Structure of information texts
Describe the overall structure of an informational text (chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) and explain how the author's chosen structure helps convey information and ideas
What a learner can do afterwards
- Identify which organisational structure an informational text uses (chronological order, compare/contrast, cause/effect, or problem/solution) and cite textual features that signal it
- Explain how signal words suggest a text structure, then check that structure against the relationships between the ideas
- Compare two informational texts on the same topic that use different structures and explain how each structure affects the way information is presented to the reader
1 · Read
A text's structure is how its ideas are arranged. Chronological order follows events through time. Compare and contrast shows likenesses and differences. Cause and effect explains why something happens and what it leads to. Problem and solution presents a difficulty and an actual or possible fix. Description groups details about a topic.
You have checked links between text parts. Now check links between ideas. Chronological order helps you follow events or steps. A sample report says: 'First, Jo unlocked the hall. Then the visitors arrived. Finally, Jo locked up.' The words first, then and finally mark the order. Dates and times can mark order too. Order alone does not show cause: ask whether one event made another happen.
A comparison says: 'The Green bus route is short. The Gold route is longer. Both stop at the school.' It compares route length and gives a shared stop. Both and similarly can introduce likenesses. Unlike, however and in contrast can introduce differences. Check what is being compared, not just which words appear.
Cause and effect asks what caused what: 'Heavy rain soaked the path, so the path closed.' Because and as a result can link reasons and results. Problem and solution asks what needs fixing and how: 'The yard is muddy. We could add gravel.' A solution can be proposed; it need not have happened yet.
Description tells what a topic is like. 'The room has pale walls, a low ceiling and two windows' groups details about one room. Identify description from what the sentences do. Missing signal words alone do not establish a structure.
Two reports can share a topic but organize it differently. One gives the gate's opening and closing times. Another explains that rain caused its closure. The first helps you follow when events happened. The second explains why. Name each structure and point to the relationship that supports your answer.
Read the whole passage before naming its main structure. A text can mix structures. Events may happen in time order while the writer focuses on their causes. A problem/solution passage needs a problem and an actual or proposed response. An excerpt that gives only a problem does not reveal how the unseen text continues. Structure can help you predict likely next information.
Name how the ideas connect: time, comparison, causes, problems and solutions, or description. Signal words help, but check the whole passage. A text can mix structures.
Lesson, questions and flashcards written for this dataset.
The five readings about information-text structures were written for this dataset.
More to read
Name the relationship
To identify structure, ask what links the information. Events linked by when they happen suggest chronological order. Shared and different features suggest comparison. Reasons and results suggest cause and effect. A difficulty with an actual or possible response suggests problem and solution. Details grouped around a topic suggest description.
Read enough of the passage to find its main pattern. A single word or sentence may show only a local connection.
What is being compared?
Consider this sample: 'The red tent holds two people. The blue tent holds four. Both have a front door.' The writer compares capacity and gives a shared feature.
When reading a comparison, name the things being compared and the feature used each time. A passage may compare several features. A word such as both helps, but the actual likeness or difference is the evidence.
After does not always mean because
'The clock struck nine. A visitor arrived.' These events are in time order. The passage does not say that the clock caused the arrival.
Now read: 'The gate was locked, so the visitor waited outside.' This explains a reason for waiting.
A causal account can also follow time. To choose its main structure, ask whether the writer mainly explains why events happened or mainly records their order.
A solution can be a plan
'The book trolley is too heavy to move. We could use two smaller trolleys.' This passage presents a problem and a possible response. It does not claim that anyone has tried the plan.
When finding a solution, check how it addresses the stated difficulty. A sentence about a different topic is not a solution merely because it comes later. A longer article may discuss causes before proposing its response.
Check the whole passage
One paragraph can describe a room while the next tells how it was repaired. A text can use more than one structure.
Name the job of each part, then decide what organizes the passage overall. Explain your answer with details. If you have only an excerpt, keep your claim about the words you can read. You cannot know whether an unseen ending gives a solution, a comparison or something else.
2 · Watch
به انگلیسیTake it off screen
Where it sits
This opens up
Where this leads
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.