Tài liệu Write better essays in just 20 minutes a day part 7 pdf

I
n the previous lesson, you learned ways to organize ideas according to time and space. Now, you’ll exam-
ine four additional principles of organization:
1. analysis/classification
2. order of importance
3. comparison and contrast
4. problem
➞
solution

Analysis/Classification
Some essays are best organized by arranging ideas, items, or events by their characteristics or functions. The fol-
lowing assignment is broad enough to describe many different strategies.
LESSON
More
Organizational
Strategies
LESSON SUMMARY
This lesson describes four more organizational strategies for essays:
analysis/classification, order of importance, comparison and contrast,
and problem
➞
solution.
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Plants and animals protect themselves in many different ways. Describe the various strategies organisms have devel-
oped for protection.
It makes sense to group similar strategies together and organize your essay by type (classification). A for-
mal outline to address the assignment might look like this:
I. Appearance
A. camouflage

1. moths
2. flounder
3. walking stick
B. warning colors
1. monarch butterfly
2. coral snake
3. South American poisonous frog
C. mimicry
1. king snake resembling coral snake
2. swallowtail butterfly larva resembling snake
3. snowberry fly resembling jumping spider
II. Chemicals
A. smoke
1. squid
2. octopus
B. smells
1. skunks
2. others?
C. poisons
1. spiders
2. snakes
3. bombardier beetles
III. Armor
A. spikes, thorns
1. roses and thistles
2. sea urchins
3. porcupines
B. shells, hard coverings
1. nuts
2. beetles

3. turtles
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Notice how the protective strategies are first classified into three categories: appearance, chemicals, and armor.
Each of these categories is then further classified for analysis. Appearance, for example, is broken down into three
types of protection strategies: camouflage, warning colors, and mimicry.

Order of Importance
One of the most frequently used organizational strategies, order of importance is often the main organizing prin-
ciple of an essay. Even when it’s not, it’s used in individual sections and paragraphs. It works in both directions,
as cause and effect does. You can begin with the most important, and work toward the least, or begin with the least
important, and finish with the most.
Most important generally means most supportive, most convincing,or most striking. For example, the outline
you just read lists several protection strategies. While the overall organizing principle is analysis/classification, most
sections within that larger structure are also organized by order of importance. Look again at the section on
appearance:
I. Appearance
A. camouflage
1. moths
2. flounder
3. walking stick
B. warning colors
1. monarch butterfly
2. coral snake
3. South American poisonous frog
C. mimicry
1. king snake resembling coral snake
2. swallowtail butterfly larva resembling snake
3. snowberry fly resembling jumping spider
“Appearance” is one of the essays’ major supporting ideas. The three minor supporting ideas—camouflage,

warning colors, and mimicry—are listed in order of importance. Camouflage is the most common and least sophis-
ticated of the three, whereas mimicry is the most unique and most compelling way that animals use appearance
to protect themselves. And for each of these three supporting ideas, three specific examples are provided. Again,
they are listed in order of importance, from the least striking example to the most compelling.
Whenever you’re building an argument (and in most essays, that’s exactly what you’re doing), it’s most effec-
tive to start with the least important idea and move to the most important. A good argument is like a snowball
rolling down a hill. It builds momentum and strength as it rolls, one idea building upon another. And because
you’re working to convince readers that your assertions are valid, it helps to use this structure. In many cases, your
least important ideas are probably also the least controversial and easiest to accept. It makes sense to begin with
those that your reader will most likely agree with, and build the reader’s trust and acceptance as you work toward
more difficult concepts.
–MORE ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES–
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Practice 1
On a separate sheet of paper or your computer, create an outline using analysis/classification or order of impor-
tance as your organizing principle. Your outline can be formal or informal. Use one of your own brainstorms from
Lesson 3 or 4, or one of the brainstorms provided as an example.

Comparison and Contrast
Essays that show the similarities and differences between two or more ideas use the comparison and contrast orga-
nizational strategy. This strategy depends upon first having comparable ideas or items. For example, you’d have
difficulty writing a successful essay if you wanted to compare Frankenstein’s creature with Cinderella. Franken-
stein’s creature and Pinocchio, on the other hand, are comparable items—they’re both beings that someone else
brought to life. Often, comparable items have a number of aspects that may be compared and contrasted. You might
compare and contrast the creation of the figures, their creator’s reactions after they come to life, and/or their rela-
tionships with their creators.
After you’ve selected the aspects you’ll compare and contrast, there are two ways to organize your discus-
sion: the block technique and the point-by-point technique.
The Block Technique

This method organizes ideas by item (A and B). First, discuss all the aspects of item A (ideas 1, 2, and 3). Then,
discuss all of the corresponding aspects of item B. The result is two “blocks” of text—a section about item A, and
one about item B. For example:
(A = Pinocchio; B = Frankenstein’s creature)
A1—Pinocchio’s creation
A2—Geppetto’s reaction
A3—Relationship between Pinocchio and Geppetto
B1—The creature’s creation
B2—Frankenstein’s reaction
B3—Relationship between the creature and Frankenstein
The Point-by-Point Technique
In this method, you organize ideas by aspect (1, 2, 3) rather than by item, so the result is a direct comparison and
contrast of each aspect. Because you put each aspect side by side, readers get to see exactly how the two items meas-
ure up, element by element. This is a more sophisticated way of organizing a comparison and contrast essay, and
it’s easier for your reader to follow. Here’s a sample outline.
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A1—Pinocchio’s creation
B1—The creature’s creation
A2—Geppetto’s reaction
B2—Frankenstein’s reaction
A3—Relationship between Pinocchio and Geppetto
B3—Relationship between the creature and Frankenstein
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Problem
➞
Solution
In this organizing principle, you first identify a problem, and then offer a solution. There is no room for flexibil-
ity, because it won’t make sense to your reader to offer the solution to a problem without first revealing or dis-
cussing that problem. Here’s the “solution” section of an outline for an essay about the problem of misinformation

on the Internet.
III. Solution
A. Create “reliability index”
1. ranks sites for level of credibility
2. run by not-for-profit; perhaps university or consortium of universities
3. organization would rate websites on scale of trustworthiness (fact-check, etc.)
a. Priorities
i. sites offering information about health and healthcare
ii. sites offering information about raising children (education, emotional, social
development)
iii. sites offering information about finances and investments
B. Run awareness campaign
1. public service announcements
2. lessons in schools
3. announcements by all Internet providers

Practice 2
On a separate sheet of paper or your computer, create an outline using comparison and contrast or problem
➞
solution as your organizing principle. Your outline can be formal or informal. Use one of your own brainstorms
from Lesson 3 or 4, or one of the brainstorms provided as an example.
–MORE ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES–
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