ENGLISH WK4

CONTEXT
There is always an inspiration behind the writing of a text, and often, it leaves
clues about the situation or the reality that served as the backdrop of the text.
This backdrop, this situation, this reality is known as the context of the text.

When you consider context as you write things, be guided by the following
reminders:

 If you are writing non-fiction—academic texts, historical narratives,

argumentative essays, position papers, etc.—you need to stick to the
facts. Portray reality as it is. To do so, you must conduct extensive
research using scholarly references.

 When using context, try to represent several perspectives—by citing

different sources.

 If you are writing fiction and aim to integrate your context into it,

remember to not make the tale too far off from human and worldly
reality. Works like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Ibong
Adarna, while they are fictional, have a lot of the human touch in
them—making them relevant to audiences.

 
Text Development
There are several ways by which a text is developed. You learned in junior
high school about the forms of essays: descriptive, narrative, expository, and
argumentative. In this book, you will learn about the other forms that fall
under expository texts.

Each form has its own way of developing the text, but here are the essentials
that you need to remember:

 Purpose. It must have an aim or an objective. You need to know the

reason why you are writing the text, and what you intend to achieve
from your readers—to make them laugh, to convince them to take
action, to let them understand something, and to educate them, among
others.
  Audience. Do not forget to know your target audience. Is it for the
youth? Is it for adults? Is it for experts? Is it for novices? Remember
that you cannot always resonate to every single person in the world;
you need to focus on a target audience. In this manner, you will be
able to adjust the content, your use of language, and your style of
presentation.

 Content and Meaning. Your work needs to have substance. Apart from

being considerate of your target audience, what will make them read
the work is its content and meaning.

 
HYPERTEXT
One of the recent developments in reading has been brought about by the
advancement of technology. Let’s take a look at the technological
advancements that you’re familiar with.

Perhaps you encircled most of these. If you did and you read texts through the
said gadgets, you may have noticed that some web pages have texts that have
hyperlinks (normally underlined and in blue color).

What makes hypertext unique is the speed at which you can shift to different
texts. When the first text mentions the concept that is also discussed in
another text, all you have to do is to click the hyperlink and the other page
will load.

What happens when we shift to different texts?

One good thing that hypertext does is allowing readers to shift to different web
pages almost instantly. When you get to navigate around the internet and view
several web pages in a matter of seconds or minutes, you have a greater chance
of getting a better picture of the entire scenario in a fast manner. There are now
so many news websites and applications that are accessible via the internet.
Often, when you read a news article – especially one that belongs to a series –
you will see hyperlinks that will bring you to other related news stories. This
helps the reader get a better understanding of the whole story.
Always remember that true comprehension is being able to understand the
whole picture. (Context, Hypertext, and Intertext (Lesson Guide)., n.d.)
 
INTERTEXT
“Intertextuality is the way that one text influences another. This can be a direct
borrowing such as a quotation or plagiarism, or slightly more indirect such as
parody, pastiche, allusion, or translation. The function and effectiveness of
intertextuality can often depend quite a bit on the reader’s prior knowledge and
understanding before reading the secondary text; parodies and allusions depend
on the reader knowing what is being parodied or alluded to. However, there also
are many examples of intertextuality that are either accidental on the part of the
author or optional, in the sense that the reader is not required to understand the
similarities between texts to grasp the significance of the secondary text fully.”
(Intertextuality Examples and Definition, n.d.)

Let’s take a look how we can benefit from intertextuality:

 We can widen our knowledge. Reading more leads to knowing more,

and that can help broaden what you know about the topic.

 We can view different texts and different perspectives. Referring to

different texts and authors helps give you other perspectives about
the same topic, preventing you from having a fundamentalist view of
things.

 We can be more certain of what we know. Finding out that your

ideas match the ideas of the previous authors helps validate the
things you know. It likewise increases the credibility of the
information.

 
Common Examples of Intertextuality
We use different examples of intertextuality frequently in common speech,
such as allusions like the following:

 He was lying so obviously; you could almost see his nose growing.

 He’s asking her to the prom. It’s like a happy version of Romeo and
Juliet.
  It’s hard being an adult! Peter Pan had the right idea.

The concept of intertextuality can also be expanded to music, film, advertising,

and how everything produced now is influenced by what came before.
References to pop culture in advertising, films that are made from books, and
diss tracks in rap can all be considered intertextual, though they are not strictly
texts.” (Context, Hypertext, and Intertext (Lesson Guide)., n.d.)