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In the upcoming section, we’ll examine how informational texts incorporate different elements and see how the author’s point of view affects the information and the way in which it is presented.
At this point, you should be familiar with some proven reading strategies that will help students identify, analyze, and organize informational texts before, during, and after reading. You should be aware that effective and efficient readers use a variety of comprehension skills—such as skimming and scanning—to make meaning of texts as they read.
Informational texts incorporate visual elements we don’t always encounter in narrative text. Graphics, such as diagrams, charts, illustrations, and graphs support facts and ideas with important details that students must learn to identify and reference during reading if they are to understand the whole of the information provided.
Visual sources also help students identify what the author feels is the most important information and an integral part of the way information is organized.
Cause and effect, problem and solution, compare and contrast, sequencing, classifications, and generalizations are a few of the organizational structures authors use to convey information. Identifying these methods helps students read efficiently and organize ideas for synthesizing and summarizing.
Readers must select comprehension strategies that fit a particular text based on knowledge of how the information is presented. When students understand text structure, they can anticipate what information will be revealed and make and revise predictions while reading.
| Structure | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cause/Effect | Informational texts often describe cause-and-effect relationships. The text describes events and identifies or implies causal factors. Example: an article that presents the topic of clear-cutting and describes the effect on the environment |
| Compare/Contrast | Authors use comparisons to describe ideas to readers. Similes, metaphors, and analogies are used in compare-and-contrast organizational structures. Example: a photo essay that compares clear-cutting in the Pacific Northwest to a similar situation in a particular region of Central America |
| Problem/Solution | The author introduces and describes a problem and then presents solutions to that problem. Example: an op-ed piece on the topic of water conservation and steps the community can take to conserve water |
| Sequence-Time | Chronological information reveals events in a sequence from beginning to end. Specific dates and times signal chronological structures in addition to words such as: first, then, next, and finally. |
| Classification | An author presents a variety of information about a particular subject. Example: a book that presents facts about birds |
| Generalization | An author presents a variety of information and makes a generalization about a particular subject using examples from the presented information, such as a book that makes a general statement about birds after presenting a wide variety of facts. |
Let’s take a look at how this information might appear in a test question. Keeping the above organizational structures in mind, read the following statement:
Which framework did this author use to organize the information?
The correct answer is C. The author presents a problem concerning the uncertain future of Social Security and outlines some benefits of the administration’s proposed plan. Many times an author will use a variety of structures to support information clearly and concisely. In this statement, for example, the author might have used specific dates to give us details about the history and/or future of the program, or compared benefits one might have expected to receive ten years ago to benefits one can expect to receive ten years from now.
Which text features does the author use to help the reader collect information?
The correct answer is D. You may want to have students preview informational text for text features such as titles, subheads, table of contents, and glossaries, as well as graphic elements such as charts and illustrations. Make sure they’re familiar with the function of these features as a useful tool when skimming and scanning text to determine appropriate sources. The above passage, for instance, might have benefited from a chart that quickly outlined the history of Social Security, or a graph that showed the effects of the program on a man or woman approaching retirement age now, ten years from now, fifteen years from now, etc.
Based on the information provided, what generalizations can be made about the administration’s proposed method?
The correct answer is D. Because the author hasn’t outlined any other plans to repair the program, we don’t have enough evidence to make a generalization about this method. Oftentimes, readers need additional information when reading an expository text. You’ll want to make sure students can identify when background information is needed to fully understand a text. In this context, for instance, students might need to research Social Security to discover exactly what the problem is, and they might need to review other articles with a different plan of action.
In narrative text, we often see writers use point of view as a device to achieve a certain tone or style, or perhaps convey a particular story with an authority that they might not have in the “real” world. For instance, let’s say an adult writes a book about the first day of school. They may decide to write from the point of view of a child in order to use language that might convince the child reading the book of the author’s authority—that the author truly understands the experience.
In an expository text, point of view works much the same way. The reader must determine not only what an author’s intent is—to inform, persuade, or entertain—but also determine that author’s point of view.
Understanding certain historical, cultural, and geographical information about the author gives us context for the information presented. Consider the following passage from Grete Lanier’s A Young Girl’s Diary:
July 24, 1915: Today is Sunday. I do love Sundays. Father says: You children have Sundays every day. That’s quite true in the holidays, but not at other times. The peasants and their wives and children are all very gay, wearing Tyrolese dresses, just like those I have seen in the theatre.
We don’t know a lot about this person from three short sentences, but we do know the passage was written by a child, at the beginning of World War I. We can also infer that the girl comes from some wealth because she uses the word peasants and that she might be from Austria because she refers to “Tyrolese” dresses.
Now imagine if the passage went on to describe a political event. Having these details would be crucial if we were going to incorporate the information in our overall interpretation of said event. We’d know, of course, that this is one person’s perspective and should not be the only source of information consulted, so after we conducted more research, we’d have to consider the author’s perspective to decide its validity and value.
Knowing something about an author’s point of view can also help a reader determine whether a statement is fact or opinion and whether the reader can use the information to support an inference.
Let’s look at how this information might be presented in a test question. Read the following excerpt from a letter written by Abigail Adams to her daughter about the new and unfinished White House:
The river, which runs up to Alexandria, is in full view of my window, and I see the vessels as they pass and repass. The house is upon a grand and superb scale, requiring about thirty servants to attend and keep the apartments in proper order, and perform the ordinary business of the house and stables; an establishment very well proportioned to the President’s salary. The lighting of the apartments, from the kitchen to parlors and chambers, is a tax indeed; and the fires we are obliged to keep to secure us from daily agues is another very cheering comfort.
Which of the choices best describes the following statement: “Abigail Adams is pleased with the new White House”?
The correct answer is D. While Abigail Adams does not explicitly say that she is pleased with the new White House, one might be able to infer that she is from her positive descriptions of the house.
Which of the choices best describes the following statement: “The house is upon a grand and superb scale”?
The correct answer is B. The statement expresses Abigail Adam’s opinion of the house. An opinion is a belief or judgment that is reasonable and supportable but open to debate.