Expository Text
Features
Laurie Larsen
Expository Text Features
These “Reader Aids” help the reader navigate through text and often provide additional information to help students comprehend the content.
Print Features
Organizational Aids
Guide readers through the patterns of organization
Help readers find important information
Feature
Helps the Reader...
Table of Con-
Identify key topics in the book and
tents
the order they are presented in
Feature
Bold Print
Helps the Reader...
By signaling the word is impor-
Graphic Aids
Represent information in some specific way
Feature
Diagrams
tant and/or found in the glos-
Helps the Reader...
Understand a more detailed or simplified view of information.
sary
Index
See everything in the text listed alphabetically, with page numbers
Glossary
Flow Diagram
Colored
Understand the word is impor-
Print
tant
Italics
Understand the word is impor-
Define words contained in the text
tant
Preface
Sketches
Visualize an important concept
Comparisons
Understand the size of one thing by
Set a purpose for reading, get an
overview of the content
Bullets
comparing it to the size of something
Emphasize key points/
familiar
concepts
Pronunciation
Say the words
Titles
Guide
Locate different categories in
Graphs
By offering additional information
Headings
Identify topics throughout the
Figures
Illustrations
Feature
Photos
Helps the Reader...
Magnification
Captions
See details in something small
Maps
Understand a picture or photo-
Understand where things are in the
world
Charts/Tables
Summarize/Compare information
Cross-
Understand something by looking at
Sections
it from the inside
Overlays
Understand additional information
TIme-lines
Understand the sequence of time
graph
Labels
Identify a picture or photograph and/or its parts
Understand what something could or
might have looked like
Navigate through sections of
text
Understand exactly what something
looks like
Drawings
Subheadings
Combine text information with
graphical aids
book as they skim and scan
Expand the meaning of the text
Understand relativity between elements
the text
Appendix
Understand a complex sequence of
movements or actions
Sidebars
Gather additional or explanatory information.