Diary entry – text structure & language features

2012 QCAT Preparation: Year 6 English (My Place)

James Hoffman PEA:AC (English/History)

Text Structure and

Text Language features
organisation
Date Friday 15 August
Noun groups that depict the
Orientation - that The Governor-General is visiting our school next month. historical place and time.
outlines the main Miss Von Heinemann says it’s because the Snowy is so
Proper nouns to refer to
issue to be important for Australia. I’ll have to tell Val, so she doesn’t feel
specific people, places, times
discussed in the sorry for me being there.
and events.
entry.
Paragraphs - that I’m doing my project on Building the Snowy. After dinner I asked Processes (verbs) to engage

begin with a topic Dad why it’s such a big deal to make electricity. He laughed and the audience.

sentence and
provide further
details to record
what happened on
the day. Events are
described in the
sequence in which
they occurred.
Some links to past
or future events or
issues.
Only significant
events are included.
Personal reflection.
asked me if I’d forgotten how cross I used to get when the TV Text connectives to link
blacked out in the middle of I Love Lucy! The power was always events and to indicate time
cutting out, too, when Mum was in the middle of a wash and the sequence.
clothes would be left half-done. And once, on my ninth birthday,
Adverbial phrases – groups
we were mixing up the dough for my cake, and the Mixmaster
of words that are used to
went dead, and the sponge part turned out all leathery and
describe the verb. For
horrible.
example, phrases that
describe the location, time and
Dad said those power cuts happened because we were
manner of the action and the
producing electricity from coal and there wasn’t enough for big
reason for or with whom this
cities like Sydney and Melbourne. ‘But when the Snowy finished,
may have happened.
there’ll be no more black-outs. You can watch I Love Lucy! all
day and night!’ he said.
Then Mum chimed in and said the Snowy wasn’t just
about electricity. The rivers were going to be turned backwards
and sent through the tunnels Dad was helping to build, so they
could water the dry inland places. ‘It’ll make the desert bloom,’
she said.
Trouble is, I’m not sure so sure the Snowy’s as great as they
say. Not for everyone.

A sign-off.
Eva.
From My Australian Story: Snowy – The Diary of Eva Fischer by Siobhan McHugh. Text copyright © Siobhan McHugh, 2003. First published by
Scholastic Press an imprint of Scholastic Australia Pty Limited 2003. Reproduced by permission of Scholastic Australia Pty Limited

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 Diary entry – text structure & language features
2012 QCAT Preparation: Year 6 English (My Place)
James Hoffman PEA:AC (English/History)

Questions to help you organise your information

• What are you going to tell the reader about? What are you going to retell or recount?
• What information will the audience need very early in your text? Have you thought about using the 5Ws and 1J to
help select the important information?

What happened?

Where did the event/events happen?

When did it/they happen?

Who was/were involved?

Why did it/they happen?

How did it/they/happen/react/occur?
• What are the important events or part so the event that you want to describe? Which information will go first, second,
next etc?
• How will you let the audience know the order of the events? Which words or groups of words could you use?
• What else would you include?
• How will you finish/conclude your diary entry?

Reference List

Year 6 C2C English – Unit 5 – Lesson 3: Examine personal recounts — Respond to ‘15 August’ extract (3 of 15).

Wing Jan, L. (2009) Write Ways: modelling writing forms third edition, Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

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