Lesson 11: Text Structures
Just about all pieces of writing are organized according to a certain structure or plan. Lesson 4
introduced you to some of those structures. This lesson will expand on that knowledge.
The more you know about how a piece of writing is structured, the better you will be able
to follow and understand the writing.
TIP 1: Learn the common ways authors structure their ideas.
Ideas are organized in many ways. Writers usually choose a structure based on the topic and
purpose of the writing. Knowledge of the audience (the people who will read the text)
also plays a role. Here are the most common ways authors organize their writing:
 cause and effect—The writer presents an event or condition that causes things to happen.
Or the writer presents the effect and then describes the causes that brought it about.
 comparison and contrast — The writer presents two or more things that are both alike
and different. An article about European football (also known as soccer) and American
football might be organized this way.
 logical order — The writer lists ideas in an order determined by the ideas. There are two
types of logical order: induction and deduction.
induction — The writer begins with specific ideas that lead to a general idea. For
example, an essay might say that because certain computer games are violent,
computer games in general glorify violence. Induction is closely tied to logical
order, as the reasoning must move clearly from specific to general.
deduction - The writer begins with a general idea and uses it to support specific
conclusions. For centuries, writers believed that Earth was the center of the
universe. So when they wrote about the Sun, planets, and other stars, they described
how that universe revolved around the Earth. They were thinking deductively.
Deduction is also closely tied to logical order, as the reasoning must move clearly
from general to specific.
 chronological order - The writer lists events in the order in which they occurred. Most
stories are told in this order, although they may also be showing the relationship of
cause and effect. In a story in which the home team loses a big game, the writer
describes the game as it is played. The description shows not only chronological order,
but cause and effect, as well.
 classification - The writer groups similar things into categories. A report on popular
music could classify various types as rap, rock, country, jazz, classical, and easy
listening.
 problem and solution - The writer describes a current problem and proposes a solution,
or shows how a past problem was solved. Many newspaper editorials are organized in
this way. For example, an editorial might suggest ways a city could improve its traffic
flow.
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Writers organize their texts according to their topic and purpose. They want their readers to
follow the ideas easily. But remember, writers may choose to combine text structures for
effect. A writer may give a main idea and support it with details, but each of those details
may take the form of a comparison or a contrast. When answering questions about text
structures, be on the lookout for combinations of techniques.
Directions: Read this passage and then answer Numbers 1 through 4.
Football vs. Soccer
by Tom Fitzpatrick
Football is probably the most popular sport in the United States, but the most popular sport in
the world is soccer. In many countries, soccer is called "football." The sport was created in
Great Britain, where it is referred to as Association Football. The word soccer is a
variation of the abbreviation assoc.
Soccer has only recently become popular in the United States, but it is now one of the fastestgrowing sports in the country. There are differences between these two types of football, as
well as some similarities.
First of all, a soccer ball is round while the football is oval-shaped. Next, soccer has little body
contact between players, as opposed to football, where body contact is extreme. Soccer
scores are usually low, in the single digits, unlike football, which often has high-scoring
games.
Both sports feature teams of eleven players. Each side in soccer has defenders, midfielders, and
forwards who play both offense and defense. In football, each side has linemen and
backfielders who usually play either offense or defense but rarely both. Only soccer has a
goalkeeper, a defender whose job is to keep the other team from scoring. The goalkeeper is
also the only soccer player who can use his or her hands; otherwise, soccer players may
use only their feet, legs, torsos, or heads. In football, backfielders may carry, throw, and
catch the ball. Football players may kick the ball, too, but usually this job is reserved for a
kicking specialist.
Football fans argue that their sport is more exciting because of the body contact and highscoring games. But soccer fans claim their sport is exciting, too. They argue that their
game demands just as much finesse, or skill, and can be played by both men and women.
The success of U.S. women in world competition certainly shows the sport in this
democratic light and promises that soccer could one day challenge football as America's
favorite game.
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1. In the first paragraph, what text structure does the writer use?
A. logical order
B. chronological order
C. problem and solution
D. compare and contrast
2. Which organizational structure does the writer use in the third paragraph?
A. logical order
B. categorization
C. chronological order
D. compare and contrast
TIP 2: Use the text's structure to locate and recall information.
Once you have recognized how a writer has organized the ideas in a text, you can use the
structure to help you remember where certain information appears. In the passage
"Football vs. Soccer," information about how the two games are played appears in the
fourth paragraph. The last paragraph explains why soccer enthusiasts believe their sport is
as exciting as American football.
3. If you were asked a question about how soccer got its name, in which paragraph would you
find the answer?
4. According to the passage, why do some people believe soccer is a more democratic sport?
A. It's more popular around the world.
B. Both men and women can play the game.
C. There are more injuries in the game of soccer.
D. The games are lower scoring and more competitive.
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Directions: Read this passage and then answer Numbers 5 through 7.
Friday Night Football
by Guy Gandolph
Every fall in Texas, Friday night football takes center stage. In small towns and big cities alike,
high school fields light up and fans pour in from near and far to urge their teams to victory.
The ritual is not without its critics. Some people liken Texas football to war games. Others
suggest that educational standards are sacrificed for the sake of winning. Good athletes are
pampered and held to a lower standard of behavior than normal students. Victory is all that
counts.
Yet defenders argue that the game builds civic pride. Football teaches the importance of
competition, and though some people may overstress winning, for most, the game teaches
humility and the need to accept defeat as a possibility. Audiences enjoy the wonder and
pageantry of the game. Who can deny, these defenders ask, the thrill of watching someone
score the winning touchdown? Who cannot be stirred, they ask, when at halftime the
marching band plays stirring songs? Football may be only a game, they say, but on autumn
Friday nights in Texas, it is the only game.
5. The last paragraph supports the positive qualities of Friday night football. What type of text
structure does this follow?
A. induction
B. deduction
C. chronological order
D. compare and contrast
6. In what paragraph would you look for reasons why football has been overvalued as a civic
activity?
TIP 3: Use graphic organizers to help you see how a text is
structured.
As you have seen, it can sometimes be tricky to tell what text structure is being used in a
passage. For example, some paragraphs may use a cause-and-effect pattern, but the
passage as a whole may have an inductive structure. Graphic organizers are one tool you
can use to help identify a text's structure. Plug ideas from a passage into a graphic
organizer, and the progression of ideas may be easier to see.
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These sample graphic organizers show a few ways in which texts may be organized.
---see graphic organizers
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7. In the space provided, draw your own graphic organizer showing the structure of "Friday
Night Football!"
Summing Up
When answering questions about text structures, remember the following tips:
 Learn the common ways authors structure their ideas.
 Use the text's structure to locate and recall information.
 Use graphic organizers to help you see how a text is structured.
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DIRECTIONS: Read this passage and then answer questions 1 through 9.
The World's Greatest Athlete
by Red Gomez
People can argue over who the world's greatest athlete might be. For some, it's Lance
Armstrong, for others, Mohammed Ali; still others might claim Marion Jones. In 1950, the
Associated Press polled 391 sportswriters, and they chose Jim Thorpe.
A Legendary Performance
You might be asking, who is Jim Thorpe? He may be little known today, but in his day, he was
a famous and very important athlete. He was a Native American born outside of Prague,
Oklahoma, in 1888, when the state was still known as Indian Territory. His achievements
include six years of major-league baseball and a football career in which Thorpe was a
two-time All- American at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. He went
on to play 12 years of professional football, helping to establish what would become the
National Football League.
But it wasn't Jim Thorpe's achievements in baseball and football that made him a legend.
During the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Thorpe became the first athlete
to win the pentathlon (a five-event sport) and the decathlon (made up of ten events) back to
back. This feat inspired Sweden's King Gustav V to tell Thorpe, "Sir, you are the greatest
athlete in the world."
The pentathlon, which is no longer an Olympic event, required running 200 and 1,500 meters,
throwing the javelin and the discus, and performing the broad jump. Thorpe won four of
the events and placed fourth in the javelin, and he compiled a score three times higher than
his runner-up. For the decathlon, considered the ultimate test of an athlete's ability, Thorpe
continued to dominate the field, placing first in four events, second in two, third in three,
and fourth in one. His total score was 700 points
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higher than his runner up—a record that would stand for thirty-six years and which
prompted King Gustav's declaration.
A Legendary Training
In Jim Thorpe's day, the Olympics were sports for the rich and privileged class. In fact, prior to
the 1912 Olympics, only Americans who were members of elite athletic clubs could
qualify for Olympic competition. Finally, in 1912, participants were chosen in open
tryouts.
Thorpe had already made a name for himself as a football and track-and-field star at the
Carlisle Indian School. Both sports were coached by Glenn "Pop" Warner. Warner helped
develop Thorpe's skills, but Thorpe was one of those gifted athletes born to do it all. On the
football field, he was an exceptional performer who could run, pass, punt, kick field goals,
and play expert defense. (In Thorpe's day, football players played both offense and
defense.) As for track, Thorpe excelled in both speed and strength events, so when it came
time for an international contest, there was no competition.
A Legendary Challenge
Thorpe was an immensely popular athlete, loved by American and foreign sports fans alike.
But Thorpe had to endure the sad fact that, though his nation praised him, he was denied
citizenship—in fact, Native Americans weren't granted U.S. citizenship until 1924. Then,
six months after his triumph in Stockholm, and just after finishing another All-American
football season at Carlisle, it was discovered that Jim Thorpe had played minor-league
baseball in 1910. That made him a professional athlete in the eyes of amateur-sports
officials, and Thorpe had to forfeit his Olympic gold medals.
This bitter blow haunted Thorpe for the rest of his life. He continued to have a successful
athletic career, playing two professional sports. He put in six years of major-league
baseball, followed by another nine years of minor-league ball. When he started playing pro
football in 1915, the sport hardly existed on a professional level. Thorpe's drawing power
helped create a market for pro football, and in 1920, he was named the first president of the
American Professional Football Association, which two years later became the NFL.
A Legendary Recovery
Thus, when sportswriters came to name the greatest athlete of the first half of the 20th century,
Thorpe won over such figures as baseball players Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, football player
Red Grange, and boxer Jack Dempsey. The writers recognized that Thorpe was a worldclass athlete on more than one level; perhaps we will never see an athlete as versatile as
Jim Thorpe again. He died in 1953, a beloved figure, with the loss of his gold medals
remaining as the only stain on his career.
Finally, in 1983, after years of protest from the public, the International Olympic Committee
reinstated Jim Thorpe's gold medals. With his legacy restored, Jim Thorpe deserves to be
remembered as he was rightfully crowned, the world's greatest athlete.
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1
Where should you look to find information about why Thorpe lost his medals?
A paragraph 3
B paragraph 4
C paragraph 6
D paragraph 7
2
What is the main text structure of the passage?
A classification
B order of importance
C chronological order
D compare and contrast
3
Read these sentences from the passage.
But it wasn't Jim Thorpe's achievements in baseball and football that made him a
legend. During the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Thorpe
became the first athlete to win the pentathlon (a five-event sport) and the
decathlon (made up of ten events) back to back. This feat inspired Sweden's King
Gustav V to tell Thorpe, "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world."
What organizational structure is used in this paragraph?
A compare and contrast
B cause and effect
C chronological order
D classification
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4 Read these sentences about the passage.
1. Thorpe began playing major-league baseball.
2. Thorpe was named first president of the American Professional Football Association.
3. Thorpe won the pentathlon and decathlon at the Summer Olympics in Sweden.
4. Thorpe was chosen by 391 sportswriters as the world's greatest athlete.
Which of the following shows the sentences numbered in chronological order?
A 1-2-3-4
B 3-1-2-4
C 4-3-1-2
D 4-1-2-3
5
Which of these sentences is the best summary of this passage?
A Jim Thorpe's career in football helped establish the National Football League.
B Jim Thorpe was troubled by the loss of his Olympic medals and his status as a
noncitizen.
C Jim Thorpe is remembered as the world's greatest athlete for his Olympic victories and
his successful careers in football and baseball.
D Jim Thorpe won the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon, and was proclaimed by
King Gustav V to be the world's greatest athlete.
6
What is the author's main purpose for writing "The World's Greatest Athlete"?
A to inform readers about a great athlete of the 20th century
B to teach readers about injustices done to Native Americans
C to entertain readers with an amusing story about an athlete from long ago
D to persuade readers that Jim Thorpe was greater than today's athletes
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7
Which section of the passage identifies the name of Thorpe's college football coach?
A A Legendary Performance
B A Legendary Training
C A Legendary Challenge
D A Legendary Recovery
8
In this passage, what does the word forfeit mean?
A to award rather than punish
B to change into something else
C to play backwards in order to see again
D to lose through some error, offense, or crime
9
The author's tone is mostly one of —
A respect for Jim Thorpe
B enthusiasm for the Olympic decathlon
C indifference toward the Olympic games
D displeasure with Thorpe's treatment
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