WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.817 --> 00:00:01.908 Types of Writing. 2 00:00:01.908 --> 00:00:03.348 Genres. 3 00:00:03.348 --> 00:00:05.971 Genre just means type 4 00:00:05.971 --> 00:00:08.270 and you'll see the term genre used 5 00:00:08.270 --> 00:00:09.733 in a couple different ways on the test, 6 00:00:09.733 --> 00:00:12.009 but one of the ways that they will use it 7 00:00:12.009 --> 00:00:13.249 to describe the types... 8 00:00:13.249 --> 00:00:15.329 A type of writing in terms of 9 00:00:15.329 --> 00:00:19.077 what that writing tries to accomplish. 10 00:00:19.077 --> 00:00:21.259 So let's talk about some of the types of writing 11 00:00:21.259 --> 00:00:22.629 you might be asked to identify. 12 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:23.883 Sometimes I give you a passage 13 00:00:23.883 --> 00:00:24.835 and a couple of different questions 14 00:00:24.835 --> 00:00:26.461 about that same passage. 15 00:00:26.461 --> 00:00:27.320 One of them might be 16 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:30.919 what type of writing is this passage. 17 00:00:30.919 --> 00:00:31.732 So first of all, 18 00:00:31.732 --> 00:00:32.986 narrative writing. 19 00:00:32.986 --> 00:00:36.260 Narrative writing is writing that tells a story 20 00:00:36.260 --> 00:00:38.419 so Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men 21 00:00:38.419 --> 00:00:41.321 tells the story of George and Lennie 22 00:00:41.321 --> 00:00:43.318 and what happens to them on a farm 23 00:00:43.318 --> 00:00:45.919 so that's a piece of narrative writing. 24 00:00:45.919 --> 00:00:47.057 Interpretive writing is writing 25 00:00:47.057 --> 00:00:48.752 that examines an existing work 26 00:00:48.752 --> 00:00:51.631 and attempts to find or explain meaning 27 00:00:51.631 --> 00:00:53.698 so if I were to write an essay about 28 00:00:53.698 --> 00:00:55.184 Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men 29 00:00:55.184 --> 00:00:56.205 and I were to look at it 30 00:00:56.205 --> 00:00:58.945 and talk about what is the theme of Of Mice and Men. 31 00:00:58.945 --> 00:01:00.571 What is he trying to say here? 32 00:01:00.571 --> 00:01:04.216 That would be an interpretive essay. 33 00:01:04.216 --> 00:01:05.656 Analytical writing is writing that examines 34 00:01:05.656 --> 00:01:07.583 a work or issue 35 00:01:07.583 --> 00:01:10.463 and attempts to identify and evaluate critical elements 36 00:01:10.463 --> 00:01:13.017 so I were to compare the writing styles 37 00:01:13.017 --> 00:01:16.384 of Faulkner, Hemingway and Steinbeck maybe 38 00:01:16.384 --> 00:01:19.286 and say Hemingway uses short sentences 39 00:01:19.286 --> 00:01:21.329 and not very many adjectives. 40 00:01:21.329 --> 00:01:25.393 Faulkner uses more complex constructs, et cetera. 41 00:01:25.393 --> 00:01:27.390 That would be an analytical essay 42 00:01:27.390 --> 00:01:28.295 that I would be writing. 43 00:01:28.295 --> 00:01:30.687 I would be examining and evaluating critical elements 44 00:01:30.687 --> 00:01:33.822 of the writing styles in that particular case. 45 00:01:33.822 --> 00:01:36.601 Descriptive writing is writing that tells of or depicts 46 00:01:36.601 --> 00:01:38.388 a person, place, thing or idea. 47 00:01:38.388 --> 00:01:39.921 It just describes something 48 00:01:39.921 --> 00:01:40.873 so that one's pretty easy. 49 00:01:40.873 --> 00:01:43.404 Descriptive writing describes something. 50 00:01:43.404 --> 00:01:46.864 Persuasive writing is writing that attempts to convince 51 00:01:46.864 --> 00:01:49.348 so if at any point I'm trying to convince you 52 00:01:49.348 --> 00:01:50.718 of something in that writing, 53 00:01:50.718 --> 00:01:54.341 then that piece is a persuasive piece of writing. 54 00:01:54.341 --> 00:01:56.376 And lastly, expository writing. 55 00:01:56.376 --> 00:01:58.257 Expository writing is writing that attempts 56 00:01:58.257 --> 00:02:01.694 to set forth or explain a concept 57 00:02:01.694 --> 00:02:03.435 so this PowerPoint slide 58 00:02:03.435 --> 00:02:05.966 is an example of expository writing. 59 00:02:05.966 --> 00:02:07.870 It comes from the same root as expose. 60 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:09.078 It's trying to expose people 61 00:02:09.078 --> 00:02:10.378 to some new information 62 00:02:10.378 --> 00:02:12.027 so it's trying to teach something 63 00:02:12.027 --> 00:02:13.211 or explain something, 64 00:02:13.211 --> 00:02:15.156 expository writing. 65 00:02:15.997 --> 00:02:17.832 Other forms of writing include summaries, 66 00:02:17.832 --> 00:02:19.387 letters and research reports 67 00:02:19.387 --> 00:02:21.547 and each of these types of writing 68 00:02:21.547 --> 00:02:24.403 has different conventions associated with it. 69 00:02:24.403 --> 00:02:25.030 For example, 70 00:02:25.030 --> 00:02:27.027 summaries might use bullet points 71 00:02:27.027 --> 00:02:29.140 or something like that. 72 00:02:29.140 --> 00:02:31.346 Letters begin with a salutation. 73 00:02:31.346 --> 00:02:32.182 They have a body, 74 00:02:32.182 --> 00:02:33.714 they have a closing. 75 00:02:33.714 --> 00:02:35.154 They might have a post script. 76 00:02:35.154 --> 00:02:37.940 All of these are conventions of letter-writing. 77 00:02:37.940 --> 00:02:40.216 Research reports have bibliographies. 78 00:02:40.216 --> 00:02:42.236 They have annotations and footnotes. 79 00:02:42.236 --> 00:02:44.511 Things like that are convention 80 00:02:44.511 --> 00:02:46.098 specific to research reports 81 00:02:46.098 --> 00:02:47.241 in that type of writing. 82 00:02:47.241 --> 00:02:49.099 So the type of conventions that exist 83 00:02:49.099 --> 00:02:50.631 depend on the type of writing 84 00:02:50.631 --> 00:02:52.669 that is being undertaken.