1. Sequence of Events
• Textbook writers often use sequence of dates and events to:
• Describe how a smaller series of events led up to a larger and more major event
• Chart the career of an important person
• Explain how some theory, invention, or activity came to be part of culture or history.
This pattern primarily relies on chronology to introduce the major details.
2. Time Order Transitions
• Phrases like “by 1972”, “in 1983” and “between 1983 and 1990” tell
readers to pay attention because the next signficant event is coming
up.
• Time order transitions are the author’s way of saying, “I’ve finished
describing the previous event and I’m ready to tell you about the one
that followed it.”
• Usually introduce major details.
3. Taking Notes
Paragraphs devoted to dates and events should include the following elements:
1. The Main Idea
2. All the dates and events used to develop the Main Idea
3. Any other supporting details that lack dates but still seem essential
to developing the Main Idea.
4. Typical Topic Sentences
• The life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is a lesson in how art can be an antidote to pain.
• The years leading up to the Great Depression were filled with a sense of optimism that was
destroyed almost overnight
• Between 1939 and 1944, most of Europe descended into a nightmare world of terror,
violence, and death.
• In their youth, the inventors of the airplane, Wilbur and Orville Wright, seemed destined for
failure.
5. Process
• Explains how something works, happens, or develops
• The order in which the actions take place is crucial
• Common Transition words:
first, second, third, next, last
before, after, at the onset
In the beginning, in the early
stages, in the end
(see p. 510 for more
examples)
