Methods of Development: Study Guide (English Language 3.6)

Why methods of development exist

Imagine two writers who want to persuade a town to rebuild its library. One lists facts in no particular order. The other begins with a short story of a child who found her vocation in the old reading room, then compares the town’s provision with that of its neighbours, then explains what each pound saved today will cost later. Both may have the same facts. The second writer is more convincing because each part is developed in a recognisable way, and the reader can follow how one idea grows from another.

The course framework calls these recognisable approaches methods of development. They are common approaches writers frequently use to develop and organise the reasoning of their arguments, and a method of development provides an audience with the means to trace a writer’s reasoning. The framework names typical methods: narration, cause-effect, comparison-contrast, definition and description. This topic introduces the whole set and how to recognise and choose among them; Topics 3.7, 4.4 and 4.5 look at them more closely.

Note that a method of development is a way of developing and organising an idea, not a type of whole essay. A single argument usually uses several methods in different paragraphs.

The five methods at a glance

Method	What it does	Typical signals	Typical question it answers
Narration	Tells a story or sequence of events, often with reflection on its meaning.	Time order; “when”, “after”, “then”; characters and events.	“What happened, and what does it show?”
Cause-effect	Explains what produces what, or what results from what.	“because”, “as a result”, “led to”, “consequently”.	“Why did it happen, and what follows?”
Comparison-contrast	Places two or more things side by side to show similarities and differences.	“whereas”, “like”, “unlike”, “similarly”, “on the other hand”.	“How are these alike and different, and why does it matter?”
Definition	Explains what a term or idea means, often to control how the argument uses it.	“is defined as”, “means”, “what I call”; examples and boundaries.	“What exactly is this?”
Description	Gives sensory or concrete details of a person, place, thing or scene.	Vivid detail, adjectives, spatial order.	“What is it like?”

Other approaches exist as well, such as giving examples, explaining a process or breaking a topic into parts, and these often work inside the five.

The same topic developed five ways

Below, each paragraph begins from the same subject, the old reading room of a closing library. They were written by Marlbridge for practice.

Narration. “On the last day of term, Zainab walked into the reading room with a cracked textbook and left two hours later with a library card and a plan to become an engineer. She has told that story to every teacher since. A room that can change a life in an afternoon is not a luxury to be switched off at four.”

Cause-effect. “When the library cut its evening hours, teenagers lost their only quiet place to work, and attendance at the homework club fell by half. Fewer pupils finished their coursework, so more of them dropped out of the subjects that needed it. The saving of £16,000 will be paid for many times over in lost qualifications.” (invented figures)

Comparison-contrast. “Whereas Harbourside keeps its library open until nine, ours closes at five. Harbourside spends £11 per resident; we spend £6. The result is that its teenagers have somewhere to study after school, while ours go home to cramped kitchens.”

Definition. “A library is not merely a building with books. It is a public place where anyone may sit, learn and be warm without paying, and that last clause, ‘without paying’, is what makes it different from a café or a bookshop.”

Description. “The reading room smells of paper and radiator dust. Light from the high windows falls on eleven wooden tables, each with a green lamp, and at three in the afternoon every seat is taken by someone who has nowhere better to be.”

Each paragraph advances the same thesis (the library is worth keeping) in a different way. The method shapes what the reader feels and understands.

Choosing a method

Writers choose a method by asking what the argument needs at that point.

If the writer needs to…	They may use…
Make an abstract point human and memorable	Narration
Show why something matters or will matter	Cause-effect
Show that one option is better or worse than another	Comparison-contrast
Fix the meaning of a key term before arguing about it	Definition
Help the audience see or feel a situation	Description

Other factors: the audience (sceptical readers may need cause-effect evidence; a general audience may be moved by narration); the purpose (to honour, to inform, to persuade); and the length (a short speech may be built on one method; an essay combines several).

Methods work together

In a strong argument, methods overlap.

• A narration may include description of the scene and cause-effect reflection on its meaning.
• A definition may use comparison (“A library is unlike a shop because…”).
• A cause-effect paragraph may use a narrative example to show the chain at work.

Do not label every sentence. Identify the dominant method of a paragraph or section and say what it does for the argument.

A public-domain example: Washington’s parable (1895)

In his Atlanta address of 18 September 1895, Booker T. Washington tells a short narrative: a ship lost at sea sees another vessel and signals, “Water, water; we die of thirst!” The reply is, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” The sailors are puzzled, ask again and get the same answer, and at last they lower the bucket and draw up fresh water, for the ship was at the mouth of a great river.

This is narration used as a method of development in an argument, and it works like an analogy: the ship is the Southern community, and the fresh water is the opportunity and cooperation that were close at hand. The story lets the audience reach the conclusion itself. It also gives the abstract phrase “Cast down your bucket where you are” a memorable shape, so the reasoning is easier to trace and to remember.

Remember that Washington’s speech was criticised by contemporaries, and a rhetorical analysis would note both the method and the way different parts of his audience heard it.

Worked example 1: identifying the method

Task. Name the dominant method of development in each passage (written by Marlbridge), and give one piece of evidence.

1. “When the bridge closed, the bus route to the hospital doubled in length, so patients who once arrived in twenty minutes now needed forty. Missed appointments rose, and with them the cost of re-booking.”
2. “Imagine the two schools side by side. St Anne’s has a garden, a library and a staff of thirty; Park Road has a car park, a vending machine and a staff of twelve.”
3. “By ‘fairness’ I do not mean that everyone receives the same. I mean that everyone receives what they need to have the same chance.”
4. “In June my grandfather took me fishing for the first time. He never said a word, but when the line went tight he put his hand over mine, and I have felt that hand on every difficult task since.”

Solution.

1. Cause-effect. Signals: “so”, “with them”; a chain from the bridge closure to longer journeys to missed appointments to higher costs.
2. Comparison-contrast. Signals: “side by side”, a parallel list of features for each school.
3. Definition. Signal: “By ‘fairness’ I do not mean… I mean…”, which sets a boundary around a term.
4. Narration. Signals: “In June”, a story with an event and a reflection (“I have felt that hand… since”).

Check. Each identification cites a signal in the text. Passage 4 also contains description and passage 1 might include a narrative example, but one method dominates each.

Worked example 2: choosing and applying a method

Task. A student argues that her school should adopt a homework-free weekend. She has these materials: a survey showing 70 percent of pupils feel exhausted on Mondays (invented), a story of a Year 9 pupil who spent a whole Sunday on a project, and a comparison with a neighbouring school that has tried the policy. Her audience is a sceptical headteacher. Which method should she use for the opening of her argument, and why?

Step 1: Analyse the audience and purpose. A sceptical headteacher needs evidence that the policy works and costs little, and the purpose is to persuade.

Step 2: Evaluate the options.

• Narration (the Year 9 pupil) is vivid but personal; for a sceptical reader it is stronger as an illustration after a case has been made.
• Cause-effect (weekend homework leads to exhaustion, which leads to lower Monday attention) answers the likely question “Why does it matter?”
• Comparison-contrast (the neighbouring school’s results) provides proof that the policy is workable.

Step 3: Decide. Open with cause-effect, supported by the survey, to show that the problem is real, and then use comparison-contrast with the neighbouring school to show that the solution works. Place the narration after, to give the case a human face.

Step 4: Draft the opening.

Weekend homework does more than fill a Saturday. In a survey of our school, 70 percent of pupils said they felt exhausted on Monday mornings, and exhausted pupils learn less in the first lessons of the week. Because the most demanding lessons are timetabled for Monday, the cost falls where it matters most.

Check. The choice of method follows from the audience (sceptical), the purpose (persuade) and the available evidence. A different order could also work, provided the writer can explain it.

How the exam asks about methods of development

• Reading: which method a paragraph primarily uses; what the method contributes to the argument; how a shift of method changes the passage.
• Writing: which sentence best develops a paragraph using narration or cause-effect; which revision best shows a comparison; where to add a definition.
• Essays: in the rhetorical analysis essay, a method of development is one of the choices you can analyse. In the argument essay, vary your methods purposefully.

Common misconceptions

• “A method of development is a type of essay.” It is a way of developing an idea within a paragraph or section.
• “Each paragraph uses only one method.” Many combine methods; identify the dominant one.
• “Narration means fiction.” In argument, narration tells true or illustrative stories to make a point.
• “Description is only decoration.” In an argument, description can carry reasoning by making a situation visible.
• “Cause-effect and correlation are the same.” A cause-effect paragraph needs a reasoned link between cause and effect (see Topic 3.5).
• “Any method works in any place.” The method should fit the point being made, the audience and the purpose.

Where this leads

Topic 3.7, Developing ideas through narration and cause-effect, looks closely at two of these methods. Topics 4.4 and 4.5 treat comparison-contrast, definition and description. Practise with the practice questions and the checklist.