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5. Writing Styles and Purposes
There is always a reason for a writer to write a text. As the copywriters do, they write the advertisements in order to persuade the people. Persuading the
readers, then, is the purpose of their writing. Podis Podis 1984: 16 elaborate that “in composition, purpose is defined as the practical aim of your writing. By
writing, you hope to accomplish a goal – whether to inform, to persuade, to explain, to recommend, to motivate, to warn, to inspire, and so on.” There are
some styles in writing a text or a composition.
a. Description
Baker 1985: 59 argues that “description is essentially spatial.” It is supported by Scholes Comley 1985: 11 that “work in description is practice in
the organization of space.” They also add that in description, a scene or an object is taken and captured in language. Langan 1996: 128 says that when a writer
describe someone or something, he gives the readers a picture in words by observing and record specific details that appeal to your readers’ senses sight,
hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Trimmer Sommers 1984: 163 say that when describing something, the writer needs to capture both details and wholeness. He
must select specific, vivid details so that he can make the readers see what he sees.
b. Narration
Trimmer Sommers 1984: 159 point out that “narration is a story to make a point.” Baker 1985: 62 mentions that in contrast with description,
narration is essentially temporal. Scholes Comley 1985: 11 say that “a narrative is a report on an event, a happening that unfolds time. Narration is a
24 form of writing shared by the creative writer, who invents the events to be
narrated, and the reporter or researcher who seeks to record or recover some actual sequence of events.” Langan 1996: 136 says that in writing narrative text,
the writer must present the details in order in which they happened.
c. Exposition
Baker 1985: 65 says that “exposition is a setting forth, an explaining, which naturally may include both description and narration. It also includes some
essential modes of thought: comparison and contrast, cause and effect, classification, and definition. Good exposition depends on specific details to
illustrate its general point.”
d. Persuasion
Trimmer Sommers 1984: 329 mention “persuasion is verbal communication that attempts to bring about a voluntary change in judgment so
that the readers or listeners will accept a belief they did not hold before. The purpose of persuasion is to cause a change in thinking.” Scholes Comley 1985:
10 say that in persuasion, the reader is the prime consideration, but instead of giving directions for something the reader is assumed to want already, persuasive
writing is designed to create want or motivate an action. They also explain that persuasion relies heavily on appeals to emotion. It often uses vivid images, careful
control of connotations, repetition, rhythm, even rhyme. Furthermore, Trimmer Sommers 1984: 333 point out three means of being persuasive: winning the trust
of the readers ethical appeal, appealing to their emotion emotional appeal, and convincing them through the logic of argument logical appeal.
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e. Argumentation
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