Narrative (fiction) texts Essay

Children should be able to distinguish narrative texts from expository ones. For a child to be familiar with each type of text means to possess sound communicational, analytical, reading, and writing skills. DQ 14 It is critical that children are able to distinguish expository texts from narrative works of writing. Generally, there are several features which make narrative and expository texts different from each other. Narrative (fiction) texts are filled with numerous sensory details. Personal experience is not a rare subject of fiction stories. Fiction literary works are usually told from a first person’s view. In many instances, the author of a fiction story will refer to personal interpretation of events and phenomena by using â€Å"I† or â€Å"we† pronouns. Expository (non-fiction) texts are primarily aimed at informing, explaining, or persuading the reader. Expository texts are not colored with emotions, being written from a non-personal (often neutrally objective) viewpoint, and carrying no sensory details. Expository texts are never written in the first person (Vacca, 1999). Children should be able to differentiate expository texts from narrative literary works. Children need these skills to read and interpret texts, to be able to search and analyze the required information, to choose a correct writing style according to the specific writing needs and circumstances (Vacca, 1999). The process of education requires using either expository or narrative information as the source of knowledge on various curriculum subjects. To understand the meaning of a word, to communicate with audiences, to acquire new information, and to use this information to achieve personal goals, children need to possess sound knowledge on what a fiction, and what a non-fiction text is. The five examples of fiction books: Louis Ehlert’s Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf; Mary Hoffman’s Amazing Grace; Jerry Stanley’s Children on the Dust Bowl; Harriette Gillem Robinet’s Children of the Fire; Marya Dasef’s Tales of a Texas Boy. The five examples of non-fiction books: DK Publishing’s Children’s History of the 20th century; Delia Ray’s A Nation Torn: The Story of How the Civil War Began; Anne Millard’s Pyramids; Aliki’s Communication; Russell Freedman’s Children of the Wild West. References Vacca, R. T. (1999). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the curriculum. New York: Longman.