Informational Text Analysis
Grade 7 · English · Study Guide
Learn how to identify, evaluate, and analyze key features of informational texts including structure, purpose, and evidence.
Informational texts are nonfiction writings designed to inform, explain, or persuade readers about real-world topics. Unlike fiction, these texts rely on facts, data, and logical reasoning rather than storytelling.
When analyzing informational texts, readers examine several key elements. The author's purpose tells you why the text was written: to inform (share facts), to explain (break down a process), or to persuade (convince the reader of something). Identifying purpose helps you evaluate how the author uses evidence.
Text structure refers to how information is organized. Common structures include chronological order (events in time sequence), cause and effect (explaining why something happens), compare and contrast (examining similarities and differences), problem and solution (identifying an issue and how to fix it), and description (explaining a topic in detail). Recognizing structure helps readers follow the author's logic.
Strong informational texts support claims with credible evidence such as statistics, expert quotes, examples, and research findings. Readers should evaluate whether evidence is relevant, accurate, and sufficient. Weak evidence, outdated sources, or missing citations are red flags.
Finally, informational texts often include text features like headings, subheadings, captions, charts, graphs, and sidebars. These features help organize information and guide the reader's understanding.
Key terms
- Author's Purpose
- The reason an author writes a text — to inform, explain, entertain, or persuade.
- Text Structure
- The way an author organizes information in a text (e.g., chronological, cause/effect, compare/contrast).
- Central Idea
- The most important point or message the author wants to convey in a nonfiction text.
- Supporting Evidence
- Facts, statistics, examples, or expert opinions used to back up a claim.
- Inference
- A conclusion drawn from evidence and reasoning rather than directly stated in the text.
- Text Features
- Elements like headings, graphs, captions, and sidebars that help organize and present information.
Flashcards
- Chronological Order
- A text structure that organizes events or steps in the order they happen in time.
- Compare and Contrast
- A text structure that examines similarities and differences between two or more subjects.
- Credible Source
- A reliable, trustworthy source of information, often an expert, published research, or reputable organization.
- Summarizing
- Restating the main points of a text in your own words, briefly and accurately.
- Fact vs. Opinion
- A fact can be proven true or false; an opinion expresses a personal belief or judgment.
- Problem and Solution
- A text structure that identifies an issue and describes one or more ways to resolve it.
- Bias
- A leaning toward one viewpoint over another, which may affect how information is presented.
- Paraphrase
- To restate someone else's ideas in your own words while keeping the original meaning.
Questions
Which text structure would an author most likely use to explain why a hurricane causes flooding?
- Chronological order
- Cause and effect
- Compare and contrast
- Problem and solution
Show answer
Answer: Cause and effect
Cause and effect structure explains why events or conditions lead to particular outcomes, making it ideal for explaining why a hurricane causes flooding.
The central idea of an informational text is always stated directly in the first sentence.
Show answer
Answer: False
The central idea may be implied rather than directly stated, and when stated explicitly, it can appear anywhere in the text — not just the first sentence.
When evaluating evidence in an informational text, a reader should check that the evidence is:
- Entertaining and funny
- Relevant, accurate, and sufficient
- Long and detailed
- Written by the author themselves
Show answer
Answer: Relevant, accurate, and sufficient
Good evidence must be relevant to the topic, accurate (factually correct), and sufficient (enough to support the claim).
A conclusion drawn from evidence and reasoning, rather than directly stated, is called an ______.
Show answer
Answer: inference
An inference is a logical conclusion the reader reaches by combining text evidence with their own reasoning.
An author writing to convince readers that recycling should be mandatory is writing with which purpose?
- To entertain
- To inform
- To persuade
- To describe
Show answer
Answer: To persuade
When an author wants to convince readers to take a position or action, their purpose is to persuade.
Get a personalized course on Informational Text Analysis built around your child.