What is Text Structure?

1
What is Text Structure?

• How information in a passage is organized
• We will study six common patterns
• Chronological
• Cause and Effect
• Compare and Contrast
• Problem and Solution
• Sequence / Process
• Spatial / Descriptive

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Chronological

• Information is organized in order of time.
• Chrono time Logic order
• Example

Jill came tumbling after.
Jack fell down and broke his crown.
Jack and Jill ranup the hill to fetcha pail of
water.
ALL stories are told chronologically.
3
Cause and Effect

• An action and its results are explained.

Cause
Effect
Students did not learnthe material.
They performed poorly on the test.

• Dont confuse with chronological.
• Wont have a beginning, middle, and end.
• Time wont progress much.

4
Compare and Contrast

• Tells how two things are similar and different.

Apples Oranges
Alike
Different
1. Both are fruits.
1. People dont eat orange skins.
2. Both have skin.
2. Oranges have more juice.
5
Problem and Solution

• A problem and answer are suggested.

Problem
Solution
Property is beingspray painted.
Require a licenseto buy spray paint.

• Dont confuse with cause and effect.
• It is presented as a PROBLEM.

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Sequence / Process Writing

• Information is listed step-by-step.
• Explains how to do it or how it happens.

4. Flip omelet.
Dont confuse with chronological!
3. Cook onone side.
2. Add cheese.
Does not occur at a specific time.
1. Crack a few eggs.
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Spatial / Descriptive Writing

• Racial is to race as spatial is to space.
• Describes something in order of space.
• Describes how something looks.
• TIME DOESNT PASS in these passages.

My bedroom
A television across from the bed.
Two windows on the west Wall
A bed in the middle.
A closet by the TV
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Tips to Identify

1. Ask, what is the author doing in this
   paragraph? Put it in your own words.
2. Have a hunch? Use the graphic organizer to see
   if the info fits.
3. Look for signal words.