Once you have scanned and read the text, you must determine what the structure of the text is. That means, how did the author put the information together.
There are 6 major ways that information can be organized...
|
Type of
Structure |
Purpose |
What to
look for |
|
|
|
Information
is presented in order of TIME. This
can be going forward in time or backward. |
Dates,
Days, Hours, Months, Seasons, Time Periods |
|
|
1,2,3… Procedural |
Information
is presented in an order to produce a product or end results through
steps. |
Words
like: first,
second, third, next, afterwards, following |
|
|
Concept/Example |
A general
idea, term or concept is presented and described with specific examples
of it given. |
Words like: an example of this, one such ___ is, one
type of _ is, or any mention of words like type, or
kind. |
|
|
Cause/Effect |
The
information is showing a relationship between something and what it
resulted in (a cause and effect relationship). |
Words like: because
of, due to, as a result, subsequently, resulted in, the effect was,
causing ____, which was responsible for, therefore, or most
mentions of the words cause or effect. |
|
|
Descriptive |
Gives a
description of a person, place or thing. |
Any physical, sensory detail might identify this
structure. Determine if the
main purpose is to describe something. |
|
|
Comparative |
Used to
present two or more things (ideas, people, groups, places, things) side
by side to show differences or similarities. |
Words
Like: similar
to, different than, compared to, contrasted with, unlike, like, same,
different, better than, worse than, by comparison |
Sometimes, more than one of these structures can work and other times some can be combined.
|
|
|
|
