Características de Textos Expositivos em Inglês

Prévia do material em texto

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OFICINA DE REDAÇÃO EM LÍNGUA 
INGLESA
DESCRIPTION – LANGUAGE SUPPORT
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Olá!
Ao final desta aula, você será capaz de:
1. Identificar as características de textos expositivos;
2. analisar a estrutura da exposição em diversos gêneros;
3. reconhecer a importância da pontuação como recurso de coesão e coerência;
4. verificar as partes que compõem a estrutura de cartas dos contextos formal e informal.
The ability of organizing and presenting information in a clear and coherent way is an important feature in
expository texts. Where can we find expository writing? Certainly, it can be found within almost all types of
reading in our daily lives. See these excerpts taken from:
Magazine
“With Graffiti art, location is half the story. The Brazilian street artists Gustavo and Otvio Pandolfo, known as The
Twins or, in Portuguese, Os Gemeos, began their careers tagging buildings in their native São Paulo during the
late 1980s. Since then, their instantly recognizable images--colorful dreamscapes that draw on Brazilian folklore
and Western hip-hop culture and star a cast of wistful yellow characters--have transformed public spaces from
Coney Island, N.Y., to Miami Beach to the 2004 Athens Olympics and from a city train in Porto Alegre, Brazil, to a
multistory building in Lisbon and even a 13th century castle in Scotland.”
Fonte: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2121063,00.html
Noun-fiction book
“Four centuries have lapsed since the first twenty Africans were wrenched from their families, their land, their
language, their customs, and altogether their freedom, then shipped across the treacherous Atlantic and
delivered into the clutches of English settlers at Jamestown, Virginia. Four hundred years. Enough time, you
would think, to have come to terms with such a patently grievous wrong—to have not only abolished the
heinous institution of slavery, but to have eradicated every vile thought, every ignorant theory, every wicked
impulse that gave rise to and nurtured the practice. Enough time to have taken every measure available and
imaginable to repair the breach between black and white and to reconcile us, American to American.” (MATHIS,
Deborah. Yet a stranger: why black Americans still don’t feel at home?)
Fonte: http://www.readersread.com/excerpts/yetastranger.htm
READ MORE: (leia mais)
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Fonte: http://www.amazon.com/Yet-Stranger-Black-Americans-Still/dp/0446526363
Newspaper article
“Griffith, one of five schools in the Balsz Elementary School District here, is one of a handful of public schools
across the country that has lengthened the school year in an effort to increase learning time.
A typical public school calendar is 180 days, but the Balsz district, where 90 percent of the students qualify for
free or reduced lunch, is in session for 200 days, adding about a month to the academic year.
According to the National Center on Time and Learning, a nonprofit research group in Boston, about 170 schools
— more than 140 of them charter schools — across the country have extended their calendars in recent years to
190 days or longer.”
Fonte: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/education/some-schools-adopting-longer-years-to-improve-
learning.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
On the next pages, we will keep on dealing with several genres which have the same main goal: to present
information.
1 Expository Type in Encyclopedic Texts
Encyclopedic texts present, in a systematic and organized way, relevant information about a subject concerning
human knowledge. The structure of that type of text uses to be quite regular.
First of all, a definition is presented and generally images are shown in order to offer complete information
about the subject.
Click to see an example: http://estaciodocente.webaula.com.br/cursos/gon221/pdf/a05_t04.pdf
Notice that, for a very long time, we’ve been dealing with a very common discursive genre: the Didactic text,
which also follows the expository type. Read the following excerpt:
The Exciting Travel of a Drop Along the Water Cycle
Alberto Montanari
University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
“We believe we are familiar with the water cycle. In fact, we were taught its basic principles in our childhood
already. We also know that the world is experiencing water problems, related to water shortage, pollution and
security. However, the truth is that humans still do not know what actually happens to a rain drop after it landed
on the earth surface.
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We can see the final results of rainfall occurring, because we observe water in rivers, lakes and sea. But how a
drop actually reaches such water bodies is still a mystery. This is one of the reasons why floods and droughts are
difficult to predict and manage, and water resources management is
still a challenge.”
Read more:
Fonte: http://www.egu.eu/fileadmin/files/GIFT/gift_brochure_2012.pdf
Pictures and other visual resources are helpful tools for explaining the subject and the language applied must
consider, for example, the readers’ age and level of knowledge.
See the picture and pay attention to the detailed information for better explaining the water cycle possibly to
young students.
Notice that characteristics of the expository text, such as definitions and examples, are easily found in Didactic
texts. Let’s read other Didactic texts in http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclegwdischarge.html
Specialized magazines, newspaper and books in the scientific context also present Expository texts. Read the
following text and notice the FORMAL LANGUAGE AND TECHNOLOGICAL EXPRESSIONS used.
Click here: http://estaciodocente.webaula.com.br/cursos/gon221/pdf/a05_t07_1.pdf
The most common characteristics of scientific expository texts in non-specialized disclosure context are:
• Simple language
• Attractive introduction
• Clarity
• Concision
• Use of analogies
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• Use of analogies
You may also watch the movie Cosmos – EUA, 2004
The Expository type is commonly found in newspapers and magazine too.
Objective:
Give the reader new information about facts, people, ideas and products.
Depending on the topic, the report may present objective or subjective characteristics.
Let`s study the structure of Reports in newspapers and magazines:
In general, the structure of a report in a newspaper or in a magazine does not follow a formal pattern, but the
first paragraph plays an important role, once it is the part in which the author makes the reader get interested in
the topic and thus keep on reading the whole text.
2 Importance of Punctuation
Correct punctuation is an essential factor of cohesion and coherence in any text. Read:
The author did not manage to express the intended meaning, once he could not use appropriate punctuation to
convey the actual idea.
Did you see? Missing a comma (,) may be a source of ambiguity (,).
For example, the author could have expressed his idea clearly if he had written this way:
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Be careful!
Inadequate punctuation may affect the meaning.
So, it`s advisable reviewing the following notes about using a period (.) and a comma (,).
• Put a period (.) at the end of every affirmative, non-exclamatory sentence. Ex.: Almost all students 
wanted to know why the festival would not take place at the university.
• Use a comma (,) after connectors that begin a sentence as well as after each word of a list: Ex.: First, 
Second etc.
If there is a connector in another part of the sentence, put a comma before and after it.
Ex.: It is, however, a simple procedure.
Remember to use a comma after subordinate clauses and some adverbs.
Ex.: Although they were very busy, they helped the old lady.
Some years ago, nobody thought that using computers would turn into a compulsive behavior.
3 Formal and Informal Letters
Imagine you’ve decided to write a letter on a appropriate official protesting something that is planned for your
neighborhood. As you’re going to present your opinion concerning a problem,the expository type is adequate.
See the main parts of a FORMAL LETTER:
• Your address
• Date
• Full address of the person to whom you are writing
• Greeting
• Paragraph 1 – Explain why you are writing. Paragraph 2 – Outline the problem.
• Paragraph 3 – Mention what you expect.
• Paragraph 4 – Thank him/her for his/her time.
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• Paragraph 3 – Mention what you expect.
• Paragraph 4 – Thank him/her for his/her time.
• Closing – Ex.: “Yours sincerely”
• Signature
• Printed name
Click here: http://estaciodocente.webaula.com.br/cursos/gon221/pdf/a05_t14.pdf
When writing an INFORMAL LETTER, you should include almost the same parts. Nevertheless, use a simpler
language.
• Your address (if necessary)
• Date
• Full address of the person to whom you are writing (if necessary)
• Greeting
• Paragraph 1 – Explain the reason why you are writing the letter.
• Paragraph 2 – Give more information about the subject of the letter. Be as specific as possible.
• Paragraph 3 – This is where you can send regards. Mention what you expect.
• Paragraph 4 – Thank him/her for his/her time.
• Closing – Ex.: “Love”, “Regards”, “Best wishes” etc
• Signature – First name
Click here: http://estaciodocente.webaula.com.br/cursos/gon221/pdf/a05_t15.pdf
GENERAL REVISION after writing a letter:
• Did you really say what you wanted?
• Did you say it clearly and logically?
• Did you use appropriate connectors?
• Did you avoid using repeated words, sentences or expressions?
• Did you present relevant ideas?
Good clue:
You can find sample letters in: http://www.sampleletters.org/
O que vem na próxima aula
•Conteúdos gramaticais essenciais para a elaboração de textos expositivos;
•coesão e coerência;
•pronoun reference.
CONCLUSÃO
Nesta aula, você:
• identificou as principais características de diversos gêneros de textos cuja estrutura é expositiva;
• observou a organização de textos expositivos redigidos de modo coeso e coerente;
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