NESA Writing Types

Texts that represent ideas, feelings and mental images in words or visual images. An imaginative text might use metaphor to translate ideas and feelings into a form that can be communicated effectively to an audience. Imaginative texts also make new connections between established ideas or widely recognised experiences in order to create new ideas and images. Imaginative texts are characterised by originality, freshness and insight. These texts include novels, traditional tales, poetry, stories, plays, fiction for young adults and children, including picture books and multimodal texts, for example film. 

•Voice: innovative, distinctive, use/subverting of conventions; move beyond predictable and clichéd 

•Topic: Open

•Medium: can be in any form e.g. poem, novel, drama, short story – typically narrative in exams

•Purpose: to entertain, enlighten, stimulate, challenge, disturb, transport the reader

•Tone: dependent on voice, topic and medium; use of figurative, metaphorical and symbolic language

•Audience: can be public, unknown, or known

Texts whose primary purpose is to provide information through explanation, description, argument, analysis, ordering and presentation of evidence and procedures. These texts include reports, explanations and descriptions of natural phenomena, recounts of events, instructions and directions, rules and laws, news bulletins and articles, websites and text analyses. They include texts which are valued for their informative content, as a store of knowledge and for their value as part of everyday life. 

Voice: confident and authoritative; can be personal

Topic: open

Medium: essay, brochure, report, flyer, precis, summary, brief; may include images, infographics, charts diagrams 

Purpose: to present information in an engaging and accessible way; often aims at providing fresh perspectives, new connections or novel insights

Tone: shaped by voice, topic, medium, purpose, audience

Audience: can be public, unknown, known

Texts whose primary purpose is to put forward a point of view and persuade a reader, viewer or listener. They form a significant part of modern communication in both print and digital environments. Persuasive texts seek to convince the responder of the strength of an argument or point of view through information, judicious use of evidence, construction of argument, critical analysis and the use of rhetorical, figurative and emotive language. They include student essays, debates, arguments, discussions, polemics, advertising, propaganda, influential essays and articles. Persuasive texts may be written, spoken, visual or multimodal. 

•Voice: “I” – strong, confident, assured, authoritative

•Topic: Argues a case with judiciously selected evidence from the text 

•Medium: essay, speech, debate

•Purpose: to argue, justify, defend (key verbs/directives - ‘to what extent’, ‘do you agree’)

•Tone: not colloquial, robust, convincing 

•Audience: often public, unknown, can be known 

The thought process by which students develop an understanding and appreciation of their own learning. This process draws on both cognitive and affective experience. 

•Voice: the most personal - usually first person “I”; direct and can be more intimate

•Topic: open 

•Medium: blog, diary, letter, memoir, eulogy, speech, monologue, explanation or rationale for language choices

•Purpose: to muse, contemplate, dwell on in order to deepen understanding; focus on articulating learning that has occurred in relation to experience; can consider changes, shifts, transformations, amplifications in understanding (thoughts, feelings, perspectives); requires time and distance from the experience

•Tone: thoughtful, meditative, considered 

•Audience: can be public, unknown, known, self

Reflective writing may include some of the following features:

§  Use of first person to express self-assessment

§  Use of evaluative language

§  Considered use of examples

§  Use of anecdotal references, imagery or metaphor

§  Explanation, description or justification of the use of specific language or stylistic devices

§  Connections between what students learn about writing and the writing that they craft

§  Self-awareness of the learning process

§  May be objective and/or subjective