Writing Styles
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Information texts: |
Recounts: - are written in the past tense - are written in the 1st or 3rd person - have a clear chronology (follow the sequence of time) - use connectives which help the reader grasp the order of past events (for example, then, later, when, after) |
| Explanation texts: - are written in the present tense - are usually written in an impersonal voice - try to make clear how things work |
Instruction texts: |
| Persuasive texts: - use syntax (or the order of words in a sentence) to emphasise key points - are closely connected with argument and often use logic - build towards a conclusion - use language and rhetorical techniques to win over the reader (for example repetition, metaphors, similes, alliteration and so on) |
Argument (or discursive writing): - weighs up contrasting points - signposts the different points of view in the argument by using phrases such as, on the one hand... on the other hand, however and nevertheless - uses the language and rhetorical techniques of persuasive writing - often uses a more reasonable tone than persuasive texts do - is more objective than a persuasive text - looks at the subject from more than one point of view - sums up or clarify what's been said at every stage - uses complex sentence grammar because it's dealing with difficult ideas and local steps in thinking |
Examples:
1. Chocolate - Health Help or Risk?
Chocolate has been said to cause acne and tooth decay, and has a reputation for being a fattening, nutritionless food. On the other hand, chocolate is also known for being everything from an anti-depressant to an aphrodisiac. While there's still much we don't know about chocolate, recent research is helping us better understand how chocolate consumption affects our health.
The good new is that most of the bad effects of eating chocolate are either overstated or entirely false. Eating chocolate neither causes nor aggravates acne. Two studies - one by the Pennsylvania School of Medicine and another by the U.S. Naval Academy - showed that eating chocolate (or not eating it) did not produce any significant changes in the acne conditions of the study's participants. These results are further backed by research which shows that acne is not primarily linked to diet.
Chcolate also has not been proven to cause cavities or tooth decay. In fact, there are indications that the cocoa butter in the chocolate coats the teeth and may help protect them by preventing plaque from forming. The sugar in chocolate does contribute to cavities, but no more than the sugar in any other food.
Obviously, eating too much of any food may cause health problems. The cocoa butter in chocolate does contain saturated fat, which can increase blood cholesterol levels, and high cholesterol can contribute to heart disease. However, recent research at the University of California has found that chocolate carries high levels of chemicals known as phenolics, some of which may help lower the risk of heart disease.
'Health help or risk?' by Jim Spandaccini
(1998)
from The Sweet Lure of Chocolate from the Exploratorium website
I was upwards of a year in that country without ever being induced to taste this beverage; and when I passed through a tribe, if an Indian wished occasionally to give me some, he was very much surprised to see me refuse it, and went away laughing. But subsequently, wine failing, and unwilling to drink nothing but water, I did as others did. The flavour is somewhat bitter, but it satisfies and refreshes the body without intoxicating; the Indians esteem it above everything, wherever they are accustomed to it.
The cocoa tree is a tropical plant that flourishes only in a narrow band round the centre of the earth, not more than 20 degrees north or south of the equator. The Spanish established cocoa plantations throughout their Central and South American colonies, as well as in the Caribbean and the Phillipines in the course of the 16th and 17th centuries. In the late 17th century, the Dutch took cocoa trees to Indonesia and Ceylon, and to the islands of Fernando Po and Sao Tome, off the coast of equatorial Africa. From here, cocoa was introduced to the Gold Coast in the late 1870s, and today Ghana and Nigeria are the world's leading cocoa growers, Brazil being the next largest producer.
From The Chocolate Book by Helge Rubinstein
Well, we had to get round to the subject of chocolate eventually, didn't we? Chocolate is nice, there is no denying that. And there is no reason why you have to give up the taste of chocolate even while you are slimming.
The reason I know this is that almost everybody eats chocolate yet very many of these people are not overweight. The way to tame your chocolate 'addiction', to make it something you can contain within a reasonable diet, is to look at the people who eat chocolate and aren't fat on it - and see what they are doing that you are not, and vice versa.
From Slim for Life by Judith Wills