Reading an Encyclopedia Article Chapter two
What is an encyclopedia? a book or set of books containing many articles arranged in alphabetical order which deal either with the whole of human knowledge or with a particular part of it. (Cambridge Dictionary)
Examples of encyclopedias General encyclopedias -Encyclopedia Britannica - World Book - The New Caxton Encyclopedia - Collier’s Encyclopedia Specialized encyclopedias - The McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
Similarities between textbooks and encyclopedias 1- The purpose of both is to inform the reader, so the same style of writing is used, e.g. articles start with background information about a certain topic, followed by definitions, classifications, description, comparison, contrast, explanation, etc‌
2- They both provide the readers with helpful aids, e.g. headings, subheadings, outline, summary, a list of related articles, etc‌ 3- They use special printing effects, e.g. boldface & italics. 4- They both use graphics, such as photographs, diagrams, tables, charts, and graphs. 5- They both follow a logical sequence in writing, e.g. paragraphs have topic sentences and relevant support.