TEXT TYPES
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The different aims of a text are:
To inform / to report To persuade / to convince To evaluate / to analyse INFORMATIVE WRITING Informative writing is factual, objective. It presents knowledge, facts or news. It may use examples, explanations, quotations, references or statistics. In this kind of writing, the writer aims to be detached, objective, unbiased and impersonal. Typically in this genre, there is no point of view, no judgement, no evaluation, no persuasion. Informative writing must have a clear format and an obvious structure; it is advisable to use subtitles, stating one issue per paragraph to guide the reader. The text should have an order of succession, a sequence; it should flow logically. The style and register will depend on the readership; however, generally, there are few adjectives, adverbs and figures of speech. However, sometimes, the description will be more evocative in nature and in that case, you will use more creative language, eye-catching titles, more adjectives and adverbs and rhetorical devices. PERSUASIVE WRITING Here you prevail upon a person or people to do something. You may urge, advise, provide reasons or inducements for acting in a certain way. You are conveying a message, a point of view to the reader which is intended to achieve your aim. You are skilfully dealing with a person, manipulating them; you sometimes do this very subtly. You often appeal to the reader’s emotions and you try to get them “on side”. You should try to persuade the reader that your point of view is more valid than the reader’s existing one or any other. Show that you are aware of other opinions and viewpoints, that you have considered these and various aspects of the situation; this will give credence to your point of view and show fairness and broad-mindedness. Language is all-important here: use the right and appropriate figures of speech, expressed in a respectful but friendly way. Comparatives and superlatives are oft-used language items in persuasive writing. The second person is the standard form of address; it involves and engages the reader. There are various styles you can use in persuasive writing – you can be serious and straightforward, or you can try a little humour if it seems appropriate to the subject. EVALUATIVE WRITING To “evaluate” is to “appraise carefully”, to “ascertain the value of”. This is a balanced, objective, rational consideration of an issue, in which two or more aspects or viewpoints are exposed. Consider the relative merits of various arguments. State whys and wherefores. You may have a bias or an empathy, or even a sympathy with one side. However, you must be prepared to discuss both sides of the question, to acknowledge and actually show that you have really evaluated the whole situation and not rejected a viewpoint without due consideration. If you do agree with some aspects of an argument but not with another or others, you should clearly explain your opinions and what you consider to be the merits and weaknesses of a particular viewpoint. 
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