Text Genre

Text Genre

This page takes the larger view of texts as a whole and their purpose and associated style.  In academic writing, texts may for example be expository, argumentative or persuasive, or have some combination of such purposes. “Point-early” linear structures are typical of Anglo-American academic writing while “point-late” helical structures are more typical of Central European academic writing.  Writing as thinking (author-oriented) and writing as reporting (reader-oriented) are different functions requiring different writing processes with their own strategies and repertoire of rhetorical moves: half the battle is won in preparing a text by recognizing the particular demands of a genre and selecting one’s writing approach accordingly. In any event, texts written for publication, such a conference abstract or journal article, are often required to adhere to a given structure and format. The materials linked in this page may help you become familiar with some of these expectations and thereby orient your text to the reader in Anglo-American style.

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