show what approach or theory the author has used to portray the information.
Or interpretation can be merely formal, for example there is a table of
abbreviations to explain abbreviations used in the text.
The capacity of a book to interpret information depends on the tools it
contains. Major tools for interpreting information consist of the following:
(1)
A statement of the purpose of the book.
(2)
Definitions of terms in the text or in a glossary.
(3)
A table of abbreviations.
(4)
A bibliography (because the sources on which the author has drawn
might indicate a slant or approach to the topic).
(5)
The date up to which the author has researched the subject before
writing the book.
(6)
A summary (because it highlights the key points).
Structure of a Text
Writing transmits information. Writing is part of a chain of communication. A
writer wants to take information and convey it to a reader who will use it in
some way. To do this there is one fundamental requirement, structure. The
best way to convey information is to structure it - writing that is structured is
easiest and quickest to read and understand. This is of major importance,
because the essential characteristic of a text is clarity. Unless a text is properly
structured the message which it attempts to deliver will not be clearly and
properly received.
A way to appreciate the need for structure is by the comparison invoked
above which explains writing as giving directions to a traveller on how to reach
their destination. Directions must flow in a logical way, from starting place to
finishing place. Leave one step out, or place step in the wrong order, and the
traveller cannot follow your directions and cannot get to their destination. So it
is with writing. Miss a step in the argument, misstate a step, or put it in the
wrong place and your reader misses your point. Unless they can guess the
point you have lost them.
There is a model for structuring writing. It has six levels. These are set out
below in their natural order. This is also their ascending order of importance
(lowest to highest). While each of these levels is important, generally the higher
the level the more important an item is; conversely a mistake at a higher level is
a bigger problem than a mistake at a lower level. For example, a poor overall
structure (Level 6) is usually much more of a difficulty for a reader than a poor
choice of a word (Level 1). This is one of two the main reasons that a writer
should focus intently on overall structure (the other reason is that overall
structure is the most distinctively "legal" part of legal writing). These levels are
as follows:
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