Before your child can fully understand a text and apply different reading and writing strategies, they must be able to determine whether it’s an expository or a literary piece. Here are a few tips to help them untangle the two.
Expository texts are not works of fiction. They focus on the real world and contain facts and/or arguments. You can help your child identify this type of text by asking the following questions:
If your child answers yes to any of these questions, they’re probably reading an expository text.
Here’s a brief overview of the types of expository texts your child will likely study in school.
1. Descriptive text
As its name suggests, the descriptive text describes something in the world, such as a place, an event, or an occurrence. The following forms fall under this category:
2. Persuasive text
In a persuasive text, the author presents an opinion and uses evidence to support their point of view. In short, they try to persuade the reader. Critical pieces, such as movie and book reviews, are prime examples of persuasive texts.
3. Analytical text
An analytical text relies on facts and scientific research. The author is strictly objective and focuses on the hows and whys of an issue. Here are a few examples:
4. Argumentative text
The author of an argumentative text expresses an opinion and defends their point of view with a thesis. This category includes the following:
At school, students learn how to write different types of texts. Among other things, they’re taught how to structure an expository text. For example, students in Secondary V must write an open letter as part of their end-of-year ministry exams. The letter should be structured around a series of arguments, but may also contain supportive evidence, such as explanations.
A literary text, on the other hand, aims to engage both the reader’s imagination and their emotions. The author wants to captivate, inspire, or transport their audience.
1. Narrative text
The narrative text tells a story. Often, the reader can identify a narrator, a point of view, a chronology, a time period, characters, events, places, and more. Narrative stories include the following:
2. Poetic text
Poetry uses words to spark the imagination and elicit strong emotional responses in the reader. Unlike a narrative text, it doesn’t necessarily tell a story, but rather seeks to awaken the reader’s senses. When your child has a text with the following elements, they’re most probably reading poetry:
3. Dramatic text
Dramatic, or theatrical, texts aim to tell a story through dialogue between various characters. The text is meant to be performed by actors in front of an audience. There are several kinds of dramatic texts, including the following:
Dramatic texts are easy to recognize, as they contain these elements:
Writing : The Alloprof Parents’ team