Reading & Writing Core Terms

Genre

A category of writing defined by shared features, such as style, structure, or purpose.

Sub-genre

A smaller category within a genre that has more specific features.

Conventions

The common features you expect to see in a particular genre.

Techniques

The deliberate choices a writer uses to create meaning or effect.

Entertainment

How a text engages, interests, or emotionally involves its audience.

Descriptive

Writing that paints a clear picture using precise detail and imagery.

Expository

Writing that explains, informs, or presents facts clearly.

Persuasive

Writing that aims to convince the audience to think or act in a certain way.

Narrative

Writing that tells a story with characters, settings, and events.

Craft

The skill and care a writer shows in shaping language, structure, and ideas.

Organisation

How ideas are arranged to guide the reader logically.

Structure

The overall shape or pattern of a text, including how parts fit together.

Chronological

Organised in time order, from earliest to latest.

Cause and Effect

Showing how one event leads to another.

Problem and Solution

Presenting an issue and then explaining how it can be resolved.

Compare and Contrast

Identifying similarities and differences between two or more ideas.

Audience

The group a text is aimed at or written for.

Purpose

The writer’s main intention, such as to entertain, inform, persuade, or a combination.

Language

The vocabulary and style a writer chooses to communicate ideas.

Tone

The writer’s attitude toward the subject or audience.

Atmosphere

The overall feeling in a scene, created through setting and detail.

Mood

The emotional response the text aims to evoke in the audience.

Denotation

The literal, dictionary meaning of a word.

Connotation

The emotional or cultural associations a word carries beyond its literal meaning.