Essay Development Patterns
Academic essays often have an overall structure starting from the introduction, leading to a thesis statement followed by the body and conclusion. However, the organization of thoughts for communication purposes in essays is often driven by different development patterns, otherwise known as rhetorical modes. These styles mirror how individuals view their world, and thus they help organize an outline and determine a paper’s form. Three of the significant patterns include narration, description, and comparison and contrast.
The narration focuses on telling a story or relating to an event. The development pattern is helpful for sequencing information in chronological order while adding content and interest to the paper, often through personal experiences. It thus establishes what has happened and assists in impact development. Nonetheless, to write a perfect narration, one must consider the plot, climax, setting, storytelling conventions, characters, and conclusion (Budiyono, 2020). Some may include a resolution based on the objective of the writer in the narration.
Additionally, there is the description which tells the nature of something. The style focuses on inventing, recreating, or visually presenting a place, person, action, or event so that the reader can picture what is being described. The style is based on sensory details like taste, sound, touch, and smell. Therefore, it is imperative to consider the dominant impression, sensory details, precise language, figurative language, and proper organization (Budiyono, 2020). While doing this, the essay’s purpose should be established, and impression tones set, including thoughts and feelings.
The final pattern is comparison and contrast, which focuses on the similarities and differences between given aspects. Essays developed using this style aim to show how distinct people or items are either similar or different while still establishing the superiority of either element over another. Moreover, the design helps extend the definition of given concepts to enhance their understanding, including using examples to help the audience conceptualize the issues presented.
Therefore, it is essential to address both similarities and differences in using such a pattern, including clear transitions and analyses. Furthermore, the essay must have a clear introductory, body, and conclusive paragraphs. The body paragraphs can be structured in a point-by-point or block structure (Budiyono, 2020). The former involves following the similarity or difference of one object with the other. In contrast, the latter consists in giving all the information about one aspect first, followed by the details of the other element being compared and contrasted. Each of these structures has its merits as the former is clearer while the latter is easier to write.
It is evident that essay development patterns are just as crucial as thesis statements. Styles such as narration, description, and comparison and contrast guide writers in having clear, logical structures in their works. They also ensure that the audience’s interests are prioritized to understand the given concepts presented in the essays. Therefore, they provide that the quality of the paper is guaranteed, including proper precision, tone, and language.
Prewriting
In writing a narration, prewriting is an important stage in the development of the idea. It begins by selecting a topic, followed by assembling information on the chosen issue. Once this is achieved, a writer can then start to focus and order things. Nonetheless, it is imperative to select a prewriting strategy to underpin idea development. These include brainstorming, questioning, clustering, mapping, rewriting, and sketching (Budiyono, 2020).
Brainstorming involves listing all the aspects of all the issues that come to mind when considering the subject of discussion. It is similar to sketching and clustering though the latter is more graphical and complicated. Questioning involves asking specific questions and using their answers as a basis for the idea. On the other hand, a mapping consists in thinking of new and related ideas radiating from the central theme. The final strategy, rewriting, involves altering another person’s ideas to improve them. One can use a mix of techniques to ensure the concept is as precise and fluid as possible.
Five-Paragraph Essay
Offering help to other individuals without expectation has become impossible in this somewhat competitive world where people only focus on success and social status. Several people continually ignore the value of kindness and generosity and acquire the stereotype of a selfish person. This is the type of victim mentality that I had as I thought that helping others would derail my success and make others get ahead of me. I was very competitive, and it made me bitter to some extent. It was not until three years ago, when I vied for the position of the school president, that I learned the value of giving.
Just as competitive as I was in class, vying for positions of power was no exception. I tried as much to intimidate my competitors, and most of them dropped out of the race as I made them feel worthless and undeserving of the position. Most of the other students were also intimidated by my somewhat arrogant and rude nature. This made me feel untouchable, and I was sure that it was only a matter of time before I got the position that I felt was mine no matter what, and I even lost some of my close friends I neither cared nor minded as I believed that was the price I had to pay for success.
As the campaigns intensified, I noticed that John, one of the students I had severally denied my help, especially in academics because he was a poor performer, was becoming popular. John was one of those people who was always happy despite being so down to earth. Despite his lack of academic prowess, he was always on the lookout for the welfare of other students. John would share everything and always ensured that he could uplift others he was way better than. This made me despise him as I felt that he was too giving and allowed others to compete with me.
Before the day of the election, I ensured that John was dropped from the race by inventing a false story about him that he had been involved in exam malpractice. The remaining competitors were people that I felt I could defeat easily. Finally, the day of the election came, and students lined up in their numbers to vote. By then, word had already got around of what I did to innocent John. Still, I was very optimistic about securing the win. However, to my surprise and other teachers, over 90% of the votes were spoilt because the students wrote Tony’s name on the ballot. The teachers had to consider him to avoid riots from the students as tension was already mounting.
Losing the election was very painful, especially to someone that I despised. However, it taught me an essential lesson in life that I hold dear to date. I got to know the importance of giving rather than focusing on selfish interests. I also got to be less anxious and self-conscious about myself, and I got to experience the true love that made Tony. Indeed as proposed by Arthur Ashe, we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Reference
Budiyono, H. (2020). Paragraph and its development pattern on the essay writing of elementary school students. International Journal of Language Teaching and Education, 4(2), 96-108. Web.