Using the patterns of development
The patterns of development—such as narration, definition, comparison and contrast, and classification—are ways we think about and understand a vast range of subjects, from our own daily experiences to the most complex scientific theories. They also serve as strategies for writing about these subjects. Asking questions based on the patterns can help you view your topic from many angles. Not all these questions will be productive, but at least a few should open up new possibilities. Save the list in a file of its own, duplicate it for each writing project, and insert appropriate answers between the questions. Print your answers so they’re handy as you develop your paper. You can also move passages from the answers directly into your draft.
How did it happen?
In narration you develop the topic as a story, with important events usually arranged chronologically (as they occurred in time): for instance, an exciting basketball game or the steps leading to a war.
How does it look, sound, feel, smell, taste?
In description you use sensory details to give a clear impression of a person, place, thing, or feeling, such as a species of animal, a machine, a friend, a building, or an experience.
What are examples of it or reasons for it?
The pattern of illustration or support suggests development with one or more examples of the subject (one couple’s efforts to adopt a child, say, or three television soap operas) or with the reasons for believing or doing something (three reasons for majoring in English, four reasons for driving defensively).
What is it? What does it encompass, and what does it exclude?
These questions lead to definition: specifying what the subject is and is not to give a precise sense of its meaning. Abstract terms—such as justice, friendship, and art—especially need defining (see p. 489).
What are its parts or characteristics?
Using the pattern of division or analysis, you separate a subject such as a bicycle or a short story into its elements and examine the relations between elements. The first step in critical thinking, analysis is also discussed on page 46.
What groups or categories can it be sorted into?
Classification involves separating a large group (such as cars) into smaller groups (subcompact, compact, and so on) based on the characteristics of the individual items (the sizes of the cars). Another example: academic, business, personal, literary, and other types of writing.
How is it like, or different from, other things?
With comparison and contrast you point out the similarities and differences between ideas, objects, people, places, and so on: the differences between two similar computer systems, for instance, or the similarities between two opposing political candidates.
Is it comparable to something that is in a different class but more
familiar to readers?
This question leads to analogy, an extended comparison of unlike subjects. Analogy is often used to explain a topic that may be unfamiliar to readers (for instance, the structure of a government) by reference to a familiar topic (the structure of a family).
Why did it happen, or what results did it have?
With cause-and-effect analysis, you explain why something happened or what its consequences were or will be, or both: the causes of cerebral palsy, the effects of a Supreme Court decision, the causes and effects of a gradual change in the climate.
How do you do it, or how does it work?
In process analysis, you explain how the topic is accomplished (how to write an essay) or how it happens (how a plant grows, how a robot works).
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