Structure

What is structure? Is it just a building?

Well, it can be. But when we talk about text structure, what does that actually mean?

Structure comes from the Latin word structura which means “a fitting together or building“. So basically, text structure is how we build different types of text to better achieve our purpose/better communicate. Remember there are HEAPS of different texts, so there is a ton of different text structures.

Music

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Songs have a structure, and this structure will change depending on the genre of music. The music and lyrics work together to communicate to a particular audience, sending a message.

Story Time

Narratives have structure, having a beginning, middle and end. Depending on what genre of story you are telling, there are different structures that can be followed.

Essay

Writing an essay is often a difficult task. An essay is a very structured form of writing, even the paragraphs inside an essay have a structure! The structure of an essay is designed to help the reader understand the flow of the author’s thoughts. It also helps the author to organise their thoughts in a logical way.

Instruction Manual

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Instruction manuals have a particular structure so that the reader will see the important information first. Usually, they have some kind of contents section so that the reader can easily find whatever information they need quickly.

ACT Logbook

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These are pages from an ACT Learner Driver Logbook. Learners move through the competencies and stamp off each one until they have marked off all the competencies plus log their hours and then they are given their licence. The logbook has a structure so that the driving instructor, parents and learner can see where they are up to.

Task for growing understanding: Pick any text that you enjoy and has meaning to you – remember, that a text could be a meme, song lyrics, games dialogue, books (just to name a few). Then, recreate it using a different text structure. See if you can compare and contrast these – this can be done in a written form, verbal form, creative form; your response is entirely up to you, you just need to demonstrate that you can say ‘what is similar and what is different’ and why. Think of a few reasons why the author chose the original text structure.

Food for thought: If your text has multiple mediums (uses text AND image, or lyrics AND sound), how are you going to change your text into another structure without making the text lose its meaning?

Achievement Standard: Students analyse the ways that text structures can be manipulated for effect