Structure in Non-Fiction Flashcards
All 12 cards in this deck
What is a headline or title for, structurally?
It's the first thing the reader meets, so it sets the angle, the tone and often a question. Comment on what it makes the reader expect and whether the text then delivers or surprises.
What is the "inverted pyramid" in a news report?
The most important facts come first, then details, then background and quotations. It lets readers grasp the event at once, so the opening paragraph carries the most weight.
Why might a non-fiction writer open with an anecdote?
A short personal story draws the reader in through a person and a moment before any facts or argument, making the topic feel human and immediate.
What is the effect of a shift from anecdote to fact or reflection?
It widens the focus from one person's experience to the bigger picture, or pauses the story so the writer can tell us what it meant. Say where the shift happens and why.
How can paragraph order shape the reader's response in non-fiction?
Writers place what they want to stress first or last, build from calm to crisis, or hold back a key detail. Ask why one paragraph comes before another, not just what each says.
What is the effect of quotations from witnesses or officials in a report?
They add authority and human feeling, and they break up the writer's account with other voices. Where they're placed matters: a quotation at the end often leaves the reader with an emotional or official last word.
What can a one-sentence paragraph do in non-fiction?
Isolate a key fact, a turning point or a punchline, so the reader stops on it. It stands out against longer paragraphs around it.
How can a non-fiction text use time structurally?
By moving between past and present, telling events in order to build tension, or jumping back to a memory. A memoir that shifts into the present tense can make an old memory feel immediate.
What does a cyclical ending do in non-fiction?
Returning to an image or idea from the opening rounds the piece off and shows how the writer's view has developed or been confirmed.
What should a structure point in Paper 2 Question 3 include?
What the structural feature is, where it comes in the text, and why it's there: its effect on the reader's interest, linked to the kind of text and its purpose.
A memoir about a flood opens with the writer's dog barking at 3 a.m., then gives the facts about the river rising, then ends back with the dog asleep on the stairs. What structural choices can you comment on?
An anecdotal opening that hooks with a small, puzzling moment; a shift to fact that explains the danger; and a cyclical ending that returns to the dog, showing calm restored and the family's relief.
A report opens: 'Thirty seconds. That is how long the bridge took to fall.' What is the structural effect of starting this way?
Opening on a short, stark detail makes the reader stop and wonder; the one-word sentence then explained by the next creates impact and makes the reader want the full story.