structure - by mrs hallahan

Whole text structure

IMPROVEMENTS

1. Go back through your book from the start.2. Underline and title all work3. High keywords/specialist language4. Stick in any sheets that are loose. (DO NOT

STICK IN TEXT.)5. FINISH OFF ANY IMCOMPLETE PARAGRAPHS.6. UNDERLINE OFF FINISHED WORK.7. COMPLETE THE SELF ASSESSMENT STAMP!

Read the text

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

SECTION A: READING

4 marks

8 marks

8 marks

20 marks

What is structure?

Structure

Beginnings and Endings

Where are we placed? What emotion is triggered? What thought is offered?What direction is set?

What do we walk away with?What are we left to consider?Have we journeyed somewhere or stayed in the same place?

Contrast

Are there any opposites that are placed side by side for emphasis?

Is there any contrast between a character, place or idea at one point in the poem and then later? (the before/after effect)

Central images, ideas, settings

Is the text structured around a central image or idea?

This image may be described in great detail. Perhaps an extended metaphor or symbol.

Or perhaps the setting is the key thing that provides a structure for the writer to develop his/her ideas?

Distinct sections / Pivotal moments Is it clear that there are sections to this

text that have been chosen by the writer on purpose?

What do each of these sections reveal / represent?

Is there a pivotal moment, a hinge, that seems to move the ideas in a new direction?

Build up of ideas, image, feelingWhat is the build up?

Where is it heading?

What grows over the course of the text?

How does it grow?

Passages of time

How is time presented in the text?

Present tense, past tense?

Days, weeks, years?

History, present day, future?

Movement (sentence types / punctuation)What about sentence types? Are there many short ones? Long ones? A ‘stand out’ short or long sentence that marks something. Simple vs complex?

Look at the punctuation. Why does it stop where it does? Are commas used to make lists – this may speed things up.

Does it seem ‘choppy’ or more smooth? What punctuation is creating that effect?

VoiceWho is speaking? What perspective are we offered? Who is the voice talking to?

Is there more than one voice? Is the tone the same or different?Why are they speaking? Can they be trusted?

Is it first, second, third person? What’s the impact?

Is there any direct speech? What is the effect of this?

Remember!

• The writer chose a structure and form on purpose – it has meaning.

• The examiner is not interested in a list of techniques – you need to make meaningful connections. Why has the writer chosen this technique?

Q3: How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader?

The writer has used eight paragraphs in the article. Copy the paragraph summaries in the correct sequence.

Darren’s interest started because of a gift of four

cockroaches from his teacher.

An environmental health officer believes cockroaches are a health hazard.Darren is about to travel abroad to study other cockroaches. Most people dislike

cockroaches because

they think they are dirty

and spread disease.Cockroaches are great survivors and are difficult to exterminate.

Darren’s family are happy with his

hobby.

Cockroaches are actually clean insects and Darren thinks people dislike them because of their lifestyle.

Darren likes cockroaches and looks

after 2000 of them.


Writing can be shaped in many different ways. One possible text

structure is to begin with

something small and zoom out to something much bigger, e.g. this text starts with Darren ‘in a garden shed’ and ends with him ‘off to Madagascar’.

It also constantly shifts between a narrow focus on Darren (‘spends hours every day feeding them’) and wider general information (‘Cockroaches are among the great survivors of the animal kingdom’).


Which of the following text structures also apply to this article? Identify any you can find by text marking.

• Zooming in from something big to something smaller

• Shifting between different times• Moving from inside to the outside

world (or vice versa)• Combining external actions with

internal thoughts• Linking the beginning and ending• Shifting between different points of

view• Shifting between different places• Developing and reiterating: focusing

on a dominant point of view by expanding and repeating it


At first

then

Now

Shifts away from

Changes the scene to Wide view

Focusing

Introducing

At this point

The author then introduces

The author goes back to

Narrows down

Developing

Changing

Concluding

Finally Focuses onEventually

How does the structure of the article add to its success?


A successful piece of writing also has a

variety of sentence forms. Different types of sentence can be used to create different effects.

A simple sentence is made up of a single

clause. It has a subject and a main verb.

“It’s very much a minority view”

This is short for ‘it is’. ‘It’ is the subject; ‘is’ is the verb.




A compound sentence is made up of two or

more simple sentences joined together.

“They’ll eat almost anything and they

can live in the tiniest crack in the

skirting board”

Both of these could stand alone as a simple sentence.

This is a connective; it joins the two clauses together.




This is the main clause. It could stand alone as simple sentence.

This clause cannot stand alone. It is dependent on the main clause.

A complex sentence has a main clause (which could

stand alone as a simple sentence) and a dependent clause

(which could not stand as a sentence on its own).

“The day Darren Mann left primary school

his teacher presented him with a parting gift”




This fragment cannot stand alone.

A fragment of a sentence consists of very

few words used deliberately to create an effect.

“four hissing cockroaches”


Now look at where each of the example sentences appears in the article.

Are they being used to set the scene? To shift the focus of the argument? To give lots of information?

To take us by surprise?

Write down why each sentence is effective in terms of structure, i.e.

why is it used there?“It’s very much

a minority view”

“They’ll eat almost anything and they can live in the tiniest crack in the skirting board”

“The day Darren Mann left primary school his teacher

presented him with a parting gift”

“four hissing cockroaches”


At first

then

Now

Shifts away from


Focusing

Introducing

At this point



Narrows down

Developing

Changing

Concluding


How has the writer structured the article to engage the reader?

WWW/EBISelf assess your work, marking WWW/EBI onto the text as you read.

What band would you award for this answer?


George Orwell wrote 1984 to express his fear of government becoming too powerful. Let’s look at how the structure builds up through each stage.

Shifting focus

Opening sentence

First introductions

Setting the scene

Spotlight on character

Wider perspectives

You will be writing around each of these extracts in your books. Make sure you leave enough room to complete your ideas for each!



Shifting focus

Opening sentence

First introductions

Setting the scene


Wider perspectives

The first part of Orwell’s sentence appears very ordinary but then it changes.

1) What effect is created by each of the two clauses?2) Why do you think the writer has created the

contrast? 3) What do you think might be happening?

“It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking

thirteen.”



Shifting focus

Opening sentence

First introductions

Setting the scene


Wider perspectives

“Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.”

Having captured the reader’s attention, Orwell introduces a character, Winston, and where he lives. He uses a short paragraph so as not to give too much away. Why?

1) Pick out three words or phrases which you find evocative and write down the connotations of each one.



Shifting focus

Opening sentence

First introductions

Setting the scene


Wider perspectives

“The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall…”

For a writer, starting a new paragraph is similar to a film director using the camera to change the perspective – it focuses us on something new. Here, Orwell moves our focus from character to setting.

1) Highlight any clues that suggest the society in which Winston lives is different to our own.



Shifting focus

Opening sentence

First introductions

Setting the scene


Wider perspectives

“Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do with the production of pig iron. The Voice came from an oblong metal plaque …”

Here, the focus changes again. The first words of this paragraph signal to the reader that the action is moving from outside to inside. This creates a more personal, intimate view of where Winston lives.

1) Highlight any words from this paragraph or the rest of the extract which create the effect of greyness or misery.



Shifting focus

Opening sentence

First introductions

Setting the scene


Wider perspectives

“He moved over to the window: a smallish, frail figure, the meagerness of his body merely emphasized by the blue overalls which were the uniform of the Party. His hair was very fair, his face naturally sanguine, his skin roughened by coarse soap and blunt razor blades and the cold of the winter that had just ended.”

Again, the reader shifts and now focuses on the character of Winston. You can imagine how, in a film, the camera might have panned across the walls of the room before zooming in on Winston.

1) What does the word ‘meagreness’ suggest about Winston and his life?

2) Why do you think he is wearing ‘the uniform of the party’?

3) What is the effect of describing his skin as ‘roughened by coarse soap and blunt razor blades’?



Shifting focus

Opening sentence

First introductions

Setting the scene


Wider perspectives

“Outside, even through the shut window pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything except the posters that were plastered everywhere.”

Orwell uses the start of the paragraph to shift the reader’s focus again and uses the window as a structural device to widen the reader’s perspective beyond the room where Winston is standing.



Shifting focus

Opening sentence

First introductions

Setting the scene


Wider perspectives

“In the far distance a helicopter skimmed down between the roofs, overhead for an instant like a blue-bottle, and darted away again with a curving flight. It was the Police Patrol, snooping into people's windows. The patrols did not matter, however. Only the Thought Police mattered.”

The writer has taken us on a journey from the beginning of the extract, introducing the character and setting, and creating a sense of unease and fear, through the structure and language he has used.


“In the far distance a helicopter skimmed down between the roofs, overhead for an instant like a blue-bottle, and darted away again with a curving flight. It was the Police Patrol, snooping into people's windows. The patrols did not matter, however. Only the Thought Police mattered.”

What images and language does the writer use in these final short extracts to convey the impression that Winston lives in a hostile, oppressive society?

“Outside, even through the shut window pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything except the posters that were plastered everywhere.”

Consider: • The descriptions of the natural world

• The impression created by ‘posters that were plastered

everywhere’

• The effect of the word ‘snooping’

• The repetition in the final two sentences

How has the writer structured to the text to show Malala’s growing fears?


At first

then

Now

Shifts away from


Focusing

Introducing

At this point



Narrows down

Developing

Changing

Concluding


How has the writer structured to the text to show Malala’s growing fears?

WWW/EBISelf assess your work, marking WWW/EBI onto the text as you read.

What band would you award for this answer?

structure - by mrs hallahan

Education