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Patterns of Development
The arrangement of an essay, speech, or story according to its purpose.These notes cover the wide range
of logical ways to organize a text or section of a text.
You should be able to identify the different patterns of development in works we read and/or pieces we view.
Narration
• Telling a story or recounting a series of events• Based on knowledge gained from reading,
observation, or experience• Usually governed by chronology• Includes concrete details, a point of view, and
sometimes elements like dialogue
A personal story easily pulls a reader in because we all love a good story!
Narration is not simply crafting
an appealing story; it is crafting
a story that supports your thesis.
Description
• Closely related to narration because they both include specific details
• Unlike narration, description emphasizes the senses – think imagery
• Often used to establish a mood or atmosphere• Can make writing more persuasive
By making readers see
what you see and feel
what you feel, you make
it easy for them to
empathize with you,
your subject, and your
argument.
Narration and Description
usually work hand in hand.
Process Analysis
• Explains how something works, how to do something, or how something was done
• “How-to” and “self help” books are typically driven with process analysis
• Most successful when explanation is clear and logical with transitions marking sequences of major steps or stages
Clear: Unclear:
Exemplification• Providing a series of examples, facts, specific
cases, or instances• Turns a general idea into a specific one• Makes an argument more clear and more
persuasive to a reader• May be one extended example or a series of
related ones to illustrate a point
Examples are a type of logical proof called induction (from Aristotle).
Comparison and Contrast• Juxtaposition of two things to highlight their
similarities and differences• Can be organized subject by subject or point
by point When using comparison and contrast in your own writing, steer clear of the following words and phrases:
are alikeare similarsamedifferentcompares to contrasts with
Classification and Division• Sorting ideas into major categories• Provides a way to make connections between
things that might otherwise seem unrelated• Allows us to find a distinctive way to break
down larger ideas into parts
Definition
• Ensures that authors and their audiences are speaking the same language
• Lays the foundation to establish common ground
• Identifies areas of conflictSometimes only a passage of a larger work establishes terminology.
Sometimes an entire work serves to define.
Cause and Effect
• Analyzes the causes that lead to a certain effect or the effects that result from a cause
• Powerful foundation for argument• Depends upon crystal clear logic
Often, but not always, signaled by a why in the title or the opening paragraph.
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