Functional text tells you how to do things. It is impossible to get along in life independently if you do not read functional text. Examples of functional text are things like instruction manuals, maps, schedules, phone books, dictionaries, and schematic diagrams. Functional text is not particularly fun to read or write, but it is necessary. Functional text helps you DO something.
Informational text provides information about a specific topic. When you do research for a class project, you will sift through a variety of informational texts. In fact, most of the text you are faced with in school is informational. Textbooks, encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, and many educational Internet sites are examples of informational text. What you are now reading is informational text. Informational text helps you KNOW something.
Literary text is designed to entertain, engage, and move the reader emotionally. Literary text includes novels, short stories, poetry, plays, movie scripts, song lyrics, and creative essays. You often study literary texts in English and/or literature classes. Most of your AR points probably come from literary texts.
As a sender of information, there are countless ways we can express ourselves. We can do so in written documents, speeches, and other presentations. Here are some web sites that provide further details on the modes of expression:
Kim's Korner: Modes of Writing
The English Teacher: Five Modes of Writing
Ginny Hoover's Page: Writing Modes
OPEN: Writing Mode Definitions
Here are the modes of expression you should know well:
Expository writing (Exposition) is the type of writing (or speech) used to explain, describe, or inform. Many school essays fall into the realm of expositiory writing, and exposition can include elements of the forms of expression below. Most academic essays are of an expository nature.
Descriptive writing (Description) describes a topic, person, or thing by listing features and examples. Good description allows the reader (or listener) to create a mental picture that is exactly what the writer (or speaker) intended. A descriptive essay is devoted to describing one particular topic in detail. Descriptive passages often appear in novels and essays to help the reader develop a mental picture of the person or thing being discussed.
Narrative writing (Narration) tells a story about an experience, event, or series of related events. Obviously a good story is made up of narration, but it can also appear in the examples you include in your essays.
Persuasive writing (Persuasion) offers supporting evidence and examples to influence the reader (audience). The purpose of persuasion is to convince the audience to make some sort of change or to take action on the topic in question. We are surrounded by the elements of persuasion in the form of advertising, but you can also find persuasive essays on the editorial pages in the newspaper. This is probably the most important mode of writing to be able to identify, analyze, and write. The direct writing assessment is usually a persuasive essay.
Creative writing entertains, engages, and/or moves the reader emotionally. Literary text is creative writing, but there can be elements of creative writing even in scholarly essays. Creativity shows through even in writing that is not specifically designed to entertain.
Organization is an important aspect of scholarly writing. The way you organize ideas can help your writing have the effect you desire. These are organizational patterns that make essays more effective:
Chronological Order
Spatial Order
Order of Importance (Emphatic Order)
General-to-Specific/Specific-to-General