Course: English Communication and Writing Skills

BS-Economics-IV

LECTURE 8

TOPIC

Patterns of Writing
 Patterns of Writing
Organization of Writing:
All writing has a structure. This can be thought of as a specific format or how
the writing is organized. If you know the organization of the piece of writing, you
will better understand the author's message.

The link between clear, logical organization and effective communication is

powerful, both for the "sender" and the "receiver."

For the writer, a well-organized outline of information serves as a blue print for
action. It provides focus and direction as the writer composes the document, which
helps to ensure that the stated purpose is fulfilled.

For the reader, clear organization greatly enhances the ease with which one can
understand and remember the information being presented. People seek out
patterns to help make sense of information. When the reader is not able to find a
pattern that makes sense, chaos and confusion abound. Effective communication,
then, begins with a clearly organized set of ideas following a logical, consistent
pattern. Thus, one of the most important decisions a writer makes concerns the
pattern of organization that is used to structure and order information.

There are many patterns a writer can use to organize his/her ideas. The specific
pattern (or combination of patterns) chosen depends upon the particular topic and
the objectives the writer has identified for the document. There is no rule to follow
in choosing a pattern of organization; one must simply think carefully about which
pattern makes the most sense in helping the reader to better understand and
remember the information. There are many different ways of organizing the same
information, and often two or more different organizational patterns are combined
to create a final outline of information.
Chronological Order:
Perhaps the easiest pattern to identify is chronological order. For this
organizational pattern, the writing follows the order of time. This means that the
plot sticks to a specific timeline. The best example of writing in chronological
order can be seen in any novel or short story. For the most part, all fiction is
written in chronological order. These stories have a specific beginning, middle, and
end. For example, think of the story of 'Cinderella.' It starts when she is a child,
then follows what happens to her father and how she grows up with her
stepmother.
Besides fiction, there are some examples of nonfiction, or writing based on real
life, that is also written in chronological order. For example, a biography is the
story of a person's life. This is written in chronological order because a biography
almost always begins with that person's birth, then describes his/her childhood,
youth, adulthood, and on and on. This is a perfect example of chronological order.

When using a chronological pattern, each main section of information represents a

particular period of time, and the sub-points contained within each main section
refer to significant events that occurred within that time frame. A variation of this
organizational pattern involves dividing a topic into "past-present-future" or"
before-during-after" segments.

For example, 100 years old man…grouping into four 25-year chunks…sub-
points…main section of time…most significant events…occurred during that
particular time.
Order of Importance:
A second type of organizational pattern is order of importance, which is
exactly how it sounds. The importance of the ideas determines the order each
occurs in the writing. The most important idea is described in the writing first,
followed by the second most important, then the third, and so on and so forth.
This type of pattern is often seen in essays, which focuses on a single topic with
supporting details. The writer of an essay should analyze his supporting ideas.
Whichever idea is the strongest should be the first one explained in the essay.
For example, imagine you are writing an essay on the importance of recycling,
Found much information on the benefits of recycling, but which idea has the most
support? Perhaps you found the best reason to recycle is that it saves trees, which
helps the environment. This, then, should be the first idea you explain in your
essay. Using this organizational pattern helps to strengthen any piece of writing
centered on supporting arguments.
It is important for a writer to know the types (patterns) of writing. The purpose of
writing organization styles is to provide clarity to nonfiction. The organization
styles or rhetorical modes or patterns are listed below:
 Exposition
 Narration
 Description
 Persuasion
 Evaluation
 Classification/Division
 Comparison and Contrast
 Cause and Effect
 Definition
 Exemplification (illustration)
 Process Analysis
 Problem and solution
 Argumentation (opinion)
1. Expository:
Expository writing is one of the most common types of writing. When an author
writes in an expository style, all they are trying to do is explain a concept,
imparting information from themselves to a wider audience. Expository writing
does not include an author’s opinions, but focuses on accepted facts about a topic,
including statistics or other evidence.
Examples of Expository Writing
 Textbooks
 Articles
 Recipes
 News stories
 Business, Technical, or Scientific Writing

In exposition writing, the writer attempts to present the reader with information
and at the same time attempts to explain this information.

2. Narration:

What, when, and where something happened

The purpose of narration is to tell a story or relate an event. Narration is an

especially useful tool for sequencing or putting details and information into some
kind of logical order, usually chronological. Literature uses narration heavily, but it
also can be useful in non-fiction, academic writing for strong impact.

An example of a narrative paragraph is a story or a news article that describes an

event chronologically. The first person pronoun is often used in narrative writing
but not exclusively; news items, for example, invariably involve third person
subjects.

It focuses on events in time. If you read a novel, narration carries you through the
story. If a buddy tells you what he or she did last night, narration is being used. If
you tell somebody how to do something, you are using narration. And if you try to
figure what caused your low grade on a test, you are using narration.

The narration pattern has several forms. It is used to

 Tells about an event in time (narration of event)

  Tells the steps in a how-to (narration of process)
 Shows the causal relationship between events (cause-effect)

When an author writes in a narrative style, they are not just trying to impart
information, they are trying to construct and communicate a story, complete with
characters, conflict, and settings.
Examples of Narrative Writing
 Oral histories
 Novels / Novellas
 Poetry
 Short Stories
 Anecdotes

3. Description:

Details what something looks like and its characteristics

The purpose of description is to recreate, invent, or visually present a person,

place, event, or action so that the reader can picture that which is being described.
It is heavily based on sensory details: sight, sound, smell, feel, taste.

Descriptive writing is often found in fiction, though it can make an appearance in

nonfiction as well (for example, memoirs, first-hand accounts of events, or travel
guides). When an author writes in a descriptive style, they are painting a picture in
words of a person, place, or thing for their audience. The author might
employ metaphor or other literary devices in order to describe the author’s
impressions via their five senses (what they hear, see, smell, taste, or touch). But
the author is not trying to convince the audience of anything or explain the scene –
merely describe things as they are.

Examples of Descriptive Writing

 Poetry
 Journal/diary writing
 Description of Nature
 Fictional novels or plays
The description pattern has several forms. It can be used

 to provide physical description, in which details of a person, place, or

object are presented to appeal to the reader's senses
 for division, or to identify the component parts that make up the whole of
something
 for analysis, to show how the parts of something work together to produce a
whole, as the parts of an essay work together to produce the overall meaning
or main idea.
In all its forms, the function of description is to demonstrate the relationship
between the whole and its parts.

4. Persuasion:

Describes an issue and your position or opinion on the subject

Persuasive writing is the main style of writing you will use in academic papers.
When an author writes in a persuasive style, they are trying to convince the
audience of a position or belief. Persuasive writing contains the author’s opinions
and biases, as well as justifications and reasons given by the author as evidence of
the correctness of their position. Any “argumentative” essay you write in school
should be in the persuasive style of writing.
Examples of Persuasive Writing
 Cover letters
 Editorial newspaper articles
 Reviews of items
 Letters of complaint
 Advertisements
 Letters of recommendation

5. Evaluation:
The evaluation pattern is used to convey a value judgment. The judgment rendered
may be subjective or objective. Usually, subjective or personal evaluation (also
known as taste) has no justifiable criteria.
For example, the choice of a favorite color or food is a personal judgment, which
is usually rendered as "I like something" or "I dislike something." You might like a
movie because a certain actor is in it or because it deals with a subject you enjoy.

On the other hand, objective evaluation deals with accomplishment of purpose

and is based on an established set of criteria. Your favorite movie might in fact not
be a very good movie. Your liking it does not make it good. To be good, it must
exhibit qualities that can be identified and rated in comparison to others of its kind.

An evaluation must show a value judgment. An evaluation is not the same as a

logical conclusion. A logical conclusion is a characteristic of the referential-
interpretive purpose; the logical conclusion is based on an interpretation of the
facts presented, not values. So be sure you do not confuse a logical conclusion with
an evaluation.

6. Classification / Division:

Tells groups items into their parts or types

Classification takes one large concept, and divides it into individual pieces. A nice

result from this type of writing is that it helps the reader to understand a complex
topic by focusing on its smaller parts. This is particularly useful when an author
has a unique way of dividing the concepts, to provide new insight into the ways it
could be viewed.

The classification writing pattern assigns categories. This organization style has
elements of definition and compare-and-contrast. The classification pattern focuses
on putting similar items into groups.

The classification pattern has several forms. It is used to

 Organize things into categories (formal classification)

 Show the similarities and differences between two items (comparison-
contrast)
 Tell what something is based on its relationship to others of its kind
(definition)
 Compare similar objects from different classes (analogy)
In all its forms, the function of classification is to demonstrate the relationship
between an item and others of its kind.

7. Comparison and Contrast:

Tells how something is like other things or how something is different from
other things

Comparison focuses on similarities between things, and contrast focuses on their

differences. We innately make comparisons all the time, and they appear in many
kinds of writings. The goal of comparison and contrast in academic essays is
generally to show that one item is superior to another, based on a set of evaluations
included as part of the writing.

To compare two things is to find in which way or ways they are similar. To
contrast them, on the other hand, is to examine in which way or ways they are
different. We sometimes need to compare and contrast two elements or things in
order to understand each of the two more clearly.

For example, Sports, Characters in Literature, Writing styles of different authors

etc.

8. Cause and Effect:

Details why something happens, what causes it, what are the effects and
how it is related to something else.

If narration offers a sequence of events, cause/effect essays offer an explanation

about why that sequence matters. Cause/effect writing is particularly powerful
when the author can provide a cause/effect relationship that the reader was not
expecting, and as a result see the situation in a new light.

Using the cause and effect pattern, a writer tries to describe why something
happens, or what results of an occurrence are or were.
In the cause and effect writing organization pattern, the focus is on either a cause
or an effect. When a main idea involves a cause, the major support points relate the
effects of the cause. Likewise, when a main idea involves an effect, the major
support points are reasons or causes for the effect.

9. Definition:

Moves beyond a dictionary definition to deeply examine a word or concept

as we actually use and understand it

Explains what something is in comparison to other members of its class,

along with any limitations

In this pattern, the author describes or explains a term. In the example below, the
author attempts to describe dogs by defining their characteristics.

Dogs are one of the many types of pets people can own.  They are unique in
that they are much friendlier than other types of animals.  In addition, they
are always loyal and will not often leave a good master.  People need to know
that dogs make good pets.

If we try to explain what we mean by a particular term we use, we are defining it.
Although we use definition constantly in our everyday conversations, in writing
definition must be more complete and more formal. A written definition typically
begins with the meaning of the term, and then details are provided to illustrate our
meaning. For example, you may need to define the term intelligence. You will first
give your meaning of the term, then illustrate it with as many details as you need.

10. Exemplification:
Provides typical cases or examples of something

It is common to see examples used in all kinds of situations—an idea can be

considered too general or abstract until we see it in action. Exemplification extends
this idea even further: it carries one or more examples into great detail, in order to
show the details of a complex problem in a way that’s easy for readers to
understand.

Writing organized with this pattern comprises examples, lists of facts, or cases in
point. The examples pattern is sometimes referred to as exemplification,
illustration, or analysis.
11. Process Analysis:
Explains how something happened, how it works or how it is made

The process pattern refers to a series of steps to be carried out in some order; for
example, how do you make coffee? With this pattern, the writer 
describes step by step how something is done, made or repaired, as in a recipe
book or a maintenance manual.

Analyzing a process can also be thought of as “how-to” instruction. Technical

writing includes a lot of process analysis, for instance. Academic writing can
incorporate process analysis to show how an existing problem came to be, or how
it might be solved, by following a clear series of steps.

Instructions on how to accomplish something or a description of how something is

done is process writing. Like narrative writing, process writing is organized in
chronological order.

12. Problem and Solution:

This type of academic writing has two equally important tasks: clearly identifying
a problem, and then providing a logical, practical solution for that problem.
Establishing that a particular situation IS a problem can sometimes be a challenge–
many readers might assume that a given situation is “just the way it is,” for
instance.

13. Argumentation:

An argumentative essay is also referred to as persuasion or opinion and is effort to

sway an audience to the writer's conviction. The argument organization style is
similar to cause and effect: The opinion is analogous to the effect, and the support
points for the opinion are analogous to the causes in a cause and effect essay.