Families of Texts Types:

Information Texts:

Descriptions

                        Explanations

                        Reports

                        Directives

                        Texts which combine more than one of these text-types

Story Texts: Recounts, Narratives

Persuasive Texts (Opinion Texts): Expositions, Discussions

1. Spoof/ Recount

• Social function   : to retell an event with a humorous twist
• Generic (Schematic) structure    :

Orientation         : sets the scene

Event(s)               : tell what happened

Twist                     : provide the ‘punch line’

• Significant lexico-grammatical features:

Focus on individual participants (in bold below)

Use of Material Processes (in italics below)

Circumstances of time and place

Use of past tense

• Example:

Penguin in the Park

Orientation  Once a man was walking in the park when he came across a penguin.

Event 1    He He took him to a policeman and said ‘I have just found this penguin. What should I   do?’ The policeman replied, ‘Take him to the zoo’. The policeman replied, ‘Take him to the zoo”

Event 2  The next day the policeman saw the same man in the same park and the man was still  carrying the penguin with him. The policeman was rather surprised and walked up to the man and asked, ‘Why are you still carrying that penguin about? Didn’t you take it to the zoo?’ ‘I certainly did,’ replied the man,

Twist  ‘and it was a great idea because he really enjoyed it, so today I’m taking him to the movies!’

2. Recounts

• Social function: To retell events for the purpose of informing or entertaining
• Generic (Schematic) structure                    :              

Orientation         : provides the setting and introduces participants

Event(s)               : tell what happened, in what sequence

Re-orientation   : optional—closure of events

• Significant lexicogrammatical features

Focus on specific participants (in bold below)

Use of Material Processes (in italics)

Circumstances of time and place (underlined)

Use of past tense

Focus on temporal sequence

• Example 1:

Orientation:    I was driving along the crossroad when the car suddenly lurched to one side.

Event 1:         At first I thought a tyre had gone but then I saw telegraph poles collapsing like matchsticks.

Event 2:     The rocks came tumbling across the road and I had to abandon the car.

Event 3:     When I got back to town, well, as I said, there wasn’t much left.

• Example 2:

It is the school holidays this week. So far, I have done lots of things. On Monday morning, I met Rina at he park. We went skating. In the afternoon we went for a “Stories and Craft’ session at the library.

On Tuesday afternoon, I went to the movie with my cousins. We saw  Harry Potter. My favorite character is Harry. I think he is great.

On Wednesday, Grandma and I went to the zoo. We had a lot of fun. We ate a picnic lunch.

On Thursday morning, Mum and I went shopping for my new school shoes. In the evening, I went to a Brownies meeting from 5.30 p.m-7 p.m.

Oh no! I have not done my Math and English homework. I will need to do that tomorrow. After that I can play with my new computer game, Into Space. 

Linguistic Features

Present tense (untuk menceritakan apa yang terjadi sekarang): It is the school holiday;

Present perfect (menceritakan kejadian yang sudah terjadi dan masih berhubungan dengan kejadian sekarang): I have done.First person pronoun:

Past Tense (untuk menceritakan kejadian lampau): I met Rina;  we went for a …; I went to the movie; We saw …; Grandma and I went to…; We had a lot of fun;  We ate a picnic lunch.Pengguaan Pronoun I selalu dibelakang kalau dia dirangkaikan dengan pronoun/proper noun  Lain

Present Tense: My favorite character is Harry. I think he is …

Present Perfect (Negative): I have not done …

Present Future (untuk menceritakan apa yang akan dilakukan di masa yang akan datang): I will need to do that to; Can digunakan untuk menunjukkan kegiatan yang akan dilakukan di masa yang akan datang: I can play

3. Narrative

• Social Function: To amuse, entertain and to deal with actual or vicarious experience in different ways; Narratives deal with problematic events which lead to a crisis or turning point of some kind, which in turn finds a resolution.
• Generic (Schematic) structure:

Orientation         : sets the scene and introduces the participants

Evaluation          : a stepping back to evaluate the plight

Complication     : a crisis arises

Resolution          : the crisis is resolved, for better or for worse

Re-orientation   : optional

• Significant lexico-grammatical features

Focus on specific and usually individualized Participants (in bold below)

Use of Material Processes (and in this text, Behavioral and Verbal Processes)

Use of Relational Processes and Mental Processes

Use of temporal conjunctions, and temporal Circumstances

Use of past tense

• Example 1:

Orientation                         :  Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Snow White. She lived with her Aunt and Uncle because her parents were dead.

Major Complication         : One day she heard her Uncle and Aunt talking about leaving Snow White in the castle because wanted they both to go to America and they didn’t have enough money to take Snow White.

Resolution: Snow White did not want her Uncle and Aunt to do this so she decided it would be best if she ran away. The next morning she ran away from home when her Aunt and Uncle were having breakfast. She ran away into the woods.

Complication                     : She was very tired and hungry.

Resolution                          :  Then she saw this little cottage. She knocked but no one answered so she went inside and fell asleep.

Complication                     :  Meanwhile, the seven dwarfs were coming home from work. They went inside. There they found Snow White sleeping. Then Snow White woke up. She saw the dwarfs. The dwarfs said,’ What is your name?’ Snow White said, ‘My name is Snow White’.

Major Resolution: Doc said, ‘if you wish, you may live here with us’. Snow White said, ‘Oh could (me) Thank you’. Then Snow White told the dwarfs the whole story and Snow White and the 7 dwarfs lived happily ever after.

• Example 2:

Orientation

Once upon a time there was a Fairy who was pretty. She had one child. She was good to people and animals. She went to the fairy shop and got a toy bear for her girl. She washed the bear when she came home. Her child was happy.

Complication/Resolution

When the bear tore Mum mended it. Mum loved the child.

Closure

We say goodbye (Source: Christie, 2002). 

• Example 3:

MY DAY IN OUTER SPACE

One day I was rocketing through Mars and I saw a strange Monster. He had four eyes and you can get past him. If you go next to him he will eat you up. If he comes next time I will press my button and it will fire at him. If it hits him he will just drop down dead (Source: Martin, 1985).

Linguistic Features: The use of  Once Upon a Time, One day, A long time ago (Adverb of time),  Adverb of Place (In a small country town or village …)

4. Reports

•    Social Function: To describe the way things are, with reference to a range of natural, man-made and social phenomena in our environment.

•    Generic (Schematic) Structure:

General Classification     : tells what the phenomenon under discussion is

Description                    : tells what the phenomenon under discussion is like in terms of

–         parts (and their functions)

–         qualities

–         habits or behaviours, if living; uses, if non-natural

•    Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:

Focus on Generic Participants (in bold)

Use of Relational Processes (in italics) to state what is and that which it is

Use of simple present tense (unless extinct)

No temporal sequence

• Example:

WHALES

•          General Classification: Whales are sea-living mammals

•          Description: (behaviours, qualities, parts): They therefore breathe air but cannot survive on land. Some species are very large indeed and the blue whale, which can exceed 30m in length, is the largest animals to have lived on earth. Superficially, the whale looks rather like a fish, but there are important differences in its external structure: its tails consists of a pair of broad, flat, horizontal paddles (the tail of a fish is vertical) and it has a single nostril on top of its large, broad head. The skin is smooth and shiny and beneath it lies a layer of fat (blubber). This is up to 30 cm in thickness and serves to conserve heat and body fluids. 

5. Description

•          Social Function: To describe a particular person, place or thing

•          Generic Structure:

Identification     : identifies phenomenon to be described

Description         : Describe parts, qualities, characteristics

• Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:

-Focus on specific Participants

-Use of Attributive and identifying processes

-Frequent use of epithets and classifiers in nominal groups

-Use of simple present tense

• Example:

Natural Bridge National park

Identification

Natural bridge National Park is a luscious tropical rainforest

Description

It is located  110 kilometers south of Brisbane and is reached by following the Pacific Highway to Nerang and then by traveling through the Numinbah Valley. This scenic roadway lies in the shadow of the Lamington national park.

The phenomenon of the rock formed into a natural ‘arch’ and the cave through which a waterfall cascades is a short I kilometre walk below a dense rainforest  canopy from the main picnic area. Swimming is permitted in the rock pools. Night-time visitors to the cave will discover the unique feature of the glow worms.

Picnic areas offer toilets, barbeques, shelter sheds, water and fireplaces, however overnight camping is not permitted (text source: Wignell, 1995)

Procedure Or Recount?

If You want to grow beans the first thing you do is to go to a shop and get a packet of bean seeds. Buy them. Bring them home. Plant them in the garden water. Every four days water them. When they grow your pick them. Send them to the froot macker. And then someone buys them. They take them home and eat them (written by a year 3 children, adapted from Martin, 1985:5)

Compare the above Procedure with the following text. Identify the differences.

We wanted to grow beans, so we went to the shop and bought a packet of  bean seeds. Then we brought them home and planted them in the garden. We watered them every few days and when they grew we picked them. Then we sent them to the fruit maker. Someone bought them and took them home and ate them.

Description Or Report?

Where did my family come from?

My dad came from England

My mum came from Australia

My nana came from Australia

My papa comes from Australia.

My great grandmother came from Australia.

My great grandmother comes from Scotland.

My great, great grandmother came from Ireland.

I don’t know anymore so good bye. (year 3)

Australian Immigration

Australians come from many different countries, including England, Ireland and Scotland. Many Australians were born right here in Australia.

Birds

My  bird lived up in a tree. It ate so it wouldn’t dies. It was a black bird and it was small.

Birds

Birds live up in a tree. If they don’t eat they die. Red birds, black birds any colored birds dark birds light birds. Some are small and others are big (Year 3).

Recounts, Procedures, Descriptions and Report- How they are alike and different in terms of generality and focus

                   

                                 Particular                             General

Event focus          Recount                                Procedure

Thing focus          Description                          Report

Brachiosaurus

Brachiosaurus, the largest dinosaur of all, was three times as heavy as Apatosaurus. One skeleton has been found that is 30 meters long. When it was alive, this animal must have weighed more than fifteen times as much as modern elephant. Brachiosaurus was a plant eater (Year 2, Martin, 1985)).

Radios have been around for years. They come in all sizes. Tape recorders have six buttons. That’s one for eject, one for stopping, one for starting, one for rewinding, one for foreword and one for recording. There are three switches. One is for stereo and mono (mode), and one is for tape, fm and am (function) and off and on (monitor0. It also has a dial that puts it on different stations. The stations are 2WS, 2 SW, 2JJJ,2UW,2EA,3EA,2UE,M.M.M and 2 GB. On tape recorders there are two wide speakers. Also there are two volume dials. It as from zero to ten. Our tape recorder is a PYEsre4032. There is a place where you can attach your ear phones to. In the back there is a little place where you can put the batteries in (Martin, 1985).

6. Explanations

Note      : Some reports do contain explanations

Sequence Explanation

Purpose: To sequence the phases of a process

                 To show how and why the phases occur in that order

Stages   :  Phenomenon identification which identifies what is      being explained

               Explanation sequence which described a chain of related events

Model   :

Evaporation

Evaporation occurs  as part of the water cycle.

When air warms up in the sun and circulates above large bodies of water such as oceans, the water on the surface of the ocean is turned into water vapour and this water vapour rises.

Explanation of consequences                   

Occurrence which

•          Identifies the occurrence

•          Gives any necessary background

•          Previews the consequences

Consequences which explains the consequences for the occurrence by ordering the consequences from the most important to the least important

Review which:

•          previews the consequences

•          Sometimes evaluates the consequences

Snails have a shell on their back to protect themselves from enemy. They like to hide behind a rock and it leaves a silvery track behind him. A snail has a strong foot. They stick to the ground fermelee (it should be firmly) (Source: Martin, 1985).

A friend is important to me because if you don’t have a friend you never play (Source: Martin, 1985).

What were the main causes of the Great Depression?

(Source: Feez & Joyce, 1998)

The great Depression was an extremely serious economic downturn. It was felt all over the world because the main causes of the depression can be traced back to a world war. This war was World war I which lasted from 1914-1918.

One reason for the depression was that the countries who were fighting  in World War I invested everything they had in the equipment and weapons needed to fight a war. When peace returned, these countries were not equipped to manufacture the goods needed for peace and prosperity.

Another reason for the depression was that during the war countries like England, the United States, France and Germany had to borrow a lot of money to keep going. After the war they were not able to pay back these debts. This led to inflation, high unemployment, economic and political instability.

 Finally, groups of countries formed trading blocks which overpaid some countries for their goods making it impossible for other countries to sell their goods. This made world trade very unstable and unreliable.

In conclusion, it is clear that the great depression was largely caused by the cost of World War I. These costs included the disruption to investment, the huge debts of war and the formation of economically unhelpful alliances and animosities.

What were the effects of the great the Great Depression? (Source: Feez & Joyce, 1998)

The Great Depression had terrible consequences for the individuals who live through it. It also left some very lasting effects on the whole world.

One of the most important effects of the Depression was in Germany. The German economy collapsed. During the economic chaos, Adolph Hitler and the Nazis were able to rise to power.

Another major effect of the Depression was that England and the United States excluded Japan from their trading partnership. As a result, the Japanese became more aggressive towards the West.

Finally, in the United States the Depression forced the Federal Government and the president, Franklin D Roosevelt, to intervene in the economy in a way that had never happened before. This economic intervention was called the New Deal.

Overall, the effects of the Depression were very unfortunate. It ultimately led to the Second World war, even if the New Deal gave Americans some hope for a short while. 

Exposition

Schematic Structure:

•          Thesis: Introduces the issue and the writer’s point of view

•          Arguments: Support the thesis

•          Restatement of the thesis: a stronger and more direct statement of the thesis introduced in the first stage.

Sometimes exposition begins with a background.

Hortatory Exposition: “Persuades to”

                                                                         6L … Drive

                                                                         Moreland 3066

Dear editor,

I am writing because of my concern over the fatalities caused  through the misuse of firearms. I feel all governments should pass firmer laws on the control of firearms. Small firearms should only be issued under license to responsible people such as policemen and security guards. Large firearms should only be owned and used by gun clubs and their members. This would cease the hunting and slaughter of our wildlife. Recent examples of firearm accidents are – Ronald Reagan’s attempted assassination, an innocent eighteen year old shot by an angry boyfriend and a six year old boy killed while playing with a gun at a friend’s house. The government are too afraid of losing their place because of the community’s opinion of firearms. Life is too precious to be lost in this tragic way (Martin, 1985).

Analytical Exposition: “Persuades that”

The Perfect pet

The best pet in the world is a pet that you don’t have to feed, doesn’t fidget and doesn’t make noises in the middle of the night. The pet that fits all these categories is a pet rock! You never have to worry about it dying because it was never alive in the first place. When you take your pet rock for a walk you don’t have to worry about it fighting with another rock. You don’t have to wash it or brush its fur. Pet rocks are also good for weather predictions. If your rock is wet, you know it’s raining. When it starts to fly it’s windy and when it shakes it must be an earthquake. A pet rock will never run away, it doesn’t answer back and if you don’t like the color of the rock you can paint it again. The food bill is very low for a pet rock for it will cost you nothing to feed. There are two or three things your pet rock will not do. It will not fetch a ball or stick, won’t beg for food, and can’t roll over for you to rub its stomach. But it also never digs up the garden and doesn’t care if you change its name. Pet rocks never catch a cold or get sun burnt. They are very good for paper  weights if they are heavy. Last but not least they can be both indoor and outdoor pet (year 6, Source: Martin, 1985).

Exposition

The Government doesn’t concern about the country

(Source: Emilia, 2005)

Our country has been led by five presidents. Since the end of the leadership of the second president, our country entered (has entered) many crises. The most visible crises are economic crisis and leadership crisis. After being led by Hobbies to Megawati, our country hasn’t been able to go out from the crises. Moreover, what those presidents did only showed that they didn’t concern (weren’t concerned) about the country.  We are really in the crisis of leadership. We can see what our latest president did that showed her ignorance.

 In the new year’s eve, the husband of the president celebrated his birthday with a very glamorous party in Bali. He invited his friends and colleagues to the big party. For the guests whom he invited to the party, he provided rooms in expensive hotels. We can count the cost of the celebration without knowing the exact figure. It might cost more than a hundred million rupiahs, the amount that can help our country at least to reduce the suffering of our country.

Another fact that shows President’s ignorance is her appearance in a famous boy band concert. She and some members of her family came to the concert of F4 from Taiwan. The ticket cost four million rupiahs for VVIP, one million rupiahs for VIPand 250 thousand rupiahs for the cheapest ticket. Her daughter, Pan Maharani, as reported in (the) METRO,  spent 200 million rupiahs to treat her friends to come to the concert. We can imagine how much money the president and the vice president spent for the concert.

The last fact that shows that the government doesn’t concern about the country  is the raising of  price of three public commodities in one time. Although the raising of telephone tariff was cancelled and the new prices of fuel were revised, the government still insists on raising the prices someday. The lower-middle class will still suffer from this condition while the higher-middle class will perhaps not feel any meaningful effect.

Those facts that I mentioned above show that the government doesn’t concern about the country. There must be many ways the government can do to show its concern to (with) the country’s condition. If the president can’t spend her money to help this country to reduce the debt at least she shouldn’t spend so much money in front of the citizens of this country. What she did only showed that our country is really in the crisis of leadership.

Discussion

•          Purpose                                : To discuss both sides of an argument

•          Schematic Structure        :

An Issue               : introduces the issue and summarizes the debate

Arguments for one side

Arguments for the other side

Recommendation or judgment which is presented as the most logical conclusion.

Discussion

Logging in Old-Growth Forests

Source: Feez & Joyce (1998b, p. 140)

One of the most controversial issues in our community is whether old-growth forests should be logged. Some people believe that it is vital for Australia’s rural economy to continue logging in native forests. People on the other side of the debate claim that logging will lead to the destruction of Australia’s few remaining wilderness.

Supporters of the logging industry say that only 1% of old growth trees are harvested and that all these trees are replanted. This, they claim, brings new life to the forests. At the same time they point out that logging brings employment to rural communities. This is important at a time when Australia’s country towns are dying as more and more people move to the cities to find work.

On the other hand, there are a growing number of people in the community who oppose logging. They argue that logging destroys the habitat of a great number of native animals and plants. The consequence of this is the extinction of many species. Furthermore they point out that forests are vital to the environment because they absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

Although logging supports rural communities, it also threatens the environment. After looking at both sides of this debate, I believe that new industries should be developed for the rural sector and that we should leave areas of untouched wilderness to be preserved for future generations.

Should We Use Animals for Entertainment?

Source: Christie (2002, p. 62)

Statement of issue

“Should we use animals for entertainment” is the name of the topic we’re talking about in this essay. Below I have stated the positive and negative points for this issue.

Arguments for

In the report we read it said that in order to let a particular species survive, we need to at least capture a few to show to the public, to let them learn about the animals and then may be the public would do something to help the endangered animals. It said the animals are never tortured during training or the performances and they are kept in very clean, natural yards while not performing. At one stage it said that animals are the core element of circuses and the statistics proved that people like the animals best at the circus, therefore human circuses would not meet the public demand. Most people judge circuses on their old ways, not on the current, improved ways.

Arguments against

But then on the other hand, animals like the elephants and bears are very prone to stress so they make a habit of standing in one place and rocking or swaying, which is bad for their joints and feet. Things like constant traveling and performing in front of very large audiences nearly every day affect this. They’re nearly always in confined spaces and the biggest places they are ever in are the circus arena or tent, which is also really small. The animals are not usually kept in their natural habitat, which stops their basic instinct like fighting for mates, building nests, hunting, etc, from being used to such a large extent like they do in the wild. An alternative is to use humanism circuses because they can’t exactly force people to join, they have to be voluntary.

Recommendation

After looking at all these facts, I believe that it’s wrong for us to keep animals in circuses for our entertainment. We should be able to entertain ourselves, not rely on animals. For this reason, and the one I have mentioned before, I believe it is wrong for us to train and force animals to perform in circuses.

LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF A DISCUSSION GENRE

(Based on The work of the DSP, 1989; Derewienka, 1990; Christie, 2002).

Some language features of a discussion genre: Focus on generic human and nonhuman participants, e.g.  advertisements, newspapers, many people, etc. Use of simple present tense. eg. are. Have, is, promote, compete, saves, sells, take up, etc. Use of logical conjunctive relations. eg. while, why, and, because, on the other hand, firstly, also. Use of material, relational, and mental and verbal processes.

Some saying verbs that are usually used in a discussion genre: state,  claim,  argue,  point out,  point to ... ,  suggest,  say,  observe,  assert, contend, ... put it ..., reiterate, write,  provides a good example of ...,   stresses that..., sees/ saw s.t as ...  indicates,  represents, highlights, focus.., recommends, comment, inform, discuss, maintain, believes.

Conjunctions used to set contrasts between what goes before and what comes after (ways to introduce another point): however, but, nevertheless, on the other hand, on the other side, In contrast, On the reverse, In contrast to ... expert who assert the contrary are ..., on the opposite side, despite this, ultimately we must realize, however, …

Ways to express  arguments for:

    The Miss Universe Contest/Abortion/Capital punishment, it’s been said, In the ... we read, it is said.... As a (n).... said, abortion/capital punishment/ the Miss Universe Contest .... The proponents of ...  claim ... positions Supporters of ..... say ...........The advocates of .... Those who are in favour of/defend  ..... argue ...Abortionists .......; Those who argue for abortion/capital punishment/the Miss Universe Contest...; Supporting evidence for this viewpoint comes from ... The most important work on this issue is the study by .... After interviewing ( .....) she/he concluded ..... Believers in ... regard...  as .... For example, ..... ....  strongly supports ..The survey found out that.....  favour abortion. The first argument claimed by supporters of .... is related to/regards, is concerned with, is to do with  ...; The third position adopted by supporters of ...  is .., It is argued that ...; The argument for ... is that ...; On one hand, some people agree that

Review

Purpose                : to assess the value of a work (of literature or art)

Stages                   :

Context which tells us about the social situation in which the characters and the actions are placed and gives a brief summary of the text (a synopsis).

Text Descriptions which introduces the main characters and describes key incidents: the reviewer usually tells the reader a little a bout how characters interact with one another and about incidents which are significant to the story.

Judgment where the reviewer makes a judgment of the text and gives a recommendation.

Model (Source: Feez & Joyce, 1998)

The green Wind by Thurley Fowler is a novel about a girl  called Jennifer, who wants to be a writer and  whose only dream is to see her name in print. The novels follow her through her last year of primary school and her struggle to have her  writing recognized. The book is set in the late 1940s.

Jennifer is in her last year of primary school. She is a clever  girl but someone who loses her temper easily and she can be cruel.

The novel tells us about Jennifer’s life with her family. Jennifer father is a war veteran  who is suffering from shell-shock. He is a fruit farmer who cares a great deal for his family but his oldest son, Richard is ashamed of him. Jennifer’s mother is a tough, no-nonsense person who the family thinks is heartless. They all find out later in the novel that this is not true when the father takes advantage of this.

Richard and Alexander are Jennifer’s brothers. Richard is a normal kid who contracts diphtheria but recovers. On the other hand Alexander is a mysterious child who loves animals but is not very tough. Every time an animal dies he cries.

Jennifer’s main ambition is to be a writer, and the key incident in the book is when another character, Raymond Bradley, asks Jennifer to write a story. She calls the story “The Green Wind” which gives the novel its name.

Raymond Bradley is a high-school student in Margaret’s class. He is interested in Jennifer’s poems and Jennifer pretends to be Raymond Bradley’s girlfriend to make her sister jealous.

I feel this book is best suited for the 10 to 15 age group. There are many incidents in the book which are sad and funny at the same time. The characters are believable for the late 40s when the book is set.

If you don’t mind a slow-moving story, then there will be something in this book for you. However, if you like a fast-moving story with lots of action then I’d give this one a miss.  

From Various Souces