Glossary
text structure
Text structure is how a passage is arranged — chronological, cause then effect, problem then solution, general then specific, concession then counterpoint, or claim, evidence, recommendation — and what in the wording signals that arrangement.
Text structure is how a passage is arranged, and a structure item asks you to name it and the words that signal it. Six shapes cover almost everything here. Chronological orders events or steps in time — first, then, the following spring. Cause then effect puts one thing before another and says it produced it — which is why, as a result. Problem then solution names a difficulty and then answers it, the shape notices take. General then specific makes a claim and then proves it with a detail — for example, in one case. Concession then counterpoint grants a point and turns it — may well be … but, granted. Claim, evidence, recommendation is a judgment, what proves it, and what to do — the records show, should, ought. A wrong option names a structure the passage really could have and offers no signal for it in the text, so the test is always the same: point at the words that mark the arrangement. Some items ask a smaller version of the question, about one sentence's job — does this line concede a point, answer it, or set up the next step.
Taught in
Related terms
- context clue — A context clue is the word or phrase near an unfamiliar word that fixes what it means here — a definition, a restatement, a contrast, an example, or a cause and its effect.
- structural clue — A structural clue is a word in the text that shows how the passage is built — a transition word, a pronoun and its antecedent, or a repeated key phrase.
- transition word — A transition word is the hinge between sentences — because, but, unlike, then, however — naming the relationship between what you just read and what comes next.
- pronoun — A pronoun stands in for a noun the passage has already named — it, they, this, which — and what it points at is often the whole question.
Source: The reading skills ATI names in its own Content Outline (R.2.1-R.2.4, under the Craft and structure sub-content area), plus the tone and passage-structure skills that sub-content area's published description names; each definition below is written for the Craft and Structure guide in this exam, in our own words, and explains the skill the way the guide teaches it. (ATI Content Outline read 2026-10-09; definitions written 2026-10-09)