Structure of Graph Description plus Examples

1. DESCRIBING GRAPHS
PRESENTATION 3
STRUCTURE OF GRAPH DESCRIPTION
PLUS EXAMPLES

2. DESCRIPTION STRUCTURE
• 1. Introduction
Here you say what the graph is about.
Keep in mind the title of it and do not forget to include the
source.
• 2. Message of the graph
Here you explain what you see in the graph.
For example: The largest number of …. are in …. There are ….
The second largest number of … are in …. There are ….
So there are more than twice as many ….
The graph shows that there are …. in … and … in ….
• 3. Conclusion
Here you wrap up what the graph shows.
For example: So we can say that the most … of … are in … and the
least in ….. There are more than 50 per cent of all the …. in …..

3. INTRODUCTION
USEFUL PHRASES:
• Let me show you this bar graph…
• Let’s turn to this diagram…
• I’d like you to look at this map…
• If you look at this graph, you will notice…
• Let’s have a look at this pie chart…
• If you look at this line chart, you will
understand…
• To illustrate my point, let’s look at some
charts…

4. MESSAGE OF THE GRAPH
USEFUL PHRASES:
• The pie chart is about ...
• The bar chart deals with ...
• The line graph (clearly) shows ...
• The slices of the pie chart compare the ...
• The chart is divided into ... parts.
• It highlights ...
• ... has the largest (number of) ...
• ... has the second largest (number of) ...
• ... is as big as ...
• ... is twice as big as ...
• ... is bigger than ...
• more than ... per cent ...
• only one third ...
• less than half ...
• The number ... increases/goes up/grows by ...
• The number ... decreases/goes down/sinks by ...
• The number ... does not change/remains stable
• I was really surprised/shocked by the ...

5. MESSAGE OF THE GRAPH
USEFUL PHRASES FOR COMPARING:
• to compare
• compared to
• as opposed to
• versus
• more than
• the majority of
• only a small monitory
• greater than
• less than

6. CONCLUSION
USEFUL CONCLUSION CONNECTIVES:
• Finally,
• In a word,
• In brief,
• Briefly,
• In conclusion,
• To conclude,
• In the end,
• On the whole,
• To sum up,
• In summary,
N.B.: don’t forget to write a comma after them 

7. EXAMPLE TASK 1
• The bar graph below shows the number of deaths from terrorist attacks in the
period 1970 to 2017.
• Task: Summarize the information in the graph by selecting and reporting the
main features. Make comparisons where relevant.

8. EXAMPLE DESCRIPTION 1
• INTRO: The bar chart illustrates the number of fatalities from terrorist
attacks between the years 1970 and 2017 at 4-year intervals.
• BODY: It can be seen that the number of casualties the first two time
periods was really low, close to zero compared to the gradual increase
starting at the end of the second time period around the year of 1978 and
reaching a peak of 10 000 life losses in 1984. Since then, this figure
remains a relatively stable top limit with slight ups and downs over the
following years until the year of 2012 when a steep rise of deaths is
observed exceeding 20 000, and doubling up to more than 40 000 in 2014.
Since then, there is a drop of numbers to the end of the presented period but
never to go back as down as those in the 1970s of the 20th century.
• CONCLUSION: Overall, we can see a clear upward trend in the number of
deaths caused by terrorist acts, especially after the first decade of the 21st
century.

9. EXAMPLE TASK 2
• The diagram illustrates the complex structure of involvement with terrorism.
• Task: Summarize the information by reporting the main features and the
connection between them.

10. EXAMPLE DESCRIPTION 2
• The diagram shows the complex process that might lead to terrorist
involvement. Overall, the diagram shows 3 main elements affecting
person’s choices towards terrorism and explains how they connect to each
other. These are: 1. Setting events 2. Personal factors 3.
Social/political/organizational context.
• The setting events like personal, family, or economic unhappiness could be
basis for disaffection if they are unfavorable. Combined with the political
and social context, they could lead to involvement into some kind of
violence. The central element of the diagram is the personal response
which could take negative /violent/ or positive /disengaged/ direction.
• So on the whole, personal choice stands out as an important factor for
terrorist involvement.