PATTERNS OF

DEVELOPMENT
IN WRITING
COMMON PATTERNS
OF DEVELOPMENT
I. Narration
II. Definition
III.Description
IV. Exemplification
V. Comparison and
contrast
VI. Cause and Effect
VII.Problem-solution
NARRATION
PATTERN
 NARRATION
• It is basically a skill of
chronologically telling a
story of events or
experience that signaled
by transition devices.
Goal of your essay:
Explain how something
happened.
 NARRATION
• Every narrative
contains elements
namely; setting,
character, plot,
conflict, and theme.
 NARRATION
• Setting serves as
background of a story.
• Main and subordinate
characters.
• Plot is the series of incidents
that happens in the story.
• Conflict elevates the
reader’s emotion until it
reaches solution.
 A BIRTHDAY SURPRISE
Ella loves music. Her favorite kind of music is rock and
roll. She is constantly listening to music on her radio, and her
computer is always playing music in her room. Her birthday is
coming up in a few weeks and she really wants to see a concert
to celebrate it. She has been dreaming about it daily. Ezra, her
boyfriend, has decided to surprise her with tickets for her
birthday.
“Ella, I am going to pick you up at eight tomorrow night,”
said Ezra. “Great, I will be ready. What are we doing?” asked
Ella. “We are going to your favorite restaurant and then I have a
surprise for you,” said Ezra. “Great,” thought Ella, “The surprise
is probably a piece of jewelry or something useless like that.”
The following day, Ezra arrived at eight to take Ella to
dinner. They ate at her favorite restaurant and as they were
paying the bill Ezra gave her an envelope. “Go on, open it,” said
Ezra. “Okay, thank you so much,” replied Ella. She opened the
envelope and found two front row tickets to her favorite
concert. “Oh wow! Ezra, what a wonderful surprise!” she
exclaimed.
They left the restaurant and went to the concert. Ella
 ACTIVITY: NARRATION
Write your own narrative with 5-
8 sentences. You can have the
working title “My
Experiences During
Pandemic”. You can narrate
what have you learned during
that time.
DEFINITION
PATTERN
 DEFINITION
• Tells the reader what term or
concept is being defined.
• May be formal or informal in giving
definition of a term or concept.
• Common signal words:
• is/as defined as
• Means
• Refers to
• To define
• To illustrate
 DEFINITION
• Probing questions for
definition pattern:
• What is it?
• What are its limits?
Social engineering is defined as any method
which tricks people to share personal
information through the use of technology.
The social component in this scheme means
that there is reliance on various psychological
tricks and on the gullibility of users rather
than technical hacking. Social engineering
also refers to various malicious acts online
such as phishing, spamming and pretexting.
 ACTIVITY: DEFINITION
Create a 3-5 sentences defining
your dream course.
DESCRIPTION
PATTERN
 DESCRIPTION
• It appeals to the senses -
smell, taste, hear, sight, and
touch through the
imagination of the readers.
Successful description
demands a special technique
 DESCRIPTION
• Probing questions for
definition pattern:
• What does it look like?
• What are its
characteristics?
 DESCRIPTION
• If you want to tell what a
house looks like, use
objective or factual and
scientific description.
• If you want to give the effect
the house has on you, your
description will be
subjective or suggestive
and imaginative.
 DESCRIPTION
• Descriptive writing should
always contain strong,
specific details. Features
such as color, size, texture,
shape, and condition should
be expressed clearly and
sharply in action verbs,
precise nouns, and colorful
adjectives.
 DESCRIPTION
• The central dominant
impression is the focus of
topic sentence that occur
commonly at the beginning
of a descriptive paragraph.
• It helps the reader in
understanding the text for it sets
the scene.
• It provides a preview of what the
story will be.
 DESCRIPTION
• The supporting details to the
central dominant impression
are the senses of sights,
smells, sounds, textures, and
feelings commonly known as
sensory impressions.
 DESCRIPTION
• The beauty of linking one
idea to another using
figures of speech to
provide dramatic exchange
of events and experiences
add to the totality of the
story.
 DESCRIPTION
• Simile is a comparison of
two things through the use of
“like” or “as”.
• Metaphor is a direct
comparison of two things.
• Personification is the use of
human characteristics to
describe animals, things, or
ideas.
 DESCRIPTION
(1) Then the sun was sinking and every
prismatic color was reflecting back
from this ice-encased world. (2) The
valley had become like Ali Baba’s
Treasure Cave that I had read about as
a child. (3) I found my eyes and throat
aching with the beauty that blazed
outside the train windows. (4) Jewels
seemed to glitter from every bush,
even withered blade of grass, every
twig: sapphires and turquoise,
DOMINANT IMPRESSION SENSORY IMPRESSION FIGURE OF SPEECH
• "The valley
Then the sun had become • "The valley
was sinking like Ali Baba's had become
Treasure Cave like Ali Baba's
and every
that I had Treasure
prismatic Cave...."
read about as
color was a child." • "I found my
reflecting • "...every eyes and
back from this prismatic throat aching
ice-encased color was with the
world. reflecting beauty that
back from this blazed outside
ice-encased the train
world." windows."
ACTIVITY: DESCRIPTION 26

You are a writer of a

travel magazine. The
editor of the magazine
asks you to write a
travel article that tells
about a beautiful place
where one can spend
vacation. Your task is to
write a 3-paragraph
descriptive article.
EXEMPLIFICATION
PATTERN
 EXEMPLIFICATION
• Presents the general
statement and then provides
specific and concrete
examples to expound on the
main idea.
EXEMPLIFICATION
PATTERN SIGNAL WORDS
• After all • Namely
• As an example • Put another way
• Consider the • Specifically
following • Stated differently
• For example • That is
• For instance • To be specific
• In other words • To clarify
• In particular • To illustrate
• In short
 EXEMPLIFICATION
• Guide question or probing
question for exemplification
pattern:

• What are some typical

cases or examples of it?
 TYPES OF EXAMPLE
1. Examples that illustrate -
use concrete examples to
illustrate an idea.
2. Examples that explain - give
an explanation to illustrate a
concept.
3. Examples that tell a story -
use a short story to illustrate a
point.
ACTIVITY: EXEMPLIFICATION 32

Create a 2-paragraph
explaining your strand. Give
examples on what are the
future courses/career of your
strand.
COMMON PATTERNS
OF DEVELOPMENT
V. Comparison and
contrast
VI. Cause and Effect
VII. Problem-solution
VIII. Persuasion
 COMPARISON
AND CONTRAST
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST 35

• A compare-and-contrast
essay, then, analyzes two
subjects by comparing them,
contrasting them, or both.
• The purpose of conducting the
comparison or contrast is not
to state the obvious but rather
to illuminate subtle differences
or unexpected similarities.
SIGNAL WORDS FOR
COMPARING
• Also • Similarly
• As both • To compare
• Equally • On the same
• In a similar way
fashion • Like
• In comparison • likewise
SIGNAL WORDS FOR
CONTRASTING
• Although • In the meantime
• And yet • Instead
• As opposed to • However
• But • Nevertheless
• Despite • Nonetheless
• Even so • On the contrary
• Even though • On the other hand
• In contrast • Otherwise
• In spite of • Unlike
• Whereas
• Yet
ACTIVITY: COMPARE 38

AND CONTRAST
You are a film critic. You are to write
a comparative review of two films of
the same genre. Use the comparison
and contrast pattern of text
development.
CAUSE AND
EFFECT
 CAUSE AND EFFECT
The cause-and-effect essay opens with
a general introduction to the topic,
which then leads to a thesis that states
the main cause, main effect, or various
causes and effects of a condition or
event.
The cause-and-effect essay can be
organized in one of the following two
primary ways:
1. Start with the cause and then talk
about the effects.
 CAUSE AND EFFECT
Because cause-and-effect essays
determine how phenomena are linked,
they make frequent use of certain
words and phrases that denote such
linkage. Such terms are as follow:

as a result
consequently
because due to
hence since
thus therefore
 CAUSE AND EFFECT
• The conclusion should wrap up the
discussion and reinforce the thesis,
leaving the reader with a clear
understanding of the relationship that
was analyzed.
 ACTIVITY: C & E
Write a cause and effect essay
about the increasing
unemployment rate in the
Philippines.
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
PROBLEM-SOLUTION 45

• It organizes ideas into

problems and proposed
solutions. The problem section
usually includes the what,
who, when, where, why and
how of the problem.
• The other part then presents
the major effects of the
problem and the possible
solutions to address it, as well
 PROBLEM-SOLUTION 46

• To better comprehend a text

that follows a problem-solution
pattern, a problem-solution
map can be used. The
following signal words will also
help you in identifying this
Signal Words for Problem-Solution
pattern.
But nonetheless one solution The
first, second one reason is problem
for the one way is The
solution
ACTIVITY: PROBLEM-SOLUTION 47

• Think of a problem that your

community is facing. It can be a
case about mental health,
teenage pregnancy, education,
unemployment, etc. Discuss the
problem and its effect on your
community then provide a
possible solution for it.
PERSUASION
PATTERN
 PERSUASION
• Organizes ideas to show how a set of
evidence leads to a logical conclusion
or argument. Specifically, this pattern
presents the issue, the position, and
the supporting evidence that supports
the position.

Persuasion can be in a form of:

• 1) Speech
• 2) Editorial
• 3) Commercial (TV, Radio, Ads)
 PERSUASION
Signal Words for Emphasizing a Point
Again In that case To Truly
For the indeed emphasize In fact
reason To repeat
 Example:
People learn basic norms and values of society through
education. In fact, high quality education allows us to lead a
successful life, enhances our intelligence and brings
positive changes in our life.
 PERSUASION
Signal Words for Concluding and Summarizing
accordingly consequently In brief inevitably
in conclusion all in all Therefore as a result
finally in short Since thus
as I have said in any event In summary to sum up

 Example:
Education is definitely important in one`s life. Therefore, we
should always remember that getting a good education is
foundation of our successful future.
 PERSUASION
Signal Words for Conceding a Point
admittedly It is true that obviously true
assuredly granted of course undoubtedly
certainly No doubt to be sure unquestionabl
y

 Example:
The present industrial society has opened up a plenty of
occupations which require people with specialized skills and
knowledge. Certainly, education is a necessary means of
eradicating the unemployment problem.
 ACTIVITY: PERSUASION
Topic: What should be the punishment
for cheating?

Write your thesis statement along with

your argument.