Skip to main content
Common Core ELAGrades 11–12Reading: Informational

RI.11-12.5: Does the Structure Work?

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.5 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

All 41 Grades 11–12 ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

Common Core State Standards, Grades 11-12, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.11-12.5 Means in Plain English

Juniors and seniors judge how an essay is organized instead of only describing it: does each part arrive when the reader needs it, and does the order make the case clear, convincing and engaging? An argument to end the leap second opens on a 2012 software crash.

Ninth and tenth grade (RI.9-10.5) analyzed how particular sentences and sections develop an author’s claims. Grades 11-12 add a verdict on whether the whole structure succeeds. This is the last band of the line, the critical reading that college and career readiness expects of every graduate.

RI.11-12.5 I Can Statements

  • I can describe the order in which an author builds an argument.
  • I can judge whether each part comes where the reader needs it.
  • I can say which structural choice works best and which falls short.

RI.11-12.5 Worked Example

The essay hooks with a story, explains, proves and only then faces the other side, and the weak answer describes that order without judging it.

Read the Story
In the last minute of June 30, 2012, by the world’s official time, clocks everywhere added one extra second. Within minutes, Reddit went dark, and an airline check-in system in Australia failed, delaying hundreds of Qantas flights.That extra second is a leap second. Atomic clocks keep almost perfectly steady time, but the Earth’s spin is irregular, so since 1972 timekeepers have added 27 of them to keep official time in step with the Sun.Each one arrives with about six months’ warning, and every computer system on the planet must survive a minute with sixty-one seconds. Some always fail.In 2022, the world’s measurement authorities voted to stop adding leap seconds by 2035. They were right to.Some astronomers object that official time will slowly drift away from the Sun. That is a problem for another century.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: How is this argument structured, and does the structure make its points clear, convincing and engaging? Point to what works and what does not.
Not Yet“The author starts with a story about computers crashing, then explains leap seconds, then gives the 2022 vote, then mentions astronomers. The structure is good because it is organized and easy to follow.”The order is described correctly, but the verdict is generic. It never says why the opening works, never notices that the claim arrives late, and misses the weak ending.
Meets the Standard“The essay moves from a story to an explanation to a claim to an objection, and the order mostly works. Opening on Reddit going dark makes a dry technical topic engaging, and holding the definition until the second paragraph means readers meet it just when they want it. Saving the claim, ‘They were right to,’ until the evidence is in makes it feel earned. The ending is the weak point. The astronomers’ objection comes last and gets one dismissive line, ‘That is a problem for another century,’ so the essay closes on its thinnest moment instead of its strongest evidence, and a doubtful reader is left unconvinced.”It names the structure, judges each choice against the three tests, clear, convincing and engaging, and pins the weakness to a specific placement with a reason.
Question Stems to Use
What does each paragraph do: hook, explain, prove, claim or answer?Why might the author hold back the definition or the claim until this point?Where does the structure make the argument more convincing? Where less?What would change if the objection came earlier and got more room?Which part would you move, and what would the essay gain?

Common Mistakes with RI.11-12.5

Describing the structure without judging it

“The essay is well organized and easy to follow.”

Try this: Require a verdict for each section, clear, convincing or engaging, with a reason tied to where that section sits in the essay.

Praising the hook and stopping

“The opening story grabs the reader, so the structure works.”

Try this: Have students judge the ending as hard as the opening, since a reader’s last impression often decides whether an argument convinces.

Confusing a weak point with a weak structure

“The astronomers have a good point, so the essay fails.”

Try this: Separate what the author argues from where the author puts it, and ask whether moving one paragraph would make the same content work better.

Where RI.11-12.5 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.9-10.5Analyze how particular sentences, paragraphs and sections develop an author’s claims.
AlongsideRH.11-12.5Analyze how a complex primary source is structured and how each part serves the whole.W.11-12.1Sequence claims, counterclaims, reasons and evidence logically in an argument of your own.
Comes NextSL.11-12.4Present findings with an organization, substance and style that fit the purpose and audience.

Practice RI.11-12.5

Quick Check

  1. Why does the essay open with the 2012 outage instead of a definition?
  2. Where does the author state the claim, and why might it come there?
  3. What is the structure’s main weakness?

RI.11-12.5: Other Names

RI.11-12.5CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.5

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.