Patterns of Essay Organization
Three patterns of organization in English : chronological order, logical
division/order of importance, and comparison/contrast.
-Chronological Order is order by time. Chronological order is also used to
describe events over a period of time and to explaining processes. Biography,
autobiography, history, and narrative (“story”) writing all use chronological order.
Organization for Chronological Order (The organization of the model essay
follows a typical plan for a chronological process type of essay). First paragraph is
Introduction ; the reader’s interest and names the topic. First paragraph of the body
describes the tools, equipment, or ingredients needed for the process, and
remaining body paragraphs explain the process result and making a final comment.
Transition Signals for Chronological Order (The transition signals used in
chronological order essays are the same as those used in time order paragraphs). In
addition, chronological order essays frequently contain time clauses (such as after
the liquid has evaporated as as soon as we entered the icy water) to show the
sequence of events and also contain time phrases (such as before the earthquake,
while stirring the soup, and before adding the liquid).
Thesis Statements for Chronological Order. A thesis statement for a
chronological oder essays should do two things : (1) it should name the topic, and
(2) it should indicate that the essays will be organized in chronological order.
-Logical Division of Ideas is a form of essays organization that is used to group
related items according to some quality they have in common. Logical division can
be useful in planning an academic paper because it will help you divide a broad
subject into several categories or groups and in that way focus the topics for
discussion. Then, each subtopic can be discussed in order.
Organization for Logical Division of Ideas (In essays, a large topic is
divided up into smaller subtopics, each of which can be discussed in a separate
paragraph. Intoduces main topic and thesis statement give the number subtopics.
Each body paragraph one subtopic and concluding paragraphs brings essay to close
Transition Signals and Thesis Statements (Trasitions signals are the same for
logical division paragraphs and logical division essays, and thesis statements for
logical division essays are similar to topic sentences for logical divisions
paragraphs).
Cause and Effect Order (Another common method of organizing an essay is
by cause and effect). In cause and effect essays, you discuss the reasons or causes
for something, and then you discuss the results.
Organization for Cause and Effect Order. Basically two main ways to
organize a cause and effect essay : “block” organization and “chain” organization.
In block organization, first discuss all of the causes as a block (in one, two, three,
or more paragraphs, depending on the number of causes). In chain organization,
discuss a first cause and effect, a second cause and effect, a third cause and effect.
Usually, each new cause is the result of the preceding effect. All the paragraphs are
linked in a “chain.”
Block Organization with Transition Paragraphs. In block organization, there
is often a short paragraph that separates the “causes” part from the “effects” part.
The purpose of transition paragraph is to conclude the first oart of essay and
introduce the second part. It is helpful when topic is long and complex.
Chain Organization (Using special structure words, causes and effects are
linked to each other in a logical chain).
Cause and Effect Structure Words (There are transition signals that show
time order and logical division, there are words and phrases that show cause and
effect relationships. They are called cause and effect structure words). It is
important to distinguish between causes and effects. Cause is the reason for
something; it happens earlier. An effect is the result of something; it happens later.
Remember also that in a chain of events, an effect becomes the cause of another
effect, and that effect becomes the cause of still another effect, and so on. Many of
the most common cause and effect structure words are listed in the following chart.
Learn to use different ones so that you don’t always use because in your sentences.
-Comparison and Contrast Order. A very common and useful method of essay
organization is comparison and contrast. The techniques for writing
comparison/contrast paragraphs and essays are essentially the same; the main
difference is in the size of the topic. Because the topic of an essay is much larger,
need to learn sme advanced patterns of organization.
Comparison Structure Vocabulary. The first key to writing successful
comparison and contrast structure words. These are words that introduce points of
comparison and points of contrast.
Contrast Structure Vocabulary. Contrast structure words fall into two main
groups according to their meaning. The first group shows contrast in the sense of
consession or unexpected result. Second group shows contrast in the sense of direct
opposition. The clauses connected by the words in the second group are reversible.
For example, that while and whereas may be palced at the beginning of either
clause with no change in meaning : I am short, whereas my brother is tall and
Whereas I am short, my brother is tall are both possible and are equal in meaning.
Organization for Comparison and Contrast Order (Two ways to organize a
comparison and contrast essay). May use block organization or point-by-point
organization. In block organization, discuss all of similarities in one block (which
can be one/more paragraphs), all of the differences in another block. In point-by-
point organization, make a sentence-by-sentence comparison of the features in any
order that seems appropriate for the topic.
Four common patterns of essay organization in English are :
● Chronological order
● Logical division of ideas
● Cause and effect order
● Comparison and contrast order
Use special transition signals and structure words to help reader understand ideas
and follow discussion. Other patterns of organization in academic writing such as
definition and argumentation. Also, may need to use combination of patterns at
times, especially for long essays or term papers.
