1. PATTERNS OF ORGANISATION
BBI 3436

2. What are Patterns of Organization?
Details support a main or implied main idea. Authors often organize supporting details in a particular order…thus creating a pattern.
Patterns of organization are the groupings of the supporting details .
Detecting the patterns of organization of the major and minor details can help with comprehension.

3. Patterns of Organization
Recognizing the patterns, basically knowing the organization of the supporting details, will help you:
•understand how an author thinks
•logically order the information
•begin predicting test questions

4. Signal Words
Signal words, also known as transitions, are words which indicate the relationship between ideas, and the organization of the details.

5. Types of Organizational Patterns
Definition and Example
Time/Chronological Order
Comparison and Contrast
Cause and Effect
Problem-solution
Listing

6. Patterns of Organization: Definition and Example
This pattern is found primarily in textbooks; a word or concept is introduced then explained or described. An example of its usage then follows. The pattern is very close to illustration or description.
This type of paragraph helps the reader understand unfamiliar words or concepts by giving definition of the word or several examples of the concept

7. Signal words or transitions for the Definition and Example pattern
such as
for instance
to illustrate
for example
including
in this case
specifically

8. Definition and Example
Acrophobia is an intense, unreasonable fear of high places. People with acrophobia exhibit emotional and physical symptoms in response to being at great heights. For instance, one sufferer of extreme acrophobia, Andrea Copeland, is unable to go above the third floor of any building without feeling enormous anxiety. Her acrophobia began one evening when she was working alone in her office on the eighth floor of a large building. Suddenly she was struck with terror. She gathered her things and left the building, Yet, she still has no rational explanation for her fear, which is also typical of this type of phobia.

9. Patterns of Organization: Definition and Example
Arrange the following group of sentences into an order that makes sense.
___You might, for instance, sit calmly through a friend’s criticism and act as if it didn’t bother you.
___Apathy is an avoidance response in which a person acknowledges unpleasant information but pretends he or she doesn’t care.
___Another example is responding to the loss of a job by acting indifferent: “Who cares? It was a dumb job anyway.”

10. Time/Chronological Order
Chronological order is the order in which the events occurred, from first to last.
Also known as steps and stages, narration or sequence of events
In this pattern, ideas are presented in the order in which they occurred in time.

11. Time/Chronological Order
Questions Answered:
“When did it happen?”
“In what order did it happen?”
When Used:
Commonly used in anthropology, history, art history
& political science. It answers the questions relating to time.
Signals:
first, second, third, before, after, until, next, at last, later, eventually, following this, afterward, soon, during, meanwhile

12. Chronological Order
It seemed like an ordinary day when she got up that morning, but Lynda was about to embark on the worst day of her life. First, she fell in the bathtub because her mother forgot to rinse out the bath oil. Then she spilled orange juice on the outfit she had spent hours putting together for school pictures. When she changed, she messed up the French braid her mother had put in her hair. As she walked out the door, she dropped all of her school books and her math homework flew away. Once she made it to the car she thought everything would be all right. She was wrong; her father didn't look before he backed out of the driveway and ran into the neighbor’s truck. Lynda’s side of the car was damaged the most, and she ended up with a broken arm. That night, she cried herself to sleep.

13. Arrange the following group of sentences into an order
that makes sense.
____By 1960 the number of TV sets in the country had
risen above 50 million.
____After eight years, there were a million TV sets
in the United States.
____Interest in television grew rapidly when broad-
casting began in 1941.
____By 1994 there were over 211 million TV sets
American homes.
Chronological Order

14. Patterns of Organization: Compare and contrast
This type of paragraph may show how things are alike – comparison
This type of paragraph may show how things are different – contrast
It is possible that a paragraph may show how things are both alike and different

15. Signal Words: Compare/Contrast
but
on the other hand
in spite of
conversely
despite
however
nonetheless
on the contrary
rather
nevertheless
notwithstanding
though
yet
regardless
whereas
although
in contrast
unlike
for all that
even though as
similarly
at the same time
like
as well as
in comparison
both
all
by the same token
furthermore

16. Patterns of Organization: Cause and effect
This type of pattern shows the reader why something happened or the results of something.
One event or action causes another to happen

17. Signal Words- CAUSE / EFFECT
reason outcome
due to result
on account of as a result
leads to therefore
led to thus
since consequently
because hence
for this reason
finally

18. Problem-Solution Pattern
The text presents a significant problem and explains it in detail. Then, a possible solution is proposed. Sometimes, only the problem is presented because there is no solution.
Readings answer the questions:
“What is the problem?”
“What is a possible solution?”

19. Signal Words: Problem and Solution
problem, need, difficulty, dilemma, enigma, challenge, issue
answer, propose, suggest, indicate, solve, resolve, improve, plan, respond to a need
Thesis example: Since pollution has a detrimental impact on modern living standards, a key solution is increased recycling of waste products.

20. THANK YOU
CREDITS:
Prof. Jacqueline A. Imperial