Text Features: Captions, Diagrams, and Maps

Read visual text features to gain information the main text may not include.

Many nonfiction texts include visuals: photographs, illustrations, diagrams, maps, charts, and timelines. These features often contain information that is not in the paragraphs, so skipping them means missing facts. A caption is the text under a picture that explains it. A diagram is a drawing with labels that shows the parts of something or how it works. A map shows where things are.

Imagine an article about the water cycle with a diagram showing arrows from the ocean up to clouds, then rain falling on mountains, then rivers running back to the sea. Labels like 'evaporation' and 'precipitation' tell you the name of each step. The diagram shows the cycle at a glance.

• 1Visual features hold information not always in the text.
• 2Captions explain pictures; diagrams label parts.
• 3Read the visuals, not just the paragraphs.