The reading expectations of factual and fictional texts
From factual texts, the reader expects precise information. From a fictional text, he primarily wants to have his imagination stimulated. Both types of text use different creative techniques and linguistic means for this purpose. Even if a fictional text deals with "improbable" things, it has a comprehensible logic for the reader because of its linguistic structure.
A distinction is made between
- factual (non-fictional) texts and
- fictional texts.
Readers have different expectations of texts that communicate facts than of texts that they classify as poetry (reading expectations).
From a newspaper report, a biography, a scientific text or an encyclopaedia article, they expect the exact and verifiable reproduction of facts. They want to be informed about various aspects of the subject matter in a factual, objective presentation. The reader would rightly feel manipulated by embellishments and interpretations that change the tendency of the statement.
If, on the other hand, he picks up a text that is declared on the book cover to be a fairy tale, a story or a novel, his reading expectation is different because of this contextual knowledge - https://domyhomework.club/html-assignment-help/ : He wants to be entertained and have his imagination stimulated by the (invented) stories told and their linguistic composition. He agrees that his life, his accessible little reality, is, as it were, expanded by that of the literary heroes.