Mastering Expository Writing and Textual Analysis
Understanding Expository Text
The expository text is a text, oral or written, which explains a topic. We can distinguish between informative and scientific texts.
Types of Expository Text
- Informative: Led to a very large public, are easy to understand because they deal with subjects of general interest.
- Scientific: Led to a public knowledgeable on the subject, have greater difficulty understanding.
Creating Effective Exposition
Steps for Development
- Determine the subject with the greatest precision possible.
- Research the subject in books, magazines, encyclopedias, etc.
- Develop a script for transmitting ideas clearly and consistently.
- Write the definitive text using clear, accurate, and correct language.
Structure
- Introduction: Introduces the subject.
- Development: Explains the topic in an ordered manner.
- Conclusion: Summarizes and evaluates the ideas.
Language Characteristics
- The language must be objective and precise to avoid ambiguity and confusion.
- Prevalence of reporting on phrases that state an objective fact (subject, verb, object).
- Frequent use of third-person pronouns and impersonal verb forms.
- Use of repetition, examples, and quotations to make the text as clear as possible.
- Precise use of vocabulary that includes the technical terms of the specialty or scientific subject.
Grammar and Syntax Elements
The Noun Phrase
The noun phrase is formed by a core, usually a name, and can be accompanied by other elements: determinants and additions to the name.
Stable Utterances (Phrases)
Stable utterances are combinations of two or more words with a meaning unit; that is, its meaning is equivalent to that of a single word. There are several types of phrases: adverbial, prepositional, conjunctive, etc.
The phrases are constructions with a stable structure and a special meaning.
Spelling Rules: Use of 'H'
- All tenses of verbs whose infinitive carries 'h' are written with 'h'.
- Words that begin with the diphthongs ie or ue are written with 'h'.
- Derivatives of words that carry this letter are written with 'h'.
- There are many words that have initial 'h' but do not follow any specific rules.
Literary Genres Defined
- Epic or Narrative: Account, in 1st or 3rd person, describing situations and events.
- Lyric: Expresses sentiments, opinions, and moods in the 1st person.
- Dramatic or Theatrical: Opens the floor to the characters, who express conflicts and act them out themselves.