Reading comprehension success - LearningExpress 2005

Lesson 10 Being Structurally Sound: Putting It All Together
Structure

Lesson summary

Today’s lesson pulls together what you’ve learned in Lessons 6-9 and gives you more practice in discerning the structure of a reading passage.

Like an architect designing a building, a writer must have a blueprint—a plan for how he or she will organize the passage. So far in this section, we’ve looked at several ways that authors may organize their information and ideas:

■ Lesson 6: Chronological order. Ideas are arranged in the order in which they occurred (or in the order in which they should occur).

■ Lesson 7: Order of importance. Ideas are arranged in order of increasing importance (least important idea to most important idea) or in order of decreasing importance (most important idea to least important idea).

■ Lesson 8: Compare and contrast. Ideas are arranged so that parallel aspects of item A and item B are compared and contrasted either in block style (AAAABBBB) or point-by-point style (ABABABAB).

■ Lesson 9: Cause and effect. Ideas are arranged so that readers can see what event or series of events caused something to take place or what effect an event or series of events had.

If any of the terms or strategies on the previous page seem unfamiliar to you, STOP. Please take a few moments to review whatever lesson is unclear.

► Practice

Although writers often rely on one particular structure to organize their ideas, in many cases, writers use a combination of these structures. For example, a writer may want to compare and contrast the causes of World War I and those of World War II; or a writer may want to describe, in chronological order, the events that led to (caused) the failure of the computer system. Thus, today we will look at how writers may combine these strategies. In addition, we’ll continue to strengthen your reading comprehension skills by including strategies from the first week:

■ Finding the facts

■ Determining the main idea

■ Defining vocabulary words in context

■ Distinguishing between fact and opinion

Practice Passage 1

Begin with the following paragraph. Read it carefully, marking it up as you go. Then answer the questions that follow.

There were several reasons behind our decision to move to Flemington. The first occurred about 18 months ago when Mark and I decided to start a family. We were living in a one-bedroom apartment and we knew that we wanted to move into larger quarters before we had a baby. We began to look at houses. Then, much sooner than expected, I got pregnant. Soon after that, Mark’s company announced that they were relocating to Flemington, which was in a less expensive part of the state, about 90 miles south of us. Mark’s company had been good to him, and they were one of the few around with excellent benefits, family friendly policies, and a child-care center on site. With a baby on the way, these things were imperative for us. Since I ran my graphic arts business from home, I wasn’t bound to any particular place, so we began looking at real estate in Flemington and also did some research on their school system as well as the overall community. We were very excited about what we found—reasonable housing costs, great schools, and a lively town. Mark then accepted the relocation offer and we found a beautiful old Tudor house. We’ll be moving about a month before the baby is due. Let’s hope she doesn’t decide to come early.

1. Which two organizational strategies does this writer use?

a. chronological order

b. order of importance

c. compare and contrast

d. cause and effect

2. Imperative means

a. trivial, unimportant.

b. luxurious, lavish.

c. pressing, crucial.

3. What prompted the initial decision to move?

4. What happened after the initial cause set things in motion?

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

Answers

1. a, d. The writer tells you the causes, in the order of which they occurred, that resulted in her move to Flemington.

2. c. The sentence before the one that uses the word imperative is describing the attractive familyfriendly benefits that Mark’s company offers. And since we know that the writer is pregnant, it would make sense that these benefits would be pressing or crucial for her, as opposed to the other two options.

3. The decision to begin a family sparked the initial desire to move.

4. After the writer and her husband decided to start a family, the following events occurred in this order:

a. They began to look at houses.

b. The writer got pregnant.

c. Mark’s company announced plan to relocate.

d. The couple began researching real estate, schools, and community life in Flemington.

e. Mark accepted the relocation offer.

f. They found a house.

How did you do? Were you able to see how each cause led to an effect, and how that effect caused something else to happen (another effect)? If you missed any of the questions, here’s what you should do:

Practice Passage 2

Now try the passage on the next page. Again, read it carefully, marking it up as you go, and then answer the questions that follow.

There are several changes in the procedure for employees who wish to apply for vacant positions within the company. These changes make it much easier for inhouse employees to fill vacancies that occur.

First, the most important difference is that employees will now be notified of all available positions before the positions are advertised for the general public. Accordingly, all in-house candidates will be interviewed before we see any outside candidates, and we will offer the job to outside candidates only if no current employees are able to fill the position.

Second, under the new procedure, in-house employees can be hired even if they don’t meet all job requirements. Under our old policy, in-house employees had to meet all job qualifications in order to obtain the vacant position. Now, however, employees who have proven themselves dedicated to the company will be hired for a vacant position even if they are lacking some minor qualifications; training will be provided.

A third change involves recommendations. From now on, employees do not need to be recommended for an in-house position before they apply. Instead, employees may apply as soon as they are aware of the vacancy. The remaining procedures and policies (those regarding increase in pay, interview procedure, and hiring approval) remain the same.

5. Which two organizational strategies does this writer use?

a. chronological order

b. order of importance

c. compare and contrast

d. cause and effect

6. The author organizes his ideas in order of

a. decreasing importance (most important to least important).

b. increasing importance (least important to most important).

7. Underline the sentence in this passage that expresses the main idea.

8. The sentence you underlined is a(n) a. fact.

b. opinion.

Answers

5. b, c. The author uses order of importance in comparing the old procedure to the new one.

6. a. The author organizes his ideas in order of decreasing importance. He starts with the most important change (“First, the most important difference is . . .”) and moves downward to the second and third most important changes.

7. The sentence that expresses the main idea of all four paragraphs is the second sentence in the first paragraph: “These changes make it much easier for in-house employees to fill vacancies.” Although the first sentence tells us what all the paragraphs will be about (the changes in the procedure), it is the second sentence that expresses an opinion— how the author feels about this subject—and therefore, it is the main idea.

8. b. This sentence expresses an opinion, not a fact. There have indeed been changes—that is a fact— but whether those changes make things easier for most employees is debatable. There may be some things about the old procedure that we don’t know. Perhaps, for example, they opened the job to both in-house employees and the general public at the same time, but they interviewed all in-house employees first anyway. Because of our limited information about the old procedure, we cannot accept the idea that the change is better as fact.

If you missed some of these questions, now it’s up to you to figure out which lessons to review.

Practice Passage 3

Now it’s your turn. In this exercise, you’ll take a paragraph that is organized one way—by cause and effect— and add another structure: order of importance.

Here’s what you should do: Reread the two paragraphs about mandatory school uniforms. Decide which author you agree with most. Then, look carefully at the effects the author predicts. Which effect do you think is most important? Which is least important? Rank these effects in order of importance. Then, decide whether you want to start with the most important idea and end with the least important, or vice versa, start with the least important idea and end with the most important. Finally, put it all together in a paragraph in the space provided.

Paragraph A

Mandatory school uniforms are a bad decision for our district. If students are required to wear a uniform, it will greatly inhibit their ability to express themselves. This is a problem because dress is one of the major ways that young people express themselves. A school uniform policy also directly violates the freedom of expression that all Americans are supposed to enjoy. Consequently, young people will doubt that their basic rights are protected, which will affect their larger outlook on civil liberties. Furthermore, school uniforms will interfere with the wearing of certain articles of religious clothing, and this will create tensions among certain religious groups that can lead to feelings of discrimination. In addition, school uniforms will place an undue financial burden on many low-income families who may not have the money to spend on new uniforms every year, especially if they have several children. Finally, school uniforms will negate one of the most important concepts we can teach our children— individuality. When push comes to shove, we’d all be better off choosing individuality over uniformity. Mandatory school uniforms are a step in the wrong direction.

Paragraph B

Mandatory school uniforms will have a tremendously positive impact on our district. If students are required to wear a uniform, it will greatly inhibit gang behavior since they will no longer be able to wear gang colors. As a result, schools will experience an overall decrease in school violence and theft. Since violence is one of the major concerns that parents, teachers, and students raise about our district, this change will be welcomed with open arms. In addition, school uniforms will instill a much-needed sense of discipline in our student body, and discipline is something that is, unfortunately, in short supply in our school district. Also, students dressed in uniforms will feel a strong sense of community with their peers, which will lead to a more harmonious school environment. Finally, if students were wearing school uniforms, administrators and teachers would no longer have to be clothing police, freeing them to focus on more important issues than whether someone is wearing a dress that is too short or a T-shirt with an inappropriate message. You can make our schools a better place by supporting mandatory school uniforms.

1. Rank the ideas of the paragraph you have chosen in order of their importance to you.

2. Now write a paragraph, choosing whether to put the ideas in the order of increasing importance or decreasing importance.

Skill Building until Next Time

■ Look again at the passages you read in Lessons 1-5. What structures do you notice at work in those paragraphs?

■ As you read (and write) during the next few days, be aware of the structure of each paragraph you come across. Try to identify the author’s strategy; try to use different strategies in your own writing.