Whole-Text Structure

<h3>What is structure?</h3>

<p>Structure is the way a text is <strong>organised and ordered</strong>. Writers make deliberate choices about where they start, how they develop ideas, and how they end.</p>

<h3>Key Structural Techniques</h3>

<table style="width:100%;border-collapse:collapse">

<tr style="background:#f0f9f4"><th style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Technique</th><th style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Explanation</th></tr>

<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>In medias res</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Starting mid-action to hook the reader immediately</td></tr>

<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Narrative arc</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Exposition → rising action → climax → falling action → resolution</td></tr>

<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Flashback</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Moving back in time to provide context</td></tr>

<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Foreshadowing</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Hinting at events to come, building tension</td></tr>

<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Circular structure</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Text ends where it began — creates a sense of inevitability</td></tr>

<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Zoom technique</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Moving from wide overview to close detail</td></tr>

</table>

<h3>Pace and Tension</h3>

<ul>

<li>Short sentences and paragraphs → fast pace, tension, urgency</li>

<li>Long, complex sentences → slow pace, reflection, description</li>

<li>Single-sentence paragraph → shock, disruption, emphasis</li>

</ul>