Robert Marzano on Analyzing Complex Texts

(Originally titled “Analyzing Complex Texts”)

In this Educational Leadership column, author/consultant Robert Marzano says that when students analyze a text’s structure, they should be aware of two levels: (a) the overall organization – for example, rising action, climax, falling action in literature or, in non-fiction, presenting and supporting a claim; and (b) the underlying relationship among ideas, including these four:

• Addition: one idea adds to or is similar to another – for example, She is dark and beautiful.
• Contrast: one idea is different or subtracts from another – for example, He is fast but doesn’t like to play sports.
• Time: one idea occurs before, during, or after another – for example, She walked away before he arrived.
• Cause: one idea leads to another – for example, He woke up because the garbage truck made a racket.

When students hear a complex sentence like: Mary called Bill after he left for work, but he didn’t get the call because his cell phone was off, they can probably follow the logic, but when they are reading, they may need guidance analyzing the relationship among ideas. Marzano says students should be explicitly taught the four types of relationships among ideas and use symbols to mark up passages: an equal sign for addition, a not-equal sign for contrast; an arrow for time; and a double-stemmed arrow for cause. 

“Analyzing Complex Texts” by Robert Marzano in Educational Leadership, December 2012/January 2013 (Vol. 70, #4, p. 84-85), www.ascd.org

From the Marshall Memo #464