Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ORGANIZATION
ORGANIZATION OF TEXT
TEXT PATTERNS
Time/chronological order,
cause effect,
enumeration,
comparison-contrast,
question and answer, and
problem-solution
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
It helps to know that the Greek root chron
means time and logical means valid or
true. So chronological means in true
time order or sequence.
The author explains the main idea with a
series of events or steps in a process that
follow one after the other in time order.
Other example
Albert Einstein was born in 1879 in Ulm, Germany.
He graduated from the University of Zurich in
Switzerland in 1905. In 1905 he also did some of his
most famous work in physics. In 1919 he won the
Nobel Prize for Physics. Between 1919 and 1933 he
lived in Germany and traveled a lot to talk to other
scientists. Then in 1933 he had to leave Germany
because of Hitler and the Nazi party. He moved to
the United States. From 1933 until his death he lived
in Princeton, New Jersey. He died on April 18, 1955.
Phrases
Key words/phrases in the main idea: began,
account, story, process, history, sequence.
Signal words/phrases: first, second, then, next,
after, while, since, then, soon, finally, at last, in
1965, last June, later, over time, the next step,
the following week.
(Mikulecky and Linda, 2007)
Signals Events
1879 Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany
1905 He graduated from the University of Zurich,
and did some of his famous work in physics.
1919 He won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
1919-133 He lived in Germany and travelled a lot
to talk to other scientists.
1933 He had to leave Germany because of Hitler
and Nazi party. He moved to the United States.
1933-1955 He lived in Princeton, New Jersey.
April, 19, 1955 He died.
Enumeration/Listing
Enumeration/Listing: Listing bits of
information (facts, propositions, events, ideas),
usually qualifying the listing by criteria such as size
or importance. The author states the main idea in
the form of a generalization and gives a list of details
or examples to support that general statement.
Key words/phrases in the main idea: many, several,
a number of, a variety of, a few, kinds of
Signal words/phrases: for example, for instance,
first, second, another, also, besides, in addition,
final, last, most important. (Mikulecky and Linda,
2007)
Example
Diamonds are very expensive for several reasons. First, they are difficult to
find. They are only found in a few places in the world. Second, they are
useful. People use diamonds to cut other stones. Third, diamonds do not
change. They stay the same for millions of years. And finally, they are very
beautiful.
The underlined words are signal words. They tell us about the authors
pattern of organization. The signal word for this text is several. It tells us to
look for a list. This list tells us several reasons why diamonds are expensive.
It was easy to find the reasons. There is a signal word for each reason:
Signals Reasons
first difficult to find
second useful
third they do not change
finally
beautiful
Example
Causes
Signals
bad weather
are caused by
car problems
result from
bad roads
cause of
Effects
because
drinking alcohol
are caused by
car accidents
DISCOURSE MARKERS
Notional category/meaning
2. Additive
2.1 Reinforcing. Introduces a
reinforce-ment or confirmation of
what has preceded.
2.2 Similarity. Introduces a
statement of a similarity with what
has preceded.
2.3 Transition. Introduces a new
stage in the sequence of
presentation of information.
Marker
3. Logical Sequence
3.1 Summative. Introduces
summary of what has
preceded.
3.2 Resultative. Introduces
an expre-ssion of the result
or consequence of what
preceded (and includes
inductive and deductive
acts).
4. Explicative. Introduces an
explanation or reformulation
of what preceded.
5. Illustrative. Introduces an
illustration or example of
what preceded.
6. Contrastive
6.1 Replace. Introduces an
alternative to what preceded.
6.2 Antithetic. Introduces
information in opposition to
what precede.
6.3 Concessive. Introduces
information which is
unexpected in view of what
preceded.
TEX
T
DISCOURSE MARKERS
AUTHOR
READIN
G
WRITING
READER
MAKING INFERENCES
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
SUMMARIZING