The Basics of Good Organization
Taking the time to organize your ideas within your paragraph or essay will help to make your argument stronger. The outlining process is the best place to begin organizing your writing for maximum clarity and effect.
As you begin to organize the information from your research into an outline, put related information under the same heading. Once you have a number of headings (these will form your main points), you should organize your general headings in the most effective order. Finally, you should organize the information under each heading in a logical manner as well.
There are several methods of organization that you can use, but be sure to pick the method that best suits the type of paper you are writing.
The following examples show you how to use each method of organization for writing an essay, but the basic principles of each method can help your organize your ideas within your paragraphs as well.
As you begin to organize the information from your research into an outline, put related information under the same heading. Once you have a number of headings (these will form your main points), you should organize your general headings in the most effective order. Finally, you should organize the information under each heading in a logical manner as well.
There are several methods of organization that you can use, but be sure to pick the method that best suits the type of paper you are writing.
The following examples show you how to use each method of organization for writing an essay, but the basic principles of each method can help your organize your ideas within your paragraphs as well.
1. Increasing Order of Importance:
This is one of the most basic types of organization, and it is useful for any paper or paragraph in which you are making an argument. Essentially, each of the points you are making support your thesis or topic sentence in some way, and you simply place them in order of importance. Usually it is easy to figure out the order: you begin with your weakest point and build towards your strongest point.
The basic set up for this style of organization looks like this:
First Paragraph: Introduction
Second Paragraph: First Supporting Point
Third Paragraph: Second Supporting Point
Fourth Paragraph: Third Supporting Point
Fifth Paragraph: Conclusion
The basic set up for this style of organization looks like this:
First Paragraph: Introduction
- Introduces topic and states thesis
Second Paragraph: First Supporting Point
- Discusses weakest of your supporting points
- Usually fewer examples, less details, etc. available to support this point AND/OR the least persuasive of your points
Third Paragraph: Second Supporting Point
- Discusses the point that is neither your strongest nor your weakest point
- Usually pretty well-supported with evidence AND/OR a fairly persuasive point
Fourth Paragraph: Third Supporting Point
- Discusses your strongest point
- Usually has a lot of supporting evidence and examples AND/OR the most persuasive of the points you are making in support of your thesis
Fifth Paragraph: Conclusion
- Summarizes argument
2. Chronological Order:
This type of organization describes an event or process based on the order in which things happen(ed) along a timeline. This type of organization is useful for describing historical events (e.g. the causes of World War II) or explaining the steps of a process (e.g. how to bake a cake).
The basic set up for this type of organization looks like this:
First Paragraph: Introduction
Second Paragraph: Describes First Step or Event
Third Paragraph: Describes the Second Step or Event
Fourth Paragraph: Describes Third Step or Event
Fifth Paragraph: Conclusion
The basic set up for this type of organization looks like this:
First Paragraph: Introduction
- Introduces topic and states thesis
Second Paragraph: Describes First Step or Event
- For an essay on the causes of WWII this paragraph might contain a discussion on the Treaty of Versailles (1919) and how it angered Germany, leading to war
- For an essay on baking a cake, this paragraph might discuss preheating your oven and preparing your baking pans.
Third Paragraph: Describes the Second Step or Event
- WWII essay: A discussion of the Great Depression (1930s) and how it created tensions between nations that lead to war
- Cake essay: An explanation of assembling and mixing ingredients
Fourth Paragraph: Describes Third Step or Event
- WWII essay: Describes the invasion of Poland (1939) and how it lead to the official outbreak of WWII
- Cake essay: Describes how long the cake must bake for and how to know when the cake is done.
Fifth Paragraph: Conclusion
- Summarizes the steps or events that you have discussed.
3. Comparison and Contrast:
This type of organization is useful when you are comparing two or more related items. There are two different organization formats for comparison essays: block format (best for shorter papers with only a few points of comparison) and point-by-point format (best for longer papers, papers comparing more than two items and papers where the discussion of each point of comparison will be quite detailed).
Whether you choose block format or point-by-point format, it is important to remember to discuss each of your points of comparison in the same order within each paragraph.
The basic structure for a block comparison looks like this:
First Paragraph: Introduction
First Group of Body Paragraphs: Discussion of John A. Macdonald
Second Group of Body Paragraphs: Discussion of Wilfred Laurier
Final Paragraph: Conclusion
The basic structure for a point-by-point comparison looks like this:
First Paragraph: Introduction
Second Paragraph: Comparison of leadership styles
Third Paragraph: Comparison of major successes
Fourth Paragraph: Comparison of major failures
Fifth Paragraph: Conclusion
Whether you choose block format or point-by-point format, it is important to remember to discuss each of your points of comparison in the same order within each paragraph.
The basic structure for a block comparison looks like this:
First Paragraph: Introduction
- Introduces the two items being compared (in this example, it is two Canadian prime ministers).
- It should also identify the points of comparison (in this case, their leadership style, major successes and major failures) as part of the thesis
First Group of Body Paragraphs: Discussion of John A. Macdonald
- Leadership style
- Major Successes
- Major Failures
Second Group of Body Paragraphs: Discussion of Wilfred Laurier
- Leadership style
- Major Successes
- Major Failures
Final Paragraph: Conclusion
- Once the points of comparison have been discussed, the conclusion draws connections between them, highlighting important similarities or differences. In our example, the author might comment on who was the more effective prime minister in the conclusion.
The basic structure for a point-by-point comparison looks like this:
First Paragraph: Introduction
- Introduces the two items being compared (in this example, it is two Canadian prime ministers).
- It should also identify the points of comparison (in this case, their leadership style, major successes and major failures) as part of the thesis
Second Paragraph: Comparison of leadership styles
- Macdonald
- Laurier
Third Paragraph: Comparison of major successes
- Macdonald
- Laurier
Fourth Paragraph: Comparison of major failures
- Macdonald
- Laurier
Fifth Paragraph: Conclusion
- Once the points of comparison have been discussed, the conclusion draws connections between them, highlighting important similarities or differences. In our example, the author might comment on who was the more effective prime minister in the conclusion.
4. Logically Linked:
This type of organization is best for essays where you must understand one part of the topic in order to understand other parts of the essay. If you feel your audience will need some background information in order to understand your argument or you are discussing a complex topic, this method is the one for you.
The basic set up for this type of organization looks like this:
First Paragraph: Introduction
Second Paragraph: Provides needed information
Third Paragraph: Describes the next point that must be understood
Fourth Paragraph: Continues to develop the argument now that all the necessary information is provided
Fifth Paragraph: Conclusion
The basic set up for this type of organization looks like this:
First Paragraph: Introduction
- Introduces topic and states thesis
Second Paragraph: Provides needed information
- For an essay on a proposed solution for child poverty, this might be the paragraph where you explain the poverty cycle and how children end up in poverty.
- For an essay on green energy, this might be where you explain why fossil fuels are bad for the environment.
Third Paragraph: Describes the next point that must be understood
- For an essay on a proposed solution for child poverty, you might now discuss the negative impacts of growing up in poverty in order to get your audience to see why it is necessary to implement the anti-child poverty plan you will be discussing in your next paragraph.
- For an essay on green energy, this might be where you explain how certain types of energy are cleaner and greener than fossil fuels.
Fourth Paragraph: Continues to develop the argument now that all the necessary information is provided
- For an essay on a proposed solution for child poverty, you might describe and argue for the anti-child poverty plan you think our province needs.
- For an essay on green energy, this might be where you argue in favor of the alternative energy source that you think is the greenest and the cleanest, perhaps suggesting we invest more money in its development.
Fifth Paragraph: Conclusion
- Summarizes your argument and possibly offer an idea of what people might do with this information (e.g. lobby the government to implement this anti-child poverty plan or to invest in your preferred green energy technology).
