Text Factors – While comprehension involves reader factors, it also involves text factors. Stories, nonfiction books, and poems can be easier or more difficult to read depending on their text factors. The most important three text factors are genre, text structures, and text features.
Genres – A category of literature or writing form. Stories can be categorized in different ways and genres is one of them. Within genres are three general subcategories as well: Folklore, Fantasies, and Realistic Fiction.
Narratives Genres:
Folklore – These are stories that began hundreds of years ago and were passed down from generations to generations by storytellers before being written down. Within the Folklore category we have fables, folktales, myths, and legends:
- Fables – Brief tales told to point out a moral. There characteristics are that they are often short and less than a page, their characters are animals, the characters are one-dimensional: meaning they are either strong or weak, or wise or foolish, they don’t have a strong setting and could take place anywhere, and the theme is stated as a moral at the end of the story.
- Folktales – Stories in which heroes demonstrate virtues to triumph over adversity. Folktales often began as oral stories, told and retold by medieval storytellers as they traveled from town to town. Their characteristics are that they often begin with “Once upon a time…”, the setting could be anywhere, the plot is simple and straightforward, the characters are one-dimensional like good or bad, or stupid or clever, and the end is happy where everyone lives “happily ever after”.
- Myths – Stories created by ancient peoples to explain natural phenomena. Myths have the following characteristics: they explain creations, their characters are humans with supernatural powers, the setting is barely sketched out, and magical powers are required.
- Legends – Stories, including hero tales and tall tales, that recount courageous deeds of people who struggled against each other or against gods and monsters. These are simply myths about heroes.
Fantasies are imaginative stories where authors create new worlds for their characters which are based in reality. In the Fantasy category we have modern literary tales, fantastic stories, science fiction, and high fantasy.
- Modern Literacy Tales – Stories written by modern authors that are similar to folktales. They are related to folktales and fairy tales because they often incorporate many characteristics and conventions of traditional literature, but they’ve been written more recently and have identifiable authors.
- Fantastic Stories – Imaginative stories that explore alternate realities and contain elements not found in the natural world. Fantastic Stories are realistic in most details, but some events require readers to suspend disbelief. Their characteristics include the events in story are extraordinary and things that happen in today’s world, the setting is realistic, the main characters are people or personified animals, and the themes often deal with the conflict between good and evil.
- Science Fiction – Stories that explore scientific possibilities. Science fiction stories are when the authors create a world in which science interacts with society and can involve traveling through space and meeting aliens. Their characteristics involve a story is set in the future, the conflict is between the characters and natural or mechanical forces, the characters believe in advanced technology, and detailed descriptions of scientific facts are provided throughout.
- High Fantasy – Stories that focus on the conflict between good and evil and often involve quests.
In the Realistic Fiction category, we have contemporary stories and historical stories. Realistic Fiction stories are often lifelike and believable where the outcome is reasonable, and the story is a representation of action that seems truthful. These stories help students discover that their problems aren’t unique and that they aren’t alone in experiencing those feelings or situations.
- Contemporary Stories – Stories that portray today’s society. With these stories, readers identify with their own age and have similar interest and problems. Their characteristics include characters acting like people or like real animals, the setting is in the worlds as we know it today, and the stories deal with everyday occurrences or relevant subjects.
- Historical Stores – Realistic stories set in the past. These historical stories are set in the past, and the details about food, clothing and culture must be typical of the era in which the story is set because the setting influences the plot. The characteristics of historical stories are that the setting is historically accurate, the conflict is between characters or between a character and society, the language is appropriate to the setting, and the themes are universal, both for historical period of the book and for today.
Text Structures are organizational patterns. The most important story elements of the plot, character, setting, point of view, and theme. Authors use these elements to structure a story and to manipulate them in order to develop their stories.
Elements of Story Structure:
Plot – Simply stated the plot is the sequence of events (beginning, middle, and end). The plot could also be stated as the sequence of events involving characters in conflict situations, and it’s based on the goals of one or more characters and the processes they go through to attain them.
Characters – The people or personified animals in the story. Structurally, the characters are the most important element in the story. Characters are developed in stories through their appearance, their actions, their dialogue, and their monologue.
Setting – Where the story takes place. Setting has four dimensions: Location, Weather, Time Period, and Time.
Point of View – The particular viewpoint from which stories are written and this perspective determines the reader’s understanding of the characters and the events of the story. Here are the points of view:
- First-Person Viewpoint – This point of view is used to tell a story through the eyes of one character suing the first-person pronoun I. the narrator, usually the main character, speaks as an eyewitness and a participant in the events.
- Omniscient Viewpoint – The author is godlike, seeing and knowing all, telling readers about the through processes of each character without worrying about how the information is obtained.
- Limited Omniscient Viewpoint – This viewpoint is used so that readers know the thoughts of one character. It’s told in third person, and the author concentrates of the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of the main character or another important character.
- Objective Viewpoint – Readers are eyewitnesses to the story and are confined to the immediate scene. They learn only what’s visible and audible and aren’t aware of what any characters think. The focus is on recounting events, not on developing the personalities of the characters.
Theme – Theme is the underlying meaning of the story; it embodies general truths about human nature. Themes can be either explicit or implicit. These themes usually deal with characters’ emotions and values too.
Text Features – The literary devices and display conventions that authors use to achieve particular effects in their writing. Also described as narrative devices, these are what the author uses to make their writing more vivid and memorable. While imagery is the most frequently used convention, authors also use flashbacks, foreshadowing, and symbolism as well. Here is a list of several narrative devices and their descriptions:
- Dialogue – Written conversation where characters speak to each other. Authors use dialogue to move the story forward while bringing the characters to life.
- Flashback – An interruption, often taking readers back to the beginning of the story. Authors use flashbacks in time-warp stories where characters travel back in time to a particular historical period.
- Foreshadowing – Hinting at events to come later in the story to build readers’ expectations. Authors often use foreshadowing in the beginning of the story.
- Imagery – Descriptive words and phrases used to create a picture in the readers’ minds. Authors also use metaphors and similes as they craft images.
- Suspense – An excited uncertainty about the outcome of conflict in a story. Authors use suspense in the middle of the story as characters attempt to thwart one roadblock after another.
- Symbolism – A person, place, or thing used to represent something else. For example, a lion often symbolizes courage, and a dove symbolizes peace. Authors use symbols to enhance the theme of their story.
- Tone – The overall feeling or mood in a story, ranging from humorous to serious and sad. Authors create the tone through their choice of words and use of other narrative devices.
Text Factors of Nonfiction Books
Nonfiction Genres – Nonfiction books provide facts on any topic you could imagine. There are a few different examples of nonfiction books:
- Alphabet Books – Many of these alphabet books are designed for young children who are learning to identify the letters of the alphabet. Many are predictable and feature a letter and an illustration of a familiar object on each page while others are more imaginative or playful.
- Biographies – These are books written about a person’s life. Some biographies are written by other people, and some are written by the person themselves. These are called autobiographies.
- Reference Books – These are books that are used by students to reference or track down information and to research topics.
Expository Text Structures – How nonfiction books are organized. Here are the five most common expository text structures:
- Description – The author describes a topic by listing characteristics, features, and examples.
- Sequence – The author lists or explains items or events in numerical, chronological, or alphabetical order.
- Comparison – The author compares two or more things.
- Cause–Effect – The author explains one or more causes and the resulting effect or effects.
- Problem–Solution – The author states a problem and offers one or more solutions.
Nonfiction Features – Nonfiction books have unique text features that stories and poems normally don’t have like margin notes and glossaries and their purpose is to make text easier to read and to facilitate students’ comprehension. Nonfiction texts often include these features: heading and subheadings; photos and drawings; figures, maps, and tables; margin notes that give supplemental information; highlighted vocabulary; glossary; index; and review sections or charts.
Text Factors of Poetry – Poetry is often easy to recognize because the text looks different than a regular page from a story. Layout, or the arrangement of words on a page, is an important text factor. Poems are also written in a variety of forms like free verse to haiku and poets use poetic devices like rhyming to make their writing more effective.
Formats of Poetry Books – There are three types of poetry books published for children:
- Picture-book versions of single poems – In these books, each line or stanza is presented and illustrated on a page.
- Specialized Collections – A special collection of poems either written by a single poet or related to a single theme.
- Comprehensive Anthologies – These books feature 50 to 500 or more poems arranged by category
There are also Verse Novels as well. These are stories that are told through poems rather than prose. Some are one long poem and others are a collection of shorter poems. These novels are unique in that they’re musical and create powerful visual images.
Poetic Forms: There are a wide variety of poetic forms with rhymed verse being the most common while others, such as narrative poems, tell a story.
Here is a list of the many different types of poetic forms.
Rhymed Verse – A rhymed verse poem is a work of poetry that contains rhyming sounds at particular moments or at the end of each verse.
Narrative Poems – Poems that tell a story.
Haiku – A Japanese poetic from that contains just 17 syllables, arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.
Free Verse – Unrhymed poetry in which word choice and visual images are what’s important.
Odes – Odes Celebrate everyday objects, especially those things that aren’t usually appreciated. Unrhymed poems that are written directly to that object and tell us what’s good about the thing and why it’s valued.
Concrete Poems – These are poems whose words and lines are arranged on the page to help convey meaning. When the words and lines form a picture or outline they describe, it is called a shape poem. They help convey the meaning of the poem.
Poetic Devices – There are also a few poetic devices that are especially important tools because poets express their ideas very concisely.
- Assonance: the type of alliteration where vowel sounds are repeated in nearby words.
- Consonance: the type of alliteration where consonant sounds are repeated in nearby words.
- Imagery: words and phrases that appeal to the sense an evoke mental pictures.
- Metaphor: a comparison between two unlikely things, without using like or as.
- Onomatopoeia: words that imitate sounds
- Repetition: words phrases or lines that are repeated for special effect.
- Rhyme: words that end with similar sounds used at the end of the lines
- Rhythm: the internal beat in a poem that’s felt when poetry is read aloud.
- Simile: a comparison incorporating the word like or as.
Comprehension Strategies – It is noted that it is not enough for students to simply name the characteristics of a myth, identify cue words, or define what a metaphor or simile is because the goal is for them to actually use what they’ve learned when they’re reading and writing. One comprehension strategy students use when they are applying what they’ve learned is called noticing text factors. This involves considering genre, recognizing text structure, and attending to literary devices. The last step teachers do is to help students internalize the information and apply it when they’re reading and writing. One way they do this is by demonstrating how they apply the strategy as they read books aloud using think-alouds. Teachers use think-alouds to demonstrate this strategy as they modeled and shared writing.
Assessing Knowledge of Text Factors: – Although there aren’t formal tests to assess students’ knowledge of text factors, students demonstrate what they’re learning as they participate in reading and writing activities and develop oral and written projects. Teachers also use this instruction-assessment cycle detailed below:
- Step 1: Planning – As they plan for instruction, teachers determine which text factors they’ll teach and how they’ll monitor students’ progress and assess students’ learning.
- Step 2: Monitoring – Teachers monitor students’ progress as they observe and conference with them about their reading and writing activities. They also take note of students’ understanding of text structures as they make graphic organizers and their awareness of structural elements and literary devices in their reading log entries.
- Step 3: Evaluating – Teachers encourage students to apply their knowledge of genres, structural elements, and literary devices as they respond to literature, develop projects, and write stories and other compositions. One way to do this is to include items on rubrics and checklists that pertain to text factors.
- Step 4: Reflecting – Teachers ask students during conferences to reflect on how they’re growing in their ability to use text factors to comprehend complex texts, and students also write reading log entries, letters, and essays to reflect on their learning. Teachers also consider the effectiveness of their instruction and think about ways they can adapt instruction to emphasize text factors to enhance students’ comprehension abilities.
Video Notes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9S1kNcoHm4&t=37s – This short video beautifully describes many of our key vocabulary terms with books or stories that fit into their corresponding categories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_cqszvdTqk – This video starts of loads of humor. Just listening to this man say, ”GENRE,” 5 times made me smile. He then goes on to describe in both simplistic terms and with detail more of our vocabulary words for us to understand them better. This video had amazing examples and kept my attention the entire time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf20ymch-ZU – This brief animated video quickly describes the genre of realistic fiction. She describes great examples of modern realistic writing and what it does and doesn’t look like. She even went over the definition at the very end again for a quick reminder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mAl9QMJJTo – This video describes and details many of the important details of nonfiction text features. Many young students may not have learned or been introduced to some of these terms while others are a refresher. Easy watching and loaded with terms and definitions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mAl9QMJJTo – This is a story time video of the book My Parents Think I’m Sleeping. This is a fantastic book for students to read. Every few pages in this book is a new poem and it is full of both rhyming and descriptive words.
Classroom Application
My goal for this chapter’s classroom application would be to get more students interested in reading books and poetry. In our very diverse world today, students within our classrooms may come from many different places, have many different backgrounds, and are interested in many different things. One of the good things to this is that what ever you are interested in, there is most likely a book or poem just for you. If a student is into video games, show them some poems about video games they like or show them a few biographies about video game designers. If a student likes sports, there are hundreds of biographies and autobiographies handy. Recently I have had to explain to students that reading can be, and should be, fun. While reading their textbook might not be exciting, it still is packed with valuable information and if they don’t like it, there is probably a more entertaining book full of useful information on the same topics. Getting students interested in reading is more important now than ever with the help of the internet and the ease of information at students’ fingertips.
Travis Davis ENGED 275 