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A problematic discourse is the simple key to see whether the text is an example of discussion or the other genres. Discussion text will see and elaborate the issue from the different point of view. It presents pro and contra opinion on certain issue. One side is agreeing the issue, the other is disagreeing that issue. The different point of views, according to the generic structure, is the heart of the discussion text. That will differentiate from the other text types.

When we read an example of discussion text, we will see the structure as follow;

Stated issue; what issue is going to be discussed. This must drive problematic discussion from different points of view.

Supporting arguments: after stating the issue, it is necessary to present the argument to support that one point is agreeing.

Against arguments: beside the supporting argument, discussion text need the arguments which disagree to the stated issue.

Recommendation; finally in the end of the discussion, it is important to re-think to formulate certain recommendation for the discussed issue.

Now we will see the following example of discussion text


Giving Children Homework; Pro and Con

There are a lot of discussion as to whether children should be given homework or not. Is it enough for children having time to study at school or needing additional time in home for study after school time?

Some people claim that children do enough work in school already. They also argue that children have their hobbies which they want to do after school, such as sport or music. A further point they make is that a lot of homeworks are pointless and does not help the children learn at all.

However, there are also strong arguments against this point of view. Parents and teachers argue that it is important to find out whether children can work on their own without the support from the teacher. They say that the evening is a good time for children to sit down and think about what they have learned in school.

Furthermore they claim that the school day is too short to get anything done. It makes sense to send home tasks like independent reading or further writing task which do not need the teacher support.

I think, on balance, that some homework is good idea but that should only given at the weekend when children have more time.

Justify FullLet’s Make City Clean and Fresh
A clean and fresh city will surely make the inhabitants healthy. Every morning especially in dry season, all roads must be watered with clean water and swept by the workers of the regional government under the Major’s instruction.
To keep the people from heavy pollution caused by cars, trucks and motorcycles, enough trees must be planted along all roads. Every building or house in the city must be surrounded short and small trees which bear colorful flower.
Bad and improper habits which cause disadvantages, bad smell and dangerous diseases to people such as smoking and throwing rubbish anywhere should be stopped at once.
The major of each city will have to think over the way how to educate people, so that they realize on how important cleanliness and health are for their own sake. Building more public lavatories at every busy place is very badly needed.
It will be wise if the Major decides a certain amount of fine to be paid by those who disobey the government regulation on cleanliness matter. A man who urinate not at lavatory, smoke not at smoking room or throw rubbish at the roads should be fined for instance. Besides dirtying the environment with cigarettes’ butts, smoking will also cause pollution and lungs disease to other people.
So bad habits and impolite attitude should be immediately stopped, otherwise the city will be dirty, unhealthy badly polluted and will never attract foreign or domestic tourist

The Zoo Job Story
One day a clown was visiting the zoo and attempted to earn some money by making a street performance. He acted and mimed perfectly some animal acts. As soon as he started to drive a crowd, a zoo keeper grabbed him and dragged him into his office. The zoo keeper explained to the clown that the zoo's most popular gorilla had died suddenly and the keeper was fear that attendance at the zoo would fall off. So he offered the clown a job to dress up as the gorilla until the zoo could get another one. The clown accepted this great opportunity.
So the next morning the clown put on the gorilla suit and entered the cage before the crowd came. He felt that it was a great job. He could sleep all he wanted, played and made fun of people and he drove bigger crowds than he ever did as a clown. He pretended the gorilla successfully.
However, eventually the crowds were tired of him for just swinging on tires. He began to notice that the people were paying more attention to the lion in the next cage. Not wanting to lose the attention of his audience, he decided to make a spectacular performance. He climbed to the top of his cage, crawled across a partition, and dangled from the top to the lion's cage. Of course, this made the lion furious, but the crowd people loved it.
At the end of the day the zoo keeper came and gave him a raise for being such a good attraction. Well, this went on for some time, he kept taunting the lion, the audience crowd grew a larger, and his salary kept going up. Then one terrible day happened. When he was dangling over the furious lion, he slipped and fell into the lion cage. The clown was really in big terrible situation. He was terrified.
Sooner the lion gathered itself and prepared to pounce. The clown was so scared. He could do nothing and he began to run round and round the cage with the lion close and closer behind. Finally, the lion could catch him. The clown started screaming and yelling, "Help me, help me!", but the lion was quick and pounces. The clown soon found himself flat on his back looking up at the angry lion and suddenly he heard a voice from the lion’s mouth;"Shut up you idiot! Do you want to get us both fired?".
(Re-written and simplified from www.onlyfunnystories.com)

Reading spoof and recount text will arouse the convenience. Both spoof and recount genre explore the informative fact for the past experience. In literary term, experience can be factual or imaginative, objective or subjective. Both spoof and recount focus on series of event which happened.
However for functional view, recount text emphasizes in detailed information of the events. It reveals the series of events in chronological order based on time or place. In the other hand, spoof text tends to project the amusement of reading. Spoof text uses tricky plot to drive readers to certain view and sooner brings the reader to the opposite point. This trick will result amusement of reading.
Clearly the different flow plots used by spoof and recount are seen at the applied generic structure. For the first stages, both spoof and recount have similarity. Both introduce the participants of the story and, orientate the main event and set the time and place. After that both spoof and recount text expose the following events in detail. The last phase is what makes them different. Recount text will summarize the introduction and closed with the writer's subjective feeling concerning the events. Meanwhile spoof text will end the story with what we call TWIST. It is the unpredictable thing. Reader has expected certain point in the ending on the contrary hand the story itself moves to another unexpected ending.

The Advantage and Disadvantage of Nuclear Power
Nuclear power is generated by using uranium which is a metal mined in various part of the world. The first large scale of nuclear power station was opened at Calder Hall in Cumbria, England in 1956.
Some military ships and submarines have nuclear power plant for engine. Nuclear power produces around 11% of the world's energy needed, and produces huge amounts of energy. It cause no pollution as we would get when burning fossil fuels. The advantages of nuclear plant are as follow:
  • It costs about the same coal, so it is not expansive to make.
  • It does not produce smoke or carbon dioxide, so it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect.
  • It produces huge amounts of energy from small amount of uranium.
  • It produces small amount of waste.
  • It is reliable.
On the other hand, nuclear power is very, very dangerous. It must be sealed up and buried for many years to allow the radioactivity to die away. Furthermore, although it is reliable, a lot of money has to be spent on safety because if it does go wrong, a nuclear accident ca be a major accident.
People are increasingly concerned about this matter. In the 1990's nuclear power was the fastest growing source of power in many parts of the world.

Note on the Generic Structure of Discussion Text
Discussion is a process to find the meet point between two different ideas. It is important to to get the understanding between the two differences. In many social activities, discussion is the effective way to calm down any friction and difference in thought, perception and recommendation.
This example of discussion text present the two poles, between the advantage and disadvantage of using nuclear plant to fulfill the energy needed. It is a case which need to be talked and discussed from two points. They are represented in the generic structure which is used:
Stating the Issue: In the first paragraph, it is stated that using nuclear power can be the choice in fulfilling the needed energy.
Supporting Point: In the second paragraph, it is presented the advantages of nuclear power plant to be used as the source of the world's energy needed
Contrastive Point: The third paragraph shows the balance. It gives the contradictory idea in using nuclear power plant as the resource of energy.
Recommendation: This text is ended with a similar recommendation on how people should concern in the matter of nuclear energy.

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