TEXT TYPES

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 STAGING/GIVING MOVES TO GENRE
(Rhetorical Development)

• Each genre has its function/social purpose

• Each genre has its text/generic structure

• Each genre uses different language features

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ANECDOTE
 Generic structure: ANECDOTE
• ABSTRACT
signals the retelling of an unusual incident
• ORIENTATION
sets the scene (when & where)
• CRISIS
provides details of the unusual incident
• REACTION
reaction to crisis
• CODA (optional)
reflection on or evaluation of the incident
 ANECDOTE

 To share with others an account of an unusual or

amusing incident
 Deals with something unexpected or out of the
ordinary
 It is the unexpected events which makes the story
worth telling
 Almost exclusively used for oral genre
 Language Features of Anecdote

• Use of material processes/action verbs to tell what

happened
• Use of exclamations (e.g. ‘guess what?!’ ; ‘I couldn’t
believe it!’)
• Use of intensifiers (e.g. ‘really?!’; ‘very amazing’)

• Use of temporal conjunctions (e.g. and, then)

 Example and Generic Structure

Al Brown was very good at fixing things around the house

when they broke. One day he went to another city to do
some works there, and his wife was alone in the house.
While Mr. Brown was away, one of the faucets on the
bathtub broke. Mrs. Brown didn’t know much about fixing
broken faucets, so she telephoned a plumber.
The plumber came to the house that afternoon and fixed
the faucet in a few minutes. When he finished, he gave
Mrs. Brown his bill for the work.

She looked at it for several seconds and then said, “Your

prices are very high, aren’t they? Do you know, the doctor
costs less than this when he comes to the house?”

“Yes, I know,” answered the plumber. “I know that very

well, because I was a doctor until I was lucky enough to
find this job a few months ago.”