Rhetorical patterns are ways of organizing information and thoughts logically. There are several patterns including time order, space order, listing, classification, definition, exemplification, comparison-contrast, cause and effect, hypothesis, process analysis, problem-solution, and purpose. Recognizing patterns is important for comprehension and retention as it helps separate main ideas from details and understand an author's organization and perspective. Many texts use mixed patterns combining two or more organizational structures.

1. RHETORICAL
PATTERNS
N. Valdelomar

2. Rhetorical Patterns
Rhetorical Patterns are ways of organizing
information and thoughts in a logical manner.
Most of these patterns include connectors to
express transitions or relations between the
different ideas.
Sometimes connectors are not used.

3. Why are they important?
• Separating supporting points from main
ideas is an important reading skill. The
organization of the supporting details will
help you understand how an author
thinks.
• Detecting the patterns of organization of
the major and minor details can help with
comprehension and retention.

4. Patterns of Organization
 Time Order or Sequence
 Space Order, Location, Spatial Order
 Listing
 Classification
 Definition
 Exemplification
 Comparison-Contrast
 Cause and Effect
 Hypothesis
 Method-purpose/ Process Analysis
 Problem – Solution
 Purpose
 Description
 Argument
 Mixed Patterns

5. Time Order
• It involves putting facts, events, or
concepts in order of occurrence.
• It usually refers to events.
• The order is not strict. It can vary according
to the circumstances.
Time order signal words
first, third…; next; then; finally; eventually;
following this, after, as, before, currently,
during, eventually, last, later, previously, etc.

6. The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa has been tilting for over 800
years, and recent improvements should allow it to continue tilting for
another 300 more. On August 9, 1173, construction began on this
well-known Italian bell tower. Almost immediately, it began leaning
because it was being erected on the soft silt of a buried riverbed.
Between 1178 and 1360, work stopped and started two more times
as workers tried to continue the project and figure out how to
compensate for the tilt. Over the next six centuries, the tower’s lean
continued to increase, although tourists were still allowed to visit.
Then, in 1990, Italy’s prime minister feared the tower would collapse
and closed it to the public. From 1999 to 2001, engineers excavated
soil from beneath the tower. Now, the tower still leans out about 15
feet beyond its base, but it should remain stable for several more
centuries.
Covington, Richard (2001) Smithsonian. “The Leaning Tower Straightens Up,” pp. 41-47

7. Space
Order,
Location,
Spatial
Order
 In this pattern, writers describe a person,
place or thing based on its location or the
way it is arranged in space.
 The author uses descriptive details to
help the reader create vivid mental
images of what is being described.
Space Order signal words
above, across, around, at the bottom,
behind, below, under, in, left, outside, etc.

8. Juma works a small plot, barely more
than an acre, near the town of
Bagamoyo, on the Indian Ocean about
40 miles north of Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.
(T. Folger, The Next Green Revolution, National Geographic, 2013)

9. Listing
Also known as listing, series,
addition and enumeration, the
information listed may be items, facts,
reasons, examples, features or
characteristics.
List of items signal words
and, too, in addition, moreover, or,
also, furthermore, as well as, plus, in
fact, moreover, besides...

10. Many modern people are turning themselves into social
victims. One example is a Tennessee woman who is suing
McDonald’s because she was badly burned on the chin by a
hot pickle in her hamburger. A Canadian woman is another
example. She wants to ban the South Park television show
because her son Kenny is victimized by the show’s Kenny
character, who is killed in each episode. A third example is a
group of European and Australian women who want to ban
urinals in men’s restrooms because they require men to stand
in a way that suggests violence toward women. Another
group argues that single people are victimized because
society ignores them.
Leo, John. (2000) U.S. News and World Report. “Victims of the Year,” p. 24

11. Classification
It involves grouping things together (on
the basis of similarities) and dividing
them (according to differences).

12. The three types of courts in the legal system of United States are trial
courts, appellate courts, and supreme courts. Trial courts are responsible
for resolving disputes between two parties. In some trial courts, a jury
decides the case. In other trial courts, however, a judge has that
responsibility. Appellate courts are composed of a panel of judges. The
job of the panel is to hear appeals brought by plaintiffs or defendants who
did not like the decision made in a trial court. After reviewing the evidence
presented in a particular case and deciding if the proceedings were legally
sound, the appellate court can affirm, modify, or reverse the lower court’s
decision. An appellate court can also call for a re-trial. The highest level of
appellate court is the state supreme court, which can review and override
decisions made in lower appellate courts. The federal Supreme Court is
the court of last resort. Supreme Court rulings are final and cannot be
challenged, although later Supreme Court rulings can set new
precedents, or examples, for the court to follow.

13. Definition
•It explains the meaning of new, difficult,
or special terms. The short definition (a
paragraph or a single sentence) is
essential to technical writing.
•A definition answers the question
“What is it?”
Definition signal words
is, are, means

14. Acrophobia is an intense, unreasonable fear of
high places. People with acrophobia exhibit
emotional and physical symptoms in response to
being at great heights.

15. Exemplification
 An exemplification usually follows a
definition to show how the word is used
or applied.
 They are used in all rethorical situations
and within other rethorical strategies.
Examples can help explain definitions,
comparisons, processes, classifications
groupings, etc.
Exemplification signal words
for example, to illustrate, for instance,
that is, as an example, in fact, specifically,
such as

16. Acrophobia is an intense, unreasonable fear of high
places. People with acrophobia exhibit emotional and
physical symptoms in response to being at great heights.
For instance, one sufferer of extreme acrophobia, Andrea
Copeland, is unable to go above the third floor of any
building without feeling enormous anxiety. Her acrophobia
began one evening when she was working alone in her
office on the eighth floor of a large building. Suddenly she
was struck with terror. She gathered her things and left
the building, Yet, she still has no rational explanation for
her fear, which is also typical of this type of phobia.

17. Comparison-
Contrast
The material is organized to emphasize the similarities and/or
differences between two or more items or topics.
Comparison means
▪ what things have in common
▪ how items or concepts are alike
▪ the similarities between elements or ideas
Contrast means
▪ the differences between items or concepts
▪ how things are not alike
▪ distinctions between elements
Comparison and contrast signal words
similarly, like, the same as, compared to, in the same way, likewise,
but, yet, on the other hand, however, instead, nevertheless, on the
contrary...

18. When it comes to mood disorders, psychologists
distinguish between depressive and bipolar disorders. With
depressive disorders, the patient feels sad, despairing,
hopeless. These feelings don’t just come and go in a day.
They persist over long periods of time, with only occasional
periods of relief. Typical, too, are fatigue, sleeplessness, and
digestive problems. Bipolar disorders are also likely to be
accompanied by feelings of despair and hopelessness, but
these feelings alternate with excited or manic moods, in which
the individual is sure that he or she can accomplish great
things. During the manic periods of bipolar disorder, the
patient is likely to be extremely energetic and full of plans for
new and exciting projects; however, those plans vanish like
smoke when the disorder swings into its depressed phase.

19. Cause and Effect
• This pattern describes or discusses an event
or action that is caused by another event or
action.
• On occasion, this pattern is also referred to as
result.
Cause and effect signal words
because, for this reason, due to, cause, on
account of, if this, then this…
as a result, since, consequently, therefore,
thus, in effect, resulting, and the outcome is...

20. Want to know how important nurses are to health care? Then
consider these statistics. A 2002 nationwide study found that patient
complications increased every time a nurse had to increase the
normal patient load by one single person. Mortality also rose by 7 per
cent. In a similar study, University of Utah researcher Susan Horn
found that a nursing staff decrease forced convalescent-home nurses
to spend less than fifteen minutes per day with their patients. What
was the result? The incidence of bed sores, falls, and infections
quickly began to climb. When more nurses were hired, time spent
with patients increased to thirty or forty minutes per day, and patient
outcomes improved dramatically. As these statistics suggest, nurses
are the heart and soul of hospital and nursing-home care. Yet the
nursing shortage continues to grow as trained nurses suffer from
burn-out, and nursing schools turn away new applicants due to a lack
of adequate funding. The fewer nurses tending the sick the more
complications and deaths will continue to rise.
(Source of information: Anne Underwood. "Diagnosis: Not Enough Nurses." Newsweek, December 12, 2005, p. 80)

21. Hypothesis
•It presents a suggested
explanation of phenomenon.
•It sometimes indicates
suppositions or future actions.
•It may predict the outcome of a
process.

22. According to latest research, chocolate
may not cause pimples as it has been
believed.
Returning to suburban areas will
improve the lives of millions of people
who live cramped in urban areas.

23. Method-
Purpose/
Process
Analysis
 In this pattern the information explains the steps in a
particular procedure or process.
 The steps and stages lead up to a final product or
finished project
 Time order and Process use overlapping signal
words.
 Both patterns organize points in time, but for
different reasons. Process ends with a specific
predetermined outcome. A basic cookbook recipe,
laboratory reports, descriptions or directions for
technical procedures are examples of process
analysis.
Process signal words
how to, in the process of, the following steps, first,
second, third…

24. How does corn on the cob get off the cob and into the can? The
short answer is, not easily. After truckloads of freshly picked corn
arrive at a processing plant, the ears are dumped onto a huge
conveyor belt that takes them to what’s called the husking machine.
At this point, each ear of corn is stripped of its leaves and stalk. Then
the corn is sent on for inspection, and real human beings, not
machines, remove diseased or immature kernels. After this stage is
complete, workers line up the ears of corn and send them into cutting
machines where they will be stripped of their kernels at around one
hundred ears per minute. Finally, the corn is vacuum packed, sealed,
and canned before it is cooked. Once the corn is put into cans, the
cans enter a huge pressure cooker, where they sit until they reach
the desired temperature. Once the corn is cooked, it is allowed to
cool. Finally, labels are added to the cans. At this point, the corn is
ready for the market.

25. Problem
Solution
This pattern involves the presentation
of a problem and its solution, usually
upon determined agreements and
consensus.
Problem solution signal words
problem, need, difficulty,
dilemma,enigma, challenge, issue,
answer, propose, suggest, indicate,
solve, resolve, improve, plan,
respond to a need

26. The growth of urban areas exacerbated many problems,
including the absence of clean drinking water, the lack of
cheap public transportation, and most importantly, poor
sanitation. Sanitation problems led to heavy urban mortality
rates and frequent epidemics of typhoid, dysentery, typhus,
cholera, and yellow fever. Government officials,
recognizing the need for improvement, initiated the return
to suburban and rural areas. The proposal involved several
cost-effective solutions. Local village water delivery
systems were improved, and as villages were substantially
smaller, almost everything was in walking distance, thereby
eliminating the need for public transportation.

27. Purpose
Purpose states the objective of an
intention in relation to an idea.
To save enough of the crop to sell and
to feed his family, Juma will have to
harvest a month early.
(T. Folger, The Next Green Revolution, National Geographic, 2013)

28. Argument
It is a sentence that expresses a
personal, debatable opinion.
Seat belts must be compulsory. There is
no such thing as personal freedom when
it comes to saving one's life and
respecting that of others. It's just
common sense.

29. Other
Patterns
There are other patterns such as
description (used to state the physical
or psychological features of an idea,
object, or person) and narration (used to
describe something that wasn’t directly
experienced by the writer) that will not be
evaluated separately because, in the
long run, almost all paragraphs either
narrate or describe something.

30. Mixed
Patterns
In the real world, many texts
contain sections and passages
that combine two or more
patterns of organization. This is
perfectly normal and acceptable.
Authors may incorporate
blended patterns in their writing.

31. Patterns of
Organization
Arrange details and
information
Remember information
and its organization
Recognize what the
author thinks is
important
understanding the reading's
overall structure, which will
help you grasp the text's
main ideas