Focus on Genre: Text Features
► In Fiction
► In Nonfiction
Writers use text features in fiction and nonfiction. They select the best features to add to their writing and to help readers understand.
How It Works
Before you read, look at the text features to see how the text is organized. As you read, use the features to help guide you through the text.
Text Features in Fiction The titles of stories and novels often tell what the story is about. Paragraphs separate the ideas in a story into understandable parts. Fiction often has illustrations, which help readers visualize the characters and events.
Text Features in Nonfiction Like fiction, nonfiction texts have titles and paragraphs. They often have other kinds of text features, too. Look at the headings and the photo and caption in this nonfiction text:
The title tells what the text is about.
Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. It is more than 400 years old. Artist Robert J. Lang has been doing origami since he was six. He is a master of the art.
Origami As Art
Lang can create many shapes. He can form flowers, birds, frogs, butterflies, and other creatures. He also makes origami shapes of buildings, including the Empire State Building.
Origami As Science
A heading tells the main idea of a section.
Using math and computers for origami has brought it to a new level. Scientists can use origami to help design medical and safety devices. Lang used it to help design a giant telescope.
Lang makes a figure of two dancers from two rectangular sheets of paper.