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Text Structure
Most passages are built in one of a handful of common shapes — chronological, problem-and-solution, compare-and-contrast, claim-then-evidence. Once you can name the shape, the questions become easier. This clinic teaches the five most common shapes and the signal words that give them away.
Lesson 1 — Chronological structure
A chronological passage moves through time — first this, then that, finally something else. Look for time words: "first", "next", "later", "by the morning", dates, and ages. Chronology is the most common shape in non-fiction.
Charles Dickens was born in 1812. As a child he worked in a boot-blacking factory. He became a journalist as a young man. By his thirties, he was the most famous novelist in England. He died in 1870, leaving an unfinished mystery on his desk.
How is this passage organised?
A. A series of arguments for and against Dickens
B. A chronological account of Dickens's life from birth to death
C. A comparison of Dickens with other writers
D. A list of his novels in alphabetical order