Recognizing Methods of Development
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Methods of development/ˈmeθədz ɒv dɪˈveləpmənt/ | Ways of building a paragraph, such as story, cause, or comparison. |
| narration/nəˈreɪʃn/ | Telling events in an order the reader can follow. |
| cause-effect/kɔːz ɪˈfekt/ | Showing what led to what. |
Why did this writer tell a story here?
- A writer who could have given a statistic gave an anecdote instead.
- That was a choice, and choices in this course always have a reason.
- Methods of development 展开方法 name the shapes those choices take.
An anecdote is a close-up; a statistic is a wide shot. Choose the camera before calling “Action!”
What they are
- Methods of development are common approaches writers use to develop and organise the reasoning of an argument.
- The CED's list: narration, cause-effect, comparison-contrast, definition and description.
- This lesson covers the first two; the rest come in Unit 4.
Select all the methods of development the CED names.
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Summarising is not a method of development; definition and description complete the list.
Narration
- Developing through narration 叙述, writers offer details about real-life experiences and reflections on them.
- The reflection is what makes narration an argument rather than a story.
- An anecdote with no reflection has supplied colour and no reasoning.
Narration, cause-effect, or neither?
Sort each paragraph move by the method it uses.
Narration becomes an argument when the writer adds...
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Reflection is part of the method; without it the story is colour.
Narration without reflection is not an argument. A vivid story that is never brought back to a claim has supplied colour, and colour earns nothing. The CED names reflection as part of the method for exactly this reason.
In cause-effect development, naming the cause and the effect is enough.
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The method's value is the link — a paragraph without the mechanism has asserted, not developed.
Match each method to what it supplies the reader.
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Each method removes a different obstacle between the reader and the claim.
Cause-effect
- Developing through cause-effect 因果, writers present a cause and assert its effects — or start from an effect and trace it back.
- The method's whole value is the link, not the two ends.
- A paragraph that names a cause and an effect without the mechanism has asserted, not developed.
In an analysis, never stop at naming the method — say what it ____ here.
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The method is the shape; the effect on the audience is the analysis.
Naming a method in an analysis
- Do not stop at "the writer uses narration".
- Say what the method does here: makes the abstract concrete, or supplies the mechanism the reader was missing.
- The method is the shape; the effect on the audience is the analysis.
A writer arguing that a rule is unfair opens with the day it was applied to her. The story alone is colour. The next sentence — "and the reason given that day was not the reason written in the policy" — is the reflection that turns it into evidence.
Methods of development are how writers organise reasoning: narration, cause-effect, comparison-contrast, definition, description. Narration needs reflection to be an argument, and cause-effect earns its marks on the link, not the two ends. Always say what the method does here.
Write from a missed bus and a timetable
- A paragraph tells the story of one missed bus.
- Say what must be added before that story is an argument.
A paragraph narrates one student missing the bus. What has to be added before that narration is a method of argument rather than only a story?
The story becomes an argument when the writer says what it shows.
What turns the missed-bus story into an argument?
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Narration needs reflection to carry a claim.