Analysing structure

Structure is the way a writer orders a text and moves the reader's attention through it: how it opens, where the focus shifts, and how it ends. In GCSE English Language Paper 1 you are asked how the writer has structured an extract. All the extracts here were written for Calcali.

Key facts

  • Openings: a writer may begin with a wide description of the setting, with a character, with an ordinary moment, or in the middle of the action to hook the reader.
  • Shifts in focus: the writer can zoom in from a whole scene to one detail, widen out to a bigger view, or switch between character, setting and dialogue.
  • Time: a flashback goes back to an earlier time; a jump forward moves the story on; foreshadowing hints at what will happen later.
  • Endings: a cyclical structure ends where it began; a short final sentence or paragraph can make a moment stand out; a cliffhanger leaves the reader in suspense.
  • When you write about structure, name the feature, say where it is, and explain why the writer put it there: its effect on the reader.

Worked examples

Example 1

Paragraph 1 describes a noisy, crowded market. Paragraph 2: ⟦In the far corner, an old woman sat perfectly still.⟧ What happens to the focus?

  1. Paragraph 1 shows the whole market; paragraph 2 points at one woman in one corner.
  2. The focus narrows: the writer wants us to notice her, because she is still while everything else moves.

Answer: it zooms in from the whole scene to one person

Example 2

Which feature? ⟦Nobody noticed the small crack in the dam that morning.⟧

  1. The crack seems small now, but ⟦Nobody noticed⟧ suggests it will matter.
  2. Hinting at something that will happen later is foreshadowing: it builds tension.

Answer: foreshadowing

Example 3

First line: ⟦Every summer, the keeper painted the railings white.⟧ Last line: ⟦Years later, Amira would come back every summer and paint the railings white.⟧ What is the structure?

  1. The ending repeats the opening image of painting the railings white.
  2. A cyclical structure ends where it began: here it shows that Amira has taken on the keeper's role.

Answer: a cyclical structure