Patterns of Development

Made for AP Lang test on Patterns of Development

Narration

Telling a story; recounting of events to explain information about your topic as a series of events in story format.

Purpose: to explain information about your topic as a series of events in story format; a recounting of events

Description

Targets the senses with a high level of detail to create a picture in words, helping the reader visualize something a writer has experienced.

Purpose: to create a picture in words (vivid, specific details) to help the reader visualize something a writer has experienced

Process Analysis

Explains how something works or how something was done, providing directions or information about processes.

Purpose: to explain a process by giving directions or information about how to do something or how something is done.

Exemplification/Illustration

Making a point through a series of examples or one extended example to clarify points or elaborate on a topic.

Purpose: to discuss a topic by using several/a series of examples to clarify points or to go into depth about one extended example

Comparison and Contrast

Juxtaposing two or more elements to highlight their similarities and differences.

Purpose: to show how two or more areas of your topic are similar (compare) or different (contrast) or both, often by using juxtaposition

Classification and Division

Sorting a topic into groups or categories and explaining what goes together and why.

Purpose: to break a topic into groups of categories and explain what goes together and why they go together

Definition

Defining a word, concept, or trend and examining how situations fit that definition.

Purpose: to define a word in a way that ensures the reader and the speaker have a common understanding of what it means; in the end, an idea is defined and a situation is examined in terms of how it does/does not fit that definition

Cause and Effect

Analyzing causes that lead to particular effects to explain the relationships between events.

Purpose: to explain what caused (cause) something to happen (effect); how did one thing lead to another?; answers why something happened as the result of something else