Text Structure Analysis

When architects draw up building plans, they need to think about the building's structure or how they will organize its parts. Similarly, writers deliberately plan out the structure of their text so that it is organized in a logical, effective manner. Analyzing structure can help readers develop an in-depth understanding of a text.

Text Structure Analysis Meaning

Text structure analysis is the process of breaking down a text to examine how the author organized it. Readers can analyze the structure of all sorts of texts, such as narratives and informational texts, but the analytical techniques vary depending on the text type.

Fig. 1 - Just like architects plan the structure of a building, authors plan the structure of a text.

Narrative Text Analysis Structure

Narrative text analysis is the process of analyzing a story's structure. When analyzing narratives, readers will typically find one of the following two types of narrative structures:

Linear Narratives

A linear narrative is a story in which the author presents all the events in chronological order. For example, Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre (1847) is a linear narrative because Bronte describes the events in the order they happened.

Structure of a Linear Narrative

Authors of linear narratives typically use the following structure:

Exposition

The exposition is the beginning of the text in which the author introduces important story elements, like the main characters and the setting.

In the exposition of Lois Lowry's novel The Giver (1993), Lowry introduces the twelve-year-old main character Jonas and the rules of his dystopian community.

Rising Action

The rising action is when events begin to happen that disrupt the normality of the exposition. In the rising action of The Giver, Jonas is assigned the job of Receiver of Memory and learns that his community lacks authentic emotions and feelings.

Climax

The climax is the turning point of the narrative when all the tension escalates. For instance, the climax of The Giver is when Jonas sees his father euthanizing a newborn baby without remorse. This upsetting moment motivates Jonas to make drastic changes.

Fig. 2 - In a linear narrative, the events unfold in chronological order.

Falling Action

The falling action is the series of events following the climax, in which characters typically address the tension of the climax. The falling action in The Giver is when Jonas plans his escape from the community so he can return memories of morality and emotions to them.

Resolution

The resolution is the end of a narrative. The author wraps up the main conflict in the resolution, but some problems might not be solved. The Giver ends with Jonas escaping and feeling joy. It is unclear if he successfully returns the memories to the community, escapes, or dies. Regardless, this last moment closes the narrative.

Non-Linear Narratives

Non-linear narratives are stories in which the author does not present events in chronological order. Information and events are not clearly connected. The disjointed structure prompts readers to reflect on what the author is trying to convey. For instance, a reader might ask:

• Why would the author present these events out of order?

• What does the disjointed structure suggest about the narrator or main character?

• How does the non-linear structure impact the reader's understanding of the story?

For example, Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse Five (1969) is a non-linear narrative. The main character Billy Pilgrim does not seem to know where he is or in what order events happened. The disjointed structure helps Vonnegut present Billy as someone who is losing his grip on reality. By depicting Billy's mental state like this, Vonnegut demonstrates the negative impacts of war on the mental health of those involved.

Text Structure Analysis Methods

The methods of analyzing a text's structure depend on whether the text is a narrative or not.

Narrative Structure Analysis Methods

To analyze narrative structure, readers need to break the structure down into parts to reflect on the way that the author constructed the story. A critical part of identifying a narrative's structure is reflecting on the order of events.

Linear Narrative Structure Analysis

To identify if a narrative is linear, Readers can ask themselves:

• Is the order of events chronological?

If the answer is yes, the narrative is linear. If a narrative is linear, readers should identify the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. They should also reflect on how the presentation of events impacts the meaning of the story. For instance, readers can ask themselves the following questions:

• What does the linear structure help readers learn?

• What does the linear narrative reveal about the characters?

• How does the linear narrative help the reader explore the continuity or change of a concept?

For example, Charlotte Brontë's linear presentation of events in Jane Eyre helps readers understand how the main character Jane develops as the events unfold. As she confronts one challenge after another, she becomes stronger and more independent.

Fig. 3. Readers should closely examine the structure of a text and reflect on how it constructs meaning.

Non-Linear Narrative Structure Analysis

If the events are not presented chronologically, the narrative is non-linear. To analyze a non-linear narrative, readers should identify how the author fragments the events. For instance, writers of non-linear narratives often use the following techniques:

• Daydreams

• Dreams

• Flashbacks

• Multiple narrators for the same events

• Parallel plot lines

• Hallucinations

• Jumps between past, present, and future

After identifying how a writer organizes a fractured narrative, readers should reflect on those elements and how they add meaning to the text. For instance, they could ask:

• How does the author's use of flashbacks shape the readers' understanding of the main character?

• Does the fractured story suggest anything about the characters' memories or the nature of memory?

• Does the discontinuity in this narrative relate to any of the themes?

Analyzing non-linear narratives can be difficult, especially when connecting them to themes. However, writers do often use fractured narratives to reinforce a concept. If a writer is struggling to analyze the narrative's structure, they can think about the subjects and themes of a book first.

For example, a reader analyzing Slaughterhouse-Five might note that the book's major theme is war. Then they could ask themselves the third question above and consider how that theme connects to the fractured story. The non-linear nature of the narrative recalls the chaotic nature of war and the disjointed memories that come with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Informative Text Structure Analysis Methods

When analyzing a text that is not a narrative, readers should follow similar steps but look out for different structural elements.

1. Identify the purpose. In an informational text, the author typically specifies their main objective in the introductory paragraph.

2. Note the development of ideas. Readers should ask themselves: how does the author transition between ideas?
3. Use the above questions to identify the text structure. The following are all types of informative text structures:

Example of Analysis of a Text Structure

The following example demonstrates how a reader might analyze the structure of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby (1925).

Identify Structure Type

First, the reader can ask themselves:

• Do the events occur in chronological order?

The Great Gatsby opens with the narrator Nick explaining that he spent a memorable summer in New York. Although he describes what happened that summer in the past tense, he explains the events in the order they happened. Therefore, the novel is linear.

Now the reader can break down the text to identify how Fitzgerald structured sub-parts of a linear narrative.

Fig. 4 - Readers can dissect sub-parts of a linear narrative like so.

Analyze Patterns

Next, the reader can reflect on how Fitzgerald connected parts of the narrative. For instance, they might note that Fitzgerald associates Gatsby with symbols of wealth, like the green light and his lavish parties. These symbols suggest that Gatsby's obsession with winning Daisy back mirrors the American cultural obsession with becoming wealthy.

Readers can then reflect on the way Fitzgerald embedded this symbol throughout the story's structure:

• As the text unfolds, Gatsby becomes increasingly obsessed with Daisy.

• His love blinds him to reality—that he cannot repeat the past.

• Blinded by idealism, Gatsby takes the blame for Daisy when she hits Myrtle.

• Because Gatsby took the blame, Myrtle's husband kills him. Therefore, Gatsby's idealism led to his demise.

The linear narrative presents Gatsby's tragic trajectory in a straightforward manner. It allows readers to see how his idealism led to his downfall. Thus, the structure of the text helped Fitzgerald comment on the dangers of American idealism.

^1. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Letter to Maxwell Perkins, 1923.