Choose the right navigation pattern
Correspondence demands chronology and confirmation tracking. Structured documents demand filtering: activity type, time, location, eligibility, and exception must all fit. Informational texts benefit from section-function maps. Viewpoints require a speaker grid containing position, reason, concession, and proposed action. The question may cross two areas, so do not stop after finding one matching phrase when another rule can disqualify the option.
- Situation
- A workshop begins at 12:15, requires registration, and asks participants to arrive ten minutes early.
- In practice
- A 12:05 arrival fits only if the visitor is already registered; the time cell alone does not establish eligibility.
- Why it works
- Structured-data answers often require intersection, not simple keyword location.
Try this
- Name the document type and select a note frame.
- List every condition embedded in the question.
- Verify each candidate against all relevant cells and notes.
Use claim-reason-concession grids
Viewpoint texts become clearer when each writer's ideas stay in separate columns. Record the main claim, two supporting reasons, one concession, and the action proposed. Shared vocabulary does not guarantee agreement: two writers may both value access yet prefer different funding systems. A point of agreement must be explicitly compatible in both columns. When identifying tone, use the treatment of alternatives and degree of certainty, not whether the topic seems serious.
- Situation
- One writer supports a permanent pilot; another supports temporary event equipment.
- In practice
- Agreement: collect local use evidence. Difference: permanence and operating commitment of the trial.
- Why it works
- A precise shared principle can coexist with a major policy disagreement.
Try this
- Keep writers in parallel columns.
- Record concessions in the writer's own column.
- Test agreement at the same level of specificity.
Tactics to keep
- Use chronology arrows for correspondence.
- Use a condition checklist for diagrams and schedules.
- Use heading maps for information texts.
- Use parallel claim grids for viewpoints.
Common pitfalls
- Using one generic highlight method for every document.
- Accepting a schedule option after checking only time.
- Calling writers aligned because they mention the same value.
Practice prompts
Prompt 1
Select one document from each of four reading formats.
Build the matching note frame and explain why another frame would be less efficient.
Check yourself
- Each frame reflects structure.
- Evidence types are named.
- The explanation is task-specific.
Prompt 2
Use a fictional event table with at least five rules.
Write two visitor profiles and identify the one activity satisfying every condition for each.
Check yourself
- Profiles contain multiple constraints.
- Every chosen row passes all rules.
- I checked notes outside the table.
