Context of Text

Development
Context of Text Development

“Being a critical reader involves understanding

that texts are always developed with a certain
context” .
Tiongson & Rodriguez, 2016
historical
Social

CONTEXT
Context
 Is defined as the social, cultural, political, historical, and
other related circumstances that surround the text and
 Form that terms from which it can be better understood and
evaluated
 Knowledge of the text’s context helps in appreciating the
text’s message more deeply.
Questions you may ask to discover the reading context:
 When was the work written?
 What were the circumstances that produced it?
 What issues does it deal with?
Techniques in analyzing the context
Intertextuality (intertext)
Example
JK Rowling’s "Harry Potter Series" and
JRR Tolkien’s "Lord of the Rings Trilogy."
 Both texts use wise wizards as the
protagonist’s mentor (Gandalf in LOTR
and Dumbledore in Harry Potter), this
is an example of intertextuality.
 Intertextuality (intertext)

 Is a connections between language, image, characters, themes, or

subjects depending on their similarities
 Is borrowing and transforming a prior text, or when you read one text
and you reference another
 Is influenced by previous texts and in turn anticipates future texts.
 Contains many layers of cultural, historical, and social knowledge
 Dialogue among different texts and interpretations of the writer,
audience and the current and earlier cultural contexts.
Hypertext (Hypertextuality)
Reading as linear and non linear
Hypertext
 Is a new way of reading a text online
 Connects topics on a screen to related information,
graphics, videos, and music– information is not simply
related to text
 Appears as links and usually accessed by clicking
 Gateway to a wider horizon of information
Example
How to read?
 Skim/scan through sections of a text
 Freely jumping from one parts to another depending on what aspect
of text interests him/her
 Select the order in which you read the text and focus on information
that is relevant to your background and interest
 Create your own meaning
CAUTION: Avoid disorientation
 Credible sources on the Internet
How to determine if an internet source is credible
Who Who is the author?
• If there is an about page, read it
• Is this person or organization an expert?
What What kind of information is provided?
• If the site provides only general facts, you should find better.
Where Where is this site on the web?
.com- hosted by a company, often a site for profit (be careful on the biased)
.org- hosted by a non-profit organization, information depending on the background
.edu- hosted by educational institution, typically reliable and expert information
.gov- hosted by government institution, typically reliable and expert information

When When was it published?

Why What is the goal in publishing? It must provide information not sell a product.
#endofthissession