Close Reading of Nonfiction: Focus on Author’s Craft and Structure
Stage 1: OBSERVE - read the assigned article from Upfront and annotate main ideas of each paragraph and overall central idea.
Stage 2: ANALYZE/EVALUATE - Reread the text and focus on author’s craft (special skill or art) and structure (how a text is organized). Read through the lens of a writer. You will become a better writer if you observe what professional writers do and apply their techniques to your own writing.
- What is the genre of the text? What is the overall purpose?
- Editorial/debate - to convince or persuade
- Article - to inform and educate
- Describe the organization.
- How does the writer begin the text and introduce the topic? What is the hook? Why did the writer choose this hook?
- anecdote (a brief story about what happened to a person)
- universal statement
- explanation of the main problem
- startling fact/statistic
- question
- direct address to the reader
- Other:
- How does the writer organize the middle/body of the text? Is the text divided into sections?
- How does the writer conclude the text? What does the ending make the readers feel and think?
- What text features are used? Where are they placed? Why?
- What writing techniques does the writer use? Why? Ex. The author quotes an authority, Dr. Chavez, deputy director of the California Center for Infectious Disease, in order to prove that the measles will continue to spread if people do not take measures to prevent it.
- define important terms
- compare and contrast
- cause and effect
- use anecdotes of individuals
- use vivid, sensory details
- state various claims/opinions
- quote an authority
- cite sources
- other:
Stage 3: Synthesize - based on the details you noticed, develop new understandings/conclusions about one or more of the following:
- central idea
- author’s bias or point of view
- author’s purpose and how successfully the author supports and proves the purpose
- writer’s craft (techniques and style)
Stage 4: Extend -
- Choose a feature article and create a synthesis page on structure and writing techniques. Draft in your notebook then post the final on your blog (due Monday).
- Connect to Independent Reading - read and focus on one or more of the following questions; write notes on post-its or in your notebook:
- What is the genre? How is it organized?
- What techniques does the writer use? Why? How are they similar and/or different from nonfiction, informational texts?
- What new ideas can you develop about character, theme, setting, author’s purpose, structure, etc.?
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