News Item

News Item  is factual text which informs the readers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important.

Social function of news item is: to inform readers, listeners or viewers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important.

Generic structure:

·      Newsworthy Event(s):  recounts the events in summary form

·      Background Event(s):  elaborate what happened, to WHOM, in WHAT circumstances.

·      Sources:  comments by participants in, witnesses to and authorities’ expert on the event.

Significant Grammar Features:

·      Short, telegraphic information about story captured in headline

·      Generally using Simple Past Tense

·      Use of Material Processes to retell the event

·      Using Action Verbs, e.g.: were, run, go, kill, etc.

·      Using Saying Verbs, e.g.: say, tell

·      Focus on Circumstances

·      Use of projecting Verbal Processes in Sources stages

There are some rules that can help to make newspaper headlines more comprehensible.

1.    The passive voice is used without the appropriate form of “be”.

Example:  Town ‘Contaminated’

Complete Sentence:  Town is contaminated.

2.    It is unusual to find complex forms, generally the simple present form is used

Example:  Fire Destroys over 2,511 acres of Forest in 2003-2004

Complete Sentence:  Fire has destroyed over 2,511 acres of forest in 2003-2004.

3.    The present progressive tense is used, usually to describe something that is changing or developing, but the auxiliary verb is usually left out.

Example:  World Heading for Energy Crisis

Complete Sentence:  The world is heading for an energy crisis.

4.    To refer to the future, headlines often use the infinitive.

Example:   Queen to Visit Samoa.

Complete Sentence:  The Queen is going to visit Samoa.

5.    Headlines are not always complete sentences.

Example:  More earthquakes in Japan.

Complete Sentence:  More earthquakes happened in Japan.

 

Example of News Item:

Descriptive Text

Descriptive text is a text which say what a person or a thing is like. Its purpose is to describe and reveal a particular person, place, or thing.

Generic Sreucture:

·      Identification  : identifies thing, person, place, phenomenon to be described.

·      Description        : gives the information of particular thing, person, or place being discussed or describes parts, qualities, or characteristics.

Grammatical Features:

·      Who? What?

·      Using Linking verb and Simple Present Tense

·      Epithet: adjective or adjective phrase

·      Attributive (the)

·      Use of attributive and identifying process

·      Focus on specific participants

·      Frequent use of epithets and classifier in nominal groups

Example of Descriptive Text :

Anecdote Text

An anecdote is a kind of text which deals with something unexpected or out of the ordinary. It usually contains some unusual or amusing incidents.

The structure of this text consist of:
• Abstract : signals the retelling of an unusual incidents.
• Orientation : sets the scene.
• Crisis : Provides details of the unusual incidents.
• Reaction : reacts to crisis.
• Coda : reflects on or evaluates the incidents (optional).

In writing an anecdote, we use exclamations, rhetorical questions, and intensifiers.
Exclamations:
> Guess what happened!
> It was really amazing!
Rhetorical questions:
> Can you believe it?
> You know what?
> Scary, isn’t it?
Intensifiers:
> Very
> Extremely
> Really
> I Couldn’t believe it!
> It was really mad!

How To Write Autobiography

A biography is simply the story of a life. Biographies can be just a few sentences long, or they can fill an entire book—or two.

• Very short biographies tell the basic facts of someone's life and importance.
• Longer biographies include that basic information of course, with a lot more detail, but they also tell a good story. 

Biographies analyze and interpret the events in a person's life. They try to find connections, explain the meaning of unexpected actions or mysteries, and make arguments about the significance of the person's accomplishments or life activities. Biographies are usually about famous, or infamous people, but a biography of an ordinary person can tell us a lot about a particular time and place. They are often about historical figures, but they can also be about people still living.

Many biographies are written in chronological order. Some group time periods around a major theme (such as "early adversity" or "ambition and achievement" ). Still others focus on specific topics or accomplishments.

Biographers use primary and secondary sources:

• Primary sources are things like letters, diaries, or newspaper accounts.
• Secondary sources include other biographies, reference books, or histories that provide information about the subject of the biography.

To write a biography you should:

1.        Select a person you are interested in

2.        Find out the basic facts of the person's life. Start with the encyclopedia and almanac.

3.        Think about what else you would like to know about the person, and what parts of the life you want to write most about. Some questions you might want to think about include:

o     What makes this person special or interesting?

o     What kind of effect did he or she have on the world? other people?

o     What are the adjectives you would most use to describe the person?

o     What examples from their life illustrate those qualities?

o     What events shaped or changed this person's life?

o     Did he or she overcome obstacles? Take risks? Get lucky?

o     Would the world be better or worse if this person hadn't lived? How and why?

4.        Do additional research at your library or on the Internet to find information that helps you answer these questions and tell an interesting story.

5.        Write your biography. See the Tips on Writing Essays and How to Write a Five Paragraph Essay for suggestions.

Procedure Text

Procedure text is a text that is designed to describe how something is achieved through a sequence of actions or steps.

The Generic Structure :

a.        Aim / Goal :  The title of the text.

b.        Materials   :  The ingredients and utensils to do the instructions, but not required for all                  procedure texts.

c.         Steps           :  A set of instructions to do the activity.

The Characteristics of Procedure Text :

¯   Using the Simple present tense, often imperative sentence.

¯   Using the temporal conjunctions, such as first, second, then, next, finally, etc.

¯   Using actions verbs, such as turn on, stir, hold up, open, etc.

Example :

Epe Banana Ingredients: 1 bunch of “kapok” bananas (not to ripe) 1 liter of water 2 kg brown sugar 50 gr white sugar 10 gr vanilla essence Steps: ³   Peel the bananas, then roast them over charcoal until somewhat soft and brown. ³   Flatten them with a special wooden, clamp, or if you don’t own one, use a large flat wooden spoon to flatten the bananas on a cutting board. ³   Sauce: boil the water with the brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla essence until it dissolves into thick syrup, then pour over the bananas. For 10 portions.

Aim / Goal

 

Narrative Text

Narrative text is a text to entertain, to gain and hold a reader’s interest. It’s usually like a fable, myth, legend, folklore, etc. However narrative can be also written to teach or inform, to change attitudes/social opinion.

The Generic Structure :

a.        Orientation          :    Sets the scene and introduces the participants.

b.        Complication       :    A crisis arises.

c.         Resolution           :    The crisis is resolved, for better or for worse.

d.        Re-orientation     :    (optional)

                                                                                                                   

The Typical Elements :

a.        Setting                :    When and where the story occurs.

b.        Characters          :    The most important people or characters in the story.

c.         Initiating Event   :    An action or occurrence that establishes a problem and/or goal.

d.        Conflict               :    The focal point around which the whole story is organized.

e.        Events                 :    One or more attempts by the main character(s) to achieve the goal or solve the problem.

f.          Resolution          :    The outcome of the attempts to achieve the goal or solve the problem.

g.        Theme                :    The main idea or moral of the story.

The Characteristics of Narrative Text :

a.        Using the Simple Past Tense.

b.        It’s started with adverb, such as long time ago, once upon a time, in a faraway land, etc.

c.         Using the conjunctions, such as then, after, that, before, etc.

Recount Text

Recount text is used to retell about activity/action in the past to inform or to entertain.

The generic structure:

1.        Orientation       :    It gives the readers the background information needed to understand  the text, such as who was involved, where it happened, and when it happened.

2.        Events               :    A series of events, ordered in a chronological sequence.

3.        Re-orientation   :    A personal comment about the event or what happened in the end.

The Characteristics of Recount Text:

·           Using the simple past tense, past continuous tense, past perfect tense, and past perfect continuous tense.

·           Using the conjunctions, such as: then, before, after, etc.

Example: