Text is thus the process of instantiation; and we can characterize it by reference to the system as the selection of systemic options unfolding through time. Throughout this book, we have given many examples of how selections are made locally in the creation of text – clause by clause, or group/phrase by group/phrase, and of how the structures that realize these selections build up patterns as the text unfolds. We have included many examples of short texts or extracts from longer texts interpreted and classified in terms of the contexts that they operate in (cf. Chapter 1, Section 1.4.1).