ALL ABOUT

What is a text?
Texts come in various shapes and forms. Some popular texts include: Essays Letters Magazines Blogs Narratives Novels Television shows Films Documentaries Memoirs Biographys Autobiographys Graphic Novels Picture Books Childrens Books Textbooks Reviews Jokes Cartoons Comic strips Newspapers Diaries Brochures Scripts Poems Words Drawings Photos Images Recipes Instructions

texts!
Texts are all around us. In actual fact, what youre reading right now is a text. A text can be in written, visual or spoken form and texts can be created for various purposes. When we create our own texts, whether it be in the form of an essay, advertisement, letter, narrative and so on, its important to remember the form, purpose, audience, language and social context. These five elements play a pivotal role in determining why the text has been created a certain way.

Form - The form of a text is the way in which it has been constructed. Form
includes the visual appearance and the structure itself: essay, narrative, advertisement, etc. Form incorporates images, words and people. Purpose - All texts are created for a reason. Similarly, all texts are created on different grounds. The author, director, producer, or designer of a text may wish to entertain, persuade, inform, discuss, review, recount, explain, instruct, guide, criticise, complain, thank, remind, reflect, argue, enthuse or evaluate. Texts are created for various reas ons, so its important to remember when writing or creating a text that you clearly illustrate what your intentions are. Audience - Most people have a particular audience in mind when creating their text. The target audience could be a specific age group, race, culture, religion, sex, or even a single person. Texts are structured to align with the targeted audience, so that it appeals to them directly. When creating a text, always keep your intended audience in mind. Language - Different language is used in different texts. Narratives, for example, usually contain a broad use of emotive, descriptive and figurative language, whereas essays use persuasive and factual information to argue a point. An author must always keep the target audience and purpose of the text in mind when choosing the language they use in their text. Social Context - Text creators are usually influenced by something when they are constructing their text. Personal, social, historical and cultural reasoning are usually influential factors. The context of a text includes its surroundings, circumstances, background and setting. Taking the context into consideration will give you a broader understanding of a text and the underlying meanings behind it.