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.