Chapter 3
General Structure of a Text
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Level 1: Words
3.3 Level 2: Sentences
3.4 Level 3: Joining Sentences
3.5 Level 4: Paragraphs
3.6 Level 5: Joining Paragraphs
3.7 Level 6: Overall Structure
Clear statement proceeds from clear thinking.
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3.1 Introduction
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 any text is clarity.
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Taking up the earlier illustration, a way to appreciate the need for structure is to see
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 a 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.
In some cases there may be more than one way to structure writing. In these cases the
best structure is generally one that forms the information in the way in which the reader
will use it.
Since structure is so necessary for good writing a fundamental piece of advice must be
offered. Your first thoughts must be to inquire how to structure what you are about to
write. From this moment on you must be aware of structure all of the time. Think about
structure, and keep thinking about structure, as you think about the task, as you plan your
work, as you read the first reference, when you first put pen to paper to make notes and as
you write, as you rewrite and again as you edit. Stop thinking about structure only when
you have finished writing. In other words, structure your text right through by focusing
on structure from first to last.
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Blunn v Cleaver (1993) 119 ALR 65, 82, per Sheppard, Neaves, Burchett JJ
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Gibbs (1953) p 498
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