Text features are the parts of the text that are not included in the main body of the text. These text features might include the general helping parts you find in the given text, like a glossary, table of contents, or even the title of the text.
The text features are added to the text to make navigation easier during reading and understanding.
Let’s discuss some of the text features, their particular uses in the text body, and how they can be helpful for the students and
tutors.
What is a text feature?
While we are reading an article or a nonfiction text, we can find some components in the text that are not a part of the main text body, but they turn out to be very helpful while navigating and understanding the text. These components are basically referred to as text features. We can find these text features embedded in the text of articles, magazines, books, newspapers, and many more.
When a reader comes across a difficult text or if they are unable to locate a certain text, they can simply refer to the text features in the text, and it can offer them instant help to search through and understand the text in a better way.
In this way, text features are very helpful to the reader who is reading a nonfiction text.
Purpose of text feature
The main purpose of the text features is to help the reader comprehend the meaning of the text and the message. The writer adds some tiny details to the text in the form table of contents, title, labeled diagrams, and glossary that helps the reader know better about the message that the writer wants them to receive and comprehend.
This makes the comprehension easier; otherwise, the reader would comprehend a different meaning of the text instead of the meaning the writer wants to convey.
For instance, if a person wants to read about the anatomy of a flower, the writer would add a table of contents describing the names of parts that are described, and other than this, the writer can also add labeled images of the parts that can help the reader have a better idea of the text they are reading.
Usually, the text features have information that is not present in the main text body. Sometimes graphs or charts are added to give the logistic figures or stats about the given data. The stats are not quite often present in the main text, but they can be found and understood easily through the graphical representation in the form of text features.
Commonly used text features
Here we have discussed some common types of text features that are used by the writers to make the reader understand the text in a better way.
The title
The title is the most important part of the text. It indicates what the whole text is about and the purpose of the given text body. Without a specific title allotted to the text, the whole written body appears to be misleading and confusing because the reader would not have any idea what the text is mainly about. This is the purpose of the title, to let the reader know what they are reading about.
Usually, this text feature comes on top of the text as the main heading, so before the reader starts reading the text, they would know what the whole text is about and whether they want to read about it or not. The title is not very long in length. It is kept short just to give the reader the basic idea of the text context.
The title should be:
- Short and to the point.
- Catchy and attention-grabbing.
- Explaining the main text body.
- Relevant to all parts of the text.
Table of contents
This is a tabulated list of all the topics that have been covered in the given text. Adding a table of contents to the article or writing helps the reader to easily locate where a particular text part can be found in the whole text body. It also helps the reader to, before starting reading, whether the question they are looking for is even present in the text or not.
A table of contents is important even for the writers because it helps them to organize their text in one place and lets them determine if they have missed an important point that they should have added in the text.
Commonly the table of contents should have the following features:
- Next to the title page
- Should include all the topics and headings mentioned.
- The headings should be listed in an orderly manner from top to bottom.
- Subheadings where necessary.
- Page numbers along with heading.
Glossary
The glossary is also sometimes referred to as the index and can be found at the end of the book or the text. Writers add indexes in the text to ensure that the reader is well-aware of the vocabulary that has been added to the text body.
The main purpose of the glossary in the text is to add the meanings of main keywords and important terms that are mentioned in the text. In this way, the readers are provided with a word dictionary within the text relevant to the important words in the text, and they won’t have to refer to a separate dictionary to know the meanings of the words mentioned in the text.
- Meanings of words in alphabetical order.
- Abbreviations of required terms.
- Pronunciation for the required words or phrases.
Headings
The headings are a main part of the text body. It indicates what a particular part of the text is about. Headings are used by the writers to divide the whole text body into several parts so that the reader can easily identify where a particular part can be found in the text.
Usually, headings are required in long and complex text materials so that the reader can easily identify the important parts of the text and how they differ from each other.
There are no certain set rules for the heading, but usually, headings are:
- Left aligned.
- Bolded
- Title case heading.
- Short, clear, and to the point.
Subheadings
These are the mini headings that are added in the main parts of the section that are divided by the headings.
Subheadings help the reader to identify the important parts within the main parts of the text. The subheadings should be made a bit different from the main headings so that the reader won’t have difficulty differentiating the headings from subheadings.
The subheadings of a text should have:
- Different font or size from the main heading.
- More specific and unique.
- Useful to the reader.
Tables
Tables are very helpful when it comes to organizing important data in one place. The data that is otherwise too complicated or comprehensive can be organized and set in one place in the form of a table so that the reader can simply observe the table to get the whole idea of the data instead of finding it in the text all over.
If a writer wants the reader to locate the exact information from within the text, making tables is the best way to do it. Determine the required rows and columns in the right way to make the perfect table in your text that covers all the info and data mentioned.
A good table should have the following features:
- A title explaining the purpose of the table.
- A row for table headings.
- Rows and columns containing the table content.
Pictures with captions
Graphical representation of the given text through the use of pictures is quite a common way of conveying the message to the readers. Usually, the writers add a picture with a certain part of the text and write a caption below the picture explaining the message of the picture. In this way, the message of the writer is conveyed to the reader in a more convenient way.
Selecting the right picture to convey your message is important. A good pictorial representation has the following features:
- Appropriately relevant.
- Simple to comprehend.
- A caption below the picture.
Labeled diagrams
Diagrams are also a type of graphical representation but different from images. Diagrams can include charts, graphs, or a detailed sketched image. The diagrams are usually labeled with a small caption pointing towards and explaining the different parts of the diagram. Diagrams can be helpful when the writer wants to explain a certain part within the main part of the text body.
Diagrams are quite helpful to make people understand and comprehend the meaning behind the text. While the reader reads the content while keeping a check at the diagram, it would be easier for them to know what they are actually reading.
A good diagram should have the following properties:
- Fully labeled.
- Pointing towards the right part of the diagram.
- Clear and easy to comprehend.
Sidebars and footnotes
Sidebars are usually small boxes that are placed either on the right or the left side of the content. These bars contain additional information about the content that is not already present in the content. There are certain parts of the text that are not relevant enough to be added in the main text, but still, they are relevant to some extent so that the reader gets a full idea. For this purpose, that text is added to the section placed on the side of the text, more commonly known as the sidebar.
On the other hand, the footnote is similar to the sidebar; the difference between both of them is that the footnote is placed at the bottom instead. In this way, additional info is added to the text at the side or the bottom in the sidebars or footnotes, respectively.
Benefits of adding text features
In an educational setting, using the text features is quite helpful for the teacher and the students as well. When students use the text features in the right way, it makes the written articles easy to comprehend for the teachers, whereas when the teachers add text features rightly, the lesson becomes easier for the students.
Here are some of the benefits of using text features for the purpose of writing.
A clear message
A reader needs to have a clear and direct message about what they are reading. Text features help the writer to clearly explain what the given text is all about. In order to give a clear message through your text, it is important to use the text features in the right way.
Engaging content
Dividing the content and giving the right description to each part keeps the reader engaged. In order to write better and more engaging content, it should be appropriately classified and organized. To make sure that it’s well-sorted, text features are added to the text.
Helps in keeping track
The writer who wants to make sure that all the necessary content has been added to the text ensures it by adding text features like a table of contents or sidebars. In this way, they know what info they have added and what they still need to add. This is also easier for the reader to keep track of how much they’ve read and how much is still left.
Easy navigation
When you are in a rush and looking for a certain part in the text, looking for it simply by reading it all can be quite time-consuming and frustrating. Text features help you easily navigate the part that you want to read about. Text features make sure that you don’t have to go through all the content to find what you are looking for; the headings and TOC (table of contents) will give you the exact info that you need.
For instance, if you are looking for the uses of mobile phones. There are two articles with the titles:
- The impact of mobile phones on youth.
- How mobile phones are useful for us.
You would know from the title that the 2nd article has the info you need. You won’t have to read both articles to know about it. Simple looking at the title, you can figure it out.
Conclusion
Text features are the part of the text that is not the main component of the text, yet it gives it the organized form that makes it easier for the writer to convey the message and for the reader to easily comprehend it.
Text features can include headings, titles, subheadings, table of contents, images, diagrams, sidenotes, footnotes, and more.
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