Lesson 4:

Patterns of
Development
Learning Objectives:

1. Distinguish the different patterns of

development in writing across
disciplines;
2. Apply appropriate use of pattern of
development in a written text.
1. Narration
2. Description
3. Definition
4. Classification and Exemplification
5. Comparison and Contrast
6. Cause and Effect
7. Problem-Solution
8. Persuasion
• These patterns are considered as
techniques and principles that
you can use to guide you based
on your intentions.
• It gives the writer a different
method in presenting a given
scenario or topic that must
clearly conveyed to the readers.
 1. NARRATION
- The most basic pattern of development.
When a writer puts down an idea, he is
then considered as the narrator of the
literary work.
- It ultimately describes how, when, and
where an event or occurrence actually
happened.
Example:
“It was late spring the last time we saw Ross.
He was standing at the edge of the hill, and he
never so much as looked up even though we were
sure he knew we were there. There was a bunch
of flowers clutched to his fist, but there really was
no reason for him to be standing there. We knew
that Carrie wasn’t coming to see him. But he
stood there anyway, waiting, even as the
afternoon sunlight deepened towards the
evening. He must have been standing there for
hours.”
• It is used by writers for a variety of
purposes:
1. To illustrate and support ideas with
anecdotes.
2. To entertain the readers with stories.
3. To predict what will happen with
scenarios, and
4. To explain how something happens (or
should happen) with process narratives.
• Narration tells a story or explains a
sequence of events. It can be fiction or
nonfiction.
It can be objective or subjective.
1. Objective Narration presents facts to
create an accurate timeline of events.
2. Subjective Narration conveys the
impressions, feelings, insight or point of
view.
• The following are the Components
that build up a story in itself.

1. Logical Actions. These actions are

conceivably happening within the
narrative. These actions are
considered the very movements
within the plot or the narrative that
the characters forward, be it during
the dialogue, or within a scene.
2. Way of Narration. This refers to how
the writer presents the story. It
includes the pace by which scenes are
given out; if they had enough time to
be fleshed out or properly depicted for
a reader, or if they were hurried
through.
Examples:
• Clipped Narration: “He came and talked to us. Then
he left the house and then he drove the car back
home.

• Paced Narration: “ He came and talked to us for a

few moments. He seemed upset, but he managed to
get through all the bad news. Shaking our hands
before he left the house come twilight, he seemed to
feel better now that he had delivered the news. He
waved from the car as he pulled out of the driveway,
narrowly missing the mailbox again, and drove off to
return home.
3. TERMINOLOGY. It places emphasis on the fact
that concepts are critical to narration. Once writers
know which ones they want to use, they are able
to paint a more appropriate setting.
• Concrete Terms words that identify things,
places, and events that can be measured and
observed. These often have a physical
manifestation in our world. In contrast, Abstract
Terms refers to ideas or concepts that are
intangible, such as the concept of love, freedom
and feminism.

• General Terms are commonly used to denote

groups , while Specific Terms refer to an
individual component of that group.
• “He was shivering violently from the cold.”
• “The joy in the air was palpable.”
• “He gave her a piece of jewelry.”
• “Each green stone had fire in its facets.”
Activity:
• Write 10 sentences using
abstract and concrete
ideas in relation to
narration.
 2. DESCRIPTION
• A pattern of development which goes into
details about a specific object, person, or
location, in order to firmly set its
appearance into the readers’ minds.
• The guideline to remember with a
description is that it answers the question:
“What does it look like?” or “What are its
characteristics?”
• These concrete descriptions make
the readers visualize the situations
more thoroughly. As a result, the
reader becomes more immersed
with what they are reading, and with
every detail everything becomes
more realistic to them.
Example:
“The glade was strange. There were vines that
looped and leapt from one branch to another,
forming a massive canopy over the clearing. The
dome of branches dappled the lances of sunlight
falling in. Flowers, unlike anything I’ve ever seen,
blossomed in cracks of mossy stone and peeking
through the leaves. Past the tall columns of the
dark trees crept over with vines was a massive pool
of water that mirrored and rippled the sunlight.
And in the middle of that pool was a lone circle of
grassy land.”
• Two Varieties of Description that a
writer can use:

a. Objective Description. This looks into

factual and scientific characteristics of
what is being described as objectively
as possible.
Example: (Objective Description)
The Acer Barbatum is a small to medium-sized,
deciduous tree usually ranging from 15 to 25 m. (50
to 80 ft.) tall when mature. Its bark is light gray and
smooth on younger trees, and it becomes ridged and
furrowed with age. Leaves are opposite and shallowly
to deeply palmately lobed, with a few blunt teeth but
no serrations. The leaf sinuses are rounded, unlike
those of red maple (acer rubrum) which are sharply
V-shaped. Also, the sides of terminal leaf lobes are
more or less parallel, while those of red are widest at
the base, tapering to the tip.
b. Subjective Description. This is the sort of
description that the author would normally use to
“paint a picture” of how he sees a character, or
how he wants the reader to see a character.

Example:
My mother had hair so dark that it looked like a
waterfall of ink. She always kept it in a braid that
fell to her slim waist, and always tied with a plain
black band. The braid of black slung over her
shoulder, the plaits shining like scales.
Activity:
• Describe your Christmas
Eve and New Year’s Eve
Celebration.
 3. DEFINITION
• This occurs when there is an object or
fact in the story that the writer does not
want to explain through context clues.
• Oftentimes, a definition paragraph (also
called an essay) is used as form of
foreshadowing where it becomes vital to
the plot later on.
• Definition is used for two major purposes: to
EXPLAIN or to CONVINCE.
My father’s hands are grotesque. He suffers
from psoriasis, a chronic skin disease that covers
his massive, thick hands with scaly, reddish
patches that periodically flake off, sending tiny
pieces of dead skin sailing to the ground.
- Jan Gray, “Father”

In the example below, a definition for the

unfamiliar term psoriasis was provided.
• When explaining how to do something, words
unfamiliar to the readers should be defined. This
is shown in the example below.

The trouble is, though, that if, for any reason,

the body has more cholesterol than it needs,
there is a tendency to get rid of it by storing it on
the inner surface of the blood vessels – especially
the coronary vessels that feed the heart. This is
“atherosclerosis”
- Isaac Asimov, “Cholesterol”
• In an argumentative or persuasive objective in a
written text, terms should be defined so
readers will have a clear understanding of the
idea being presented to them. It is easy for
readers to be persuaded or be moved to take
on a position on something they understand.

Social acceptability is a function of which group

controls society and to what extent minority
voices can influence the spectrum of opinion.
- Kristin Gross, Taking a Stand Against Sexism
• Two varieties of definition paragraph:

1. Scientific Definition. A scientific

definition is very important particularly
when it comes to complex and technical
terms, such as in sciences where the
terminology is specific and extensive.
2. Subjective Definition. It can be used to
define objects in a more personal way.
Types of Definition:
A. Standard Definitions are definitions which
meaning rarely change and is universally
accepted.
Example: Definition of Right Angle

B. Regulatory Definitions are the meanings

assigned by organizations and changes depending
on how it is used.
Example: PAGASA’s definition of Critical Level
C. Qualifying Definitions are meaning of words that are
subject for interpretation.
Example: Delinquent

D. Personal Definitions are definitions which depend

on the interpretations or assigned meaning of the
writer himself.
Example: The definition of friendship

E. Invented Definitions are meanings given to words

which are newly-coined as already being used in the
society.
Example: The definition of flash mob
• Sentence Definitions: Structure
Writers have to define unique concepts and
terms by using strategies in sentence definitions.

1. Strategy A: means
 Diagnostic testing means identifying the
learning weaknesses of the students.
2. Strategy B: which means that
 These qualities are inherent which means that
they were passed on from parents to offsprings.
3. Strategy C: is/are
 In business letter writing, the mechanical
arrangement of words on the page is format.

4. Strategy D: called/termed
 Many gardeners use materials from plants such
as chopped leaves, peat moss, grass clippings
which is called mulch.

5. Strategy E: refers to
 Photosynthesis refers to the food-making
process of plants.
6. Strategy F: or
 In humans, the gestation period or length of
pregnancy is approximately nine months.

7. Strategy G: insert with parenthesis

 An ecosystem contains both a biotic (living)
and abiotic (nonliving).

8. Strategy H: insert with dashes

 In reading, getting a lot of clues from the page
– bottom-up reading – is a helpful
comprehension strategy.
9. Strategy I: which/that/where
 Fraternal twins, which originate when two
different eggs are fertilized by two different
sperm, do not have identical chromosomes.

10. Strategy J: because

 Hemophilia is called the bleeders disease
because the afflicted person’s blood is unable
to clot.
11. Strategy K: when
 When a mutagen leads to an increase in
the incidence of cancer it is called
carcinogen.

12. Strategy L: if
 If the thyroid fails to develop properly, a
condition called cretinism results.
• Methods of definition:
1. Use synonym
2. Use comparisons
3. Use descriptions
4. Use examples by illustrating a
word’s meaning
Activity:
Recall several terminologies you learned
in your field of study. Be able to give the
definition of each term. Identify the type of
definition used.

Term: __________________
Definition: __________________
Type: ______________________
 4. CLASSIFICATION
• One strategies in writing which involves
combining objects or items into categories
based on its distinct characteristics. These
grouped and classified items are labeled under
new combinations.
Example:
1. Simple Machines
2. Programmable Machines
3. Robots
• Classification paragraphs can be
organized using an OFFICIAL or
PERSONAL classification.
Official classifications includes
widely-known and accepted
categories used by the government, a
business, or an organization.
Personal classification includes our
own classification.
Note:
• A classification and exemplification
should be used with the purpose of
emphasizing the differences between
the different criteria.
 Activity:
Write a paragraph that uses classifications to
rank or categorize the types of one of the
following subjects:

a. Students at your department

b. Diets
c. New cars
d. Consumers
e. Disabilities
f. Careers
g. Recent movies
5. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
• It occurs between two entities by
presenting their similarities and
differences based on their characteristics
or features.
• The general aim is to answer the
questions:
“What makes these things different?”
“What do they have in common?”
• The two ways in comparison and
contrast in writing are in chunks and
in sequence.
In Chunking, the characteristics of
the items being compared are
presented separately.
In Sequencing, the attributes of the
objects are presented point by point.
Example:
In chunking, the characteristics of
Honda Civic car are presented first
then followed by the features of
Toyota Corolla car. Using
sequenced comparison, the
features of two cars will be
analyzed feature by feature.
Activity:
Write a paragraph using comparison and
contrast to explain the similarities and
differences on any of the given topics
below.
a. Two sitcoms
b. Two cars
c. Two teachers
d. Two friends
 6. CAUSE AND EFFECT
• It explains reasons why things
happen or explains the results of
certain phenomena.
• Cause and effect can be written in
two ways. A paragraph may either
emphasize the cause or the effect.
1. Paragraph emphasizing cause.
As the name implies, this emphasizes the cause
and goes into detail about it while the effect is
subtly expressed in the sentence.
Example:
“Because she had hurled the urn down the
mountain, it is impossible to recover it now. She
had thrown it with all her strength, not even
watching it sail into the air before it disappeared.”
2. Paragraph emphasizing effect.
This emphasizes the effect and goes into detail
about it, with the cause subtly hinted at the
paragraph.
Example:
“One more delayed payment for the house
rent and it would soon be gone. They would be
left homeless. The children will have to stop
going to school, and she would have nowhere to
go.”
Activity:
Typhoon Yolanda took the lives of over
6,300 Filipinos and displaced thousands of
others. Perform a thorough research that
will explain why there were so many
casualties even when they were warned of
a storm surge beforehand by the officials.
Use the cause and effect pattern of
development in writing.
 7.PROBLEM-SOLUTION

• A problem-solution paragraph
in a text begins by identifying
the problem or situation, and
later on presents a solution to
the problem.
 Problem-Solution
Problem Solution
I. The financing II. The Philhealth
healthcare in the national health care
Philippines is insurance would
inadequate. provide medical care to
all citizens.
 8.PERSUASION
• A writing strategy which involves
presenting a position or
standpoint which is a product of
careful research and supported
with valid claims in order to
change the attitudes or behavior
of others.
Example:
“Dear Linda, thank you for your letter. I must say
that I disagree with your view. Vaccinations are
actually an extreme necessary part of keeping
everyone, including your own children, safe from
disease. The herd immunity that protects us all is
only strong as long as everyone continues ensuring
that their children are vaccinated. There are children
who, for medical reasons, cannot receive vaccination,
and therefore are relying on the immunity of the
herd. To not vaccinate your children would be risking
so many more in danger to diseases that the human
race has nearly eradicated.”
Writing Exercise:
Write a short story incorporating at
least four of the patterns of
development. Indicate on each
paragraph what examples of the
pattern of development you have
used.