Reading

and
Writing
BY: Divine Leslie B. Ecot
What’s our
t opi c? “Understanding Texts”
This unit gives you basic
information about texts. Your
understanding of the nature of texts
will help you make your reading
and writing more worthwhile and
more effective.
A text is a large unit of written language. It is a coherent set of
words, phrases, and sentences that expresses one main point or
central idea. It is a connected discourse. Discourse, on the other
hand, has broad definitions-”utterance,” “talk,” “speech,”
“discussion,” and “conversation,” among others. But simply put,
discourse is an expression of ideas. It makes use of spoken and
written language in a social context.
Properties of a Well-written Text
Whenever something is to be done, some people try to visualize the
output first so that they can check how close they are in
accomplishing their task. Similarly, before starting to write, you
must determine first the reason why you are writing. Hence, it is
very important to ask yourself these questions: What do I want to
write about? Why should I write about it? And What do I want to
achieve in writing it? By answering these questions, you become
guided in expressing your thoughts in writing clearly. You should
also consider and ensure the unity and logical arrangement of your
ideas; the appropriateness of your language use; and the correctness
of your capitalization, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Your writing must have the
following characteristics:

Organization

Organization refers to the arrangement of ideas in a

text. You can easily follow good organization when
you create an outline of your ideas before you start
writing. An outline is like a human skeleton. It gives
your writing form in the same way that a skeleton
gives framework to your body. With an outline, you
can easily arrange your ideas in a hierarchy. Your
readers can also clearly differentiate the general idea
Your writing must have the
following characteristics:

Coherence and Cohesion

Coherence refers to the unity of the ideas, sentences, and

paragraphs in a text. Cohesion, on the other hand, refers to the
connection of ideas at the sentence level, or in other words, the
grammatical aspects of writing. Coherence is the unifying
element of good writing. The text, being a connected discourse,
should have ideas that stick together for it to be considered well
written. For your text to be coherent, your words, phrases, and
sentences must flow smoothly and logically from one to another.
This can be achieved using transitional devices or words or
phrases that signal connections among ideas. For your text to be
Your writing must have the
following characteristics:

Appropriate Language Use

Appropriate language use refers to the acceptable

writing style for a particular form of text. For business
correspondences, for instance, the style employed is
concise and formal. Writers of such texts avoid
wordiness and use a courteous tone. Tone refers to the
attitude of the writer towards his work. It is affected by
a writer’s choice of words, which in turn, determines his
or her voice. Voice refers to the level of formality of the
personality that a writer is trying to assume in writing a
Your writing must have the
following characteristics:

Proper Mechanics

Mechanics refers to the conventions of writing such

as capitalization, punctuation, correct spelling and
numerals, abbreviation, acronyms, and contractions.
When you misspell a word, use punctuation marks
incorrectly, or do not observe correct capitalization,
you commit errors in mechanics. In many cases, these
errors root from one’s carelessness or quick writing.
They do not interfere with your understanding of the
Reading-Writing Connection

You have learned from module 1 that both the reader

and the writer get involved with text. As you will be
dealing with the processes of reading and writing in
this module, it is important for you to know something
that is common between them-the subject. A subject is
something that is acted upon. Both the reader and the
writer act upon the text that they read and write.

Both reading and writing are processes characterized

Techniques in Selecting and
Organizing Information in
Reading and Writing
Effective reading and writing entails using techniques
in selecting and organizing information from the text
that you read or write. The use of graphic organizers is
a useful reading technique. In writing, on the other
hand, you should be familiar with the different patterns
of development and their conventions, which have the
same components as the graphic organizers.
Graphic Organizers

One property of a well-written text is

organization. This means that a text follows
a logical structure or arrangement of ideas.
Example:
One way to do so is using a graphic
organizer.
Time pattern organizer – This pattern is used when
the ideas in a text need to be arranged chronologically such as in
stories and procedures. For texts with this pattern, the graphic
organizer below may be used.

Example:
Space pattern organizer – This pattern is
commonly used in descriptions to show how an object of
description appears in space (e.g., from top to bottom, from left to
right). For this pattern, the graphic organizer below may be used.

Example:
Listing pattern organizer – This pattern is used
when the writer provides a series of details that does not require
any order. For this pattern, the graphic organizer below may be
used.

Example:
Classification pattern organizer – This
pattern is used when the writer divides a group into subgroups or
smaller groups. The graphic organizer below may be created.

Example:
Comparison and contrast pattern
organizer – A writer uses this pattern to show the similarities
and differences between two or more subjects. A text that follows the
comparison and contrast pattern uses the graphic organizer called
Venn diagram. In using a Venn diagram, put the similarities of the
subjects in the overlapping area while the distinctive qualities or
differences in the nonoverlapping areas.

Example:
Cause-and-effect pattern organizer – This
pattern is used when the writer intends to express why something
happened or what resulted in that particular event. The graphic
organizer below may be used.

Example:
Generalization and example pattern
organizer – This pattern is used when the writer explains a
general idea and discusses it using specific terms then presents
examples. As a reader, you may find the graphic organizer below
useful.

Example:
Definition pattern organizer – This pattern
is used when the writer provides a meaning of a new or difficult
word. As a reader, you may find the Frayer Model below useful.

Example:
Patterns of Development

Patterns of development are structures that writers use to

organize their ideas. As a writer, you have to be familiar with
such so that you would know how to connect your ideas and
provide enough details in your writing. The different patterns
of development and the writer’s purpose for using each are
the following.
 Pattern of Development Writer’s Purpose

Narration To tell a story

Description To appeal to readers’ senses

Definition To explain meaning of a word or a concept

Exemplification To explain a category through an example or vice versa

Cause and Effect To explain the reason and result of a phenomenon or vice
versa
Comparison/Contrast To analyze which of the topics is better or worse

Problem-Solution To propose a solution to a problem or vice versa

Persuasion To convince the readers to accept a proposition and take

action
 Outlining
Knowing the different patterns of development will help
you arrange your ideas into an outline, which will be
your guide in creating a first draft of your text. In
writing an outline, you must recognize the hierarchy of
the ideas that you will arrange. You should be familiar
with your subject so that you can follow the proper
subordination of ideas, which means that one idea must
be dependent on another idea.
 Two Outline Formats

Alphanumeric Format Decimal Format

Alphanumeric, also referred to
as alphameric, is a term that Decimal Format is a concrete
encompasses all of the letters subclass of Number Format that
and numerals in a given formats decimal numbers. It has
language set. In layouts a variety of features designed to
designed for English language make it possible to parse and
users, alphanumeric characters format numbers in any locale,
are those comprised of the including support for Western,
combined set of the 26 Arabic, and Indic digits.
alphabetic characters, A to Z,
and the 10 Arabic numerals, 0
to 9.
Alphanumeric Format Example:
Decimal Format Example:
 Patterns
of Development
Pattern of Development: Narration

Narration is the pattern of development in writing that is used to tell or

retell a story or a set of related events. Being able to narrate events is a
useful skill because it could help you prove a point, which you constantly
do whenever you communicate with others. When you read narrative
texts, take note of the events that happened in the story and how each
scene was described through the use of vivid details.
Pattern of Development: Description

As you may have realized by now, a descriptive text is the type of

writing that creates a clear picture of a single scene, object, person,
place, or anything visible. When you are writing a descriptive text,
think of yourself as a camera. You must focus your description on
a single item because a camera cannot focus on many items at the
same time.
 Pattern of Development: Definition

A definition text is the type of writing that explains not only what something
means but also what something does, what something is used for, what
something looks like, and others. Simply put, to write a definition text is to write
about something in a way that you distinguish it from any other things in the
world. A definition text is used not only to inform. You may also use this to
entertain, that is, by giving a humorous definition of a popular term. You may
want to define a term to enlighten people about a controversy as well.
 Pattern of Development: Classification-Exemplification

Classification is the method in which one divides things into groups, classes, or
categories. Exemplification, on the other hand, is the method of providing
examples and illustrations to further clarify or explain a concept or subject
matter. When you provide an example, you are actually referring to one of the
things that are classified. For instance, when you provide an example of an
outdoor hobby, you can say running. Thus, running is classified as an outdoor
hobby, while using running as an example of an outdoor hobby is
exemplification.
Pattern of Development: Comparison and Contrast
Comparison and contrast text is the type of writing that is used to critically
discuss the relationship between two things, particularly by citing their
similarities and differences. Topics for comparison and contrast essays are
limited to two considering that the writer will have to compare and contrast these
two topics using at least three points of comparison/contrast. It would be
confusing to have more than two topics. Also, comparing requires only two
items. If you intend to compare a topic to two other topics, you will have to write
another comparison and contrast text having the other one of those two topics.
Pattern of Development: Cause and Effect

A cause-and-effect text is the type of writing that explains why something

happened and what results a particular event produces. This type of pattern
lays out the reasons and consequences of situations that occurred in one’s life.
Writing cause-and-effect texts practices your critical thinking because you
must be able to logically trace connections among different ideas or
phenomena to establish cause-effect relationships.
 Pattern of Development: Problem-Solution
Problem-solution text is the type of writing that focuses on either a problem or a
solution in a particular area or situation. In this text, the writer’s topic could be a
problem, while his or her points enumerate the possible solutions to it. It can
also be the other way around. The solution can be a topic in a problem-solution
text, while the problems that the solution can possibly address may serve as the
topics for the texts supporting points. Problem-solution texts could be useful for
you to express or show your concern for other people. You are able to write
about the pressing problems in your community and offer solutions to address.
Pattern of Development: Persuasion

A persuasive text is the type of writing that convinces readers to agree with an
argument or a claim about a particular topic. Writers of persuasive texts
usually would like the readers to do an action that is related to the main idea of
the text. Sometimes, the writer simply commands or requests the readers to
change their minds.
Revising

Do necessary revisions on your draft if you answered “no” to any

of the questions in t revision checklist below. Add more or
eliminate details, if necessary.

Revision Checklist
•Does the thesis statement contain the topic and your argument?
•Does each of the topic sentence in the body support the argument
in the the statement?
•Do the specific details contribute to the reader’s understanding of the topic and
argument?
•Do you use transition words or phrases that signal persuasion?
Editing

Proofread your draft if you think that the text

needs no further revision, that is, if you have
conformed to the specific features of
persuasion pattern. Check for spelling,
punctuation, format, and grammatical errors.
You may include pictures with captions in
your text.
End of the Presentation