It is no secret to anyone that texts can be classified based on different criteria.
The order, in terms of its most salient features, allows the reader to satisfy whatever it is they are looking for in a specific type of text above the rest, and therefore, save valuable time.
If you are interested in knowing the different ways in which texts are ordered, do not worry! Next we will review their different classifications.
Classification of Texts by Type
It is possibly the most practical and simple way by which you can give a classification to the different texts.
It is based on the order of texts according to their literary characteristics and the way in which they express their content to the public.
Among the main types of text you could mention:
Narrative texts
They tell all kinds of stories that seek to fascinate their readers, being mostly entertainment readings.
Descriptive texts
As the name implies, are texts that seek to describe a person, situation, event, feeling or among others to provide such knowledge to the public. Always procuring the accuracy of the data they exhibit.
Here the author seeks to project what he has in mind, through words.
Expository Texts
They explain a topic through a set of verifiable data, being of an objective nature, to accurately inform their audience regarding a particular topic.
Argumentative texts
Very similar to the expository texts, with the difference that the author seeks to convince his readers about the point of view that he exposes, about a specific topic.
Normative Texts
They are used for the drafting of legal statutes or any other type of laws and regulations that regulate the codes of behavior, both individual and collective.
Journalistic Texts
Like the descriptive ones, they seek to inform their audience regarding a specific point. However, its only means of dissemination is through the press.
Advertising Texts
They are used to transmit to a certain audience a message that establishes a commercial link, promoting a specific product or service.
Scientific texts
They present the advances that have taken place one or several scientific currents, as well as the development of new areas of specific knowledge.
Classification of Texts According to its Form
According to this criterion, texts are organized based on the characteristics with which the text is written.
In relation to this, I can mention the following:
Prose
It is the name given to the traditional way in which the information of a text is exposed, being in most cases free and governing the structure that determines the type of text that is written.
Verse
It is characterized by the use of connections between phrases through the rhyme, these being predecessors to the prose in the Romance languages for the written exposition of testimonies.
Metrics
It can be understood as a midpoint between the Prose and the Verse, being a form of rhythmic composition but less rigorous in terms of the rhyme. Poetry is usually a clear example of metrics.
Classification of Texts According to its Structure
It is a way in which texts are arranged according to the internal composition of the content, and the way in which the main idea is developed (along with the rest of secondary ideas) throughout the writing.
This can be grouped as follows:
By Chapters
It is presented mainly in narrative texts, although its classification is not exempt in the rest of the writings.
Here the content is classified according to the number of points that the author considers necessary for the development of the content, without as much rigor as for the structure.
Introduction, development and conclusion
It begins by offering readers the necessary information to understand the subject that will be exposed throughout the text.
Then, all the aspects covered by the main topic are developed, as well as their relationship with other topics of relevance to the reader’s knowledge.
Finally it elaborates a synthesis of the exposed ideas and offers a closing to the subject of the content.
Headline, Entradilla and Body of the News
This is the structure used by journalistic texts to describe any event in the written press.
Here the statement of the news is presented, followed by a brief introduction to the facts and finally the presentation of the content itself.
4.- Classification of Texts According to their Function
Another one of the most frequent forms that we find for the classification of the different texts, because it is directly related to the interests with which the readers count.
In this sense, they can be classified as follows:
Expressive Function
It is used when the authors of the texts want to convey intense emotions or simply want to win the reader’s empathy.
Appellate Function
It seeks to attract the attention of readers, as well as generate a response from them based on the idea that develops in the text.
Informative function
It stands out in scientific and academic texts, since it seeks to make known to a certain audience a series of data provided by real events. It is also presented in texts that announce an event close to the public.
Aesthetic Function
Generally linked to entertainment readings, they try to convey to readers an art form transmitted through words. The narrations and the poems are a clear example of this.
The different existing texts can be organized in multiple ways, but the importance in this diversity of classification criteria is that you can easily access them depending on what you are looking for.
Have you found these classifications useful?