Understanding Text Types and News Structure
Types of Texts
Exposition: Is the linguistic manifestation of content. Such exposure may follow a deductive approach (idea-analysis) or an inductive approach (analysis, idea).
Demonstration: Try using the statement of observable facts and a hypothesis. You can also develop these through deductive or intuitive approaches.
Argumentation: Used when the argument is to prove an idea.
Description: This is when parts of a very important whole are exposed. It is in spatial order.
Commentary Text
1. Type
- It is a text…
- Scope of Use
2. Display Abstract Theme and Structure
3. Linguistic Analysis by Level
- Functions (communicative): Expressive, poetic, appellative…
- Morphosyntactic level: Verbs, adjectives, person.
- Lexical-semantic: Language, expressions, derived words, neologisms, foreign words, language resources, text breaks, rhythm, intonation, acronyms.
- Textual level: The text perfectly shows the presence of coherence; there is a clear relationship between topics and subtopics. There is also cohesion: the text has a structure and meaning.
Reference: Used to name an item that has appeared before.
Example: Luis arrived; he was tired.
Deixis: Indicates the coordinates of space, time, and person.
The personal transmitter (I, we…), receiver (you, you…)
The space: here, there, there
The time: now, before, after
Lexical substitution: Using synonyms to avoid repetition.
Ellipsis: Omitting an item without replacement. Example: I buy a jersey, and you do not.
Repetition: Using related words.
Example: In the silence, one could hear…
Soccer, basketball, and tennis keep us entertained.
Synonymy: Substituting one word for another that means the same.
Suitability: Purpose of the text.
The News
It is the ultimate informative text and reports current events.
This is the presentation of interesting, recent, and relevant facts related to life in general.
The interest of a story is related to what surrounds the reader to whom it is addressed.
The wording of a story often follows the rule of the six W’s (who, what, where, how, when, why).
We must take into account the objectives, since subjectivity is the manipulation of the news.
Regarding the formal structure of a news story, the following stand out: Headlines, Lead, and Body.
Elements of the Headlines
– Top title: If present, it tends to refine and supplement the information contained in the title.
– Title: Contains the substance of the news, trying to attract the reader’s attention. Titles are brief but informative. Its features are:
- Use of verbs in the present tense
- The verbs “be” or “have been” are omitted
- Sometimes the verb is deleted before a direct style quote
- Widespread suppression of articles
- Abundance of CCL (Complemento Circunstancial de Lugar) preposing
- Nominal style
- Use of the comma and colon
– Subtitle: If present, it serves a similar function to the top title.
The lead is the paragraph that extends the headline and meets the main W’s of the news. It may appear in bold, as a news intro, or as the first paragraph of the story itself.
When the news is brief, it is all a lead.
The body is the development of the information. It will expand on the details and provide additional information. The content structure is a decreasing or inverted pyramid.
When the news does not decay, it is typical of reports.
Type: Narrative
Because it uses a transmitter to tell real or fictional facts. Usually accompanied by dialogue and description.
Structure:
- Initial situation
- Conflict
- Resolution or denouement
- Linguistic analysis by level
- Function: The text has an expressive function, with a predominance of the referential function (the referential function only includes real and verifiable events, as they are not opinions or subjective things, but a series of elements that are verifiable).