Start from the Beginning - Chronological Order

T
here are many ways to tell a story. Some stories start in the middle and flash backward to the begin-
ning; a few start at the end and tell the story in reverse. But most of the time, stories start at the
beginning. Writers often begin with what happened first and then tell what happened next, and next,
and so on, until the end. When writers tell a story in this order, from beginning to end in the order in which things
happened, they are telling it in chronological order. Chronology is the arrangement of events in the order in which
they occurred.
LESSON
Start from the
Beginning:
Chronological
Order
LESSON SUMMARY
This lesson focuses on one of the simplest structures writers use:
chronological order, or arrangement of events by the order in which they
occured.
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
Chronology and Transitions
Much of what you read is arranged in chronological
order. Newspaper and magazine articles, minutes of
meetings, explanations of procedures, and so on are
usually arranged this way. For example, look at the fol-
lowing paragraph that might be found in a company
newsletter:
This year’s employee award ceremony was a tremen-
dous success. The first award was given to Carlos Fe
for Perfect Attendance. The second award, for Most
Dedicated Employee, went to Jennifer Steele. Then,
our president, Martin Lucas, interrupted the awards

ceremony to announce that he and his wife were
having a baby. When he finished, everyone stood up
for a congratulatory toast. Afterward, the third
award was given to Karen Hunt for Most Inspiring
Employee. Finally, President Lucas ended the cere-
mony by giving everyone a bonus check for $100.
You’ll notice that this paragraph tells what hap-
pened at the ceremony from start to finish. You’ll also
notice that you can tell the order in which things hap-
pened in two ways. First, you can tell by the order of the
sentences themselves—first things first, last things last.
Second, you can tell by the use of transitional words and
phrases, which signal a shift from one idea to the next.
Here is the same paragraph with the transitional words
underlined:
This year’s employee award ceremony was a tremen-
dous success. The fi
rst award was given to Carlos Fe
for Perfect Attendance. The se
cond award, for Most
Dedicated Employee, went to Jennifer Steele. T
hen,
our president, Martin Lucas, interrupted the awards
ceremony to announce that he and his wife were
having a baby. W
hen he finished, everyone stood up
for a congratulatory toast. A
fterward, the third
award was given to Karen Hunt for Most Inspiring
Employee. Finally, President Lucas ended the cere-

mony by giving everyone a bonus check for $100.
The underlined words—first, second, then, when,
afterward, third, and finally—are transitional words
that keep these events linked together in chronological
order. Look at how the paragraph sounds without these
words:
This year’s employee award ceremony was a tremen-
dous success. The award was given to Carlos Fe for
Perfect Attendance. The award for Most Dedicated
Employee went to Jennifer Steele. Our president,
Martin Lucas, interrupted the awards ceremony to
announce that he and his wife were having a baby.
He finished; everyone stood up for a congratula-
tory toast. The award was given to Karen Hunt for
Most Inspiring Employee. President Lucas ended
the ceremony by giving everyone a bonus check
for $100.
It doesn’t sound quite as good, does it?

Practice with Transitional
Words and Phrases
Practice Passage 1
Here’s a more extreme example of a paragraph with the
transitional words and phrases omitted:
I went to work early to get some extra filing done. I
got there; the phone started ringing. My boss walked
in. He asked me to type a letter for him. He asked me
to make arrangements for a client to stay in town
overnight. I looked at my watch; it was already 11:00.
Now, take the paragraph and add the following

transitional words and phrases:
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START FROM THE BEGINNING: CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
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54
_____________ I went to work early to get some
extra filing done. _____________ I got there, the
phone started ringing. ____________ my boss
walked in. ____________ he asked me to type a
letter for him. ____________ he asked me to make
arrangements for a client to stay in town over-
night. __________ I looked at my watch, it was
already 11:00.
See how much better the paragraph sounds with
transitional words and phrases to guide you?
Answers
You might have come up with a slightly different ver-
sion, but here’s one good way to fill in the blanks:
Y
esterday, I went to work early to get some extra fil-
ing done. A
s soon as I got there, the phone started
ringing. A mo
ment later, my boss walked in. Imme-
diately, he asked me to type up a letter for him.
T
hen he asked me to make arrangements for a client
to stay in town overnight. W
hen I looked at my
watch, it was already 11:00.

Practice Passage 2
Here is a series of events listed in random order. Use the
transitional words and phrases in each sentence to help
you put them in proper chronological order. Number
the sentences from 1–6 in the blank provided.
If the penalty structure is to your lik-
ing, make sure that the money market
account is FDIC insured.
After you’ve found the best terms, be
sure to find out what the minimum
account balance is and ask what the
penalties are if your account drops
below the limit.
In order to open a money market
account, you should follow several
steps.
Then you should shop around for the
best terms and yields available.
Finally, once the account is opened and
you are earning interest, you should
consider using that interest to pay off
outstanding credit card debt.
First, you should decide what features
are important to you.
Answers
You should have numbered the blanks in this order: 5,
4, 1, 3, 6, 2. Here’s how the sentences look together in
a paragraph.
In order to open a money market account, you
should follow several steps. First, you should decide

what features are important to you. Then you should
shop around for the best terms and yields available.
After you’ve found the best terms, be sure to find out
what the minimum account balance is and ask what
the penalties are if your account drops below the
limit. If the penalty structure is to your liking, make
sure that the money market account is FDIC
insured. Finally, once the account is opened and
you are earning interest, you should consider using
that interest to pay off outstanding credit card debt.
immediately
as soon as
when
yesterday
a moment later
then
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START FROM THE BEGINNING: CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
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Practice Passage 3
Read the following paragraph, which describes a local community event.
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START FROM THE BEGINNING: CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
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The International Dinner raised $15,000 to renovate the Berkshire Park Com-
munity Center. Three-hundred and fifty people attended the dinner, which was
held in the ballroom of a local hotel. Tickets were sold in advance for $50 each.
The attendees left the event feeling very good about their community. The Berk-

shire Park Community Center was damaged in a fire six months ago. An ener-
getic committee of eight community members came up with the idea of the
International Dinner to raise funds to repair the damages. The plan was to cel-
ebrate the diversity of the Berkshire Park Neighborhood Association by serving
ethnic food that represents the various cultures in the neighborhood. The com-
mittee also organized a silent auction with prizes donated by local businesses to
take place during the dinner. The committee chairperson talked to a local news-
paper reporter at the dinner and stated that the goal was to raise $10,000. A
follow-up letter to community members thanked everyone for the huge success
of the fundraiser and outlined a schedule for the renovation.
Notice that this paragraph is not arranged in
chronological order. Take the ten different events that
make up the story and rearrange them so that they are
in chronological order.
Here’s the order of events as they are presented in
the story.
■
The International Dinner raised $15,000 to reno-
vate the Berkshire Park Community Center.
■
Three-hundred and fifty people attended the
dinner.
■
Tickets were sold for $50 each.
■
The attendees left the event feeling very good
about their community.
■
The Community Center was damaged in a fire six
months ago.

■
A committee of eight community members came
up with the idea of the International Dinner to
raise funds for repairs.
■
The plan was to serve foods that represent the var-
ious cultures in the neighborhood.
■
The committee organized a silent auction to take
place during the dinner.
■
The chairperson talked to a local newspaper
reporter stating the goal was to raise $10,000.
■
A letter to community members thanked everyone
and outlined the schedule for renovation.
Now put the events in chronological order.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Now, take these chronologically ordered events
and make them into a cohesive paragraph. To do this,
you need to add transitional words and phrases. Here

is a list of transitional words and phrases often used in
chronologically organized passages:
Write your paragraph, putting the events in
chronological order with transitional phrases, below or
on a separate piece of paper.
Answers
There are, of course, many possible ways of using tran-
sitional words and phrases to put this story in chrono-
logical order. One paragraph might look like this:
The Berkshire Park Community Center was dam-
aged in a fire six months ago. S
oon after, a commit-
tee of eight community members came up with the
idea of an International Dinner to raise funds to
repair the damages. The plan was to serve foods that
represent the various cultures in the neighborhood.
I
n addition, the committee organized a silent auc-
tion to take place during the dinner. B
efore the event,
tickets were sold for $50 each. D
uring the dinner, the
committee chairperson talked to a local newspaper
reported and stated that the goal was to raise
$10,000. Three-hundred and fifty people attended
the event which raised $15,000. W
hen the attendees
left the event, they felt very good about their com-
munity. A
fter the event, a letter was sent to com-

munity members thanking them for everything
w
hile outlining a schedule for renovation.
first
second
third
next
now
then
when
as soon as
immediately
suddenly
soon
after
before
during
while
meanwhile
in the meantime
at last
eventually
finally
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START FROM THE BEGINNING: CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
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