Download Recount A Recount aims to recall past events (to give a true record

Recount
A Recount aims to recall past events (to give a true record of what happened). It has 3 parts:
1. Setting – to tell the reader the basic information of the events e.g. date, time, place
2. Events in time order – to retell what happened in the order / sequence of the time in which the events happened
3. Evaluation – to tell the reader what you think or how you feel about the events
The following is an example of a typical recount text: Our School Sports Days.
________
________
The text tells you what happened (verb: past tense) on our school sports days.
Parts in the text
(Use the names of the 3
parts (Setting, Events in
time order, Evaluation) to
label each paragraph)
Our School Sports Days
This year, our school sports days were held on 1st and 2nd
January at Ma On Shan Sports Ground from 9.00 to 4.00
on both days. It started with the opening ceremony and
ended with the closing ceremony.
The opening ceremony began with a parade by the four
Houses: Red, Green, Yellow and Blue. Then everyone sang
the school song. Our Principal, Mr Chan, gave the
welcoming speech. Our Guest of Honour, the famous
athlete Sarah Lee Wai Sze, then gave her speech. She
encouraged us all to participate actively in sports for our
good health.
Paragraph 1:
__________________
Information
What are the 2
verbs used to
tell you this?
1. Date: ___________
2. Place: __________
3. Time: __________
4. First and last events:
_______________
_______________
Paragraph 2:
__________________
1
Language use
(write down the words used in the text to tell you the
information; the first one is an example for you)
on 1st and 2nd January
______________________
______________________
[we use prepositional phrases to tell date, time and
place]
Subject
Events (start with a verb):
1. began with a parade
2. _______________
3. _______________
4. _______________
What is the verb used to
tell you this information?
___________
The opening
ceremony
Verb
began
Object
Other parts
with a parade
by … four
houses
On the first day, we had both the track events and the
field events. For track events, we had the sprints for 60m,
100m, 200m and 400m; we also had the 60m and 100m
hurdles. For field events, we had long jump, high jump,
shot put and discus.
On the second day, we had the semi-finals and finals for
most events. We also had the relay races and the friendly
race between students and teachers. The champion of
each event came through. The Green House won the
house cup this year. We also had two record breakers.
Simon Yu of 4D broke the school record in the boys’ 100m
sprint at 11.5 mins. The old record was 11.8 min. Vincy
Lee of 5B broke the record for the girls’ 200m hurdles.
Paragraph 3:
__________________
Track events:
__________________
__________________
Write down the prepositional phrase that starts the
paragraph: _______________________
Write down the preposition phrases that introduce
the track events and the field events:
______________________________
Write down the verb that tells you the track and
field events: We _______
Events:
1. semi-finals and finals
Write down the prepositional phrase that starts the
paragraph: _______________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
Field events:
Paragraph 4:
__________________
2
2. __________________
3. __________________
4. __________________
5. __________________
Subject
we
Verb
had
Object
the semi-finals
and the finals
Other parts
for most
events
In the closing ceremony, medals and prizes were given.
We all felt tired but we were all happy as it was a holiday
the next day.
Paragraph 5:
__________________
Write down the prepositional phrase that starts the
paragraph: ________________________
How did the writer feel (write 2 adjectives):
___________________
Write down the verbs that tell you how the writer
felt: _________________
The following table shows all the track and field events. Circle the ones that took place in your school’s sports days.
Track
Sprints
Middle-distance
Long-distance
Hurdles
Relays
60m
800m
5000m
60m hurdles
4 x 100m relay
100m
1500m
10,000m
100m hurdles
4x 400m relay
200m
3000m
110m hurdles
400m
400m hurdles
Field
Jumps
Long jump
High jump
Triple jump
Pole vault
Throws
Shot put
Discus throw
Hammer throw
Javelin throw
Choose 2 track events and 2 field events to write about. Remember there is also the student-teacher friendly race. Write about the number of heats, who
participated, when it took place, who won etc. Start with a preposition phrase, for example:
For the 60m sprint, we had 10 heats. Five heats were for girls and five heats were for boys. They took place in the morning on the first day. (Name of student) of
(class) won the champion (OR A classmate in my class won the first runner-up).
1st track event chosen: ___________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2nd track event chosen: ___________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1st field event chosen: ____________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2nd field event chosen: ____________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Now, write about your School Sports Day. Use what you have learnt (e.g. preposition phrases, verbs (past tense), a SVO sentence).
Our School Sports Day
Write the paragraphs here:
Setting
[use a preposition phrase]
Date: __________________________________________
Place: _________________________________________
Time: _________________________________________
Other parts
Subject (noun) Verb
Object
(adverb /
(past
(noun)
preposition phrase)
This year,
Other parts (adverb /
preposition phrase)
tense)
our school
sports days
were
held
Events in time order
The opening ceremony
For each sentence:
1. First, write the noun for the event / people you want to write about (i.e. the Subject);
2. Then, write the verb for what happened / what they did;
3. Then write the Object and the other parts.
Other parts
Subject (noun) Verb
Object
Other parts (adverb /
(adverb /
(past
preposition phrase)
(noun)
preposition phrase)
tense)
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The first day
For each sentence,
1. First, write the prepositional phrase for the track/field event you want to write about
in the first column;
2. Then, write the noun for the Subject (think of what you want to say about the event);
3. Then, write the verb for what happened;
4. Then, write the Object and the other parts.
[You can also use the sentences you have written for the 2 track and 2 field events here.]
Other parts
Subject (noun)
(adverb /
preposition phrase)
The second day
Other parts
(adverb /
preposition phrase)
Verb
(past
tense)
Subject (noun)
Verb
(past
tense)
Object
(noun)
Other parts (adverb /
Object
(noun)
Other parts (adverb /
preposition phrase)
preposition phrase)
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Evaluation
[write about how you felt]
Other parts
Subject (noun)
(adverb /
preposition phrase)
Verb
(past
tense)
Object
(noun)
Other parts (adverb /
preposition phrase)
Word bank:
Sports day prizes: gold medal, silver medal, bronze medal, trophies
Winners: champion, first runner-up, second runner-up, the best athlete of the year
Adjectives to tell how you feel: exhausted, bored
[Do not include too many words. It’s more useful to encourage students to ask you for a word they do not know or to use a Chinese-English dictionary so that
they are learning to use words that they want to use. When given a list of words that do not actually say what they want to say, they don't actually learn very
much.]
General sports day vocabulary for reference: annual sports days, the programme, athletes, pitch, races / events, heats, three-legged race, blind
fold race, sack race, tug of war, triathlon, pentathlon, (pledge to) the spirit of sportsmanship, team spirit, in the spirit of the Olympics, the
guest of honour presides over the function, march past / parade, pistol shot, stop watch, the cheering team, baton, losers, referees, scores
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Information report
Part 1: (Purpose and structure of an information report)
The information report below tells you about what koalas are and what they are like.
There are 2 parts in the information report:
1. General classification / definition – it classifies koalas within the animal kingdom.
2. Specific description / details – it describes things special to koalas.
Read the information report below.
specific description in orange.
Colour the general classification in green, and the
Koalas
Koalas belong to the Marsupial family. This is a group of
mammals which raise their babies in a pouch. Marsupials
are found mainly in Australia.
Koalas are furry creatures about the size of a small dog.
They have large round ears, small eyes and a big, flat,
leathery nose in an oval shape. They have sharp claws for
hanging on to branches of trees.
Koalas spend most of their time in gum trees in the
Australian bush. They live high in the branches out
of harm’s way. They are able to
sleep wedged in the fork of two
branches. Koalas are herbivores,
their main diet consisting of the leaves of certain types of
eucalypts.
Koalas raise their young in a pouch covering the mother’s
tummy. The baby is suckled in the pouch and remains there
for several weeks until able to feed itself. You will often
find nearly fully grown koalas still using the mother’s pouch.
Read the specific description part again. Write in the boxes what each paragraph tells you
about koalas (Use nouns). Which aspects of koalas have you learnt by reading the specific
description?
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Part 2: (Language use in an information report)
1. The following tree diagram helps to classify koalas. Find 3 nouns from Paragraph 1 to
put into the 3 white boxes in the tree diagram to classify koalas within the animal
kingdom.
Animals
(vertebrates)
Birds
Fish
Amphibians
Reptiles
Bracket the words in Paragraph 1 that tell you in which box to put the 3 nouns (i.e.
how to classify koalas from a bigger class to a smaller class).
2. Circle the nouns in Paragraphs 1 and 2 that name the parts of a koala’s body. Draw a
cross on the adjectives in Paragraph 2 that describe these nouns and other body parts
of a koala.
3. In Paragraph 3, circle the nouns that name the place where a koala lives and stays.
Put in a rectangle the verbs that describe what a koala does in these places. Read the
words following these verbs. What do they tell you about how koalas live? [N.B.:
We use adverbial phrases and prepositional phrases to tell how.]
4. Circle the nouns in the last sentence of Paragraph 3 that name the dietary habit of
koalas.
5. Put in a rectangle the verbs that describe what mother koalas do to raise baby koalas
and what baby koalas do to grow. Underline the prepositional phrases following these
verbs to tell you more about how they do these things.
Part 3: (Writing an information report)
Kangaroos also belong to the Marsupial family. Use what you have learnt about an
information report on koalas to write an information report about kangaroos.
Before you write, use the writing frame below to find out more about kangaroos. Use the
following websites:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/kids/en_US/animals/kangaroo/
http://www.livescience.com/27400-kangaroos.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/kangaroo-mob-kangaroo-fact-sheet/7444/
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/red-kangaroo/
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Kangaroos
General classification
- In addition to the Marsupial family, which other family do kangaroos also belong to?
- Name some species of kangaroos
Specific description
Body features
- Hind legs:
- Front legs:
- Tail:
- Fur:
- Ears:
- Height and weight:
Habits:
- What is the special thing they can do? How do they do this?
- What else do they do?
- What is their life span?
Habitat
- Where do they live? In which part of Australia?
- In what kind of places do they live (trees, grassland, …)?
- How do they live?
- How do they protect themselves against enemies?
Diet
- What is the word to describe their eating habit?
- What do they eat?
- What is special about the way they eat?
- What are their teeth like?
Raising the young
- What are baby kangaroos called?
- What are they like?
- What is the first thing they do after being born?
- Where do they live?
- How are they fed?
- When are they ready to live on their own?
Threats (and other interesting facts)
- What are their predators?
Task variations:
- Ask for more / less sub-topics
- Give paragraph starters e.g., Kangaroos are mammals.
- Specify sentence patterns e.g., Their hind legs are …
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Festivals of Light [Longman Elect S1, p.84]
There are many festivals around the world that involve light. Here are just a
few of them.
Every November, people in Thailand celebrate Loi Krathong (Loi means to float
and a Krathong is a small boat made of banana leaves). The festival starts at
night when people gather under the full moon and carry their krathongs to
nearby rivers and canals. The small boats, each containing a candle, joss sticks,
flowers and a few coins, are then placed on the water. As the boats drift away,
people usually make a wish.
In India,
religions.
decorate
streets.
Diwali is an important festival for Hindus and people of other Indian
It takes place in October or November and lasts five days. People
their homes with bright lights and decorations are also put up in the
There are fireworks displays too, particularly in large cities.
There is also a light festival that Jewish people celebrate. It is called
Hanukkah. Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days, lighting one candle on the
first night, two on the second night, and so on. The festival commemorates a
famous battle in which a group of Jews bravely fought and defeated the Syrians
to save the Temple of Jerusalem.
Another interesting light festival takes place at Christmas in the Philippines.
Star lanterns called parols are hung outside people’s homes and along the
streets. The lanterns symbolize the star that guided the Three Wise Men to
where Jesus was born.
At Christmas in Mexico, there is also a festival during which Mexican families go
from house to house with candles pretending, like Mary and Joseph, to look for
a room at the inn.
Information about other festivals
Lantern festivals around the world:
http://traveloverload.com/lantern-festivals-across-the-world
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Narratives / Stories
Part 1: (Structure of a story)
There are 4 parts in the story below:
1. Setting – it tells you the background / basic information about the story e.g. who,
when, where.
2. Problem – it tells you that something unusual / not normal had happened; it leads on
to the rest of the plot / story.
3. Complication / Events – it tells you the events that happened because of the
Problem.
4. Resolution / Ending – it tells you what happened in the end; it ends the story.
Read the story to find out these 4 parts.
1. Setting (red)
2. Problem (blue)
3. Events (orange)
4. Ending (green)
Colour each part as follows:
Bestest and the Prince
Once upon a time a witch put a beautiful princess in a
tall tower. Her name was Bestest. She was best in
everything. One day, Bestest saw a prince and shook
her long hair out of the window. The prince climbed
up her hair.
‘I’m here to save you,’ said the prince.
‘Oh! Your teeth are black,’ said Bestest.
often do you brush your teeth?’
‘How
‘Once a week,’ the prince said.
‘You should brush your teeth twice a day. Come
back when your teeth are clean,’ said Bestest.
The next week the prince climbed up Bestest’s hair again. He smiled a
handsome white smile at Bestest. ‘That’s better,’ she said, ‘but your hair is
very dirty. How often do you wash it?’
‘Three times a month,’ said the prince.
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‘Ugh!’ said Bestest. ‘You should wash your hair three times a week.
when your hair is clean.’
Come back
The next week the prince climbed up Bestest’s hair again. He ran his fingers
through his shiny hair. ‘That’s better,’ said Bestest, ‘but your fingernails are
too long. How often do you cut them?’
The prince never came back.
[adapted from Primary Longman Elect 4B, 2009, pp.46-47]
Part 2: (Purpose of a story)
Do you find the story interesting / funny? Which part is most interesting / funny to you?
Write what you think in the box below. [Draw a box on the part you like most.]
What do you think the story wants to tell you?
Part 3: (Language use in a story)
1. Underline the words / phrases that tell you the time. The first one is ‘Once upon a
time’ (line 1). How much time was there / covered in the story?
2. Bracket the prepositional phrases (a prepositional phrase is a unit of words
starting with a preposition). The first one is ‘in a tall tower’ (line 1). Tell your
neighbour what each prepositional phrase tell you (e.g. time, place). Use the pictures
in the story to show your neighbour what each prepositional phrase means. [You can
do the same with the when-clause.]
3. Put in a triangle all the verbs. What tenses are they? Where is the past tense used
and where is the present tense used? Why?
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4. Circle the saying verbs that tell you what the princess and the prince said. Change
them into a different verb that tells you how the princess and the prince said what they
said. [You can give students a number of verbs to choose from or as examples. You
can do the same with adjectives (ask students to change and/or add more adjectives
to make the story more interesting); action verbs.] Read aloud your new story to
your neighbour.
5. Name the characters / people in the story. Put in a rectangle all the words that
refer to them. [Hint: We use nouns and pronouns to refer to characters / people.]
Write down the chain of words to talk about the same character / person below,
paragraph by paragraph. The first one is done for you.
Paragraph 1: princess – Her – Bestest – She – Bestest – her – her
Paragraph 2:
Paragraph 3:
Paragraph 4:
Paragraph 5:
Paragraph 6:
Paragraph 7:
Paragraph 8:
Paragraph 9:
Paragraph 10:
When is a noun used and when is a pronoun used? Are they used only to name
characters?
Part 4: (Re-writing the story)
Do one of the following:
1. In the second last paragraph, Bestest asked the prince how often he cut his fingernails.
How often do you think the prince cut his fingernails? What could Bestest ask him
about again if he came back? Write 3 more paragraphs before the last to give the
prince a last chance.
2. The prince never came back at the end of the story. What if he came back? What
could happen? Write a different ending to the story.
3. Rewrite the story by:
a. swapping the prince and the princess – what different events could have
happened?
OR
b. making the prince demanding the princess to do different things each time he
came – what could the prince ask the princess to do? What could the prince
promise the princess each time?
13
Procedure (manuals, instructions, recipes)
Snap
Materials: A deck of playing cards
Number of players: 6
Instructions:
1. Shuffle the cards (洗牌).
2. Choose one person to be the dealer (發牌者).
3. The dealer deals each player the same number of cards, clockwise, one at a
time and face down.
4. The dealer goes first. He/she places his/her top card in the centre of the
table face up and says the name of the card, for example, ‘The three of
diamonds.’
5. The player on the left of the dealer is the next one. He/she places his/her top
card on top of the previous cards face up and says the name of the card, for
example, ‘The Jack of clubs’. The game continues in a clockwise direction.
6. If a player places a card on the pile that has the same number or picture as
the previous card, any player can shout ‘Snap!’, and quickly put his/ her hand on
the pile and take all the cards.
7. If two or more people shout ‘Snap!’ at the same time, the person with his/her
hand on the cards first wins the cards. This person takes all the cards and the
game continues.
8. When a player uses all the cards in his/her pile, he/she is out. The player with
all the cards at the end of the game is the winner.
Part 1: Language use in a game instruction
1. The above is the instruction of how to play a card game called Snap.
names of a deck of cards first. There are 4 groups of cards:
Ace
Two Three Four
Five Six
Seven
Let’s learn the
Eight Nine Ten
Jack Queen King
Hearts
Diamonds
Clubs
Spades
We say the Ace of hearts, the two of diamonds, the Queen of clubs, the King of spades
etc. Use the table to say the name of each card with your neighbour.
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2. Steps 4 and 5 tell the names of two cards.
Find them in the table in #1 above.
3. There are two ways to place a card: face up or face down. Circle these two phrases
in the instruction.
4. The prepositional phrases are all underlined. Each prepositional phrase gives more
information about a noun or a verb. Draw an arrow from each prepositional phrase to
the noun or verb it describes.
5. Now, take turns to tell your neighbour how to play the game step by step in Chinese.
A tells B Step 1, then B tells A Step 2, then A tells B Step 3 etc.
Part 2: The structure of an instruction
There are 3 parts in the instruction:
1. Materials
2. Number of players
3. Instructions
What does each part tell you?
Part 3: Writing an instruction
The following is the instruction in Chinese of how to play Slapjack. Write the English
version of the instruction. Part of it has been done for you. Complete it.
衾棉胎
用具：一副牌
玩家數目：六
遊戲方法：
1. 洗牌
2. 選其中一位為發牌者。
3. 發牌者將牌平分，順時序依序出牌，
每人每次一張，不能翻開。
4. 首先，發牌者將自己的第一張牌翻開
及放在桌子中間，同時喊‘一’。
5. 發牌者左方的人為下一個玩家。他將
自己的第一張牌翻開及放在上一張已
發的牌上，同時喊‘二’。其後玩家依
序喊到‘十’, ‘「積」’, ‘「囡」’, ‘King’
後，下一個便恢復喊‘一’, ‘二’…如此
類推。遊戲以順時序方向進行。
6. 如果玩家發現發往牌堆上的牌和喊的
數字相同，所有玩家就要立刻朝桌子
中央的牌堆拍下去，掌心向下。最慢
的玩家就要把牌堆的牌都收回去。
Slapjack
Materials:
Number of players:
Instructions:
1. Shuffle the cards.
2. Choose one person to be the dealer
3. The dealer deals each player the same number of cards,
clockwise, one at a time and face down.
4. The dealer goes first. …
15
7. 如果任何玩家在牌的數字和玩家喊的
數字不相同時「誤拍」
，則同樣要將所
有的牌收回。
8. 玩家先必須把手中的所有牌翻開，並
多拍三次而安然渡過沒收牌才能算獲
勝。如果玩家最慢拍牌或「誤拍」
，則
同樣要將所有的牌收回，繼續遊戲。
The instruction in English [You can ask (some) students to write only the prepositional
phrases using the bold underlined phrases in the Chinese version, with the rest of the text
in English given to them]:
衾棉胎
Slapjack
Materials: A deck of playing cards
Number of players: 6
Instructions:
1. Shuffle the cards.
2. Choose one person to be the dealer
3. The dealer deals each player the same number of cards,
clockwise, one at a time and face down.
4.
The dealer goes first. He or she places the top card face up in
牌，每人每次一張，不能翻開。
the centre of the table and says ‘Ace’.
4. 首先，發牌者將自己的第一張牌翻
5. The player on the left of the dealer is the next one. He or she
開及放在桌子中間，同時喊‘一’。
places the top card face up on top of the previous cards and
5. 發牌者左方的人為下一個玩家。他將
says ‘Two’. The next player does the same and says ‘Three’
etc… After ‘Ten’, ‘Jack’, ‘Queen’, ‘King’, the player says
自己的第一張牌翻開及放在上一
‘Ace’, ‘Two’… etc again. The game continues in a clockwise
張已發的牌上，同時喊‘二’。其後
direction.
玩家依序喊到‘十’, ‘「積」’, ‘「囡」’,
‘King’後，下一個便恢復喊‘一’,
6. If a player places a card on the pile which matches the value he
or she says, all the players must ‘slap’ the pile – put one hand
‘二’…如此類推。遊戲以順時序方向
on the pile of cards in the centre of the table, palm
進行。
downwards. The last player to do so must take all the cards and
6. 如果玩家發現發往牌堆上的牌和
the game continues.
喊的數字相同，所有玩家就要立刻 7. If someone ‘slap’ the pile but the value of the card doesn’t
match the value of what the player said, he/ she must also take
朝桌子中央的牌堆拍下去，掌心向
all the cards.
下。最慢的玩家就要把牌堆的牌都
8. In order to win, the player must use all his or her cards and then
收回去。
slap the pile for three more times if he or she is the last to slap,
7. 如果任何玩家在牌的數字和玩家
or if he or she slaps when shouldn’t, he or she has to take all the
喊的數字不相同時「誤拍」，則同
cards as usual and the game continues.
用具：一副牌
玩家數目：六
遊戲方法：
1. 洗牌
2. 選其中一位為發牌者。
3. 發牌者將牌平分，順時序依序出
樣要將所有的牌收回。
8. 玩家先必須把手中的所有牌翻開，並
多拍三次而安然渡過沒收牌才能算獲
勝。如果玩家最慢拍牌或「誤拍」
，
則同樣要將所有的牌收回，繼續遊
戲。
16
Book / Film Review
Echoes of the Rainbow is set in Hong Kong fifty years ago. It is about a boy called Big
Ears (played by Buzz Chung). His father, Mr Law (Simon Yam), and mother (Sandra Ng)
run a shoe shop.
Big Ears is a naughty kid who often gets into trouble. He likes wearing a fishbowl on his
head and pretending he is an astronaut. On the other hand, his serious older brother,
Desmond (Aarif Lee), is a top student. Desmond’s dream is simple – he just wants to be
friends with his pretty classmate Flora (Evelyn Choi).
There is humour and love in the life of Big Ears, and his family, although we sometimes
see sadness too. Echoes of the Rainbow is a film to remember.
[from Longman Elect S1, p.29]
Discussion
One of today’s most controversial subjects is nuclear or atomic power. In the past,
fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas provided enough energy for homes and
industries, but now they are harder to get and more expensive. People in developing
countries throughout the world need cheap energy for better lives. People in
industrialized countries want to keep their high standard of living. Nuclear power by
itself can provide energy for both these purposes.
However, many people oppose atomic energy. They say that the high standard of living
in developed nations is unnecessary. Moreover, nuclear power can be dangerous. A
single accident could kill or injure thousands of people.
A strong argument of the proponents of nuclear energy is that it is clean. Uranium
mines do not damage the land as surface coal mines do. Coal- and oil-powered industries
emit ugly, bad-smelling pollutants; nuclear generators do not. However, opponents of
nuclear energy point out that nuclear reactors pour coolants into streams and rivers.
These coolants change the temperature of the water. Opponents state that the
temperature changes cause damage to fish and plants. Proponents, on the other hand,
say that the warm water from nuclear reactors provides ideal conditions for raising
certain fish.
The safety question is the most important of all. Every nuclear generator has
radioactive waste products. Those opposed to atomic power say that this waste is
dangerous because it is hard to find safe places in which to store it. Moreover, they
state that generators are still dangerous and give the accident at Three Mile Island,
Pennsylvania, as an example. At the Three Mile Island generators, the cooling system
failed. This caused the temperature of the generators fuel core to rise. The danger
was that if the core became very hot, it might melt and let radioactive materials
escape. On the other hand, proponents reply that this did not happen because nuclear
generators are built very carefully. Furthermore, governments have made many safety
rules to assure safe operation.
Nevertheless, since Three Mile Island, people are afraid of nuclear power. What is
your opinion? Is nuclear power safe? Would you want to have an atomic power plant in
your community? These are important questions for people throughout the world.
[from Sorenson, S. (1997). Student writing handbook. New York: Macmillan.]
17
Genres and Stages
1. Find the stages for each of the following genres from the table below (write the letter
of the genre into the box on the top right corner of each set of stages):
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Advice
Application Letter
Book/Film Review
Character Description
Complaint Letter
Discussion
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
(k)
(l)
Letter to the Editor
Persuasion
Postcard
Proposal
Response to request
Travel/Promotion brochure
Greetings and update^
More news^
*Closing and connection
Thesis^
Arguments for^
Reiteration of thesis
Aim of complaint^
Evidence for complaint^
Request for action
Aim of the proposal^
Details of the proposal^
Justifications for the
proposal
Acknowledge request^
Response to request 1^
Response to request 2^ etc.
*Re-acknowledge request
Empathy and help offer ^
Advice for the problems^
*Words of comfort and offer
of further help
Catchy title^
The attractions^
Details of one attraction^
*Details of another
attraction^
Call for a visit
Synopsis of book / film
reviewed^
Main themes in book / film
reviewed^
Recommendation
Issue/Topic^
Others’ / Current view(s)^
Your view with evidence^
*Reiteration of your view
The character and his/her
significance^
Good points of the character
with evidence^
Weak points of the character
with evidence^
Evaluation
Issue (and text plan)^
Arguments for and against^
Restatement of the issue
OR
Issue^
Arguments for^
Arguments against and
rebuke^
Conclusion/Recommendation
What you are applying for^
Source of information^
*Your background^
Response to the
requirements^
Request for an interview
2. Choose 2-3 genres.
genre as a whole.
Explain how the stages in each genre achieve the purpose of the
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Sub-stages in a stage
A stage can be further organized into sub-stages e.g.,
Acknowledge request^
Response to request 1^
What you requested^
What I did / found for you^
Details of what I did / found^
Comments from me / others about it
Response to request 2^ etc.
*Re-acknowledge request
Empathy and help offer ^
Advice for the problems^
Problem^
Advice^
Why/How it works
*Words of comfort and offer of further help
Stage names can be made easier and more specific to help students e.g.,
Put the following stages of the genre Self-Introduction into an appropriate order
How I feel
My new friend
My secondary school
Myself
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