Exercises — Week 6: Week 6 — Text Structure and the Author's Choices

1. Restructure a Scene and Explain the Effect

1. Read this scene written in plain time order: 'Nia woke up at six. She ate breakfast and caught the bus to the county science fair. She set up her water-filter project. At noon, a judge stopped at her table, tested the filter, and told her it was the best design he had seen all day.'
2. Rewrite the scene in 120–180 words using one structural choice: start in the middle of the action, add a flashback, or withhold a key fact until the end.
3. Change the pacing in at least one spot: use a run of short sentences to speed up a tense moment, or a longer descriptive sentence to slow down an important one.
4. Under your scene, write a 3–4 sentence explanation naming the structural choice you made and the effect it creates for the reader (tension, mystery, surprise, or emphasis).