EXPLANATION TEXT

An explanation is a piece of writing that gives straightforward information. It explains the process related to the formation of natural, social, scientific and cultural phenomena, e.g. how volcano eruption occurs, or how we get chocolate from.

Communicative Purpose

To enable the readers to understand the processes involved in the formation or the working of natural, social, scientific and cultural phenomena.

Examples of Explanation Texts

Reports on natural phenomena, articles on scientific inventions, documentary films.

Text Organization

·         General statement presents the subject that is going to be explained

·   Explanation supports the following paragraphs. The explanation statements are illustrated in sequences.

Language Features

·         Focus on generic, non-human participants, e.g. chocolate, tree, etc

·         Simple Present Tense, e.g. chocolate starts with a tree called the cacao tree

·         Adverbial phrases, e.g. especially for, generally known as, etc.

·         Noun phrases, e.g. cacao tree, tree seeds, etc.

·         Action verbs, e.g. the chocolate maker starts by roasting the beans to bring out the flavor.

·         Passive voice, e.g. the beans are fermented for about a week.

·         Technical language, e.g. winnowing removes the meat nib of the cacao bean from its shell.

Reading text

Chocolate starts with a tree called the cacao tree. This tree grows in equatorial regions, especially in places such as South America, Africa and Indonesia. The cacao tree produces a fruit about the size of a small pine apple. Inside the fruit are the tree seeds, also known as cacao beans.

The beans are fermented for about a week, dried in the sun and then shipped to the chocolate maker. The chocolate maker starts by roasting the beans to bring out the flavor. Different  beans from different places have different qualities and flavor, so they are often sorted and blended to nib of the cacao bean from its shell. Then the nibs are blended. The blended nibs are ground to make it a liquid. The liquid is called chocolate liquor. It tastes bitter. All seeds contain some amount of fat, and cacao beans are not different. However, cacao beans are half fat, which is why the ground nibs from liquid. It’s pure bitter chocolate.

Task

Identify the general statement and the explanation of the text above !