Modes of Discourse

Narrative Intention is to

present an event to the reader- what happened and how it happened.

May be...– Short or long– Factual or

imagined– May instruct

and inform, or simply divert and amuse.

Expository

Intention is to explain or expose something.

~Function is to inform, to instruct, or to set forth

ideas.

ExpositoryCan be broken into 7

categories1. Definition2. Description3. Example4. Comparison/Contrast5. Process Analysis6. Classification7. Causal Analysis

DEFINITION Purpose:

To set the boundaries, to delineate, to limit

To determine the nature of To give the distinguishing characteristics

of Examples of definition questions:

What is the law of the conservation of mass and energy?

Explain loose connective tissue. What is the meaning of the term “value”? Define a sonnet.

DESCRIPTION Purpose:

To give a detailed account of To picture in words To trace the outline of

Examples of description questions: Describe the anti-heroic qualities of

Holden Caulfield in A Catcher in the Rye. What is the layout of the brain? Portray the situation of the Roman

government at the time of Julius Caesar’s assassination.

What is the layout of the brain? What does this layout have to do with evolution?

EXAMPLE Purpose:

To select one thing to show the nature of the rest

To describe a typical instance Examples of example questions:

Give an example of the use of first-person narrators in three of the stories we have read, and explain what the effect of the first-person narration is on each story.

Illustrate how television advertisements often mislead the public.

Discuss some of the disadvantages of advancing technology.

COMPARISON/CONTRAST Purpose:

To point out similarities To point out differences

Examples of comparison/contrast questions: Compare the visual imagery used in Emily

Dickinson’s “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” with that in D.H. Lawrence’s “The Snake.”

Explain the differences in pecuniary income and psychic income.

Contrast Christianity with Judaism Discuss the strategies of Spanish

colonizers in contrast with those of English colonizers in the North America.

PROCESS ANALYSIS Purpose:

To explain how a procedure is carried out To follow the system of operations in the

production of something To follow an action from beginning to end

Examples of process analysis questions: How is a lipid formed? Explain how the heart beats. What are the stages of alcoholism? How does communication take place?

CLASSIFICATION Purpose:

To categorize To arrange according to class or type

Examples of classification questions: List three types of specific neurotic

reaction patterns and describe each briefly.

What are the four forms of a protein? List three types of defense mechanisms

and describe each briefly. According to transactional analysis, what

are the types of psychological positions we can hold and how do these positions determine how we relate to others?

CAUSAL ANALYSIS Purpose:

to describe how a result or consequence came about

to show the relationship between a cause and an effect

Examples of causal analysis questions: What are causes of World War I? Why does one age? What are some effects of watching

violence on television? How can eating too little fat cause one to

gain weight?

ArgumentativeIntention is to make the reader

change his or her mind, attitude, point of view or

feelings.~

The terms “Argument” and “Persuasion” often used

Interchangeably.

ArgumentativeArgument -- aims to win readers’

agreement with an assertion or claim by engaging their powers of reasoning.

ArgumentativePersuasion – aims to influence readers’ action, or their support for an action, by engaging their beliefs and feelings.