Narrative, Expository, and Argumentative Texts: A Guide
Narrative Texts
Description Types
Literary Description: Subjective, expressive, and aesthetic.
Technical Description: Objective, accurate, clear, and purposeful.
Narrative Structure
Closed Structure: Follows a preconceived plan with a beginning, middle, and end. Chronological order can be altered using techniques like in medias res (starting in the middle of the action) or starting at the end.
Open Structure: Unfolds without a pre-determined outline.
Characters
- Creation: The reason for a character’s existence and their representation.
- Function: Primary, secondary, or fleeting.
- Characterization: Defining the character’s personality through portrayal.
Space and Time
Space: The setting where actions occur and characters develop.
Time: The period when the action takes place.
Point of View
Third-Person Narration: The narrator is not a character.
- Omniscient Narrator: Knows everything about the story.
- Observer Narrator: Tells what is perceived through the senses.
First-Person Narration: The narrator is a character.
- Narrator-Protagonist: The narrator is the main character.
- Narrator-Witness: A minor character who witnessed the events.
Alternating Narrators: Different characters narrate, often seen in epistolary novels.
Linguistic Characterization
Uses simple past, perfect, and imperfect tenses.
Dialogue
- Direct Style: Reproduces characters’ exact words using quotation marks and first-person pronouns.
- Indirect Style: Narrator summarizes character speech using third-person pronouns.
- Free Indirect Style: Narrator blends character thoughts and feelings, using third-person pronouns.
Theatrical Dialogue
Dramatic Discourse: Composed of dialogue, monologue, and asides (where a character speaks to the audience).
Stage Directions: Instructions from the playwright about the action.
Expository Texts
Explains a topic clearly and orderly.
Subject Matter
Focuses on knowledge and culture using clear and precise language.
Structure
- Deductive (Analysand): Starts with the main idea and provides supporting details.
- Inductive (Synthesizing): Starts with specific examples and builds to the main idea.
Types of Expository Texts
- Informative: Targets non-experts, often using diagrams, summaries, and examples.
- Specialized: Targets experts, using technical language and rigorous treatment.
Argumentative Texts
Uses reasoning to persuade others of an idea’s validity.
Subject Matter
Addresses debatable issues, often found in opinion columns or essays.
Structure
- Thesis: The main idea.
- Body: Supporting arguments.
Argumentative Structures:
- Deductive: Thesis + Body
- Inductive: Body + Thesis
- Framed: Thesis + Body + Thesis
Types of Arguments
Supporting Arguments: Reinforce the main idea.
Counterarguments: Refute opposing views.
Logical Arguments: Based on reasoning.
- Argument from Authority: Relies on expert opinion.
- Exemplification: Uses specific examples.
- General Societal Feeling: Appeals to shared values.
Analogical Arguments: Based on comparison and metaphor.
Types of Argumentative Texts
- Scientific Argument: Based on demonstrable facts.
- Subjective Argument: Based on opinions and possibilities.