primarily, secondarily
Spatial Pattern
Spatial order means that you explain or describe objects as
they are arranged around you in your space. Signal words are
above, below, beside, next to, in front of, behind, inside,
outside, opposite, within, nearby Take a look at spatial order
example which describes various layers of a volcano. A
volcano is a beautiful and dangerous natural phenomenon.
The magma chamber, an extremely hot part which people
rarely see, is under the Earth surface beneath the bed’s rock.
The conduit is running from the volcano’s magma chamber to
the crater which is at the top of the volcano.
Compare and Contrast Pattern
A comparison and contrast pattern involves discussing the
similarities and differences between two subjects. This
approach works for talking about two different subjects, or in
highlighting a single subject that is easier to discuss in
comparison to something else.
Similarities: both, also, similarly, like, likewise, too, as well as,
resembles, correspondingly, in the same way, to compare, in
comparison, share
Differences: unlike, differs from, in contrast, on the other
hand, instead, despite, nevertheless, however, in spite of,
whereas, as opposed to
Cause & Effect Pattern
The Cause-Effect Patterns is much helpful for the writers as it
helps to look back and evaluate the importance of all historical
events. The writer tries to push a particular action that is
generally utilized to solve any critical problem.
Causes: because, because of, for, since, stems from, one
cause is, one reason is, leads to, causes, creates, yields,
produces, due to, breeds, for this reason
Effects: consequently, results in, one result is, therefore, thus,
as a result, hence
Problem & Solution Pattern
In a sense, this pattern is a variety of the specific-to-general
pattern, as it often begins with specific details and moves to a
somewhat generalized solution. However, rather than evoking
a sense of mystery and suspense, the problem-cause-solution
pattern focuses on concrete difficulties; and though a solution
may appeal to abstract principles, the solution should have a
practical application, enough to solve the real-life problem.