Focus on Genre: Organization of Ideas

  • • In Sequence

  • • By Main Ideas and Details

In fiction and nonfiction, writers organize their ideas in different ways. Understanding the organization will help you follow the writer’s ideas and remember details.

How It Works

Before you read, preview the text to figure out the topic and see what type of writing it is. This will often give you a clue to the organization.

In Sequential Order A writer may want you to understand the order in which events happen. If so, the writer may organize ideas in time sequence. Study this example and watch for time words.

Cavern Exploration

Last summer, my family and I went to the Grand Canyon Caverns in Arizona. I didn’t know what we would find. First, we took an elevator ride down 210 feet underground. Then we walked into the huge cave. During our tour, a scientist told us that the bones and prints from animals that lived long ago have been found there.

Time words help to show the order of events. Some time words are:
afternext
finallysoon
firstthen

Ordered by Main Idea and Details Sometimes writers want to explain something. A writer might state a main idea and then provide several details to explain more.

The Grand Canyon Caverns

Scientists have made many discoveries inside the Grand Canyon Caverns. They found prints and bones of the giant ground sloth and now know more about this extinct animal. Scientists have also discovered a dead but well-preserved bobcat and a new type of cave cricket. What will they discover next?

Main Idea

Details

Academic Vocabulary

  • • organize(or-gu-nīz)verb To organize is to put things in a certain order.

  • • sequence (sē-kwens)noun The sequence of events is the order in which the events happen.