Craft and Structure: Text Features, Point of View, and Organization
Concepts to know
Text features are tools that help readers find and understand information: headings, subheadings, bold or italic words, captions, labels, diagrams, maps, timelines, tables, bullet points, a table of contents, glossary, and index. Each has a job. A heading announces what a section is about; a caption explains a picture; a glossary defines words; an index gives page numbers for topics. Point of view: first-person narrators use I, me, we and tell only what they know. Third-person narrators use he, she, they and may be limited to one character or know many characters' thoughts. In informational texts, point of view means the author's stance or purpose-to inform, explain, or persuade. Text organization: sequence/chronological, compare-contrast, cause-effect, problem-solution, and description. Signal words (first, then, however, because, as a result, unlike) reveal the pattern.
Traps
Students often confuse the narrator with the author in first-person fiction; the "I" is a character, not necessarily the writer. Another trap is treating a character's opinion as a fact. Questions about text features ask why the author included them, so "It is a picture of a seed" is weaker than "It shows how the seed travels." Also check order: cause comes before effect, but an effect may be stated first. Headings are not always the main idea of the whole text.
Worked example
A page has the heading "How Seeds Travel," a diagram of a burr stuck to fur, and a bold word, disperse, defined in the glossary. Question: Why does the author include the diagram? Answer: to show one way seeds move to new places. It supports the heading; it does not replace it.
Rule of thumb
For any feature, ask, "What job does this do for the reader?" For point of view, circle the pronouns before choosing.