1 MODULE 2 – THE NON-LITERARY TEXT

2 MODULE 2 – THE NON-LITERARY TEXT

Module 2

The Non-Literary Texts

I. Module Learning Outcomes:

In this lesson, you should be able to:

1. describe the nature of non-literary texts;

2. state the definitions of various non-literary texts;
3. specify the functions of non-literary texts;
4. distinguish non-literary texts from literary texts;
5. research for an example of a non-literary text.

II. Pre – Assessment:

Answer the questions based only on what you already know.

1. Explain the nature of non-literary texts?

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2. Give at least three types of non-literary texts and their specific functions.
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3. Contrast non-literary texts from literary texts.
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III. Lesson Map:

Non-Literary Texts

Nature and Non-Literary Texts

Functions VS. Literary Texts

Non-Literary Text
Samples

Figure 1. This lesson deals with the nature, distinctness, functions, and examples of non-literary
texts.

IV. Core Content:

ENGAGE: Describing a Non-literary Text Sample

Activity 1: Read the news article below before answering the succeeding question.
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DOH reports zero new COVID-19 deaths for 2 days, citing 'technical issues'
SEP 25, 2021 6:27 PM PHT

From September 24 to 25, the Department of Health (DOH) failed to report the number of new
deaths due to COVID-19 in the Philippines.

This kept the death toll at 37,405 for two days.

"No deaths were reported today (Saturday, September 25) due to technical issues in
COVIDKaya. The Department of Information and Communications Technology is currently
addressing issues encountered by the system," the DOH said in a statement.

"When the issue is resolved, the succeeding increase in deaths in the following reports will be
due to the previous days' backlogs," the department added.

On Saturday, the health department was able to report new cases and recoveries at 16,907
and 27,121, respectively.

The new cases bring the Philippines' total caseload to 2,470,235. Of these, 165,110 are active
cases, or those who are currently sick with COVID-19.

Total recoveries, meanwhile, were pegged at 2,267,720.

The DOH reported a positivity rate of 23.6% out of 74,606 tests in its bulletin. These positive
cases were added to the tally of confirmed cases only after further validation. This process
helps ensure cases would not be recorded in duplicate, and that all test results had been
submitted, explained the department.

The positivity rate of 23.6% means that almost one in four people tested turned out positive for
the virus.

The DOH said all testing hubs were operational on Thursday, September 23, while four
laboratories were not able to submit their data on time. The cases reflected in the bulletin were
based on tests conducted two days ago.

Call to fix data

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Earlier this month, medical experts renewed their call for the government to fix gaps in its
COVID-19 data reporting, citing this as a crucial aspect of the government's pandemic
response.

The call came as the government shifted Metro Manila on September 16 to a granular lockdown
system, which allowed for several industries like dining and personal care services to slightly
open up. The government claimed the quarantine level adjustments were made based on data.

"We are inclined to believe that the proposed scheme, which claims to use pandemic severity
and healthcare utilization data in deciding the alert level, does not reflect the true situation on
the ground," said the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Saturday that output from laboratories
decreased, which may have something to do with the increased use of rapid antigen tests.

Antigen test results are not yet part of the DOH's official tally.

The Philippines continues to battle record-breaking case tallies over the past weeks driven by
the highly infectious Delta variant, now named the dominant COVID-19 variant in the country.
– Rappler.com

Source: https://www.rappler.com/nation/coronavirus-cases-philippines-september-25-2021

QUESTION: What adjectives will best describe the news article above in terms of content
and language style? Give at least five.

1.____________________________

2.____________________________

3.____________________________

4.____________________________

5.____________________________

EXPLORE: Dissecting the Non-Literary Text

6 MODULE 2 – THE NON-LITERARY TEXT

What Is a Non-Literary Text?

Have you ever seen an advertisement on a billboard? Or read an article in a newspaper

or magazine? If so, then you have read a non-literary text. Non-literary texts are texts such as
advertisements, brochures, and newspaper or magazine articles and editorials. They are typically
short and to the point, and they do not use a lot of figurative language like imagery and metaphor.
They are also non-fiction, though there are literary examples of non-fiction as well, such as
biographies.

In addition, non-literary texts usually contain facts and figures, especially articles and
brochures. As you can see, there are a number of text types that fall under this category, and they
can cover a wide variety of topics. However, they all share a number of qualities, including having
a main idea, a purpose, and an intended audience (Identifying a Non-literary Text's Main Idea,
Purpose & Audience, 2020).

Literary texts versus Non-literary texts

Texts that are characterized as non-literary text types are wide and varied. The list below
includes some non-literary text types (English Language & Literature, 2019).

Non-literary text types

advertisement autobiography biography

brochure/leaflet cartoon diary

encyclopaedia entry essay infographic

letter (formal & informal) magazine article memoir

parody pastiche photographs

set of instructions speech travel writing

The nature of a text

Although there are some fundamental differences between a text that is considered a
literary work and one that is a non-literary text, the essential nature of a text remains the same:
to communicate with the reader. Chimombo and Roseberry (1998) define a text in the following
way:

First consider discourse and what it is. Discourse is a process resulting in a communicative
act. The communicative act itself takes the form of a text. A text is commonly thought of as
consisting of written or printed words on a page; but a text may also consist of sign language or
7 MODULE 2 – THE NON-LITERARY TEXT

spoken words, or it may comprise only the thoughts of a writer, or speaker, on the one hand or a
reader or listener, on the other. In addition to words, a text may consist of other symbols, sounds,
gestures, or silences, in any combination that is intended to communicate information such as
ideas, emotional states, and attitudes. It may fail to communicate, but if the intention to
communicate is clearly there, it must be regarded as a text.

The nature of the non-literary text

A non-literary text is first and foremost ‘non-fiction’. Non-fiction means it is an account of

the truth and deals with facts and information that can be substantiated. It is based on the real
world and is about real-life experiences. This does not mean all non-literary texts are objective,
though – an encyclopaedia entry, a recipe from a cookery book or a set of instructions on how to
change a bicycle tyre are likely to be objective, whereas an advertisement, a newspaper editorial
or a politician’s speech are likely to be subjective. A text’s purpose is what will usually denote how
objective or subjective a text is (English Language & Literature, 2019).

The following list of points to consider is to be found in non-literary texts:

A. Text Type

As with literary texts, the first thing we have to determine with non-literary texts is the text
type. Possible non-literary text types are: newspaper or magazine articles, letters to the editor,
brochures, advertisements, reports, and editorials. Normally it is not difficult to decide which type
of text we are analysing; we have to look at the kind of information conveyed and the format in
which it is presented.

Typical features of:

• newspaper articles, magazine articles

- headlines, photographs, human interest stories, (frequently) colloquial or idiomatic language.

• letters to the editor

- praise for a good article; criticism of opinions expressed by the newspaper; suggestions for
improving the newspaper; criticism or praise of politicians.

• brochures
- information about a product or service; glossy format; photographs and illustrations.

• advertisements
- eye-catching pictures, illustrations or cartoons; humorous or witty remarks with a play on
words; exaggerated praise of the product or service offered.
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• reports (press)
- factual information; objective style; diagrams or photographs to illustrate points.

• editorials
- the opinion of the newspaper on a particular subject; rhetorical devices like metaphors,
hyperbole, irony.

B. Content

Here we are interested in determining what kind of information the text conveys or what
subject-matter it contains. Does it contain facts or does it express an opinion, for example? Is the
text anecdotal (telling interesting illustrative stories) or is it analytical (presenting causes, reasons
and effects)? What role does any visual material play? What is the relationship between the text
and the visual material?

C. Structure and Form

As with literary texts, it is important to define the structure of a non-literary text. Many
formal, non-literary texts will follow the pattern described for essays with an introduction, main
part and conclusion. It is a good idea to determine these main sections first. Sometimes it is
difficult to say exactly where the introduction ends and the main part begins, so you will need to
point out transitions that link the sections of the text together.

Once you have determined the main sections, look at each section in greater detail.

Introduction

• Does the author tell the reader what the text will be about?
• Does he or she begin with an example or anecdote?

Main part

This section is usually more complex than the others. Try to find answers to the following
questions:

• What kind of information is presented - facts, arguments, or opinions?

• How are the facts and arguments or opinions arranged - as a numbered list, as examples,
as pros and cons?
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For this purpose it is a good idea to look at the individual paragraphs which make up the
section that you are examining, since the authors themselves will already have arranged their
ideas in paragraphs. Generally, each paragraph will contain one important idea, normally
expressed in a topic sentence (which says what the paragraph is about). So try to summarise in
perhaps one sentence what each paragraph expresses. If you then look at your list of sentences,
you should get a fairly clear idea of the internal structure of the text.

lf the text presents facts, try to determine how the facts are arranged:
• as a list?
• as a selection of examples?
• as contrasts?
• as comparisons?

lf the text presents arguments, try to discover how the arguments relate to each other:

–– all of the pro-arguments followed by all of the con-arguments, followed by a conclusion?

–– the pros and the cons for each individual point, followed by a final conclusion?
–– Does the author try to take account of other opinions apart from his or her own? lf so, where?

Conclusion

–– does the author give his or her own opinion?

–– does he or she refer back to the introduction?
–– does he or she draw a conclusion on the basis of the facts presented?
–– if so, he or she will probably have used an inductive approach (presentation of facts from which
a conclusion is drawn).
–– how do the text and headline or title go together?

In non-literary texts formal aspects of presentation can play a very important role.

D. Function

For what purposes might a text have been written? Any conclusions that we draw are
normally speculative, as we can never be entirely sure about an author's intentions. Possible
functions are:

1. to inform
2. to amuse
3. to criticise
4. to satirise
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5. to persuade
6. to praise
A text may also have as its purpose any combination of these functions.

E. Style and Tone

Just as with literary texts it is important to analyse the style and tone of a non-literary text.

Source:

http://s842bb6fb337cdaa2.jimcontent.com/download/version/1373365328/module/7904157321/
name/Engl-nonfiction.pdf

EXPLAIN:

Activity 2: Answer the following:

1. How do literary text types differ from non-literary ones? Explain the nature of each.
2. Is knowing the different non-literary text types helpful in understanding the nature of non-
literary texts? Defend your answer.
3. Which among the text types mentioned in this module are you more familiar? Why?

V. Topic Summary:

What Is a Non-Literary Text?

Non-literary texts are texts such as advertisements, brochures, and newspaper or

magazine articles and editorials. They are typically short and to the point, and they do not use a
lot of figurative language like imagery and metaphor. They are also non-fiction, though there are
literary examples of non-fiction as well, such as biographies.

The nature of the non-literary text

A non-literary text is first and foremost ‘non-fiction’. Non-fiction means it is an account of

the truth and deals with facts and information that can be substantiated. It is based on the real
world and is about real-life experiences.

The following list of points to consider is to be found in non-literary texts:

Text Types

✓ newspaper articles, magazine articles

✓ letters to the editor
✓ brochures
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✓ advertisements
✓ reports (press)
✓ editorials

Content - Here we are interested in determining what kind of information the text conveys or what
subject-matter it contains.

Structure and Form - As with literary texts, it is important to define the structure of a non-literary
text. Many formal, non-literary texts will follow the pattern described for essays with an
introduction, main part and conclusion.

Function - For what purposes might a text have been written? Any conclusions that we draw are
normally speculative, as we can never be entirely sure about an author's intentions.

Style and Tone - Just as with literary texts, it is important to analyse the style and tone of a non-
literary text.

VI. References:

Book:

Bantawig, R. (2016). Easy Linguistics. Mindshapers Company, Inc., Recoletos, Manila.

Online:

Ansari, A. (2016). Understanding Language and Literature. Retrieved from

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d951/ec8f61a3a4d1641d3d131dbe7ebbd9cc54fc.pdf
Retrieved 3 September 2020

Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. (2019). The Guerilla Is Like a Poet by Jose Maria
Sison. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.1980.10405582. Retrieved 3
September 2020

Pazzibugan, D. (2016). Miriam Santiago: I told God I’m ready, but He wasn’t. Retrieved
from
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/779636/miriam-santiago-i-told-god-im-ready-but-he-wasnt
Retrieved 3 September 2020

Posey, L. (2020). Identifying a Non-literary Text's Main Idea, Purpose & Audience.
Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/identifying-a-non-literary-texts-main-
idea-purpose-audience.html. Retrieved 3 September 2020
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Tandy, L. (2019). English Language and Literature. Retrieved from

www.hoddereducation.co.uk
Retrieved 3 September 2020

Tucker, A. (2019). Non-Literary Texts (Previews, Langenscheidt 50747). Retrieved from

http://s842bb6fb337cdaa2.jimcontent.com/download/version/1373365328/module/79041
57321/name/Engl-nonfiction.pdf. Retrieved 3 September 2020

Zamora, G. (2020). Batanes province on Tuesday reported its first case of COVID-19.
Retrieved from https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/29/20/batanes-confirms-first-covid-
19-case. Retrieved 3 September 2020