Study Notes: Informative/Expository, Narrative, and Argumentative Writing

Informative/Expository Writing

• Definition and purpose

  • Explains something or provides information; this mode is used most frequently in everyday life.

  • Purpose: inform the audience, and it can also describe while defining.

  • Focused purpose: to increase readers' knowledge of a subject.

• How informative/expository writing increases knowledge

  • Offer definitions and explanations to clarify concepts and ideas.

  • Compare and contrast characters, events, and texts.

  • Explain cause and effect or explain the reasons for an event.

• Making connections

  • A good writer draws from background knowledge as well as from multiple print and non-print texts.

  • Incorporates relevant background information from the reading passage when provided.

  • Learners should make connections to the text, to themselves, and to the world to deepen understanding.

  • Students who connect to prior knowledge/experiences gain deeper understanding; writing becomes more concrete and detailed.

Connection Strategies

• There are 3 connection strategies to become a better reader and writer:

  • Text to Text: Make a connection between a piece of reading you have already read and the text you're reading now.

  • Text to Self: Make a personal connection from your own experiences to the text you're reading now.

  • Text to World: Make a broader connection beyond personal experiences and the text; may relate to pop culture, the Bible, news, etc.

• Utility

  • These three connections help during both reading and writing.

Writing Prompts and Informative/Expository Essays

• Writing prompts guide the type of essay you will write.

• An informative/expository essay can: explain, define, classify, analyze, compare/contrast.

• Example prompt aspects (as in the text):

  • There are positive and negative drawbacks for providing a person under sixteen with a cell phone. Write an essay for your teacher explaining both sides about teen cell phone use. (Key idea: identify terms that indicate the type of writing and essay.)

• Composing an Informative/Expository Work: key guidelines

  • Use precise language and specific vocabulary.

  • Use transition words to help readers understand and follow.

  • Support the thesis with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, and examples.

Narrative Writing

• Definition and purpose

  • Narrative writing is a mode that uses characters and a plot to tell a story.

  • It has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

  • Both fictional and nonfictional works can be written in narrative form; you can develop real or imagined experiences.

  • The purpose is to tell a story; everyone has a story to tell.

• Forms and mediums

  • Narratives can be expressed in prose, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, a song, or even a visual piece of art.

• Narrative writing techniques

  • Incorporate dialogue, imagery, and developing a point of view.

  • Narrative relies on experience and creativity, but every story must have a point.

  • The point is conveyed by relating events in sequence with a specific time/place and detailed observations of people, places, and/or events.

• Composing Narrative Writing: essential elements

  • A clear purpose.

  • A variety of techniques (dialogue, setting, characters, and plot) to engage the reader.

  • A sense of why this experience is important and worth writing about.

  • A sequence of events that unfolds naturally for the reader.

  • Concrete words and sensory details.

Argumentative Writing: Concepts

• Definition and purpose

  • Argumentative writing introduces a claim, which is a reasoned position, belief, or conclusion about a topic.

  • We all make claims regularly (e.g., asking for a hall pass).

  • A common example mentioned: asking for a hall pass involves making a logical claim.

• Argumentative writing techniques

  • Provide relevant background information, especially if a reading passage is provided.

  • Support claims with facts, details, and examples.

  • Acknowledge and differentiate the claim from counterclaims (an opposing claim).

  • Choose words and phrases carefully to clarify the relationships among claims, counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

• Composing Argumentative Writing: key practices

  • Consider other perspectives on the issue.

  • Offer facts that support the reasons.

  • Provide textual evidence.

  • Anticipate the audience's knowledge and concerns.

  • Maintain a clear focus.