Types of Writing, Purpose and Form

At this point, a discussion of some common types of writing is in order. The following is taken from the second edition of the book “Effective Reading in a Changing World” by Rose Wassman and Lee Ann Rinsky, 1997. According to the authors, the type of writing found in essays, textbooks, and literature is generally classified into four broad categories.

These categories are narration, exposition, persuasion, and description.

A. Traditional Approaches

Narration – The writer relates, or “narrates”, events in sequence. In literature, this means the writer tells a story.

Exposition – The author exposes information or ideas. Its primary purpose is not to tell a story, but rather to explain, e.g., to describe how a computer works.

Persuasion – The author attempts to convince or persuade you of something, to think as she or he does, often trying to change your mind. This is often found in essays and editorials, and requires critical thinking.

Description – This type of writing is generally used as a supporting device for any of the other types of writing. It is most helpful in creating a word picture of something concrete, such as a scene, a person, or a new technology.

Harris (1993), in “Introducing Writing”, has also written about these four types. He categorized them under the traditional approach, otherwise known as classical rhetoric. According to him, many school curriculums have been shaped following these traditional approaches to the teaching of writing. As such, many students are skillful at English composition and at writing historical essays. However, these do not actually have a real place in society. “They still carry the hallmark of an elitist culture”, according to Harris (1993:16). These forms belong to a time when literacy was available only to a select few.

Harris (1993: 18-24) has gone further by classifying writing under two other approaches, namely Purpose, Form and Audience and Readership.

B. Purpose, Form and Audience

Purpose refers to the intentions of the writer and/or the expectations of the reader. Here, purpose will be discussed in two facets: purpose as perceived by the writer and purpose as perceived by the teacher.

1. Purpose

1.a. Purposes of Writing as Perceived by Writer

  • Writing is a means of communicating and sharing experiences.
  • It is a means of constructing meanings through ways of thinking not usually available through speaking.
  • It is a means of discovering and clarifying thoughts.
  • It provides a record of ideas, facts and experiences in a form that allows them to be worked on, organized, referred back to and developed subsequently.

1.b. Purposes of Writing as Perceived by the Teacher

Writing as an Imposed Topic

In this model, it is fortunate if the topic chosen by the teacher corresponds to some students’ interest, but often, it is unlikely to appeal to all the class.

Writing as the End-Point of Learning

This model may come in the form of having to write about an activity or a visit and this is often the only kind of writing that students experience.

Writing as Integral to Learning

In this model, learning seems to take on a more valuable part than writing. Writing in this model “may be an aid to a discussion or to a graphic presentation, for instance” (Harris, 1993).

Writing as an Aesthetic Artifact

In this model, playing with words and word patterns such as rhymes and jingles, with forms and structures such as repetitive stories and many types of jokes provides continuity with the world of literature.

2. Form

Harris takes form to mean the type and nature of the text such as posters, brochures, pamphlets, letters, recipes, sets of instructions, lists, labels, stories, reports, poems, essays, play scripts, and so on.

Form, by itself, poses many problems according to Harris. Take the letter, for instance. Usually, it indicates the sender, then the greeting which could be formalized or personalized depending on the use of the addressee’s name. Example, Dear Sir/Madam or Dear [name]. Finally, we finish a letter by the conventional signing off – Yours sincerely, – or one of its many other variations.

3. Audience

The concept of audience was considered an important aspect of the curriculum, according to Harris (1993), during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. A greater diversity of audiences was proposed in order to provide more flexibility and reality to the writing context in the classroom.

a.  Self

Child or adolescent to self

b.   Teacher

Child to trusted adult
Pupil to teacher, general (teacher-learner dialogue)
Pupil to teacher, particular relationship
Pupil to examiner

c.    Wider audience (known)

Expert to known laymen
Child to peer group
Group member to working group (known audience, which may include teacher)

d.    Unknown audience

Writer to his readers (or his public)

e.    Additional categories

Virtual named audience
No discernible audience

According to Harris (1993), there seems to be a problem with this kind of classifying writing compositions. Even when there is an improvement over the traditional approaches, there is still the question of a pseudo-audience when the teacher, seen as the audience, happens to be the assessor of the writing product as well.

4. Readership

Factors that need to be taken into account in terms of readership:

  • The formality or informality of the relationship between reader and writer.
  • The expertise of the readership – what degree of prior knowledge and understanding can be assumed?
  • Cultural assumptions – how far is it likely that the readers will share a common cultural background with each other and with the writer?
  • Attitudinal assumptions – are the readers likely to hold attitudes in common with the writer or has the writer to explain and justify his or her attitudes?

Harris (1993) points out that the success of a written piece depends on how well the writer judges or makes assumptions about the readership. According to him, it is more realistic and helpful to make students aware of the above factors rather than postulate pseudo-audiences. It seems rather pointless to gear classroom writing towards genuine audiences other than the teacher.

The students involved in this research are more likely to be engaged in writing activities where they have to narrate or tell a story, describe a picture or a real object being studied, or explain what triggers a volcano to erupt or the life cycle of a frog, for instance. However, they will have very few opportunities where they will have to persuade an audience. Perhaps a teacher would ask them to compose a letter of persuasion, but that is likely the extent of such a writing activity.

The idea of writing for a particular audience itself would, as Harris puts it, seem unrealistic in terms of classroom practice. It is an ideal to be “sought after and utilized to the full” (Harris, 1993:24). It is more helpful to build students’ awareness of the factors mentioned so they take them into account in their writing endeavors.