Division or Analysis
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Terms are interchangeable
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Allows you to slice a large or complicated subject into smaller parts that you can grasp and relate to one another
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Allows you to comprehend – and communicate – the structure of things

Division or Analysis
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Allows you to find in the parts an idea or conclusion about the subject that makes it clearer, truer, more comprehensive, or more vivid than before you started

Division or Analysis
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Figures in all methods of developing ideas, for it is basic to any concerted thought, explanation, or evaluation

Narration
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Tells a story
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Can be used to:
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Explain
Illustrate a point
Report information
Argue
Persuade

Narration
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Anecdote: a short account of a single event; can be used to illustrate a point
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Narration helps to make an abstract argument concrete

Narration
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When considering telling a story, ask yourself:
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What happened?
Who took part?
When?
Where?
Why did this event take place?
How did it happen?

Description
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Reports what you experience (in terms of your senses rather than as a story)
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Can be used to:
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Convey information without bias or emotion (objective description)
To convey information with feeling
(subjective description)

Description
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Description helps to make your argument/story concrete for the reader
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Allows the reader to identify with what you are writing about

Example
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Serves to illustrate a generalization
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Gives your reader a “for instance”
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Allows the reader to identify with what you are writing about
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Helps to make an abstract argument concrete

Compare and Contrast
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Aids in showing your reader why you prefer one thing over another
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(such as in your argument essay, where you have to choose one side of an issue to support)

Compare and Contrast
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Compare:
 points to similarities
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Contrast:
 points to differences
Purpose of using this method:
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Showing each of two subjects distinctly by considering both, side by side
Choosing between two things (evaluating the possibilities)

Compare and Contrast
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Organization:
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Subject by subject
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E.g. Cherry Tomatoes
– Size
– Colour
– Texture
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Grape Tomatoes
– Size
– Colour
– Texture

Compare and Contrast
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Organization:
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Point by point
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E.g. Size
– Cherry Tomatoes
– Grape Tomatoes
Colour
– Cherry Tomatoes
– Grape Tomatoes
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Texture
– Cherry Tomatoes
– Grape Tomatoes

Compare and Contrast
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Helps to make an abstract argument concrete

Process Analysis
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Explains step by step how to do something or how something is done
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Takes a complex process and divides it into parts
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Tells us what happened first, second, third, and so on

Process Analysis
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Kinds of process analysis:
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Directive
Informative

Process Analysis
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Directive:
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Explains how to do something or make something
E.g. how to set the timer on the stove
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Informative:
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Explains how something is done or how it takes place
E.g. how the Grand Canyon came to be

Process Analysis
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Needs a thesis
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What is the point of the process analysis?
Why are you bothering to tell readers about it?
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Be sure to define any technical terms or jargon
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Use time markers to note transitions in the process
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I.e. First, . . . Next you add . . .

Process Analysis
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Helps to make an abstract argument concrete

Classification
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Makes sense of things by arranging many units into more manageable groups
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Sort things into groups or classes based on similarities and differences
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Must have a purpose (or why would you do it?) and principle of classification
(how you form your groupings) reflects that purpose

Classification
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Useful when you want to impose order on a complex subject

Cause and Effect
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Asks why (or what if) something happened and what followed (or could follow) as a result
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Considers reasons and results

Cause and Effect
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To help find causes of actions and events, ask:
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What act am I trying to explain? (act)
What is the character, personality, or mental state of whoever acted? (actor)
In what scene or location did the act take place, and in what circumstances? (scene)
What instruments or means sis the person use?(agency)
For what purposes did the person act?
(purpose)

Cause and Effect
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Be sure to state your purpose of using the cause and effect method in your thesis statement
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Helps to make an abstract argument concrete

Definition
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Short definition:
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Used to clarify subject and subject terms for reader usually gives dictionary definition
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Stipulative definition:
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Fuller explanation of a central term that stipulates or specifies the particular way you are using the term

Definition
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Extended definition:
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Application of a variety of methods already mentioned to clarify a purpose
Tries to show a reader its subject
Established boundaries by differentiating the subject from anything that might be confused with it

Definition
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Helps to make an abstract argument concrete