Text as Connected

Discourse
Charlain Austria
Text and Discourse

• Text
– A written material without meaning yet.

• Discourse
– is a formal and often lengthy discussion of a topic, where concepts and
insights are arranged in an organized and logical manner.

– it refers to the way how language is used to convey meanings or to propel

action or provoke a specific response.
 TEXT BECOMES A
CONNECTED DISCOURSE
WHEN WE READ
Forms of Discourse
• Narration
– Act or process of narrating or telling a story.

Excerpt from the novel, Moby Dick by Herman Melville

"Landlord!" said I, "what sort of chap is he -- does he always keep such late
hours?" It was now hard upon twelve o'clock.The landlord chuckled again with
his lean chuckle, and seemed to be mightily tickled at something beyond my
comprehension. "No," he answered, "generally he's an early bird -- airley to bed
and airley to rise -- yea, he's the bird what catches the worm. -- But to-night he
went out a peddling, you see, and I don't see what on airth keeps him so late,
unless, may be, he can't sell his head.""Can't sell his head? -- What sort of a
bamboozingly story is this you are telling me?" getting into a towering rage. "Do
you pretend to say, landlord, that this harpooneer is actually engaged this
blessed Saturday night, or rather Sunday morning, in peddling his head around
this town?"
Forms of Discourse
• Description
– uses sensory writing with rich and vivid details that appeal to man’s five
senses – sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.

Excerpt from a descriptive essay by Summer Plasencia

“Burj Khalifa looks like a stalagmite, which means it resembles vertical minerals
growing from cave floors. Stalagmites usually have a shape of a cone, and so
does Burj Khalifa; if you look at it from a distance, it will remind you of a
gigantic sharp cone made of glass and steel.”
Forms of Discourse
• Exposition
– Provides information thus informs, explains, expounds and interprets.

Excerpt from Beastly Possessions by Amato Sarah.

“Modern pet keeping began in Britain in the seventeenth century, the Victorian
Era. Aristocrats were the first to keep them continuously as companions and
hunters, so owning a pet was a sign of elitism. This is not to say that before dogs
were not kept as pets, but it was first in the Victorian Era that we saw dogs living
in human residences most of the day. However, in the nineteenth century, the
middle class grew, and with it, dogs as pets became common within middle class
households as well. From this time, the practice of dogs being kept in normal
households gradually spread worldwide (Amato, Sarah).”
Forms of Discourse
• Argumentation or Persuasive discourse
– Persuades readers through proofs of the writer’s views.

Excerpt from an argumentative essay by Kelvin Fernando

“Animals do not thrive long-term in captivity. Places like zoos and animal-
themed amusement parks should focus on housing animals that are too sick or
injured to survive in the wild. No man-made habitat can mirror what animals
have in the wild.
Places that breed animals in captivity help to educate the public on wild animal
species. However, there are plenty of animals who are sick or injured that these
places could house, and the general public could learn from these animals.”
Forms of Discourse
• Argumentation or Persuasive discourse
– Persuades readers through proofs of the writer’s views.

Excerpt from an argumentative essay by Kelvin Fernando

“Animals do not thrive long-term in captivity. Places like zoos and animal-
themed amusement parks should focus on housing animals that are too sick or
injured to survive in the wild. No man-made habitat can mirror what animals
have in the wild.
Places that breed animals in captivity help to educate the public on wild animal
species. However, there are plenty of animals who are sick or injured that these
places could house, and the general public could learn from these animals.”

counter-argument