Text Features

The title:

• Gives commentary on the story providing a little extra information.

• Tells what the author is addressing in a small secton of the text.

• Indicates the topic of the article and catches the readers' attention in a few words.

The headings:

• Represent geographical information that relates to the topic.

• Share what the author is addressing in each section.

• Provide information on a single picture or map.

Introduction:

• Builds background knowledge for the article, often using a story, to get the reader hooked in and ready to read.

• Asks the central idea of the article and is placed directly below the title.

• Explains data described in the text.

Deck:

• Tells what the author is addressing in a small section.

• Shares what the author is addressing in each section.

• Shares the central ideal of the article and is placed directly below the title.

Box or Sidebar:

• Provides more information about a photo.

• Gives commentary, stories, highlights,examples or extra information to deepen understanding of the text.

• Explains what the author is addressing in a section of the text.

Why do authors of non-fiction use Text Features?

• Text features provide the reader with easier ways to understand the information and understand it more deeply.

• Text features give the reader a more interesting article to look at.

• Text features are really not useful in reading non-fiction.

Headings are a very important part of non-fiction text features because:

• Headings share what the author is addressing in each section.

• Headings help the reader quickly locate specific information on the topic in the article.

• Headings can be turned into questions that help to clearly focus on what the author wants the reader to understand from the text.

• All of the above.

Text Features should be examined in a text BEFORE actually reading the article. They are like a blueprint for what is to come in the text.

• True

• False

Finally, after examining all the text features in a non-fiction article the reader should:

• Skip reading the article because he probably knows everything he needs to know.

• Use the information gathered in the text features to prepare for reading it completely

• Go right to any questions at the end of the article or chapter.

Text features are very helpful in non-fiction articles. However, do all non-fiction articles/texts use good text features?

• Yes, every non-fiction piece we read uses good text features.

• No, unfortunately, not all informational writing is presented in a user friendly way including text features.