Recap
Methods of development are common approaches writers use to develop and organise their reasoning, and a method gives the audience the means to trace the reasoning. The framework’s typical methods are narration, cause-effect, comparison-contrast, definition and description. Methods work inside paragraphs and sections and combine; identify the dominant method and what it does for the argument.
The five methods
| Method | What it does | Signals |
|---|---|---|
| Narration | Tells a story, then reflects on its meaning | Time order, events, “when”, “then” |
| Cause-effect | Shows what produces what | “because”, “as a result”, “led to” |
| Comparison-contrast | Places things side by side | “whereas”, “unlike”, “similarly” |
| Definition | Fixes the meaning of a term | “I mean”, “is defined as” |
| Description | Gives concrete, sensory detail | Vivid adjectives, spatial order |
Choosing a method
| The writer needs to… | Likely method |
|---|---|
| Make an abstract point human | Narration |
| Show why it matters | Cause-effect |
| Show one option is better | Comparison-contrast |
| Fix a key term | Definition |
| Make the audience see or feel | Description |
Consider also the audience, the purpose and the length.
Methods combine
- Narration can contain description and cause-effect reflection.
- Definition can use comparison.
- Cause-effect can use a narrative example.
Name the dominant method and say what it does.
Worked mini-example
Washington, Atlanta, 18 September 1895: the parable of the ship lost at sea, whose sailors are told “Cast down your bucket where you are” and find fresh water, is narration used as an analogy. It lets the audience reach the conclusion itself and gives the abstract phrase a memorable shape.
Same topic five ways (library reading room): a story of a student’s afternoon (narration); evening cuts leading to lower homework-club attendance (cause-effect); our hours against a neighbour’s (comparison-contrast); “a public place where anyone may sit, learn and be warm without paying” (definition); the smell of paper and radiator dust and the green lamps (description).
Exam routes
- Reading: name the method and what it contributes.
- Writing: choose the sentence or revision that best develops a paragraph by a named method.
- Essays: analyse method as a choice; vary methods purposefully in your own argument.
Mistakes to avoid
- Treating a method as a type of whole essay.
- Naming a method without citing a signal.
- Assuming each paragraph has only one method.
- Calling narration fiction.
- Treating description as decoration.
- Using a method that does not fit the point or audience.
Quick self-check
- Name the five typical methods. Narration, cause-effect, comparison-contrast, definition, description.
- What does a method of development give an audience? The means to trace the writer’s reasoning.
- Which method fixes the meaning of a key term? Definition.
- Which method uses signals such as “whereas” and “unlike”? Comparison-contrast.
- What is Washington’s ship parable an example of? Narration used as an analogy.
For the full explanation and worked examples, return to the study guide.