Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Hortatory Exposition Text

In this section, you will learn how to:
   • Read a hortatory exposition text;
   • Identify the structure of a hortatory exposition text;

Hortatory text is one of text types of argumentative genres which has function to persuade readers. Since it is one type of argumentative passages, it is very similar to analytical exposition. Both hortatory and analytical exposition state thesis as the introduction. Both present argumentation to support the stated thesis. However hortatory exposition make the argumentation into a higher level. It is closed by certain recommendation and makes hortatory exposition differs from analytical exposition.

The  Social function of a hortatory exposition is to persuade the reader or listener that something should or should not be the case. Then the purpose of this hortatory is influencing and persuading the readers by presenting the supporting arguments. In many social activities, hortatory is applied for writing recommended thought, sales letter, advertising, speech campaign, and news advertorial.

Generic Structure of Hortatory Exposition :
  • Thesis
  • Arguments
  • Recommendation
Language Feature of Hortatory Exposition :
  • Focusing on the writer
  • Using abstract noun; policy, advantage, etc
  • Using action verb
  • Using thinking verb
  • Using modal adverb; certainly, surely, etc
  • Using temporal connective; firstly, secondly, etc
  • Using evaluative words; important, valuable, trustworthy, etc
  • Using passive voice
  • Using simple present tense

Now we will see the following example of hortatory text.

Text 1
Crime in Cities
Crime is a serious problem in big cities and it is getting worse every year. This is what police departments around the country said in their reports last week. The subways and streets are more dangerous. You may not even be safe in your own houses.
Why is the problem so serious now? This is not an easy question to answer. There may not be a single answer. Many problems together seem to make cities so dangerous from time to time.
One more of the problems is money. To fight crime a city needs police officers, cars, and guns. These cost a lot of money. But right now cities do not have much extra money. So, there are not enough police officers, cars and guns for the cities.
Another problem is drugs. Crime studies have shown that many criminals use and sell drugs. After they start taking drugs, they want to have more. However, drugs are very expensive. So, these people have to sell drugs to other people to make money or they may steal money to get more drugs.
There is an even more important cause of crime. Cities have rich and poor neighborhoods. In the poor neighborhoods, jobs are hard to find. Many young people don’t have much hope for a better life. They only know one way to make a better living for themselves, that way is to sell drugs or steal. So, some of these young people have become criminals.
It is not going to be easy to change these crime problems. We must first change many of laws about drugs. We must change the way cities spend their money. Until then, the crime problem will not go away and we will live our lives in fear.

Text 2
On School Discipline
Being on time is a beautiful social ethic and one of great importance, as it creates efficiency in systems and implies respect for one another. However, it is one of the many values that a school must inculcate into its students over time.
Discipline is not something that must be slapped onto a child like handcuffs. Inner discipline, one that comes from within due to an understanding of the set rules and regulations, is the highest form of behaviour. Most excellent schools try to instill this with a loving environment.
Why, even adults arrive late to meetings, work, etc–admittedly shamefaced. Here, we are talking about children.
Latecomers should not be shut out. They can be given warnings, most of which are enough to make them want to reach school on time. If this fails, talk to the parents.
By closing its gates, the school is behaving cruelly to which we prefer not to expose our children.
Every school has a responsibility to implement educational concepts in the appropriate context, not just those schools that follow international standards and are generally unaffordable for the majority.
Good schools create competitive students who can organise themselves effectively in society so that everyone gets a quality life as a result of ethics and values imbibed into students for as long as 12 years.
Children are precious, and are dependent on adults for guidance and we must not take advantage of this. Understanding them is the key, and to this end, both parents and schools must work hand in hand without playing the blame game.
Taken from :The Jakarta Post, October 30, 2003

Text 3
Helping Children Discover Their Own Identity
Children of today's advanced world are different from those in the past. With easy access to modern technology, chil dren of today are able to learn everything they encounter in their life, including worldclass information. In terms of knowledge of the world, one must admit, they seem to surpass children brought up in the era when techno logical equipment was still traditional.
The rapid growth of children's cognitive, physical and social adaptations is an indication of how they can be easily shaped by the modern vicinity. This is a critical period when children are begin ning to try to discover their own true identity.
Parental guidance is necessary to assist them in leading to the correct path. To do this, intervention, however, is not always mandatory if parents are upbeat that their offspring can handle the conundrum they are facing on their own. Self-reliance, in any occasion, needs to be stressed.
What parents need to do is to respect the changes going on within their child's world, and respond appropriately to their changing needs. Here a close monitoring rather than control taking is essential.
This may sound like ideal advice; yet not all parents may agree with this. A parent who was raised in a democratic family atmosphere will certainly pass down the freedom he/she had enjoyed during childhood to his/her offspring. On the other hand, those who were brought up in a conservative and authoritative family will inculcate traditional values to their children, restricting them by tightly abiding to what the parents believe to be the correct norms.
Clearly, a parent's family back-ground will, exert a considerable influence in helping his/her children to learn both formally and informally. It is more likely that parents will consistently follow the mind-set they adopted from their father or mother if they think that it is beneficial. Today's parents, how ever, need to be aware that not all values and norms that their parents implanted in them during their childhood are compatible with modern reality. Things have changed consider ably, and parents should take this into account. It might, for example, be felt less relevant to impose traditional control over their children's conduct about what they need to do to attain academic achievement. However, most parents still cling to this, acting as if they are omni scient and know perfectly what is best for their children.
In guiding children in search of true identi ty, it is important for today's parents to listen and accommodate all feedback from their chil dren. Though it seems too difficult for some conservative parents to implement this, it is essential to a child's development into an emotionally mature adult.
Parents also should not exercise too much authority so as to overprotect their children to develop their potential to the fullest. Parental intervention, if it is done in an improper manner, can do more harm than good. If not in accord with children's interests, parents' excessive intervention is seen by chil dren as something that inhibits rather than facilitates their academic excursions. Parents may probably not realize that their children simply want them to stay in the background and to provide whatever support and resources they need to venture out into the world.
This does not imply that intervention is not necessary. At the very young age when the influ ence of a peer group is extremely powerful, parents need to intervene by setting a strong measure to help their children resist the pressure to behave in ways that do not meet family standards.
The best way parents can aid their children is by successfully discovering their true identity and growing up to be an emotionally mature adult is to take a flexible approach. Parents need not always rigidly follow and impose certain norms and values, which are imbued with their family tradition during their childhood, on their children. Understand ing children from the way they see the reality is surely a far more rewarding experience.