Exposition

Inform established knowledge objectively

No influence of opinions or emotions or criticism or argument

uses all common organizational patterns (definition, classification, cause and effect,comparison and contrast, etc.)

Concerning the Loch Ness monster, different individuals have their own explanations:

• Professor Black thinks the monster is a plesiosaur that is still alive.• Doctor March believes the monster is just a hoax to attract attention.• Mr. Bates considers that the monster is just a big whale.• Officer Hall thinks the monster could be a giant fish.

Exposition: lis

t of theories

Different people have different opinions about free-trade agreements:

• Some think that they are ways to enslave poor, developing countries.• Others think they are a good way for developing countries to improve.• Other people see them as ineffective measures to improve developing countries, but without a real negative impact on them.• A number of people don’t care at all about them.

Exposition: lis

t of arguments

Exposition uses all of the common organizational patterns such as definition, classification, cause and effect, etc.

“explanations”

Specific function

“discursive function”

Discursive functions

Identifying an explanation

Rejecting an explanation

Redefining an explanation

Amplifying an explanation

Listing an explanation

An addiction is often seen as a chronic neurobiological disorder that

has genetic, psychological, and environmental dimension. It is

characterized by one of the following: the continued use of a

substance despite its detrimental effects, impaired control over the

use of a drug (compulsive behavior), and preoccupation with a drug’s

use for nontherapeutic purposes (i.e. craving the drug). This

traditional approach, however, fails to consider addictions that are

not substance-related, such as problem gambling and computer

addiction. Recently, young people often affirm that they have also

become addicted to their phones. In this light, the term addiction

should also give room to compulsions not necessarily related to

drugs.

Identifying an explanation

Amplifying/listing an explanation

Rejecting an explanation

Amplifying an explanation

Redefining an explanation

Explicit &

Implicit Information

Explicit Information

• The main ideas• The supporting details

• Outlining

Title

What the text is aboutExpressed as a noun or noun phrase:MedicineLegal medicine in Costa Rica

Topic sentenc

e

The sentence in a paragraph that contains the main ideaExpressed as a sentence:Most medicines have side effects.

Outlining

The main ideas and the subsidiary ideas of any subjectExpressed as a nouns, noun phrases, or sentences:

I. Medicine 1. history

a. cavemenb. Middle agesc. Modern age

Implicit Information

• Inferences* real* false* not implied

Making an inference involves using what you know to guess what you don’t know (reading between the lines)

Tips for drawing Inferences:

1. Rely mainly on the author’s words rather than your own feelings or non-applicable experience.

2. Check if your inference is contradicted by any statements in the paragraph.

3. Engage in close reading to double check your inferences.

I woke up, and it was still dark. My brother was not in his bed. I went downstairs and saw that my father was really nervous. My brother was crying while my mother comforted him. Then, I heard a siren and saw a flashing red light. Then, two paramedics came inside the house.

The text says:my father was really nervous

I know:When people are nervous, it’s usually because an unusual event happened, is happening, or will happen.

I woke up, and it was still dark. My brother was not in his bed. I went downstairs and saw that my father was really nervous. My brother was crying while my mother comforted him. Then, I heard a siren and saw a flashing red light. Then, two paramedics came inside the house.

The text says:my brother was crying while my mother comforted him

I know:If someone comforts another person who is crying it’s because that person might be in pain, might be sad, or might fear or regret something.

I woke up, and it was still dark. My brother was not in his bed. I went downstairs and saw that my father was really nervous. My brother was crying while my mother comforted him. Then, I heard a siren and saw a flashing red light. Then, two paramedics came inside the house.

The text says:I heard a siren and saw a flashing red light.

I know:Sirens and flashing red lights are usually associated with ambulances.

I woke up, and it was still dark. My brother was not in his bed. I went downstairs and saw that may father was really nervous. My brother was crying while my mother comforted him. Then, I heard a siren and saw a flashing red light. Then, two paramedics came inside the house.

The text says:Two paramedics came inside the house.

I know:When paramedics come at unusual hours, very probably someone is sick and needs medical care.

I woke up, and it was still dark. My brother was not in his bed. I went downstairs and saw that may father was really nervous. My brother was crying while my mother comforted him. Then, I heard a siren and saw a flashing red light. Then, two paramedics came inside the house.

Inference

My brother is sick and needs medical help.

Types of Inferences

3

Real inference

efficient interaction between background knowledge and the information suggested by the text.

A majority of readers may draw the same inference because the text-reader interaction is logically consistent.

My sister went on a date at 6pm. At 6:30 she was back home and in a terrible mood.

Real inference: She had a problem in her date or was jilted.

False inference

Undergoes the same process as the real inferences

contradicts the textual information.

My sister went on a date at 6pm. At 6:30 she was back home and in a terrible mood.

False inference: Her date went so well that she was angry to come back home.

Not implied inference

A product of a personal, individual association

The text does not have enough information to support the inference.

May seem logical to the person that draws it, but other readers will unlikely arrive at the same inference

My sister went on a date at 6pm. At 6:30 she was back home and in a terrible mood.

Not implied inference: The person she went out with was arrested.

The first reaction upon hearing about the topic of battered men, for many people, is that of incredulity. Battered husbands are a topic for jokes (such as the cartoon image of a woman chasing her husband with a rolling pin). One researcher noted that wives were perpetrators in 73% of the depictions of domestic violence in newspaper comics (Saenger, 1963). Battered husbands have historically been either ignored or subjected to ridicule and abuse. In 18th-century France, a battered husband “was made to wear an outlandish outfit and ride backwards around the village on a donkey” (Steinmetz & Lucca, 1988). Even those of us who like to consider ourselves liberated and open-minded often have a difficult time even imagining that husband battering could take place. Although feminism has opened many of our eyes about the existence of domestic violence, and newspaper reports often include incidents of abuse of wives, the abuse of husbands is a rarely discussed phenomenon.