7. Informational vs. Literary Texts

The GED® RLA reading section includes both informational and literary texts, and each type requires slightly different reading strategies.

Informational texts (non-fiction):

• Include: articles, essays, speeches, workplace documents, historical documents.
• Goal: to inform, explain, or persuade.
• Key skills: identify main idea, evaluate evidence, recognise author's purpose and bias.
• Look for: thesis, topic sentences, transitions, logical argument structure.

Literary texts (fiction and literary non-fiction):

• Include: short stories, novel excerpts, poems, personal essays, memoirs.
• Goal: to entertain, evoke emotion, or explore the human experience.
• Key skills: identify theme, analyse characters and motivations, understand figurative language, recognise mood and tone.

Theme vs. Main Idea:

• Main idea (informational) — the central claim of a non-fiction text, directly statable: 'Exercise reduces the risk of heart disease.'
• Theme (literary) — an underlying message about life, usually implied: 'Courage requires accepting uncertainty.' Themes are NOT plot summaries.

Figurative language in literary texts:

• Simile — comparison using like or as: 'The room was like a furnace.'
• Metaphor — direct comparison: 'The world is a stage.'
• Personification — giving human qualities to non-human things: 'The wind whispered.'
• Irony — saying the opposite of what is meant, or events contradicting expectations.

Character motivation — why a character acts as they do. Always infer motivation from the character's words, actions, and the context around them.

⚠️ Common mistake: treating theme as a plot summary. 'A boy learns to be brave' is a plot event. 'True courage means acting despite fear' is the theme.

💡 Tip: for literary passages, ask 'What lesson about life could a reader take away from this story?' That question leads you straight to the theme.