CRWT 111

CRITICAL READING,
WRITING, AND
THINKING
WEEK 3
The Nature of Text
 • The Nature of Text
✓ Academic vs Non-Academic Text

Agenda: ✓
✓
Author Credential and Bias
Stance, Audience, and Purpose
✓ Fact vs Opinion
✓ Evidences
Knowing about the nature of the text prepares
you better in understanding the topic,
following references, raising arguments, and
flowing with the discussions.
 Is the text

ACADEMIC or
NON-ACADEMIC
ACADEMIC OR NON-ACADEMIC?

EDITORIAL
an article that presents the
newspaper's opinion on an issue.
ACADEMIC OR NON-ACADEMIC?

RESEARCH PAPER
a paper that presents the author’s
interpretation, evaluation, or argument
of a topic or issue.
ACADEMIC OR NON-ACADEMIC?

BLOG POST
an informational website run by an
individual, group, or corporation that
offers regularly updated content
about a topic
ACADEMIC OR NON-ACADEMIC?

NOVEL
a narrative work of prose
fiction that tells a story
about specific human
experiences
ACADEMIC OR NON-ACADEMIC?

LAB REPORT
an account of an experiment
and what was discovered
during the experiment.
ACADEMIC OR NON-ACADEMIC?

BUSINESS LETTER
a professional and formal letter
used as a means of communication
between business clients,
employees, and stakeholders
ACADEMIC OR NON-ACADEMIC?

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
a list of citations to books,
articles, and documents followed
by a brief descriptive and
evaluative paragraph
ACADEMIC OR NON-ACADEMIC?

ESSAY
a piece of nonfiction writing
that informs the reader about a
topic or argues a perspective
Learning how to separate academic texts from non-
academic texts is an imperative for students as this
knowledge is needed in researching, reviewing and
passing assessments.
ACADEMIC TEXTS
• are written by experts or scholars in a
particular field
• have undergone the peer-review process
• references are organized and compiled
• are considered as primary sources
ACADEMIC TEXTS: Questions to consider
• Who wrote it? (an academic or a “layperson”?)
• Who is it written for? (an academic audience or
the general public?)
• Where is it published? (is it from an academic
source? e.g. an academic journal, a university press)
• Is it peer-reviewed?
 PEER-REVIEW
It is designed to assess the validity, quality and often the
originality of articles for publication.

Its ultimate purpose is to maintain the integrity of science

by filtering out invalid or poor quality articles.

An author writes a paper
showing the results of
his/her research.
The editor decides whether
the article should be (a)
published with no changes, (b)
published with some
changes, or (c) rejected.
The paper is published.
The editor receives the article
The author chooses a journal
and sends it to several
well suited to the topic of the
reviewers who are experts in
article.
the same field as the author.
The author makes any
changes or corrections that The article is edited for style,
have been requested and grammar, referencing, and so
returns the paper to the on.
editor.
THE PEER-REVIEW PROCESS
NON-ACADEMIC TEXTS
• authorship is not limited to credentials or
writing ability, therefore it can be written by
anyone
• creativity is favored over credibility
• written for the general public
• references are not required
• are considered as secondary sources
NON-ACADEMIC TEXTS

• Most articles published in magazines, in

newspapers and on websites are often not
academic.
• These might be accurate and might be useful.
• Since they are not reviewed, they might not be
accurate or useful.
 ACADEMIC TEXT NON-ACADEMIC TEXT
Audience Academia General public
informs the readers, provide informs, entertains or persuades the
Purpose
arguments, with solid evidence readers

Style formal, impersonal, objective personal, emotional, subjective

Structure standard structure no rigid structure

Language formal language informal and casual language

Citations and contains citations and often do not contain citations and
Reference references references
https://libguides.memphis.edu/scholcomm/non-academic#s-lg-box-28278744
 What is the author’s

CREDENTIALS
and BIASES?
 It is always helpful to find out something about the
author of a text and to determine:
a) whether the author is qualified to write with
authority on a particular topic
b) what biases an author might bring to a text
AUTHOR’S CREDENTIALS
the author’s qualifications to write with authority on
a particular topic.

Questions to consider:
• What educational background
does the author have?
AUTHOR’S CREDENTIALS
the author’s qualifications to write with authority on
a particular topic.

Questions to consider:
• Has he or she published
previously on this topic?
AUTHOR’S CREDENTIALS
the author’s qualifications to write with authority on
a particular topic.

Questions to consider:
• Is the author considered an
authority on the topic?
AUTHOR’S BIAS
it is any opinion or prejudice that affects that
author’s writing and prevents the author from being
completely neutral about the topic or issue about
which he/she is writing.
 political
upbringing
belief

age
The author’s BIAS can gender

BIAS
profession

be influenced by:
religious
background

cultural
background social
educational status
background
The author’s BIAS can
be influenced by: upbringing
political
belief

financial interests
• Was the research age gender
sponsored by a particular

BIAS
profession
company?
• Was the author paid to
promote a particular religious
point of view? background

• Commercial websites may cultural

give readers a one-sided background social
educational status
view of their product or background
service.
AUTHOR’S BIAS
it is any opinion or prejudice that affects that
author’s writing

How to recognize bias?

• Only one side of the argument
is presented.
AUTHOR’S BIAS
it is any opinion or prejudice that affects that
author’s writing

How to recognize bias?

• Generalizations are common.
Sweeping statements are made
without any real support.
AUTHOR’S BIAS
it is any opinion or prejudice that affects that
author’s writing

How to recognize bias?

• Extreme statements are used;
these are designed to have an
emotional effect to the reader.
 What is the author’s

STANCE,
AUDIENCE and
PURPOSE?
AUTHOR’S STANCE
the opinion, position, or point of view of the author.

Words and expressions used by the author to express

his/her opinion:
advantage disadvantage benefit threat
this study
danger or risk I think… I believe…
demonstrates…
this research
it seems… it appears… crucial
confirms…
important promising significant worthwhile
(ir)relevant clearly definitely obviously
AUDIENCE
it refers to who the text is aimed at
• Who was the text written for?
• Was it written for an academic or a general
audience?
AUTHOR’S PURPOSE
the reason why the text was written, the goal
of the author

An academic article:
• to make a contribution to his or her field
• to add to the bank of knowledge available on a
topic
AUTHOR’S PURPOSE
the reason why the text was written, the goal
of the author
A non-academic text:
• to report on new information using language
accessible to a general audience
• to persuade/convince the reader to adopt a certain
belief or to act in a certain way
AUTHOR’S PURPOSE
the reason why the text was written, the goal
of the author
A non-academic text:
• to warn the reader about something
• to give advice or suggest a course of action
• to reassure the reader about something
• to entertain or amuse the reader
• to advertise a product or service
IN SUMMARY:
Asking the following questions might help
assessing the nature of the text:
• Is the text academic or non-academic?
• What is the author’s credentials?
• Is the text biased?
• What is the author’s stance about the topic?
• Who is the intended audience of the text?
• What is the author’s purpose?
QUESTIONS?
PREPARED BY:
• Mr. Rone Harold Cruz, LPT