June Dela Cruz

XI-Boyle

ASSIGNMENT: Reading and Writing

1. Nature and Scope of the following:

a. Reading

Reading, as a word, can be used in different contexts: thus, having multiple definitions.
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, to read is (1) to receive or take in the sense of
(letters, symbols, etc.) especially by sight or touch, as well as being able (2) to interpret the
meaning or significance of.

We ought to first look at the nature of reading. As human beings, we were born blind and
were insusceptible to understanding our environment. These inferior characteristics supply to our
inability to read. Having said so, reading is an active process. As we develop holistically, we not
only develop the ability to see but also the ability to process what we see into meanings that our
mind can comprehend and utilize. Having developed the ability to read we now broaden our
perspective. Reading being an active process also tells us about the unending knowledge that we
acquire from actively doing so. These knowledges can be categorized into two: knowledge of the
language and knowledge of the world. As we continue on reading, our vocabulary and
grammatical confidence increases allowing us to better understand topics we wouldn’t usually be
able to comprehend because of its deep construction, thus increasing our knowledge of the
world, which, after all, was constructed deeply and with complexity. Ultimately, reading is
subconsciously being part of our communicative language. As we read, we utilize the
communication skill that allows us to make sense of the world around us.

Reading, as a communication skill, enables us to gain info more effectively and

accordingly through its systematized mechanics. Perception is the step involve in reading by
which the reader perceived the written symbols on the text through the use of his external senses.
Comprehension is the step involve in reading by which the reader understands the text. Reaction
is the step involve in reading wherein the reader evaluates the text which is being read. These
steps, which are crucially sequential, are the subskills that we utilize and hone as we
communicate.

As a communicative skill, reading has a myriad scope which can be narrowed down into
two: extensive and intensive. Imagine a scenario where a person is scrolling through Facebook.
As he laughs because of reading funny memes, he uses extensive reading. Unknowingly, he lost
track of time and now he’s reading a lengthy article about a political issue. The inquiry he
acquires from this reading is caused by intensive reading. Truly, reading has very special
characteristics along its beautiful nature and wide scope. Like any skill or communicative skill
and because it’s an active process, we should always hone our reading skills.

b. Writing

Writing, form of human communication by means of a set of visible marks that are
related, by convention, to some particular structural level of language, as defined by Britannica,
is yet another communicative skill which is generally seen as the precursor reading because
without written text, nothing can be read upon.
 Writing, being a precursor of reading, has a wider scope and nature to it. Writing renders
language visible; while speech is ephemeral, writing is concrete and, by comparison, permanent.
Writing enables us to actually visualize the mechanisms of language as a system, because like
language, writing is also a system. Being a system, it follows standardized rules which are laid
out in accordance to societal norms and functions. Writing cannot ordinarily be read by someone
not familiar with the linguistic structure underlying the oral form of the language, because, yet
writing is not merely the transcription of speech; writing frequently involves the use of special
forms of language, such as those involved in literary and scientific works that would not be
produced orally.

Writing’s scope is solely based on its linguistic component. The diagram shows different
types of writing, which wouldn’t be discussed because we only need to realize that writing is,
ultimately, the visualization of language to be able to create and spawn communication and/or
communicative mannerisms.

Language is alive. Writing is language breathing out and reading is language breathing
in.

2. Define and supply examples for the following:

a. Narration
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience.
Narration encompasses a set of techniques through which the creator of the story presents their
story, including:
 Narrative point of view: the perspective (or type of personal or non-personal "lens")
through which a story is communicated
 Narrative voice: the format through which a story is communicated
 Narrative time: the grammatical placement of the story's time-frame in the past, the
present, or the future.

Example: Before a dialogue or before a play actually commences, a narration will be done to
maximize comprehension and appreciation of the storyline. Here is a narration from the novel
Les Miserables:

An hour before sunset, on the evening of a day in the beginning of October, 1815, a man
travelling afoot entered the little town of D . The few persons who at this time were at their
windows or their doors, regarded this traveller with a sort of distrust. It would have been hard to
find a passer-by more wretched in appearance. He was a man of middle height, stout and hardy,
in the strength of maturity; he might have been forty-six or seven. A slouched leather cap half hid
his face, bronzed by the sun and wind, and dripping with sweat. His shaggy breast was seen
through the coarse yellow shirt which at the neck was fastened by a small silver anchor; he wore
a cravat twisted like a rope; coarse blue trousers, worn and shabby, white on one knee, and with
holes in the other; an old ragged grey blouse, patched on one side with a piece of green cloth
sewed with twine: upon his back was a well-filled knapsack, strongly buckled and quite new. In
his hand he carried an enormous knotted stick: his stockingless feet were in hobnailed shoes; his
hair was cropped and his beard long.

b. Description
Description is a type of discourse intended to give a mental image of something
experienced.

Example: A description of a restaurant in Les Miserables.

Mine host, who was at the same time head cook, was going from the fire place to the
sauce-pans, very busy superintending an excellent dinner for some wagoners who were laughing
and talking noisily in the next room. Whoever has travelled knows that nobody lives better than
wagoners. A fat marmot, flanked by white partridges and goose, was turning on a long spit
before the fire; upon the ranges were cooking two large carps' from Lake Lauzet, and a trout
from Lake Alloz.

c. Definition
Definition is the exact nature, scope, or meaning of words.

Example:
Rock, in geology, is a naturally occurring and coherent aggregate of one or more
minerals.

d. Exemplification and Classification

To classify is to form a concept that covers a collection of similar phenomena. To
exemplify is to focus on a phenomenon in the extension of the concept.

Example:
Classification
 Schools can be classified according to the pupils’ ages and type of education.
 There are two types of school: primary and secondary.
 Primary schools can be subdivided into infant and junior schools.
 Secondary school pupils may be grouped according to their ability.
 The criterion for classifying secondary schools is whether or not there is an examination.

Exemplification – use of f.e. / e.g., i.e., viz.

e.g. There are four language skills, viz. listening, speaking, reading and writing.

e. Comparison and contrast

To contrast something is to look for differences among two or more elements, but
compare is to do the opposite, to look for similarities. It's easy to tell the difference if you
remember that contrast comes from the Latin root contra, and means "against." Contrast is also a
noun meaning basically the same thing — you might notice the contrast of a dark tree against a
snow-covered hill.
Example: Through Venn Diagrams

f. Cause and Effect

Cause and effect is a relationship between events or things, where one is the result of the
other or others.

Example: Scientific Phenomenon

Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault. This
sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake.

g. Problem-Solution
Problem and Solution is a pattern of organization where information in a passage is
expressed as a dilemma or concerning issue (a problem) and something that was, can be, or
should be done to remedy this issue (solution or attempted solution).

Example:
We can obliterate teen pregnancies by effectively propagating efforts for birth control and
abstinence.

h. Persuasion
Process aimed at changing a person's (or a group's) attitude or behavior toward some
event, idea, object, or other person(s), by using written or spoken words to convey information,
feelings, or reasoning, or a combination of them.

Example: Persuasive Speech

How many of you think guns are necessary to protect yourself? Would you feel the same
way if you knew how often guns kill children? I don't think so! Magazines usually tell people
how beautiful and powerful guns are, and never mention how many children get hurt by guns
every day. But I am here to ask all of you to oppose gun ownership because the fact is that guns
are a weapon of violence, they take more lives away every year, and they make people blind to
the fact they are killing their own children.

References:
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Britannica Encyclopedia
Wikipedia