THE Five Language GENRES
As part of your Leaving Cert English course, you must know the five main types of English language use. You also need to be able to recognise them in order to answer the style and language type questions that are often asked for Question A. And finally, students must also be proficient in their use of them and showcase this proficiency in your Question Bs and essays.
1 THE LANGUAGE OF NARRATION:
The purpose of narrative language is to tell the reader a story. It’s as simple as that! We use the language of narration continuously during our everyday lives when we are giving our friends an update on how the weekend went, or any recent news in our social circle.
It is the language of stories, and uses techniques that are unique to its genre. These include the choice of narrator, creation of characters, conflict, tension, dialogue, setting etc.
2 THE LANGUAGE OF DESCRIPTION:
The purpose of descriptive language is to describe something to the reader in a way that makes it easy for them to imagine. Descriptive techniques include the poetic techniques that you are already familiar with from studying poetry; sound techniques like onomatopoeia and sibilance, visual imagery such as simile and metaphor. The descriptive writer is continuously appealing to your five senses (touch, taste, sound, sight and smell) in order to help you summon up a memory of what is being described, or to imagine what it’s like. It is often used in conjunction with narrative language. After all, what’s the point in telling a story if you don’t describe the people, places and emotions in it? Therefore, if the introduction to a Question A states that it’s an extract from a novel or short story, then you can be sure that the languages of narration and description are present.
3 THE LANGUAGE OF ARGUMENT:
The purpose of argumentative language is to force the reader to agree with the writer’s point of view by using facts and figures that appeal to their brain/sense of logic. It is most commonly used in speeches and opinion piece articles. It uses factual language to strengthen the writer’s point of view on a topic. You will notice a reliance on studies, surveys, facts, figures, statistics, quotes, percentages, that all strengthen the argument being made. Powerful phrases, repetition and emphatic words all help to hammer the writer’s point home.
4 THE LANGUAGE OF PERSUASION:
The purpose of persuasive language is to coax the reader to agree with the writer’s point of view by using emotive language that appeals to their heart and feelings. It is similar to the language of argument as both want to influence the reader’s opinion. However, the methods they use to achieve this are entirely different. Persuasive language is more subtle, often insidious. It doesn’t hammer you over the head with so many facts that it makes you feel stupid if you don’t agree. Persuasive language appeals to the emotional, non-logical side of the brain. Persuasive language gets you to agree by appealing to your feelings. It uses techniques such as emotional language, flattery, humour, moral pressure, personal anecdotes. It is often used in conjunction with argumentative language in speeches and opinion piece articles. In fact, the most powerful way a writer can influence a reader’s point of view is by using them both at the same time. If you can appeal to a reader’s sense of logic and their feelings at the same time, it’s very difficult to resist. If the introduction to a Question A states that it’s an extract from a speech or talk, then you can be sure that the languages of argument and persuasion are present.
5 THE LANGUAGE OF INFORMATION:
The purpose of informative language is to inform the reader about a subject without bias, or opinion. It doesn’t seek to achieve anything except to give you knowledge on a certain topic. It doesn’t want to tell you a story, describe things to you, or to influence your opinion in any way. The perfect example of the language of information is evident in news broadcasts. Sharon Ní Bheoláin would NEVER try to give you her opinion on a news item, she simply informs you about it. It is most often used in articles, reviews and informative books.