Modes of Discourse
Narrative

Intention is to
 May be...
present an event to
– Short or long
the reader- what
– Factual or
happened and how
it happened.
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.
Expository
Can be broken into 7 categories
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Definition
Description
Example
Comparison/Contrast
Process Analysis
Classification
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?
Argumentative
Intention is to make the reader
change his or her mind, attitude,
point of view or feelings.
~
The terms “Argument” and
“Persuasion” often used
Interchangeably.
Argumentative
Argument -aims to win readers’ agreement
with an assertion or claim by
engaging their powers of
reasoning.
Argumentative
Persuasion –
aims to influence readers’
action, or their support for an
action, by engaging their beliefs
and feelings.