Text structure and organization: recognizing how a passage is organized (chronological, compare-contrast, problem-solution, cause-effect, claim-and-support) and how a particular paragraph or sentence functions within that structure to advance the author's purpose.

What this skill is asking

Text structure is how a passage is organized, the pattern its parts follow, and organization questions ask you to name that pattern or to read how a particular paragraph or sentence functions within it. Common structures include chronological (time order, in narratives and histories), compare and contrast (two things weighed), problem and solution (an issue then its remedies), cause and effect (what leads to what), and claim and support (a thesis backed by reasons and examples, the shape of most arguments). The skill is recognizing the overall shape so you can predict where information lives, and reading a paragraph's job (introduce, illustrate, object, conclude) in light of that shape. Like the central idea, structure is a whole-passage feature, so read it from the arc of the passage, not one line.

The common structures

A few organizing patterns cover most ACT passages.

Function within the structure

Beyond naming the whole shape, the ACT asks what a part does within it. The role of a paragraph depends on where it sits: an opening paragraph often introduces the topic or thesis, a body paragraph typically gives a reason or example or raises an objection, and a closing paragraph usually concludes, restates, or calls for action. The same logic applies to a single sentence: it might introduce a counterexample, qualify a claim, or transition between sections. Reading function is reading a part in context of the whole, which is why building a quick structural map on the first pass pays off when a function question arrives.

A worked structure question

Why structure supports the section

Structure is the architecture that the other skills live inside. It is relationships between ideas at the scale of the whole passage, it carries the author's purpose (an argument is organized as claim-and-support), and it frames the central idea. When you analyze an argument, you are reading a claim-and-support structure for its strength. A reader who maps the shape early answers function and organization questions almost on sight.

Try this

Q1. Name four common text structures on the ACT and a signal word for each. [Recall]

• Cue. Chronological (then, later), compare-contrast (whereas, similarly), problem-solution (to address this), and cause-effect (as a result). Claim-and-support (the evidence shows) is the shape of most arguments.

Q2. A body paragraph in an argument gives a real-world example backing the thesis. What is its function? [Short explanation]

• Cue. Its function is to support the thesis with evidence: it illustrates the author's claim with a concrete case, strengthening the argument. That is a body-paragraph role within a claim-and-support structure, not an introduction or conclusion.