Download Patterns of Organization

Patterns of Organization
CHAPTERS 5 AND 6
Questions and Understanding
• When we want to understand something, we look for
answers to the following questions:
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What is it?
Where is it?
What kind is it?
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What are its characteristics?
Why is it?
What caused it?
What are its effects
What process produced it?
How does it differ from others?
How is it similar to others?
 When writing answers to these questions, writers
organize their answers by using specific patterns.
 These patterns are called :
Patterns
of Organization
 In this lesson, we will focus on learning to identify
those patterns in paragraphs and essays.
Why is it important to understand Patterns of
Organization?
 Patterns help us
 anticipate the kinds of details the author will use,
 remember and recall what we read, and
 communicate effectively.
Organizational Pattern #1, page 232
 Definition Pattern (also known as definition and
example)
presents a term, usually in bold print,
 states the meaning of that term, and then
 provides additional information such as examples, causes and
effects, its history, etc.
See the next slide for an example of a paragraph organized
around this pattern:
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Genetics is the scientific study of heredity, the transmission of
characteristics from parents to offspring. Genetics explains why
offspring resemble their parents and also why they are not
identical to them. Genetics is a subject that has considerable
economic, medical, and social significance and is partly the basis
for the modern theory of evolution. Because of its importance,
genetics has been a topic of central interest in the study of life
for centuries. Modern concepts in genetics are fundamentally
different, however, from earlier ones.
Organizational Pattern #2
 Classification Pattern
 breaks a large group of items into types, kinds, categories,
classes according to some criteria of division (such as color,
weight, age, size, speed, longevity)
 Defines each type or kind and then often-- but not always–
follows the definition with
examples and/or
 additional explanation.
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 There are two types of illnesses: acute and chronic.
Acute illnesses (like a cold or the flu) are usually over
relatively quickly. Chronic illnesses, though, are
long-lasting health conditions (the word "chronic"
comes from the Greek word chronos, meaning time).
Organizational Pattern #3:
 Time Pattern, also called order and sequence, is used
to
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narrate (tell a story about) a sequence of events in time, and
describe a process; that is to present the steps for
making/producing something or leading to some final
level/state.
 One important feature of the time pattern is that the
order of events or steps cannot be changed.
Series of Events or Stages, pages 143-150
• By late March, more than a million refugees were streaming
toward Danang, which was itself being bottled up as Communist
forces attacked farther south along the litoral at Chulai and
Quangngai. On March 25, the day Hue fell, North Vietnamese
rockets crashed into downtown Danang, South Vietnam’s second
largest city. Within three days, thirty-five thousand communists
were poised in its suburbs, while terrified citizens crammed the
airport, the docks and the beaches, attempting to flee. Thousands
waded into the sea, among them mothers clutching babies; many
drowned or were trampled to death as they fought to reach barges
and fishing boats; sometime South Vietnamese soldiers shot
civilians to make room for themselves. On March 29, Edward
Daley, president of World airways, flew a jumbo jet into Danang.
Frenzied mobs crowded the runway, and nearly three hundred
Vietnamese clambered aboard in ten minutes, virtually all of them
men. . . .The next day, East Sunday, the communists marched
into Danang. (in Vietnam: A History, pp. 680)
Process: pages 195
•
An easy way is to use a “Concentration Monitor” every day for about a week when
you study. Use it for the same class over several days to see some progress. Here’s
how to monitor your concentration. Step one is to choose an assignment and list
the task(s) you want to complete. For example, write “I want to read 10 pages of
Psychology.” Step two is to decide how long you will spend on the assignment. Jot
down the date, place, beginning time, and projected ending time. The third step
is to monitor your concentration: every time your mind wanders even a little, make
a check mark ( ). Record any breaks or interruptions in your attention. By the
checks, make notes about who or what interrupted you, the length of the
interruption, whether the break/interruption was voluntary or involuntary (your
thoughts wandered). The last step is to record the time that you actually stop
studying. Then divide the length of time you studied by the number of
breaks/interruptions in your concentration. The result of this calculation will give
you a base-line concentration rate. For example, if you study for 10 minutes and
have 10 checks, then your rate of interruption to concentration is one break per
minute. Monitoring your concentration will help you reduce the number of
interruptions or breaks in your concentration. (retrieved from
www.how.to.study.com )
Organizational Pattern #4:
 Spatial Pattern
 describes the physical positions objects in space, and
 uses lots of prepositions of relating objects in space, e.g., in,
on, at, near, next to, nearby, away.
Example of Spatial Organization
 The state of North Carolina is located along the
Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. The state is
sandwiched in between three states: Georgia and
South Carolina to the south and Virginia to the
north. On its western border lies Tennessee. To the
east is the Atlantic Ocean.
Organizational Pattern #5:
Cause and Effect, pages 183-189
 Cause and effect pattern
 expresses a relationship between two or more actions or
events,
 explains causes, sources, reasons, motives, and actions,
 Explains the effect, result, and/or consequences of action(s)
and/or
Example of Cause and Effect Order
• Many people are surprised to hear that they have distinctive,
personal ways of using their minds. There are two reasons for their
surprise. First, we’ve all been taught to think that our schooling
shaped our minds into the one right way to learn and think. That’s
what all those lessons on logical thinking study skills, and testing
taking strategies were all about. The teachers were supposed to be
training us to use our minds correctly, at least as far as traditional
education goes. However, the way to learning and thinking that we
were taught in school is only one way. And it is not the on that is
most congenial for the majority of adults. The second reason why
some people are surprised to find that they think in a distinctive
way is that other people’s thought processes are not visible to us.
The brain is the ultimate black box, which we can’t open. So we are
unaware of how different each of us thinks and learns.
Organizational pattern #6:
Comparison/Contrast, pages 177-182
 Comparison/Contrast
 Comparison is used to show similarities between two or more
items or people
 Contrast is used to show differences between two or more
items or people.
Comparison pattern.
• Both animal and plant cells have some similar
structural elements. First off they are both
eukaryotic, which means they have a defined
nucleus. The nucleus contains chromosomes. It is
protected and surrounded by the cytoplasm, which is
a watery or gel-like liquid. Further, animal and plant
cells have a cell membrane that surrounds the cell.
This allows for the cell to exert control, in most
cases, over what can penetrate the cell, and what
cannot.
Contrast Pattern
• One of the primary differences between animal
and plant cells is that plant cells have a cell wall
made up of cellulose. This helps the plant cells to
allow high pressure to build inside of it, without
bursting. A plant cell has to be able to accept large
amounts of liquid through osmosis, without being
destroyed. An animal cell does not have this cell wall.
If you start to fill the animal cell with too much
distilled water or other fluid, it will eventually pop.
Organizational Pattern #7:
Listing Pattern , pages 138-142
 Listing Pattern is simply a list of items.
 The items in the list may be rearranged without
affecting the meaning of the passage.
Listing Pattern
• Here are three characteristics good leaders share. First, a leader
must have vision -- being able to articulate the future in clear simple
language: An emphasis on what will be rather than what is. Our
recent election had two very different visions for the future; whether
you liked those visions is a different story. A leader should be able to
state concretely what success will look like and how their
organization will get there. Second, a leader must understand
what motivates people. Dolores Huerta and Caesar Chavez have
inspired farm workers with their vision of a better life and working
conditions. Learning to give positive and negative feedback in an
effective way is crucial. Last, a leader must be trustworthy.
President Jimmy Carter's greatest asset has always been that his
behavior is consistent with his beliefs. Even those who disagree with
him respect him enormously. No one will follow a dishonest or
unfair leader with enthusiasm. Actions do speak much louder than
words!