Text Structure ( Text Organization)

1
Text Structure ( Text Organization)
2
Chronological Order (Time Order, Sequential
Order)

• Characteristics
• Used in fiction, history, biography,
  autobiography, and news stories
• Tells what happened when
• May include flashbacks to tell about past
  events, or flash-forwards to show the results
  of present events in the future
• Key Words
• During
• Eventually
• First/Last
• Later
• Meanwhile

3
Spatial Order (refers to space)

• Characteristics
• Used for descriptive writing
• Writer states details as they are seen
• May move from left-to-right, top-to-bottom,
  front-to-back, or inner-to-outer
• Key Words
• Around
• Center
• In front/back of
• Below
• To the left/right

4
Cause and Effect (one event or condition leads
to another)

• Characteristics
• Used in persuasive speeches and essays
• A cause is an event that makes another event
  occur
• An effect is the result
• shows how one thing leads to another (example
  Because of the drought, the risk of a forest fire
  is very high.)
• Key Words
• As a result
• So
• Thus
• For this reason
• Consequently

5
Comparison and Contrast (draws attention to
similarities and differences)

• Characteristics
• Used for explaining, defining, and directing
• A comparison shows how things are alike
• A contrast shows how things are different
• Example a writer could explain Mars by comparing
  and contrasting it to Earth
• Key Words
• Compare Contrast
• Also ? Instead
• Either ... Or ? Nevertheless
• By comparison ?On the contrary
• The same as ? Unlike

6
Practice

• What structure would the following texts most
  likely be written in?
• A biography about Martin Luther King Jr.
• An essay about the different cultures in Asia
• A description of the setting in a novel
• A written explanation of what you did this
  morning
• An editorial about what happens to the
  environment when you mine for diamonds in the
  Sierra Leone
• An explanation of a characters physical
  appearance
• A letter to Santa explaining what gifts you want
  for Christmas and why