Patterns of Development Overview
Most academic essays have an overall structure – introduction leading to a thesis, body,
conclusion. Essays also have topic sentences and units of support that constitute the
body, and these topic sentences and units of support need to be ordered logically in a
way that’s appropriate to the essay’s thesis.
Consider these common patterns of thought and consider specific ways in which you’ve
applied each thinking pattern in your everyday life.
1. Narration
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.
2. Description
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.
3. Example
It’s 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.
4. Definition
Defintion moves beyond a dictionary definition to deeply examine a word or concept as
we actually use and understand it.
5. Process Analysis
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.
6. Classification/Division
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.
7. Comparison/Contrast
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.
8. Cause/Effect
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 wasn’t expecting, and as a result
see the situation in a new light.
9. Problem/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.
Often in your academic studies, you will be asked to apply a specific thinking pattern in
an essay assignment. For example:
Compare the economic theories of Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman.
(comparison and contrast)
Discuss the effects of the U.S. civil war on the U.S. cotton industry during and in
the decade immediately after the war. (cause and effect)
Identify the different literary techniques that Faulkner applies in his short story, “A
Rose for Emily,” explaining how he uses each technique to add to the suspense of
the story. (division and classification, example)
Discuss Piaget’s stages of child development in reference to case studies #1:
Rebecca, and #2: Luke. (process analysis)
Even if you are not directly asked to apply a specific thinking pattern, you may want to
use one to help you develop and organize your insights. The four patterns noted above
– comparison and contrast, cause and effect, division and classification, and process
analysis – are very common in academic as well as everyday thinking and writing.
