Text types

Speaking of textual types, we refer to the following four basic aspects of writing:

The descriptive text type

Based on perception in space. Impressionistic descriptions of landscapes or persons are often to beb found in narratives such as novels or short stories. Example: About fifteen miles below Monterey, on the wild coast, the Torres family had their farm, a few sloping acres above the cliff that dropped to the brown reefs and to the hisssing white waters of the ocean ...

The narrative text type

Based on perception in time. Narrration is the telling of a story; the succession of events is given in chronological order.

The expository text type

It aims at explanation, i.e. the cognitive analysis and subsequent syntheses of complex facts. Example: An essay on "Rhetoric: What is it and why do we study it?"

The argumentative text type

Based on the evaluation and the subsequent subjective judgement in answer to a problem. It refers to the reasons advanced for or against a matter.

Literature

• W. Rotter / H. Bendl, Your Companion to English Texts: Comprehension - Analysis - Appreciation - Production (Kollegstufe/Abitur/Universität), München: Manz 1978, ISBN: 3-7863-0299-5. pp. 91 - 102.