LEQ: What choices do authors
make in order to organize their
information to best meet the
needs of their audience?
Don’t get confused…
Text Feature vs. Text Structure
● Text features is a building block
or a piece of how the writing is
organized.
● Text structure is how the writing
as a whole is organized.
Why do authors write?
● Writers of informational texts
usually have one of the
following purposes for writing:
• To inform/instruct
• To entertain/tell a story
To Inform or To Instruct
● When writers are trying to inform or
instruct, they are trying to impart their
knowledge onto their reader.
Example: Why Markets Exist
“Markets exist because no one is self-sufficient. In other
words, none of us produces all we require to satisfy our
needs and wants.” –Economics (Prentice Hall)
To Entertain
●
When writers are trying to entertain their
audiences, they tell a story.
Example:
“Inside, my soul became so cold I hated
everything. I even despised the sun, for I knew I
would never be able to play in its warm presence. I
cringed with hate whenever I heard other children
laughing, as they played outside. My stomach
coiled whenever I smelled food that was about to
be served to somebody else, knowing it wasn't for
me.”
-David Pelzer, A Child Called “It”
Multiple purposes…
● Sometimes the writer may have more
than one purpose in mind when writing
a particular piece.
● HOWEVER, one purpose is usually more
important.
Text Structure/Organization
Common text structures include:
●Cause and effect
●Problem and solution
●Compare and contrast
●Sequence or chronological order
Cause and Effect
● Why something happened is the cause
● What happens as a result of the cause is
the effect
Signal Words that show cause/effect:
Because
So in that
Since
As a result
Therefore
Consequently,
If…then
For this reason
Example of Cause and Effect
●
“Drug abusers often start in upper elementary
school. They experiment with a parent’s beer and
hard liquor and they enjoy the buzz they receive.
They keep doing this and it starts taking more
and more of the alcohol to get to the same level
of buzz. As a result, the child turns to other forms
of stimulation including marijuana. Since these
are the initial steps that usually lead to more
hardcore drugs such as PCP, heroin, and crack,
marijuana and alcohol are called as “gateway
drugs.” Because of their addictive nature, these
gateway drugs lead many youngsters who use
them to the world of hardcore drugs.”
Problem and Solution
● The author’s purpose in this type of
writing is to show a problem and then
offer a possible way to solve the
problem
Signal Words that show problem and solution
Because
Since
Therefore
Consequently
Problem
Solution
One reason for
For this reason
Example
●
The carrying capacity of a habitat refers to the
amount of plant and animal life its resources can
hold. For example, if there are only 80 pounds of
food available and there are animals that together
need more than 80 pounds food to survive, or
more animals will die—the habitat can’t ‘carry’ them.
Humans have reduced its carrying capacity by
introducing housing developments, road
construction, dams, pollution, fires, and acid rain.
So that they can fully maintain “carrying capacity”
in forest habitats, Congress has enacted legislation
that protects endangered habitats from human
development or impact. As a result, these areas
have high carrying capacities and an abundance of
plant and animal life.
Compare and Contrast
A comparison tells how thing, people,
places or events are alike.
● A contrast tells how they are different.
●
Some signal words are:
Like
Yet
Unlike
While
Both
However
As well as
In contrast
Nevertheless
On the other hand
Example
●
Middle school gives students more
autonomy than elementary school. While
students are asked to be responsible for
their learning in both levels, middle school
students have more pressure to follow
through on assignments on their own rather
than rely on adults. In addition narrative
forms are used to teach most literacy skills
in elementary school. On the other hand,
expository writing is the way most
information is given in middle school.
Sequence or chronological
order
All of the facts (or a story) are arranged in a time
order
● These things start with what happened first and
move to what happened last (or vice versa)
●
Some signal words are:
First, second
Finally,
2012, 2014
Next,
During…
Then,
Not long after
After
At last
On
Until
1998,
Example
● Despite this large buildup of American
troops, between 1965 and 1967, the war
was at a stalemate. The American
objective was not to conquer North
Vietnam, but rather to force the enemy
to stop fighting. In 1965, President
Johnson authorized Operation Rolling
Thunder—the relentless bombing
campaign that continued for almost
three years.
To wrap this up…
●
Authors use patterns of organization or text
structures to organize their information for
their readers.
●
The purpose of their writing, and their
audience, determine which structure best
conveys their message.
Quick check: Turn to your partner and tell
them the 4 text structures we discussed.