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March 29, 2024, 06:39:09 pm

Author Topic: DISCURSIVE TEXT?  (Read 2079 times)  Share 

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LAURASOMERVILLE

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DISCURSIVE TEXT?
« on: May 21, 2019, 02:46:43 pm »
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How do you write a discursive text? Needed for my assignment. Thanks.

walkmik

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Re: DISCURSIVE TEXT?
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2019, 10:34:13 am »
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Hello!
I have recently been doing discursive in school!
The point of discursive is not solely to have a point or opinion, like an essay, but to show a different perspective in a casual and laid back way.
I find it hard to structure but here is an example of one I started;

As a firm lover of the world of literature, I love to read. I'll read mostly anything, anytime and anywhere. My tastes in books range from the 'classics' such as 'Pride and Prejudice' to light children's novels such as Andy Griffiths 'Robot Riot.' This habit started as a small child where my stepmom would read me a picture book every night on the lounge. This love of reading only escalated into a lifestyle of constantly devouring any books I could find.

This seemingly unquenchable desire to read, sounds great but my love of reading has a few downsides. I am ALWAYS reading. Even when I'm meant to be doing assignments, or into the early morning before an important exam, (sorry to my teachers.) I also found that literature aimed at people my age was depressing dark and sadistic, often displaying themes of violence and Satanism.

I didn't know how to moderate this overwhelming need to pick up my book and read, and it lead to things like last minute assignments, sleep deprivation and just the cluttering of my mind with sometimes not so great themes. I started to realise that what I thought would serve as an advantage in my life was putting me at a disadvantage. The teen-fiction I was reading was leaving me to fill empty and depressed, aided by the lack of sleep. I was using reading as a escape from reality and the important things I had to do.

So I decided I was time for a change. My first step was going to be moderating the content of what I read. I needed to read more quality literature that would be more worthwhile and benefit me. Thinking to myself, at the age of fourteen, about what books I could read, I spotted the sign in the library 'Classic Literature.'
Bingo! That was it! Playing classical music to babies was meant to make them smart right? So logically classical literature should have a similar effect. Browsing the shelves I spotted 'David Copperfield' and it rang some distant bell in my mind. I scooped it up, along with George Orwell's '1984' and Leo Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina' setting off on my merry way to 'educate myself in the classics.' To cut the story short. I hated it. The fact that I forced myself to read anything made that little 'rebellious' part of my soul protest and like a two-year-old I stamped my foot and simply said 'no way.'

So that didn't work...
Then, I came up with the idea that I would trick myself into reading them. I cleared every other book off my shelf and lined it with the 'classics' I found. I reasoned that if it was the only books I could see, I might just happen to be interested in one of them. This idea actually worked. When I scanned through the titles my eye caught on 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte. I was drawn to it and instantly started reading. Non-stop.

This leads me to the second lesson I had to learn. Moderation!
I needed to give myself set times where I could read because it wasn't healthy to be reading so late or so early. It meant I often had to catch up because I was reading instead of listening to the teacher.
I decided I'd only read in the afternoons after I had completed all my homework. This kind of worked for a while, until I got higher up in school and homework started taking a little more time than it used to. I went back to reading by torchlight at night and waking up in a bad mood. I needed to change my schedule again. It was then I realised I could read on the bus. This may sound silly, after all, I had been catching the bus since primary, didn't I already figure this out?
Well... The bus ride was usually saved for homework, last minute edits or trying to get ahead so I had more spare time.
So this new ritual of reading on the way to and from school became my new norm and I still do it, even to this day!

That, my friends, is the tale of how I learnt two valuable lessons, moderation and intentionality with my lifestyle choices.


So the main characteristics of a discursive piece would be the register, the fact that there is no 'set structure' and that it can often have a moral/point/idea at it's centre.

I realise my explanation was crap, but I hope the example helps!
'What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?' -Van Gogh