STRUCTURAL FEATURES
Feature
Purpose
Effect on the reader
Openings
The start of a text must interest the reader.
Comment on how the writer introduces ideas and raises
questions.
Focus
This is what the writer focuses on as the text
develops.
Analyse what is implied, e.g. gloomy landscape implies an
unhappy situation – what is causing that unhappiness?
Shifts
Changes in ideas and perspectives, e.g. outside to
inside.
Comment on how this change is effective, e.g. creates
contrast.
Repetition or patterns
When words, phrases or ideas are repeated for effect.
Repetitive features can highlight key meanings, indicate a
development or show a lack of change.
Pace
The feeling of speed in writing – are events and ideas
revealed to the reader slowly or quickly?
A slow pace builds tension or suggests boredom, a quicker
pace may suit a piece about things happening at speed.
Temporal references
References to time.
Comment on how time is used to speed up or slow down the
pace of the text.
Order of events
This could be chronological, or writers might choose
to start at the end, in the middle, or with
flashbacks/flash forwards.
Comment on how the order of events introduces and
prioritises key ideas – and how this engages the reader.
Endings
The conclusion of a text may be neat or leave us with
questions.
Think about how the reader feels at the end. Have their
feelings changed since the opening?
Withholding information
Clues and hints are given without revealing
everything at once.
Analyse what is implied by hints – how does this build the
reader’s expectations?
Dialogue
Conversations and speech.
How does dialogue move the text forward?
Headings, subheadings &
questions
Divides the content of texts into topics and sub topics,
can signal the start of new points.
How do they guide readers through a text?
Bullets
Bullets can summarise and simplify a range of ideas.
Why does the writer summarise certain points?
Sentence structures
Varied types of sentences, e.g. simple, compound
and complex.
Comment on how sentence structures affect the fluency of
the text, e.g. a sudden short sentence could revel shocking
information.
Paragraph lengths
These vary like sentences, e.g. to highlight significant
points or to provide a detailed account.
Paragraph lengths affect the development of the text, e.g. a
final paragraph might summarise key points in an argument.