1. Illustration-Example
The illustration-example pattern has examples in the development of the paragraph. This pattern is explained by providing specific instances that illustrate it. We may give example of the topics that we study. We can use some example to illustrate or to support main idea and we can use list signal words for illustration- example.
Example:
Electricity is all around us. We see it in lightning. We receive electric shocks when we walk on a nylon rug on a dry and then touch something (or someone). We can see sparks fly from a cat’s fur when we pet in the dark. We can rub a balloon on a sweater and make the balloon stick to the wall or the ceiling. Our clothes cling together when we take them from the dryer.
In the paragraph above, electricity is all around us is the main idea of the paragraph; and lightning, nylon rug, cat’s fur, balloon, and clothing from dryer are examples which explain the main ideas. In other words, the main idea is supported by giving examples. Signal words that commonly used in this patter are, such as, for example, to illustrate, for instance, and in the case of.
2. Definition
The definition pattern has definitions in the development of the paragraph. This pattern defines something that makes it different from each other’s. The definition itself has two parts: part that tells the general class belongs to and part that describes how it is different from others.
Example:
An opossum is animal with a ratlike tail that lives in the trees. It carries its young in pouch. It is active at night and pretends to be dead when trapped.
The first part of this paragraph is animal is a general class, while rest is the part which differences each opossum from the other animals. Within the second part, a reader might interpret opossum with other animals.
3. Comparison and Contrast
The comparison and contrast pattern emphasize similarities and differences between ideas, theories, people, concepts, or events in the development of the paragraph. The comparison pattern focuses on similarities, while contrast pattern emphasizes the differences. It may be organized in different ways. We can list all similarities ant then all differences. After that, we discuss the first item, and presenting both similarities and differences; continue to do the same way for the second item.
Example:
Housing in New York City differs in several ways from that in most other cities of the United States. About 60 percent of New York’s families live in apartment buildings or hotels. In other cities, most people live in New York City rent their homes. In other U.S cities, most families own their homes. About 70 percent of the housing in New York City is more than 30 years old, and over 300,000 families live in buildings that are more that 70 years old. Most other cities have a far larger percentage of newer housing.
This paragraph discusses about housing in New York City. The signal words used is differ.
The signal words for comparison:
compare, resembles, in comparison, similar, in the same way/manner, parallels, like, similarly, likewise, also, both, correspondingly.
The signal words for contrast:
but, nevertheless, although, instead, conversely, on the other hand, differences, rather than, different, unlike, however, yet, in contrast, less wordy, as opposed to, bigger than, differs from.
4. Cause and Effect
The cause and effect pattern has the causes and effects described in the development of the paragraph. This pattern describes an event or action that is caused by another event or action. It explains how and why something happened. In this case, causal relationship between two or more event or actions are shown with cause and effect. Causes may be implied or directly stated and often multiple causes (MC) or multiple effects (ME) are as evident (McWhorter, 1994: 121). This patter can vary in some combinations such as:
- one cause and one effect
- one cause and multiple effects
- multiple causes and single effect
- multiple causes and multiple effects
Example:
The car would not start this morning, the bus was 30 minutes late. I lost my office keys, and my secretary called in sick. Because of all these problems, I had a terrible headache by lunchtime.
It can be seen that this paragraph try to explains multiple causes and single effect. The multiple causes are the car would not start, the bus was 30 minutes late, and my secretary called in sick. And the single effect is I had a terrible headache. The signal word used in this paragraph is because. Then, we may use other signal words in a paragraph, such as:
The signal words for cause:
because, for this reason, cause, an account of, due to, why.The signal words for effect:
as a result, thus, consequently, therefore, in effect, result.5. Classification
The classification pattern has classifications of the topic in the development of the paragraph. This pattern divides a topic into parts or categories based on common or shared characteristics. In this pattern, an object or idea will be explained by dividing into parts and describing each.
Example:
Horticulture, the study and cultivation of garden plants, is a large industry. Recently has become a popular are of study. The Horticulture field consists of four major divisions. First, there is pomology, the science and practice of growing and handling fruit trees. Then there is olericulture, which is concerned with growing and vegetables. A third field, floriculture, is the science of growing, storing and designing flowering plants. The last category, ornamental and landscape horticulture is concerned with using grasses, plants, and shrubs in landscaping.
This paragraph explained that horticulture by describing its four areas of fields of study, such as, pomology, olericulture, floriculture, and ornamental and lanscape. The signal words used in this paragraph are: first, then, third, and last. But, there are many other signal words that can be used:
Sorts, categories, element features, parts, characteristics, several kinds, numbers, classes, types, methods, classify, ways, kinds, divide, group.
6. Chronological Order
The chronological order pattern has chronological events arranged in the development of the paragraph. Actually, there four forms of this pattern. They are chronological order refers to the arrangement of events in time, process focuses on the order in which procedures or steps are accomplished, order of importance expresses priority or preference, and spatial order refers to physical location, position, or order.
The signal words for this pattern are as follows:
first, second, third, next, most important, last, above, after, last, during, eventually, finally, later, stages, steps, at the end.
Example:
The paragraph above tells us about the sequence how to make adjusting entries. The process is described in chronological order, beginning with the first process and ending with the last process.
Sometimes, a writer uses mixed pattern in which one pattern is combined with another pattern. It can be seen in the following example:
In the beginning, I thought that the white world was very different from the world I was moving out of and I turned out to be entirely wrong. It seemed different. It seemed suffer, it seemed more polite, and, of course it seemed much richer from the material point of view. But I didn’t meet anyone in that world who didn’t suffer from the same affliction that all the people I had fled from suffered from and that was they didn’t know who they were. They wanted to be something that they were not. And very shortly I didn’t know who I was, either. I could not be certain whether I was really female, really talented or fraud, really strong or merely stubborn. In short, I had become an American. I had stepped into, I had walked right into, as I inevitably had to do, the bottomless confusion that is both public and private, of the American republic.
Here, the writer tries to combine one pattern with another pattern. It can be seen from the signal words used in the paragraph, such as, in the beginning, but, very shortly, and in short. The paragraph does not belong to one pattern.
