Discourse

• Discourse


  Any unit of connected speech or writing longer than a sentence that goes beyond the limits of the sentence and has unity, meaning, and purpose
• Discourse is one of the four systems of language, the others being vocabulary, grammar, and phonology
• Discourse


  • It is any piece of extended language, written or spoken, that has unity, meaning, and purpose
• The Forms of Discourse

  • Narration
  • Description
  • Exposition
  • Argumentation
• Narration


  The description of an event, which occurs in chronological order
• Narration


  • Uses pronouns like "I" and "me", includes an action, and follows a chronological order
• Elements of Narration


  • Setting
  • Character
  • Actions
• Types of Narration


  • Simple (narrative of events which really happen)
  • Plotted (fictional, results of the author's invention or ingenuity)
• Description


  The fiction-writing mode for transmitting a mental image of the particulars in the story
• Patterns of Description


  • Spatial
  • Vertical
  • Horizontal
  • Circular
  • Affective
  • Temporal
• Kinds of Description


  • Informative (Scientific and Technical)
  • Artistic (Suggestive / Evocative or literary)
• Exposition


  A type of oral or written discourse used to explain, describe, or give information
• The difference between exposition and argumentation is that exposition gives the reader a balanced amount of the subject and uses a neutral, objective tone, while argumentation convinces the reader of the writer's overall point and suggests wider implication
• Patterns of Exposition


  • Circumlocution
  • Narrative Interspersion
  • Recursion
  • Description
  • Sequence
  • Comparison
  • Cause and Effect
  • Problem and Solution
• Outline of Exposition


  • Topic Sentence
  • First Point
  • Support
  • Second Point
  • Support
  • Third Point
  • Support
  • Concluding Sentence
• Types of Exposition


  • Exposition of a Process (How-to-do-it, How-it-works, How-it-is-organized, How-did-it-happen)
  • Exposition of an Abstract Term (Definition, Analogy, Comparison and Contrast, Example, Cause and Effect, Repetition, Question and Answer)
  • Character Sketch (Individual, Type)
  • Essay (Formal, Informal)
  • Comment and Criticism
• Humans


  Rational animals
• Character Sketch


  • The process of writing individual traits to set forth our idea of the person
  • Giving details of the characteristics of some personified animal or thing
• Two kinds of Character Sketches

  • Individual sketch - concerns a particular person
  • Type sketch - deals more with the characteristics common to a group
• Essay


  An exposition of an author's thoughts or reflections on some subject of human interest
• Two kinds of Essay and its Purpose

  • Formal Essay - to give information and instruction
  • Informal Essay - to reveal writer's personality, to entertain, to comment on interesting and important matters
• Comment and Criticism


  • Usually published in newspapers and magazines and is written in a large variety of subjects such as books, play, music, painting, sculpture, or anything that naturally evokes opinion or judgment
  • Aimed at placing a book or any other piece of work in its proper niche of respect and authority
  • Criticism justifies the point of view and final judgment by means of signaling out merit and demerit, comparison with established standards, and analysis of the work as a whole and part-by-part
  • Criticism may be constructive or destructive
• Three kinds of Criticism

  • Historical criticism
  • Criticism by use of standards
  • Impressionistic or Personal Criticism
• Classification and Partition


  • Two different patterns, but both involve sorting information into categories
  • Used to handle subjects where there is so much information, the writer decides to break the subject up into smaller pieces and examine each piece separately
• Summary


  • States and explains briefly the subject of any spoken or written composition of considerable length
  • Words like abstract, epitome, resume, abridgment, recapitulation and summary are practically synonymous
  • The degree of condensation of any piece of composition must depend on the purpose
• Argumentation


  • The form of composition that aims to convince others of the truth or falsity of a disputed matter
  • Appeals to the understanding
• Goals of critical argumentation

  • Identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments
  • Argument is used in a special sense, referring to the giving of reasons to support or criticize a claim that is questionable, or open to doubt
• People who make use of argumentation always appeal - whether explicitly or implicitly - to some standard of reasonableness
• Suggested Argumentative Paper Format

  • Introduction
  • Background Paragraph
  • Supporting Evidence Paragraph #1
  • Supporting Evidence Paragraph #2, 3, 4, etc.
  • Counterargument Paragraph
  • Conclusion Part 1: Sum Up Paragraph
  • Conclusion Part 2: Your "So What" Paragraph