chronological order process essays

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9.3 Organizing Your Writing

Learning objectives.

Understand how and why organizational techniques help writers and readers stay focused.
Assess how and when to use chronological order to organize an essay.
Recognize how and when to use order of importance to organize an essay.
Determine how and when to use spatial order to organize an essay.

The method of organization you choose for your essay is just as important as its content. Without a clear organizational pattern, your reader could become confused and lose interest. The way you structure your essay helps your readers draw connections between the body and the thesis, and the structure also keeps you focused as you plan and write the essay. Choosing your organizational pattern before you outline ensures that each body paragraph works to support and develop your thesis.

This section covers three ways to organize body paragraphs:

Chronological order
Order of importance
Spatial order

When you begin to draft your essay, your ideas may seem to flow from your mind in a seemingly random manner. Your readers, who bring to the table different backgrounds, viewpoints, and ideas, need you to clearly organize these ideas in order to help process and accept them.

A solid organizational pattern gives your ideas a path that you can follow as you develop your draft. Knowing how you will organize your paragraphs allows you to better express and analyze your thoughts. Planning the structure of your essay before you choose supporting evidence helps you conduct more effective and targeted research.

Chronological Order

In Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , you learned that chronological arrangement has the following purposes:

To explain the history of an event or a topic
To tell a story or relate an experience
To explain how to do or to make something
To explain the steps in a process

For example, if you are writing an essay about the history of the airline industry, you would begin with its conception and detail the essential timeline events up until present day. You would follow the chain of events using words such as first , then , next , and so on.

Writing at Work

At some point in your career you may have to file a complaint with your human resources department. Using chronological order is a useful tool in describing the events that led up to your filing the grievance. You would logically lay out the events in the order that they occurred using the key transition words. The more logical your complaint, the more likely you will be well received and helped.

Choose an accomplishment you have achieved in your life. The important moment could be in sports, schooling, or extracurricular activities. On your own sheet of paper, list the steps you took to reach your goal. Try to be as specific as possible with the steps you took. Pay attention to using transition words to focus your writing.

Keep in mind that chronological order is most appropriate for the following purposes:

Writing essays containing heavy research
Writing essays with the aim of listing, explaining, or narrating
Writing essays that analyze literary works such as poems, plays, or books

When using chronological order, your introduction should indicate the information you will cover and in what order, and the introduction should also establish the relevance of the information. Your body paragraphs should then provide clear divisions or steps in chronology. You can divide your paragraphs by time (such as decades, wars, or other historical events) or by the same structure of the work you are examining (such as a line-by-line explication of a poem).

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph that describes a process you are familiar with and can do well. Assume that your reader is unfamiliar with the procedure. Remember to use the chronological key words, such as first , second , then , and finally .

Order of Importance

Recall from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” that order of importance is best used for the following purposes:

Persuading and convincing
Ranking items by their importance, benefit, or significance
Illustrating a situation, problem, or solution

Some key transitional words you should use with this method of organization are most importantly , almost as importantly , just as importantly , and finally .

During your career, you may be required to work on a team that devises a strategy for a specific goal of your company, such as increasing profits. When planning your strategy you should organize your steps in order of importance. This demonstrates the ability to prioritize and plan. Using the order of importance technique also shows that you can create a resolution with logical steps for accomplishing a common goal.

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph that discusses a passion of yours. Your passion could be music, a particular sport, filmmaking, and so on. Your paragraph should be built upon the reasons why you feel so strongly. Briefly discuss your reasons in the order of least to greatest importance.

Spatial Order

As stated in Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , spatial order is best used for the following purposes:

Helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it
Evoking a scene using the senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound)
Writing a descriptive essay

Spatial order means that you explain or describe objects as they are arranged around you in your space, for example in a bedroom. As the writer, you create a picture for your reader, and their perspective is the viewpoint from which you describe what is around you.

The view must move in an orderly, logical progression, giving the reader clear directional signals to follow from place to place. The key to using this method is to choose a specific starting point and then guide the reader to follow your eye as it moves in an orderly trajectory from your starting point.

Pay attention to the following student’s description of her bedroom and how she guides the reader through the viewing process, foot by foot.

Attached to my bedroom wall is a small wooden rack dangling with red and turquoise necklaces that shimmer as you enter. Just to the right of the rack is my window, framed by billowy white curtains. The peace of such an image is a stark contrast to my desk, which sits to the right of the window, layered in textbooks, crumpled papers, coffee cups, and an overflowing ashtray. Turning my head to the right, I see a set of two bare windows that frame the trees outside the glass like a 3D painting. Below the windows is an oak chest from which blankets and scarves are protruding. Against the wall opposite the billowy curtains is an antique dresser, on top of which sits a jewelry box and a few picture frames. A tall mirror attached to the dresser takes up most of the wall, which is the color of lavender.

The paragraph incorporates two objectives you have learned in this chapter: using an implied topic sentence and applying spatial order. Often in a descriptive essay, the two work together.

The following are possible transition words to include when using spatial order:

Just to the left or just to the right
On the left or on the right
Across from
A little further down
To the south, to the east, and so on
A few yards away
Turning left or turning right

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph using spatial order that describes your commute to work, school, or another location you visit often.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

Key Takeaways

The way you organize your body paragraphs ensures you and your readers stay focused on and draw connections to, your thesis statement.
A strong organizational pattern allows you to articulate, analyze, and clarify your thoughts.
Planning the organizational structure for your essay before you begin to search for supporting evidence helps you conduct more effective and directed research.
Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process.
Order of importance is most appropriate in a persuasion paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.
Spatial order describes things as they are arranged in space and is best for helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it; it creates a dominant impression.

Chronological Order In Essay Writing

Table of contents

1 What Is a Chronological Order Essay
2 Chronological Order vs. Sequential Order
3 Importance of Correct Historical Occurrences
4 How to Write a Chronological Paragraph?
5.1 Pick an Idea and Make a Plan
5.2 Use a Variety of Sentence Structures to Keep Your Writing Interesting
5.3 Provide Sufficient Details
5.4 Use Transitional Words and Phrases, Such As “First,” “Next,” and “Then,” to Indicate the Chronological Flow
5.5 Use Headings and Subheadings to Organize Your Essay
5.6 Use Introductory and Concluding Sentences to Signal the Main Points of Each Paragraph
5.7 Use Appropriate Citations and References (Especially for the Historical Essay)
5.8 Maintain a Consistent Timeline and Avoid Jumping Back and Forth in Time
6 Conclusion

Writing a chronological essay is a pure pleasure. This type of university assignment is clear and structured, so knowing the basic requirements, you can easily cope with the task. Essays in chronological order require their author to have deep knowledge of the chosen subject. Not to stray from the course of the story, you need to be a real expert in this niche.

In this article, you will learn what a chronological-order essay is and how to write it. Also, you will find precious tips on making the writing process quick and enjoyable. So here are the milestones of our chronological essay guide:

What a chronological order essay is;
The difference between chronological and sequential order;
Guidelines for chronological paragraph writing;
Tips for writing an outstanding chronological essay.

Together we will consider each important point and dispel your doubts about the chronological essays. Without further ado, let’s get it started!

What Is a Chronological Order Essay

A chronological essay is an expository writing that describes historical events or a biography of a specific person. Surprisingly, not only students of the Faculty of History are faced with this type of essay. Whenever you have been given the task of writing about outstanding personalities, talking about your experiences, or presenting a life story or historical event, you will be faced with the need to use chronological order in writing.

This type of narrating writing essay requires you to present information in a logical and structured way. Expository essay writers must state all the events in the order in which they occurred. Moreover, you should dip the reader into the context of the event, explaining to him the background and the outcomes.

Chronological Order vs. Sequential Order

You may think that sequence and chronological order are identical concepts. Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who thinks so. These concepts are strongly related but not identical. Sequential order is based on the order of steps performed and how events occur relative to each other. But what is a chronological order of events?

The chronological timeline tells about the sequence of actions in time-space. Sequential order is well suited for writing step-by-step instructions and listing events. At the same time, the chronological order is excellent for narrating historical events and writing biographies.

Importance of Correct Historical Occurrences

Preliminary research is a solid foundation for your chronological essay. Take information only from reliable and trusted sources respected in science. Avoid unverified facts and loud statements. Make an effort to pre-study to avoid building an essay on false grounds. It may seem that a detailed study will take too much time, but on the contrary, it will save you the effort of rewriting the time order essay.

Check several sources for proof of the integrity of the information you found. Whenever you don’t have enough time for research, consider buying an essay rather than copying random facts from the web. After all, no matter how well you present the events in chronological order, if it does not correspond to reality, then your essay will lose all scientific value.

How to Write a Chronological Paragraph?

You can be assigned to write a chronological paragraph in your paper. This is also a type of chronological writing that you should do right if you need to get a good grade for your essay.

This paragraph should describe the sequence of events that occurred to a specific object or person. These events should be sorted chronologically, from the earliest to the latest. You should present the sequence and make logical transitions between events. This will help readers understand the connections between events and the outcomes of specific things.

You can write about anything interesting, there are almost no topics you should avoid in the essay if they meet the requirements. However, it is better when the subject is interesting to you.

When structuring these paragraphs, students not only present the facts but also explain them as causes and effects. If you don’t see connections between things, you should look closer and do more research.

To write a good chronological paragraph, you need to include crucial elements. Thus, it will be easier to structure the course of events. This guide may not only be used for chronological essays, it’s a rather versatile piece of advice on how to compose a personal statement . Among the integral components are:

Topic sentence
Important supporting points
Chronological progression
Coherence of the narrative
Summarizing sentence

Topic sentences exist to briefly remind the reader of the main topic of your paper. Give enough detail to put the reader in the context of the chronological sequence essay. Do not jump in time, state all events clearly and unambiguously to maintain logical transitions. End your paragraph by summarizing what has been said so far.

Example of chronological order:

The Second World War was the largest bloody war, in which more than 30 countries participated and left an indelible mark on the history of mankind. (Strong topic sentence.) The prerequisites ( the supporting details ) for this historic event are considered Germany’s course for revenge in the First World War. Events began in September 1939 with the German attack on Poland. ( Chronological progression). The most important event of the Second World War is thought to be the Japanese attack on the United States of America in Pearl Harbor. After six years of fierce fighting, the Nazis were defeated by the Allies, and the war ended with the Japanese surrender on 2nd September 1945. ( Summarizing sentence)

Tips on Writing a Chronological Essay

You start the writing process by choosing a topic for it. Find an interesting topic that meets your assignment’s requirements, or ask your teacher to give you a topic.

If you are stuck with creating this paper, you can use an essay editing service to prepare it. Its writers have experience working on chronological essays, they can help you with narrative and cause-and-effect paper .

Then you should research and find as much information on your topic as possible. Collect this information in a well-organized format so you can reference any of it if needed, and don’t forget to keep the dates of all events.

Pick an Idea and Make a Plan

If you need to create informative essays about a specific historical event, you should start from the beginning of this event or even with earlier events that lead to it. If a particular group organizes an event, tell the motives of this group, how they got to this idea, and how they started working on it. Then write about each step from the beginning to the conclusion of this event and arrange the events in chronological order.

Use a Variety of Sentence Structures to Keep Your Writing Interesting

If you only use simple sentences or start each sentence with the word «then», your writing will be boring to read. PapersOwl specialists advise studying several chronological ordering examples to understand the linking words and the structuring strategy. Use different stylistic devices as well as different types of complex sentences.

Provide Sufficient Details

Provide your reader with the full context of the story in time-order paragraphs. To understand the course of action of the chronological essay, the reader must be aware of the background and cause of historical events. At the same time, try not to overload your compositions with unnecessary details.

Use Transitional Words and Phrases, Such As “First,” “Next,” and “Then,” to Indicate the Chronological Flow

Sequencers help keep the story logical, they’re keywords for chronological order that make the essay flow smoothly. Use transitional words to direct the reader through the flow of your story. Don’t forget to use different expressions to avoid tautology.

Use Headings and Subheadings to Organize Your Essay

Provide clear divisions so that the paper becomes much more readable. Large arrays of text always repel the reader, so use a proper chronological structure. Also, headings and subheadings will help you further structure your essay.

Use Introductory and Concluding Sentences to Signal the Main Points of Each Paragraph

A thesis statement that summarizes the main message of your chronological essays should be restructured and repeated several times during writing. This technique is used by writers to express the main idea of the essay in the introduction and throughout the text. The thesis proposal should be catchy and memorable.

Use Appropriate Citations and References (Especially for the Historical Essay)

There could be many sources of false information on the Internet. Students should check information and put only proven citations into the chronological expositions. We know it could be challenging to deal with citation norms, so we’re always ready to write your paper for you . Be sure to check the accuracy of the quotes and the veracity of the facts you refer to.

Maintain a Consistent Timeline and Avoid Jumping Back and Forth in Time

When you have the list of essential timeline events, you can arrange the events in the order in which they happened. It helps you to use the correct order in an essay from the earliest events in your story to the latest. You can use simple editors or a spreadsheet for sorting lists.

When you write a chronological essay, nothing may cause you problems if you are well-oriented to the chosen subject. You should carefully choose topics for writing, do not forget about the preliminary study, and double-check the sources you use.

After reading our guide in detail, you will undoubtedly be able to write a decent chronological essay. However, even if you find it difficult to find inspiration for writing, this is not a problem either, as you can resort to exposition editing services. Remember that an experienced team of professionals is always ready to help you with heavy research writing essays.

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Organizational Strategies for Using Chronological Order in Writing

ThoughtCo / Ran Zheng

An Introduction to Punctuation
Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
B.A., English, State University of New York

The word chronological comes from two Greek words. "Chronos" means time. "Logikos" means reason or order. That is what chronological order is all about. It arranges information according to time.

In composition and speech , chronological order is a method of organization in which actions or events are presented as they occur or occurred in time and can also be called time or linear order.

Narratives and process analysis essays commonly rely on chronological order. Morton Miller points out in his 1980 book "Reading and Writing Short Essay" that the "natural order of events — beginning, middle, and end — is narration 's simplest and most-used arrangement."

From " Camping Out " by Ernest Hemingway to "The Story of an Eyewitness: The San Francisco Earthquake" by Jack London , famous authors and student essayists alike have utilized the chronological order form to convey the impact a series of events had on the author's life. Also common in informative speeches because of the simplicity of telling a story as it happened, chronological order differs from other organizational styles in that it is fixed according to the timeframe of events which happened.

How Tos and Who-Done-Its

Because time order is essential in things like "How-To" presentations and murder mysteries alike, chronological order is the preferred method for informative speakers. Take for example wanting to explain to a friend how to bake a cake. You could choose another method to explain the process, but putting the steps in order of timing is a much easier method for your audience to follow — and successfully bake the cake.

Similarly, a detective or officer presenting a murder or theft case to his or her team of police would want to retrace the known events of the crime as they occurred rather than bouncing around the case — though the detective may decide to go in reverse chronological order from the act of the crime itself to the earlier detail of the crime scene, allowing the team of sleuths to piece together what data is missing (i.e., what happened between midnight and 12:05 am) as well as determine the likely cause-effect play-by-play that led to the crime in the first place.

In both of these cases, the speaker presents the earliest known important event or occurrence to happen and proceed to detail the following events, in order. The cake maker will, therefore, start with "decide which cake you want to make" followed by "determine and purchase ingredients" while the policeman will start with the crime itself, or the later escape of the criminal, and work backward in time to discover and determine the criminal's motive.

The Narrative Form

The simplest way to tell a story is from the beginning, proceeding in time-sequential order throughout the character's life. Though this may not always be the way a narrative speaker or writer tells the story, it is the most common organizational process used in the narrative form .

As a result, most stories about mankind can be told as simply as "a person was born, he did X, Y, and Z, and then he died" wherein the X, Y, and Z are the sequential events that impacted and affected that person's story after he was born but before he passed away. As X.J. Kennedy, Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron put it in the seventh edition of "The Bedford Reader," a chronological order is "an excellent sequence to follow unless you can see some special advantage in violating it."

Interestingly, memoirs and personal narrative essays often deviate from chronological order because this type of writing hinges more upon overarching themes throughout the subject's life rather than the full breadth of his or her experience. That is to say that autobiographical work, largely due to its dependence on memory and recall, relies not on the sequence of events in one's life but the important events that affected one's personality and mentality, searching for cause and effect relationships to define what made them human.

A memoir writer might, therefore, start with a scene where he or she is confronting a fear of heights at age 20, but then flash back to several instances in his or her childhood like falling off a tall horse at five or losing a loved one in a plane crash to infer to the reader the cause of this fear.

When to Use Chronological Order

Good writing relies on precision and compelling storytelling to entertain and inform audiences, so it's important for writers to determine the best method of organization when attempting to explain an event or project.

John McPhee's article " Structure " describes a tension between chronology and theme that can help hopeful writers determine the best organizational method for their piece. He posits that chronology typically wins out because "themes prove inconvenient" due to the sparsity of occurrences that relate thematically. A writer is much better served by the chronological order of events, including flashbacks and flash-forwards, in terms of structure and control.

Still, McPhee also states that "there's nothing wrong with a chronological structure," and certainly nothing to suggest it's a lesser form than thematic structure. In fact, even as long ago as Babylonian times, "most pieces were written that way, and nearly all pieces are written that way now."

The Sharpe Books in Chronological Order
Definition and Examples of Narratives in Writing
A Guide to All Types of Narration, With Examples
Spatial Order in Composition
AP English Exam: 101 Key Terms
Graphic Organizers
The Difference Between an Article and an Essay
Understanding Organization in Composition and Speech
How to Write a Narrative Essay or Speech
Singing the Old Songs: Traditional and Literary Ballads
How to Write a Personal Narrative
What Is a Novel? Definition and Characteristics
6 Traits of Writing
Using Flashback in Writing
5 Easy Summarizing Strategies for Students

How to Write a Process Essay

The process essay, also known as the "how-to" essay, is commonly written for people or companies that need tutorials or a set of instructional steps. Whether it's building a robot or cooking a chocolate cake, process essays use a similar format for any variations. They follow a step-by-step style, with the initial step influencing the second, which influences the third, and so on. Each step carries its own importance, and a poor explanation of one step can ruin the entire process. It's important to stay concise and efficient. However, before you begin writing your essay, you should do some small preparations. Let's discover them with our research writing service .

What Is a Process Paper?

A process essay is a type of essay that explains a process step by step and gives guidance for a certain process, working mechanism, procedure, etc. Process essays range from very simple ones, such as instructions for how to ride a bicycle, to more complex ones, such as a chemistry lab report of an oxidative reaction experiment. The goal of a process paper is to give its readers guidance and directions.

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A process paper is characterized, first of all, by explaining a process using a description. Some words that are frequently used in process essays are “further”, “then”, “next”, “first”, “last”, “finally”, and “initially”. It is really important to remember that every process essay includes features, such as:

clear and straightforward narration - the last thing you want to do is to confuse your reader with complex language and an unorganized thought thread;
chronological order - avoid skipping steps and shifting them around, as it will result in misunderstanding and frustration for the readers;
transition words - make sure to separate the next step from the previous ones by using transition words;
descriptions of the steps - make sure your steps are clear and easy to follow.

There are several types of process essays. The first one is directional - it explains the “how to” for something. It can take on a wide range of subjects, such as how to apply for a credit card, how to get your driver’s license, how to plan a wedding, etc. The outcome of the directional essay should be a result. In the cases of the examples above: a credit card, a driver’s license, or a carefully planned wedding. The other type of process paper is informational - it explains how something works. Here are some examples: how a weather forecast is determined, how a space rocket works, how intermittent fasting changes your body, etc. An informational essay explains something to a reader and does not necessarily end up with a result, like directional does.

Another type of essay that is similar to a process essay is a process analysis essay. The biggest difference is that a process analysis essay not only explains the steps, but also analyses them in depth. It has all of the characteristics of a process essay, although goes into more detail about the causes and consequences of every step.

If you need any additional information for process analysis essays, check out our article: HOW TO WRITE A PROCESS ANALYSIS ESSAY

Writing a process essay is not extremely difficult. By following simple rules and a set of steps, a successful, well-structured essay can be guaranteed.

Prepare The Small Stuff

Here we gathered some small general tips and advice that you should follow throughout your writing process to make sure that all of the expectations of a process paper are met.

Determine the Audience's Skill Level. It's important to base the level of complexity of the essay on who the readers will be. For example, if you need to teach a friend how to do a simple fix or create a certain tool, then it would be most reasonable to stick to more basic terminology. However, if you are writing an essay for your astrophysics professor about the creation of a black hole in the universe, use more sophisticated and informative terminology.
Make a List of Materials. Obviously, the creation of anything comes with some prerequisites. Whether it's items or ideas, the importance of knowing the necessities beforehand and having them ready to go is essential. Make sure to place each item in accordance with its importance. The more impactful a part is, the higher up on the list it should be.
Write out Each Task. In a step-by-step tutorial, each individual task carries some sort of weight. Since an entire process can not be complete if a step is skipped, it's crucial to write out every single step. However, don't go overboard in your explanations. It's not necessary to bring the tutorial to a microscopic level, but each step should be understandable and competent.

If you still have difficulty writing, you can get essay help online from our service.

Process Essay Topics

Choosing a topic for a process paper can be quite challenging. A good place to start is with your passions. If you pick something you are excited about, you can make it interesting for your readers and fun for yourself to write about. If your professor limits you to write a process essay on something you have very little knowledge of, choose a topic that is intriguing and triggers your interest. Then, conduct enough thorough research to make sure you understand everything perfectly before you go ahead and try to explain it to someone else.

How to Pick a Process Analysis Essay Topic

Another very important thing to consider while writing a process essay is your audience. It is highly unlikely that college students are interested in instructions for “How to Get Into Your Dream School” or “How to Pass Your SATs”. Make sure your topic relates to the subject you are studying and you are following your professor’s prompt guidelines.

Here are some ideas that might be of interest for you:

How to lose weight on a keto diet
How your immune system fights COVID-19
How to start selling on Amazon
How to improve your credit score
How to decrease your social media usage
How to apply for unemployment insurance
How to improve your college performance
How to open your first bank account

It's important to note that these essay topics are just some common examples used by several college students for their course papers. Feel free to use any one of them if you want, or think of one on your own. Just make sure it's a PROCESS!

Process Essay Outline

Most essay outlines follow the standard scheme: Intro > Body Paragraphs > Conclusion . follow the standard scheme: Intro > Body Paragraphs > Conclusion. A good process essay outline should look like this:

Introduction — brief your reader on your topic, explain why you have chosen it and how you are planning to approach the explanation of the process.
Body — the biggest part of your essay that should be divided into paragraphs for easier understanding and structure. Make sure each paragraph is flowing smoothly into the next one with connective words.

Paragraph 1. First step of the process. Explain what the step is, what the best way to perform it is, and how to avoid common mistakes when doing it.

Paragraph 2. The next step of the process (the same as in Paragraph 1). Thoroughly explain what this step is about.

Conclusion . Here you need to explain why your instructions are valuable. It is your opportunity to persuade your reader(s) that the steps you presented and the process they learned will be useful for them in the future.

Every process is different: some can take a couple of minutes, while others can take months or years to complete. The length of the essay is generally based on the difficulty and number of steps it takes. However, the structure doesn't maneuver.

Introduction

The first thing that you want to do as a writer for your process paper is to help your readers be interested in your individual process. Be descriptive about it, paint a picture for your readers. A joke or a personal reference can be a great attention grabber and can pull your reader right in. For somebody to be keen on approaching your process, they have to express interest in it. Though, it generally goes without saying that many writers ignore this fact. Let's break it down into subsections:

Give a little bit of historical background. People often want to know the origins of whatever it is that they're working on. Introducing this part of the process helps to intrigue your readers, as well as give them a sense of purpose for the task.
Create an approximate timeframe. Unfortunately, your readers don't have all day to spend on this one event. In addition to learning about its purpose, people want to know how long the task will take. This way, they can decide how to break up the work. If it's a quick fix, then they can knock it out in one session. However, if it's a large-scale operation, then your readers will obviously have to create their own time schedule.

For example, let’s say that the topic of your essay is “How to Save Money”. You can start the introduction of your process essay by explaining that as a college student, you often find yourself in need of extra money and you are stuck with bad money habits. This will create a good connection with your readers, because almost everyone has been in a situation of needing to be savvy with their finances. Another thing you can mention is the importance of saving money and the multiple opportunities it presents, such as being able to invest it, being able to pay off a credit card debt, or being able to save up to avoid taking out a student loan.

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Body Paragraphs

This is the point in the process essay where you start introducing the step-by-step process your readers will need to take. A lot of the time, it helps to break down each process into subsections. For example, if a step has many parts to it, it would be clever to create a paragraph on its own just for that step. Remember, it's important to keep things smooth and efficient. Break down the body paragraphs in unity with the steps. Let's go into more detail about each step:

Each step should be carefully explained. Every step will vary in length. Think about it: every instruction manual has several steps. Some are more difficult to comprehend or perform than others. For this reason, create your steps and explanations accordingly. You should be able to get a sense of their length and difficulty based on the explanation.

Don't forget to explain the purpose. People don't want orders barked at them aimlessly. Besides just accomplishing a task, people want to learn as they perform.

Why did they do this?
What was the purpose of this method?
Why did we do it this way and not this other way?

To make everything flow smoothly use transitions. Make the steps flow one after another to create a well-structured essay. As you introduce the next step, consider using transition words like “next”, “now”, “then”, “so that”, etc.

Before writing the steps out in full sentences, it is a great idea to create an outline for your body paragraphs. Here is an outline for the body paragraphs of a process essay on “How to Save Money”:

Paragraph 1:

keep track of your expenses
organize your collected data
decide what you can skimp on in your spendings

Paragraph 2:

create a realistic budget
check weekly to ensure you are sticking to it
save 15% of every monthly income
set a tangible goal for saving, such as a car

These process essay examples use only two body paragraphs, but feel free to include more to ensure a better understanding and cohesive flow for your paper. Although, do not include excessive unnecessary details that clutter your essay and make understanding it even more difficult. While writing your essay, include small brief explanations for each statement. For example, “Even though eating out and grabbing a coffee on your way to class sounds tempting, setting a budget and saving 15% of each of your monthly earnings aside can help you have enough to put down a downpayment on a new car.” Here the reader will understand that there is a direct relationship between each step and the result it is going to give.

Showing the readers that they are learning and not just repeating is one of the most effective ways to lock down their attention and keep them coming back!

After going through every step meticulously and explaining the whole process, a process essay needs a confident conclusion. This paragraph should be short, sweet, and to the point. It's main goal is to accomplish the following tasks:

Discuss the main result. After the readers have completed the process, they should be left with a final result. It's important that you explain to your readers what the end result will look like, and what can be done with it.
Restate the process’s general purpose. After completing the task, you obviously would like to know its overall purpose. When your readers feel that they have accomplished a challenge, learned something from it, and have a path to take the result towards, they will be satisfied!
State your Overall Conclusion. To put a pretty tie around your process essay means that you need to neatly wrap things up! Restate some of the highlightable points as well as the process’s key overall purpose. Make sure that your readers feel accomplished after going through your process, and ensure that you strengthen the necessity of its purpose with a nice concluding sentence!

The conclusion of an essay on “How to Save Money” would explain that the completion of all of the steps will result in saving money that can be used for a specific goal or for rainy day fund purposes. You can mention the importance of every step and briefly repeat some of the key points.

Post-Writing Tips

Here are some final tips to wrap up your writing process. Use them as a checklist for a successful and coherent essay.

Make sure the work is simple enough to follow. Worst-case-scenario: its author creates a feeling of absolute confusion in the reader’s mind. To avoid this problem, always remember that your readers can be beginners. Do not try to impress them with complicated words or sentences, use simple language to provide clear directions on how to do something. Give as many details as possible, but do it plainly. "Why is he making me do this?" "What was the purpose of this?" "I don't understand this step at all!" If the reader is asking themself these questions, then it's time to do some editing!
Experiment and try it for yourself or ask a friend. There's no better way to experience success than to actively attempt your process through your own instructions. If everything truly makes sense, then you should have no problem solving the task using your own words. Even better, ask a peer to try it through your words to get an outside point of view.
Choose the right topic for you and research it well
Maintain a logical order of steps, make it easy to follow
Avoid using imperative sentences - you do not want to sound like an Apple TV manual
Explain terms that are most likely outside of most people’s range of common knowledge

If you have a ready-made essay but need to make significant changes to it, you can use our rewrite my essay service .

Process Essay Examples

Now that you know all about process essays and how to write them, we have prepared some great essay topic ideas in case you are stuck and cannot choose one:

Building a business from scratch is an intricate process that entails a number of steps. Each of these steps should have specific objectives and measurable outcomes.The following analysis gives the basic steps followed when building any business from scratch.

Saving can be defined as a differed consumption or keeping aside a portion of your income for unexpected future uncertainties or plans. Read for reason and actual steps for saving more money

Read also a thesis statement example from our author. In this article, you can learn something useful for yourself.

Still Need Help?

If you still feel like you could use some help with your process essay, do not hesitate to seek help from our writing service. Our writers specialize in a wide range of essays of different types including creative writing essay , process essays, and would be more than happy to assist you with writing, editing, or direction if you are feeling uneasy. Click the button below and college admission essay writer will process your requests fast.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

How to Research a Topic: A Step-by-Step Guide

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Chronological Order

Chronological arrangement has the following purposes:

To explain the history of an event or a topic
To tell a story or relate an experience
To explain how to do or to make something
To explain the steps in a process

Chronological order is mostly used in expository writing, which is a form of writing that narrates, describes, informs, or explains a process. When using chronological order, arrange the events in the order that they actually happened, or will happen if you are giving instructions. This method requires you to use words such as first, second, then, after that, later, and finally. These transition words guide you and your reader through the paper as you expand your thesis. For example, if you are writing an essay about the history of the airline industry, you would begin with its conception and detail the essential timeline events up until present day. You would begin with its conception and detail the essential timeline events up until present day. You would follow the chain of events using words such as first, then, next, and so on. Keep in mind that chronological order is most appropriate for the following purposes:

Writing essays containing heavy research
Writing essays with the aim of listing, explaining, or narrating
Writing essays that analyze literary works such as poems, plays, or books

When using chronological order, your introduction should indicate the information you will cover and should also establish the relevance of the information. Your body paragraphs should then provide clear divisions or steps in chronology. You can divide your paragraphs by time (such as decades, wars, or other historical events) or by the same structure of the work you are examining (such as a line-by-line explication of a poem.

Choose an accomplishment you have achieved in your life. The important moment could be in sports, schooling, or extracurricular activities. On your own sheet of paper, list the steps you 25 Return to Table of Contents took to reach your goal. Try to be as specific as possible with the steps you took. Pay attention to using transition words to focus your writing.

Order of Importance
Order of importance is best used for the following purposes:
Persuading and convincing
Ranking items by their importance, benefit, or significance
Illustrating a situation, problem, or solution

Most essays move from the least to the most important point, and the paragraphs are arranged in an effort to build the essay’s strength. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to begin with the most important supporting point, such as in an essay that contains a thesis that is highly debatable. When writing a persuasive essay, it is best to begin with the most important point because it immediately captivates your readers and compels them to continue reading. For example, if you were supporting your thesis that homework is detrimental to the education of high school students, you would want to present your most convincing argument first, and then move on to the less important points for your case. During your career, you may be required to work on a team that devises a strategy for a specific goal of your company, such as increasing profits. When planning your strategy you should organize your steps in order of importance. This demonstrates the ability to prioritize and plan. Using the order of importance technique also shows that you can create a resolution with logical steps for accomplishing a common goal.

Writing for College Introduction to College Writing with Grammar Skills Review by Cheryl McCormick; Sue Hank; and Ninna Roth is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Organizing Your Writing

Writing for Success

Learning Objectives

Understand how and why organizational techniques help writers and readers stay focused.
Assess how and when to use chronological order to organize an essay.
Recognize how and when to use order of importance to organize an essay.
Determine how and when to use spatial order to organize an essay.

This section covers three ways to organize body paragraphs:

Chronological order
Order of importance
Spatial order

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Chronological arrangement (also called “time order,”) has the following purposes:

To explain the history of an event or a topic
To tell a story or relate an experience
To explain how to do or to make something
To explain the steps in a process

WRITING AT WORK

Keep in mind that chronological order is most appropriate for the following purposes:

Writing essays containing heavy research
Writing essays with the aim of listing, explaining, or narrating
Writing essays that analyze literary works such as poems, plays, or books

ORDER OF IMPORTANCE

Order of importance is best used for the following purposes:

Persuading and convincing
Ranking items by their importance, benefit, or significance
Illustrating a situation, problem, or solution

Some key transitional words you should use with this method of organization are most importantly, almost as importantly, just as importantly, and finally.

SPATIAL ORDER

Spatial order is best used for the following purposes:

Helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it
Evoking a scene using the senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound)
Writing a descriptive essay

Pay attention to the following student’s description of her bedroom and how she guides the reader through the viewing process, foot by foot.

The paragraph incorporates two objectives you have learned in this chapter: using an implied topic sentence and applying spatial order. Often in a descriptive essay, the two work together.

The following are possible transition words to include when using spatial order:

Just to the left or just to the right
On the left or on the right
Across from
A little further down
To the south, to the east, and so on
A few yards away
Turning left or turning right

Key Takeaways

The way you organize your body paragraphs ensures you and your readers stay focused on and draw connections to, your thesis statement.
A strong organizational pattern allows you to articulate, analyze, and clarify your thoughts.
Planning the organizational structure for your essay before you begin to search for supporting evidence helps you conduct more effective and directed research.
Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process.
Order of importance is most appropriate in a persuasion paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.
Spatial order describes things as they are arranged in space and is best for helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it; it creates a dominant impression.

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1.5: Methods of Organizing Your Writing

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Kathryn Crowther et al.
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The method of organization for essays and paragraphs is just as important as content. When you begin to draft an essay or paragraph, your ideas may seem to flow from your mind in a seemingly random manner; however, your readers, who bring to the table different backgrounds, viewpoints, and ideas, need you to clearly organize these ideas to help them draw connections between the body and the thesis. A solid organizational pattern not only helps readers to process and accept your ideas, but also gives your ideas a path that you can follow as you develop your essay (or paragraph). Knowing how you will organize your paragraphs allows you to better express and analyze your thoughts. In addition, planning the structure of your essay before you choose supporting evidence helps you conduct more effective and targeted research. This section covers three ways to organize both essays and paragraphs: chronological order, order of importance, and spatial order.

Chronological Order

Chronological arrangement has the following purposes:

To explain the history of an event or a topic
To tell a story or relate an experience
To explain how to do or to make something
To explain the steps in a process

Chronological order is mostly used in expository writing, which is a form of writing that narrates, describes, informs, or explains a process. When using chronological order, arrange the events in the order that they actually happened, or will happen if you are giving instructions. This method requires you to use words such as first, second, then, after that, later, and finally . These transition words guide you and your reader through the paper as you expand your thesis. For example, if you are writing an essay about the history of the airline industry, you would begin with its conception and detail the essential timeline events up until present day. You would follow the chain of events using words such as first, then, next, and so on. Keep in mind that chronological order is most appropriate for the following purposes:

Writing essays containing heavy research
Writing essays with the aim of listing, explaining, or narrating
Writing essays that analyze literary works such as poems, plays, or books

Exercise 12

Exercise 13

Order of Importance

Order of importance is best used for the following purposes:

Persuading and convincing
Ranking items by their importance, benefit, or significance
Illustrating a situation, problem, or solution

For example, if you were supporting your thesis that homework is detrimental to the education of high school students, you would want to present your most convincing argument first, and then move on to the less important points for your case. During your career, you may be required to work on a team that devises a strategy for a specific goal of your company, such as increasing profits. When planning your strategy you should organize your steps in order of importance. This demonstrates the ability to prioritize and plan. Using the order of importance technique also shows that you can create a resolution with logical steps for accomplishing a common goal.

Exercise 14

Spatial Order

Spatial order is best used for the following purposes:

Helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it
Evoking a scene using the senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound)
Writing a descriptive essay

Spatial order means that you explain or describe objects as they are arranged around you in your space, for example in a bedroom. As the writer, you create a picture for your readers, and their perspective is the viewpoint from which you describe what is around you. The view must move in an orderly, logical progression, giving the reader clear directional signals to follow from place to place. The key to using this method is to choose a specific starting point and then guide the reader to follow your eye as it moves in an orderly trajectory from your starting point. Pay attention to the following student’s description of her bedroom and how she guides the reader through the viewing process, foot by foot.

Attached to my back bedroom wall is a small wooden rack dangling with red and turquoise necklaces that shimmer as I enter. Just to the right of the rack, billowy white curtains frame a large window with a sill that ends just six inches from the floor. The peace of such an image is a stark contrast to my desk, sitting to the right of the window, layered in textbooks, crumpled papers, coffee cups, and an overflowing ashtray. Turning my head to the right, I see a set of two bare windows that frame the trees outside the glass like a three-dimensional painting. Below the windows is an oak chest from which blankets and scarves are protruding. Against the wall opposite the billowy curtains is an antique dresser, on top of which sits a jewelry box and a few picture frames. A tall mirror attached to the dresser takes up much of the lavender wall.

The paragraph incorporates two objectives covered in this chapter: using an implied topic sentence and applying spatial order. Often in a descriptive essay, the two objectives work together. The following are possible transition words to include when using spatial order:

Just to the left or just to the right
On the left or on the right
Across from
A little further down
To the south, to the east, and so on
A few yards away
Turning left or turning right

Exercise 15

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph using spatial order that describes your commute to work, school, or another location you visit often.

Collaboration : Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

key takeaways

The way you organize your body paragraphs ensures you and your readers stay focused on and draw connections to your thesis statement.
A strong organizational pattern allows you to articulate, analyze, and clarify your thoughts.
Planning the organizational structure for your essay before you begin to search for supporting evidence helps you conduct more effective and directed research.
Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process.
Order of importance is most appropriate in a persuasion paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.
Spatial order describes things as they are arranged in space and is best for helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it; it creates a dominant impression.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

5.5 Process Analysis

Learning objectives.

Determine the purpose and structure of the process analysis essay.
Understand how to write a process analysis essay.

The Purpose of Process Analysis in Writing

The purpose of a process analysis essay is to explain how to do something or how something works. In either case, the formula for a process analysis essay remains the same. The process is articulated into clear, definitive steps.

Almost everything we do involves following a step-by-step process. From riding a bike as children to learning various jobs as adults, we initially needed instructions to effectively execute the task. Likewise, we have likely had to instruct others, so we know how important good directions are—and how frustrating it is when they are poorly put together.

Connecting the Pieces: Writing at Work

The next time you have to explain a process to someone at work, be mindful of how clearly you articulate each step. Strong communication skills are critical for workplace satisfaction and advancement. Effective process analysis plays a critical role in developing that skill set.

On a separate sheet of paper, make a bulleted list of all the steps that you feel would be required to clearly illustrate three of the following four processes:

Tying a shoelace
Parallel parking
Planning a successful first date
Being an effective communicator

The Structure of a Process Analysis Essay

The process analysis essay opens with a discussion of the process and a thesis statement that states the goal of the process.

The organization of a process analysis essay typically follows chronological order. The steps of the process are conveyed in the order in which they usually occur. Body paragraphs will be constructed based on these steps. If a particular step is complicated and needs a lot of explaining, then it will likely take up a paragraph on its own. But if a series of simple steps is easier to understand, then the steps can be grouped into a single paragraph.

The time transition phrases covered in the Narration and Illustration sections are also helpful in organizing process analysis essays (see Table 5.1 “Transition Words and Phrases for Expressing Time” and Table 10.2 “Phrases of Illustration”) . Words such as first , second , third , next , and finally are helpful cues to orient reader and organize the content of essay.

Always have someone else read your process analysis to make sure it makes sense. Once we get too close to a subject, it is difficult to determine how clearly an idea is coming across. Having a friend or coworker read it over will serve as a good way to troubleshoot any confusing spots.

Choose two of the lists you created in Exercise 1 and start writing out the processes in paragraph form. Try to construct paragraphs based on the complexity of each step. For complicated steps, dedicate an entire paragraph. If less complicated steps fall in succession, group them into a single paragraph.

Writing a Process Analysis Essay

Choose a topic that is interesting, is relatively complex, and can be explained in a series of steps. As with other rhetorical writing modes, choose a process that you know well so that you can more easily describe the finer details about each step in the process. Your thesis statement should come at the end of your introduction, and it should state the final outcome of the process you are describing.

Body paragraphs are composed of the steps in the process. Each step should be expressed using strong details and clear examples. Use time transition phrases to help organize steps in the process and to orient readers. The conclusion should thoroughly describe the result of the process described in the body paragraphs. See Appendix B: Examples of Essays to read an example of a process analysis essay.

Choose one of the expanded lists from Exercise 2 . Construct a full process analysis essay from the work you have already done. That means adding an engaging introduction, a clear thesis, time transition phrases, body paragraphs, and a solid conclusion.

Key Takeaways

A process analysis essay explains how to do something, how something works, or both.
The process analysis essay opens with a discussion of the process and a thesis statement that states the outcome of the process.
The organization of a process analysis essay typically follows a chronological sequence.
Time transition phrases are particularly helpful in process analysis essays to organize steps and orient reader.

Putting the Pieces Together Copyright © 2020 by Andrew Stracuzzi and André Cormier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Literary Terms
When & How to Use Chronology
Definition & Examples

How to Use Chronology

When writing, establishing a chronology can be relatively easy, especially in fiction, when the timeline of events is completely up to you! Overall, the best way to establish your work’s chro-nology is by creating a timeline of events. Start at the beginning and work your way to the end, being sure not to forget any important dates, events, or occurrences that are relative to your story. After that, you can decide how the timeline fits in with the way you want your audience to un-derstand the story. Ask yourself several questions:

Is a sense of time crucial to your work?
If so, to what extent—Historical period? Century? Decade? Specific date and time of day?
Is the order in which things occurred essential to the plot?
Are you trying to share a sequence of linked events?
Are you trying to show a chain of cause and effect?
Which events in your timeline are relative to the big picture?
Are any events not important enough to cover thoroughly, but at least need to be mentioned?

In general, you need to think about context when developing a chronology—what about your timeline is crucial for the audience and your work? What can be left out, and what can’t? Ulti-mately, it is up to you and your creativity to decide how your audience will understand the time-line of your work.

When to Use Chronology

Basically, you always need to at least consider chronology when writing, in one way or another. When you are sharing any type of event or sequence of events, the timeline is important in just about every case, across all genres of both fiction and nonfiction.

Of course, it is particularly important to establish a timeline of events when storytelling—that’s how we ultimately develop a plot! Your readers need some perception of time to follow what is happening, and the easiest way to assure that is by putting things in chronological order. Even if you decide to share events out of order, you as the author need to know when and how they hap-pened so that you can share them with your readers and avoid making mistakes with your story- line or characters . Let’s think back to the baseball player example—if the focus of your story is about how a rookie becomes a star, you could still begin by showing him hitting a home run on the field, and later show the steps it took to get him there. But imagine if in the beginning, your rookie character is also shown as being popular because he’s been partying all summer. Only, during all his practicing, he actually missed all the parties. It would be confusing to your readers and show a conflicting character, instead of a hardworking rookie. But this would be avoided if the timeline is well-developed before the story is composed.

Since the theme is about the player’s road to fame, it’s also crucial to show how one thing causes another—the cause is that the boy is dedicated to practicing and sacrifices all other activities over a period of time, and the effect is that he becomes a great player and finally makes the baseball team. So even when “beginning with the end.” you still need to have an idea about the story’s chronology. What’s more it’s just a great starting point when you’re developing a piece of fiction!

List of Terms

Alliteration
Amplification
Anachronism
Anthropomorphism
Antonomasia
APA Citation
Aposiopesis
Autobiography
Bildungsroman
Characterization
Circumlocution
Cliffhanger
Comic Relief
Connotation
Deus ex machina
Deuteragonist
Doppelganger
Double Entendre
Dramatic irony
Equivocation
Extended Metaphor
Figures of Speech
Flash-forward
Foreshadowing
Intertextuality
Juxtaposition
Literary Device
Malapropism
Onomatopoeia
Parallelism
Pathetic Fallacy
Personification
Point of View
Polysyndeton
Protagonist
Red Herring
Rhetorical Device
Rhetorical Question
Science Fiction
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Synesthesia
Turning Point
Understatement
Urban Legend
Verisimilitude
Essay Guide
Cite This Website

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V. Process and Organization

5.1 Methods of Organizing Your Writing

Kathryn Crowther; Lauren Curtright; Nancy Gilbert; Barbara Hall; Tracienne Ravita; and Terri Pantuso

Now that you’ve identified your topic, it’s time to focus on how to best organize the information. Keep in mind that the method of organization for essays and paragraphs is just as important as content. When you begin to draft an essay or paragraph, your ideas may seem to flow from your mind in a seemingly random manner. However, your readers, who bring to the table different backgrounds, viewpoints, and ideas, need you to clearly organize these ideas to help them draw connections between the body and the thesis . A solid organizational pattern not only helps readers to process and accept your ideas, but also gives your ideas a path that you can follow as you develop your essay (or paragraph). Knowing how you will organize your paragraphs allows you to better express and analyze your thoughts. In addition, planning the structure of your essay before you choose supporting evidence helps you conduct more effective and targeted research. This section covers three ways to organize both essays and paragraphs: chronological order, order of importance, and spatial order.

Chronological Order

Chronological arrangement has the following purposes:

To explain the history of an event or a topic;
To tell a story or relate an experience;
To explain how to do or to make something;
To explain the steps in a process.

Chronological order is used mostly in expository writing which is a form of writing that narrates, describes, informs, or explains a process. When using chronological order, arrange the events in the order that they actually happened, or will happen if you are giving instructions. This method requires you to use words such as first , second , then , after that , later , and finally . These transitional words guide you and your reader through the paper as you expand your thesis. For example, if you are writing an essay about the history of the airline industry, you would begin with its conception and detail the essential timeline events up until present day. You would follow the chain of events using words such as first, then, next, and so on.

Keep in mind that chronological order is most appropriate for the following purposes:

Writing essays containing heavy research;
Writing essays with the aim of listing, explaining, or narrating;
Writing essays that analyze literary works such as poems, plays, or books.

Order of Importance

Order of importance is best used for the following purposes:

Persuading and convincing;
Ranking items by their importance, benefit, or significance;
Illustrating a situation, problem, or solution.

Spatial Order

Spatial order is best used for the following purposes:

Helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it;
Evoking a scene using the senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound);
Writing a descriptive essay.

Spatial order means that you explain or describe objects as they are arranged around you in your space, for example in a bedroom. As the writer, you create a picture for your readers, and their perspective is the viewpoint from which you describe what is around you. The view must move in an orderly, logical progression, giving the reader clear directional signals to follow from place to place. The key to using this method is to choose a specific starting point and then to guide the reader to follow your eye as it moves in an orderly trajectory from your starting point.

Pay attention to the following student’s description of her bedroom and how she guides the reader through the viewing process, foot by foot.

Example of Spatial Order Organization

Attached to my back bedroom wall is a small wooden rack dangling with red and turquoise necklaces that shimmer as I enter. Just to the right of the rack, billowy white curtains frame a large window with a sill that ends just six inches from the floor. The peace of such an image is a stark contrast to my desk, sitting to the right of the window, layered in textbooks, crumpled papers, coffee cups, and an overflowing ashtray. Turning my head to the right, I see a set of two bare windows that frame the trees outside the glass like a three-dimensional painting. Below the windows is an oak chest from which blankets and scarves are protruding. Against the wall opposite the billowy curtains is an antique dresser, on top of which sits a jewelry box and a few picture frames. A tall mirror attached to the dresser takes up much of the lavender wall.

The paragraph incorporates two objectives: using an implied topic sentence and applying spatial order. Often in a descriptive essay, the two objectives work together.

The following are possible transition words to include when using spatial order.

Transition Words for Spatial Order
Just to the left	Just to the right
Behind	Between
On the left	On the right
Across from	A little further down
To the north	To the south
To the east	To the west
Turning left	Turning right
A few yards away

Table 5.1.1: Spatial Order Transition Words

This section contains material from:

Crowther, Kathryn, Lauren Curtright, Nancy Gilbert, Barbara Hall, Tracienne Ravita, and Kirk Swenson. Successful College Composition . 2nd edition. Book 8. Georgia: English Open Textbooks, 2016. http://oer.galileo.usg.edu/english-textbooks/8 . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License .

A statement, usually one sentence, that summarizes an argument that will later be explained, expanded upon, and developed in a longer essay or research paper. In undergraduate writing, a thesis statement is often found in the introductory paragraph of an essay. The plural of thesis is theses .

5.1 Methods of Organizing Your Writing Copyright © 2022 by Kathryn Crowther; Lauren Curtright; Nancy Gilbert; Barbara Hall; Tracienne Ravita; and Terri Pantuso is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Ai, ethics & human agency, collaboration, information literacy, writing process, chronological order.

Chronological Order refers to the practice of organizing information by time, either from the past to the future or the future to the past.

Narratives (either chronological narratives or process narratives) are organized in chronological order.

Brevity - Say More with Less

Clarity (in Speech and Writing)

Coherence - How to Achieve Coherence in Writing

Flow - How to Create Flow in Writing

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The Elements of Style - The DNA of Powerful Writing

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Common Essay Structures / Patterns of Development

Process analysis.

An essay using a process pattern is often straightforward, as it usually presents a series of steps in chronological order.

However, a college essay that uses a process pattern needs to offer more than a list of steps. College writing about a process needs to make a point about that process (e.g., Baking bread, while relatively simple, still involves a number of complexities, variables, and just plain things that can go wrong.).

Process Analysis diagram: Step 1 Topic Sentence (follow by details, details); next, Step 2 Topic Sentence (details, details); last, Step 3 Topic Sentence (details, details)

Ideally, a college essay that uses process analysis should emphasize “analysis” as well as “process” by explaining the importance of the steps, their relationship to one another, and/or their use in solving a problem. Process analysis in college essays should involve some depth of thought.

View the following short video that explains some important aspects of writing an essay of process analysis.

You may want to consult the following graphic organizer when writing a process analysis essay. Remember that process analysis should include all major, and appropriate minor, steps or stages in process that requires some depth of thought.

Process Analysis in Action:

Make sure to read sample Process Analysis essays in the Sample Essays section of this text.

Process Analysis. Authored by : Susan Oaks. Provided by : Empire State College, SUNY OER Services. Project : College Writing. License : CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial
video Process Paragraph and Process Essay. Authored by : Shaun Macleod. Provided by : Smrt English. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32R30EYIW-U . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License

ESL001: Elementary English as a Second Language

Reading and writing in chronological order.

Much of the text and writing you'll do occurs in chronological order. This means that the events in a story happen in order from beginning to end. Writing in chronological order helps the reader follow what is happening in a story. For example, if a student wants to prepare for an exam, she will first go to class, then study, and finally, take the exam. These events all happen in an order the reader knows.

In this section, you will learn how to use context clues, prediction, and prior knowledge to help figure out the chronological order of a text.

Context Clues : Look at a text and see what words are used. Nouns and pronouns can be context dues that help you see the order of sentences. As you learned in Unit 1, a noun needs to be defined before a pronoun can be used. Take this sentence, for example: Anna needed to pick up the car before noon, so she hurried to finish her work. Anna needs to come first to tell us who "she" and "her refers to. If you see a pronoun in a text, make sure the noun it refers to comes first.
Prediction : Use the predicting skills you practice in Unit 2 to help understand chronological order. Using the earlier example, if a text tells us Anna needs to go to work in the morning and pick up the car by noon, we know work will come first, and the car will come second.
Brainstorming : Think about what you already know about an event In Unit 4, you'll write about your daily routine. You already know how most people will order their day: first wake up, second eat breakfast, third go to work or school, and so on. By thinking through the order as you already know it, you can understand the chronological order of events in a text

As you learned in Unit 2, we use specific words called transitions or connectors to show the chronological order or sequence of events in a text. These transitions are commonly used when giving instructions, and maybe you already noticed them used in the course. Some examples are first, second, next, then, or finally. They help to organize the text in a logical way for the reader.

Complete this activity:

Sometimes a text will use reverse chronological order, or go backwards. If you already know the chronological order that should occur, you'll have an easier time understanding the reading. Knowing the usual chronological order of events is also helpful if a text jumps around or moves out of order When we understand the order things usually occur, we can better comprehend, or understand, a text.

In our own writing, we can often assume that the reader will know the correct chronological order of our events. If we jump around too much, we could confuse the reader and make our writing hard to understand. By thinking through the events we want to use and what order describes them the best, we can help our readers follow our writing easily.

Read the following story and answer the questions that follow. Remember to use context dues or a dictionary to help you learn any new words you see.

One day Nasreddin went to town to buy new clothes. First he tried on a pair of trousers. He didn't like the trousers, so he gave them back to the shopkeeper. Then he tried a robe which had the same price as the trousers. Nasreddin was pleased with the robe, and he left the shop. Before he climbed on his donkey to ride home, the shopkeeper and the shop-assistant ran out. "You didn't pay for the robe!" said the shopkeeper. "But I gave you the trousers in exchange for the robe, didn't I?" replied Nasreddin. "Yes, but you didn't pay for the trousers, either!" said the shopkeeper. "But I didn't buy the trousers," replied Nasreddin. "I am not so stupid as to pay for something which I never bought".

Chronological Order Definition & Examples

Hedi Najafi earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Arizona State University. She also has an M.A. and B.A. in English Language and Literature. In addition, she has several certificates and certifications such as Tesol Ontario, Laubach Literacy of Canada Tutor Certificate, and Financial Markets from Yale. In addition to teaching in North America, Dr. Hedi Najafi has taught in many institutions of higher education around the world. She has been teaching ESL, English, General Education, and Educational Leadership courses for the past twenty years.

Instructor Shannon Orr

Maria has taught University level psychology and mathematics courses for over 20 years. They have a Doctorate in Education from Nova Southeastern University, a Master of Arts in Human Factors Psychology from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Flagler College.

Chronology definition, what is chronological order, sequential order meaning, benefits of chronological order, lesson summary, chronological order writing assignment.

In this activity, students will review the importance of chronological order to the process of learning by creating scenarios that are out of chronological order.

Instructions

Attempt the brief experiments related to chronological order in different educational scenarios to experience the importance of chronological order to understanding.

English/History/Social Studies Concepts

Consider a story you know or an event in history.
Write a bullet point list of the chronological order of events related to your chosen topic.
Now, re-write the event in a different order.

Analysis Questions

How did it turn out?
Did the event make sense out of order?
Are flashbacks in literature an example of non-chronological events that do make sense in a story?
Is it easiest to learn/remember events out of order or in chronological order?

Math Concepts

Write a math word problem dealing with time. Make sure it is in chronological order.
Solve the problem (or ask someone else to solve the problem if possible).
Now, write a time related math word problem out of chronological order.
Why or why not?
Do you feel that chronological order within time related word problems assists students with understanding, thus with completing the problems?

Science Concepts

Read through the scientific method.
What might the consequences be if a person were to try to do research out of chronological order?
Did it work?
Why is chronological order so important for experimentation?
If so, what is it?

Reflection Question

Reflect on all of these mini-activities and how chronological order was important in each subject.
Why do you believe that?

Is chronological order from oldest to newest?

Since chronological order is the arrangement of events in the order they have happened, the oldest event is the first event, and the newest event is the last.

Therefore, the answer is yes.

What is an example of chronology?

Since chronology can be used to mean either a calendar or a timeline, the autobiography of Z. N. Hurston is a good example of chronology.

What does chronological order mean?

Chronological order is an arrangement of events in the order of their happening or based on the time they have occurred. Years and dates are some of the signifiers used in chronological order.

What is chronological order used for?

There are different uses for chronological order. For example, biographies and autobiographies are arranged using chronological order. Another example would be a history book.

Chronology is an arrangement of events in chronological order. It is also a system that determines the time of the occurrence of certain events. In other words, chronology is an arrangement of events based on the time they occurred.

Chronology can be used to convey two different meanings:

Example: Since the time of the Persian Empire, Iranians have been using a Persian chronology with the names of the months in Persian; the first day of the year is called Nowruz and falls on the 21st of March.

In this example, chronology is used to mean calendar. The sentence can be rephrased as:

Since the time of the Persian Empire, Iranians have been using a Persian calendar with the names of the months in Persian; the first day of the year is called Nowruz and falls on the 21st of March.

Example: Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston is a chronology of the important events of her life; i.e., it is her autobiography.

In this example, the word chronology is used to mean timeline. The events in the book start from Hurston's birth in 1891 and proceed to her death in 1960.

An example of chronology

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0:03 Everything Has a Place
0:35 What Is Chronological Order?
1:29 How to Use Chronological Order
3:32 Lesson Summary

Chronological order is the arrangement of events based on the time they occurred.

There are different ways to arrange events. For instance, people can arrange the events of their lives based on their importance or based on the places where the events have occurred. However, if the criterion for the arrangement of the life events is the time of the events, then the arrangement has been done in chronological order.

What Is the Definition of Chronological?

Chronological is the adjective of chronology. It means arranged or organized in the order of time.

Chronological Order Example

Example: In 1937, Zora Neale Hurston traveled to Haiti and wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God in seven weeks; the book was published in the same year. She died in 1960, penniless, with all her books out of print. However, her book was reprinted in 1978.

In the above example, the events are arranged in chronological order. The years signify the time order from the oldest event to the newest event.

1937: The book was written and published. (Beginning)
1960: The author died; the book was out of print. (Middle)
1978: The book was reprinted. (End)

Sequential is the adjective of sequence, which means in a specific order one after another. Sequential order is the arranging of events, items, steps, etc., in a subsequent order.

Sequential Order Examples

Example: A dictionary has a sequential order as the entries have been arranged alphabetically.

Example: The "recent calls" log on cellphones are arranged in a sequential order using time as the basis for arrangement.

Time Order Definition

Time order is arranging events based on the time they occur, one after another.

Time Order Example

Example: Malika and Sam went out on Sunday. They met each other at 5:00 pm. Then they walked to a nearby movie theater and watched a movie from 5:30 to 7:00. Later, they got a bite at a nearby restaurant. At 9:00 p.m., they said goodbye to each other, and each went home.

In the above scenario, the events happen following a time order. The scenario starts at 5:00 (beginning), the end of the movie is at 7:00 (middle), and the scenario ends at 9:00 (end).

Alphabetical Sequential Order Example

Example: When teachers alphabetize students' names, they arrange the names in sequential order.

In this example, alphabetical letters are the criteria for the arrangement. For example, Jane, Kelly, Larry, and Mary are arranged in sequential order (J, K, L, M).

Alphabetical sequential oder

Numerical Sequential Order

Example: When using a recipe to bake a loaf of bread, people follow steps that are written in sequential order.

Example: How to bake a loaf of bread.

Prepare the ingredients
Mix flour with salt
Bake in the Dutch oven

In this example, the steps to bake a loaf of bread have been arranged in a sequential order using numbers.

Arranging events in chronological order has many benefits. For example,

It is easy to arrange events following a timeline.
It is easy to understand the events following a timeline.
It is simple to follow events when they are chronologically arranged.

Some of the strengths of chronological order include:

Straightforwardness

Chronological order is helpful in creating presentations in the following ways:

It is easy to arrange events/slides in chronological order.
It is easy for the audience to understand.
It makes the relation between events clear.
It prevents confusion about the order of events.

Materials that are arranged chronologically are among the easiest for readers and learners to understand. As humans live their lives chronologically, yesterday is always before today and tomorrow is always after today; therefore, understanding material that is chronologically arranged is natural to humans.

Chronological order can be found in almost all learning materials (e.g., math, science, and history).

Learners benefit from materials that are arranged chronologically in a few ways:

Learners don't have to figure out the order of events.
There is no confusion in the order of events.
The relation between the events is clear.
Learners can follow the order of events easily.

Chronology is the arrangement of events chronologically. Chronology can be used to convey two meanings:

Chronological order is arranging events based on the time of their happening. There are many real-life examples that have chronologically been ordered, such as:

Autobiographies
Biographies
School calendars
Academic calendars
Fiscal calendars

Sequential order is the arranging of events, items, steps, etc., in a subsequent order. There are different ways to sequentially order events, items, steps, etc. These include:

Alphabetical

There are real-life examples for each.

Car Manuals
Cellphone manuals
Dictionaries
Thesauruses
Encyclopedias
Recent calls in a cellphone
Missed calls in a cellphone

Benefits of chronologic order:

Strengths of chronological order:

Benefits of chronological order in presentations:

Easy to arrange
Easy to understand
Clarity of the relation between events
Clarity of the order of events

Video Transcript

Everything has a place.

Imagine sitting in a workshop that is designed to help teachers organize their school year. If the presenter starts off speaking about what to expect during the middle of the year, then transitions to the beginning of the year, jumps to the end of the year, and finally ends with the first day of school, most participants would leave confused and frustrated. Teaching and explaining events and lessons should follow a beginning, middle, and end flow so that those who are learning the skill can build upon the information they've been taught.

Chronological order is listing, describing, or discussing when events happened as they relate to time. Basically, it is like looking at a timeline to view what occurred first and what happened after that. For example, if teachers wanted their students to describe their first day of school, the expectation would be for students to start with waking up that morning and getting prepared. If students start from the moment they walked into the school, valuable information has been skipped and could cause the listener to feel confused due to lack of information.

Helping students understand what chronological order is and how to properly apply the skill will be beneficial to students ranging from kindergarten all the way up to those who are on a collegiate path. The idea may seem basic, but lacking the skill of chronological order can cause students to struggle academically and not have a firm educational foundation.

When and How to Use Chronological Order

When most people think about using chronological order, history or social studies immediately pop into their mind. Explaining that this event happened first, which led to the next event, and so on, helps students remember specific details and build upon what they are being taught. Students understand why a particular war was necessary because they have the prior knowledge regarding events that led up to the war. Although chronological order is useful in history, the concept is beneficial for every subject that teachers may teach and students may learn.

Chronological order is also important in math. Often when students are trying to complete word problems, it may require them to look at time to figure out the correct answer. For example, let's suppose that a problem states that a student wakes up at 7:00 a.m., has to be at the bus stop at 8:00 a.m., and arrives to school by 9:00 a.m. How much time does the student have between the time he wakes up and when he arrives at school? Students would need to calculate the time between waking up and getting to the bus and add that time to the amount it takes to travel to school.

Chronological order in science helps students understand the life cycle of plants and animals. They understand that everything is developed and born and eventually transitions to their adult form. Chronological order helps students understand how long it takes for a plant or animal to transition through each phase towards becoming an adult.

Chronological order is also beneficial in reading and writing. Let's return to the example regarding students writing about their first day of school. A student woke up at 7:00 a.m. but missed the bus at 7:30 a.m. because he thought it was coming at 8:00 a.m. He was unable to eat breakfast because they stopped serving it by the time he arrived at school, and he had to go straight to class. The teacher would be unaware of what a terrible morning he had if he started the story from the time he entered the classroom. Providing information in chronological order helps the story make sense and helps the reader to be able to follow along with what is happening.

Chronological order is listing, describing, or discussing when events happened as they relate to time. It is like looking at a timeline to view what occurred first and what happened after that. Chronological order is an important and necessary tool that teachers should use and teach students how to use regardless of the subject they are studying.

Chronological order is not just limited to history. Teachers can use it in math with word problems, in science to explain the life cycle, and in writing to help stories make sense and give a clear picture of what happened. Understanding the importance of chronological order will help students to become more academically prepared.

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ATS Resume Templates

Download an ATS-friendly resume template for free. These templates can be edited in Microsoft Word and can be accurately scanned by an applicant tracking system.

If you’ve made it to this page, then you probably already know more about applicant tracking systems (ATS) than the average job seeker. That gives you an advantage! Why?

Many companies use ATS to manage resumes and applications. In fact, Jobscan research shows that over 97% of Fortune 500 companies use an ATS.

If an ATS can’t read or understand the information on your resume, then your application might not be seen when a recruiter searches for candidates with specific skills or experience – even if you have those skills or the experience!

Your resume needs to be ATS-friendly in order to give you the best chance of getting a job interview. That means that you need an ATS resume template.

We’ve designed 15 ATS resume templates that can be downloaded as Microsoft Word files and easily edited. Download one for free or use our free resume builder to get a customized ATS-friendly resume in minutes.

Free ATS Resume Templates

Executive and Management ATS-Friendly Resume Templates

As a leader, you want your experience and accomplishments to shine. These resume templates give you opportunities to show the measurable results you’ve achieved, as well as your hard and soft skills .

Using correct formatting is critical here. The ATS needs to be able to parse all of that vital information and categorize it correctly. You also need your resume to be searchable by an ATS so that when a recruiter filters candidates by skills, your application stays on the list.

Entry-Level ATS-Friendly Resume Templates

You might not think you have a lot to show on your resume, but you do! These templates provide sections where you can highlight your education, internships, volunteer experience , personal accomplishments, and more.

An ATS-friendly resume will help you get found by recruiters and hiring managers. This is important because an entry-level position could have hundreds of applicants! Use these templates to make sure the ATS picks up your skills and experience.

Make your resume faster with our free resume builder

Write your resume the free and easy way with the only resume builder designed specifically with ATS-compliant resume templates.

Jobscan users have been hired by:

ATS Resume Templates - What You Need to Know

How to make the perfect ats resume.

Remember, an ATS is just a computer filing system. It needs to be able to scan and understand the text on your resume in order to correctly parse the information and sort it properly.

An ATS will never auto-reject a resume, but an ATS optimized resume does make it easier for a recruiter to find you among the sea of applicants.

Even more importantly, an ATS-friendly resume naturally follows expert-recommended resume writing standards as well. That means that when the recruiter personally views your resume, it will include the relevant information they’re looking for and will be formatted in a way that makes it easier to read

Follow these tips for making the perfect ATS resume :

1. Tailor your resume to the job you are applying for

Focus on quality over quantity. Each job you apply for is unique, even if they all have the same title. Every company has different needs for that role. The job description will make it clear which hard skills, soft skills, experience, and education the company is looking for. So tailor your resume to show them that you are the perfect candidate.

Tailoring each and every resume can be time consuming, but it’s worth the effort!

You can speed up this process by using a tool like Jobscan’s resume scanner . Powered by AI-technology , this tool analyzes your resume against the job description and provides you with a resume score that tells you how closely your resume matches the job description. It also tells you exactly what you need to do to increase your score.

2. Match your resume keywords to skills found in the job description

Recruiters might use an ATS’ search function to find applicants with specific skills. How do you know what skills they will search for? By examining the job listing. Use a resume scanner to automatically pick out the hard and soft skills the recruiter might search for, and then include those on your resume.

Even if the recruiter doesn’t search applications for those skills, they’ll definitely be looking for mentions of them on each resume they review.

3. Use long-form and acronym versions of keywords

Some ATS will only return resumes with the exact keywords the recruiters would search for. For example, if you included “Search Engine Optimization” in your resume but the recruiter searched for “SEO,” your profile may not appear in the results. Try to include both the acronym and the unabbreviated form of the term.

Use a tool like Jobscan’s resume fixer to make sure your resume doesn’t contain mistakes that will eliminate you from consideration.

4. Use Chronological or Hybrid resume format to write your resume .

Recruiters do not like the functional resume format . Unless you’re making a career change, a functional resume is going to work against you. (And even then, we recommend you steer clear of the format for a career change resume .)

The best format for the ATS is traditional reverse chronological. You can also use chronological and hybrid resume formats as these are familiar to most recruiters.

5. Use an easy-to-read, traditional font

For readability, use a traditional serif or sans serif font. Untraditional or “fancy” fonts can cause parsing errors, which means the full text of your resume won’t be searchable.

6. Use standard resume section headings

Section headers like “Where I’ve Been” in place of “Work Experience” will confuse applicant tracking systems, causing them to organize information incorrectly.

7. Save your file as a .docx if possible

A docx file is most compatible with ATS.

What is the best resume format for ATS?

There are three standard resume formats to choose from in your job search. They shape your first impression and determine the way recruiters and hiring managers view your fit as an applicant.

Your resume formatting can also determine how well your resume is parsed within an applicant tracking system (ATS) and how likely you are to be noticed as a result.

Regardless of the format you use, the most important thing is to use standard section headings like Experience, Skills, and Education. That will make it easier for the ATS to categorize the text.

How to tailor your ATS-friendly resume to a job

Tailoring your resume proves to recruiters that you’re an experienced professional. Most importantly, it shows them that you’re the perfect fit for this role.

Follow these three steps for tailoring your resume to a job description:

1. Examine the specific job description of the position

Go line by line through the job description and ask yourself these questions:

“Does my resume experience section clearly state that I can do what’s required of this role?”
“Am I using the same language found in the job description or job posting?”

You might find several different or missing skills and keywords in your generic resume.

2. Match skills and keywords from the job description

Mirroring the language, keywords, and buzzwords found within the job description is the easiest way to demonstrate you’re a better match than the competition.

The best way to show you’re the best fit for the position is to take words from the job posting and strategically put them in your job descriptions and other resume sections. A resume scanner will automatically pull out these keywords in seconds and speed up this process.

3. Write your job title clearly

Recruiters might search for people who have done the job they’re hiring, so list your job titles clearly and match the titles to the one in the job posting when possible. If you haven’t held the job before, list it under your name at the top or as part of your summary section.

What is Applicant Tracking Software (ATS)?

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software used to assist with human resources, recruitment, and hiring. While each system offers a different package of features, applicant tracking systems are primarily used to help hiring companies organize and navigate large numbers of applicants.

For example, an ATS stores job candidate information like resumes, cover letters, references, and other recruitment and hiring data that HR teams can easily access and organize. It will also track job candidates and their application status throughout the hiring pipeline.

Ultimately, an ATS automates time-consuming administrative tasks such as manually screening applicants, reading resumes, scheduling interviews, and sending notifications and emails to job candidates and employees.

Can you add graphics to your resume?

When it comes to creating an ATS-friendly resume , the rule is: The simpler, the better. ATS are improving at scanning different formatting features, but not all of them are good at this.

Adding graphics and images could cause ATS parsing errors , which means the text on your resume won’t be fully searchable or accurately categorized by an ATS. We recommend that job seekers err on the side of caution. Avoid graphics, images, and photos.

Are Google Docs or Microsoft resume templates ATS-friendly?

They can be. We talked about some formatting features to avoid on your resume – fancy graphics and non-traditional fonts. Those features can trip up an ATS, even if they’re on a Word document or Google Docs file.

However, as long as you follow the guidelines on this page, or use one of these ATS resume templates, you’ll be fine.

How to get your cover letter past the ATS?

To increase your cover letter’s chances of passing an ATS, focus on using a clean format without complex formatting, incorporate relevant keywords and phrases from the job description, and ensure that your content is easy for the ATS to parse.

Consider using a tool like Jobscan’s cover letter generator to help you create an ATS-friendly cover letter. If you already have a cover letter, run it through our cover letter checker tool to get personalized feedback on how to improve your cover letter and make it more compelling to employers.

More Resume Resources

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COMMENTS

9.3 Organizing Your Writing
Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process. Order of importance is most appropriate in a persuasion paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.
How to Write a Chronological Essay
Also, you will find precious tips on making the writing process quick and enjoyable. So here are the milestones of our chronological essay guide: What a chronological order essay is; The difference between chronological and sequential order; Guidelines for chronological paragraph writing; Tips for writing an outstanding chronological essay.
Organizational Strategies and Chronological Order
In composition and speech, chronological order is a method of organization in which actions or events are presented as they occur or occurred in time and can also be called time or linear order. Narratives and process analysis essays commonly rely on chronological order. Morton Miller points out in his 1980 book "Reading and Writing Short Essay ...
Definition, Topics, Process Essay Examples| EssayPro Blog
The process essay, also known as the "how-to" essay, is commonly written for people or companies that need tutorials or a set of instructional steps. Whether it's building a robot or cooking a chocolate cake, process essays use a similar format for any variations. ... chronological order - avoid skipping steps and shifting them around, as it ...
4.4: Process Essay
The process essay opens with a discussion of the process and a thesis statement that states the goal of the process. The organization of a process essay typically follows chronological order. The steps of the process are conveyed in the order in which they usually occur, and so your body paragraphs will be constructed based on these steps. ...
5.2 Methods of Organizing Your Writing
Chronological Order. Chronological arrangement has the following purposes: To explain the history of an event or a topic; To tell a story or relate an experience; To explain how to do or to make something; To explain the steps in a process. Chronological order is used mostly in expository writing which is a form of writing that narrates ...
Chronological Order
Chronological arrangement has the following purposes: Chronological order is mostly used in expository writing, which is a form of writing that narrates, describes, informs, or explains a process. When using chronological order, arrange the events in the order that they actually happened, or will happen if you are giving instructions.
Organizing Your Writing
Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process. Order of importance is most appropriate in a persuasion paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.
Organizing Your Writing
Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process. Order of importance is most appropriate in a persuasion paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.
3.4: Process Essay
The process essay opens with a discussion of the process and a thesis statement that states the goal of the process. The organization of a process essay typically follows chronological order. The steps of the process are conveyed in the order in which they usually occur, and so your body paragraphs will be constructed based on these steps.
1.5: Methods of Organizing Your Writing
Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process. Order of importance is most appropriate in a persuasion paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.
4.3 Organizing Your Writing
Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process. Order of importance is most appropriate in a persuasion paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.
5.5 Process Analysis
The process analysis essay opens with a discussion of the process and a thesis statement that states the goal of the process. The organization of a process analysis essay typically follows chronological order. The steps of the process are conveyed in the order in which they usually occur. Body paragraphs will be constructed based on these steps.
When & How to Use Chronology
When to Use Chronology. Basically, you always need to at least consider chronology when writing, in one way or another. When you are sharing any type of event or sequence of events, the timeline is important in just about every case, across all genres of both fiction and nonfiction. Of course, it is particularly important to establish a ...
5.1 Methods of Organizing Your Writing
Chronological order is used mostly in expository writing which is a form of writing that narrates, describes, informs, or explains a process. When using chronological order, arrange the events in the order that they actually happened, or will happen if you are giving instructions.
PDF Process Essay
The process essay is writing that explains how to do something or how something works by giving a step-by-step explanation. There are three keys to a process essay: present the essential steps in the process, explain the steps in detail, and present the steps in logical order (usually chronological).
Chronological Order
Chronological Order. Chronological Order refers to the practice of organizing information by time, either from the past to the future or the future to the past. Narratives (either chronological narratives or process narratives) are organized in chronological order.
Process Analysis
An essay using a process pattern is often straightforward, as it usually presents a series of steps in chronological order. However, a college essay that uses a process pattern needs to offer more than a list of steps. College writing about a process needs to make a point about that process (e.g., Baking bread, while relatively simple, still ...
GKT103: Organizing Your Writing
Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process. Order of importance is most appropriate in a persuasion paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.
ESL001: Reading and Writing in Chronological Order
This means that the events in a story happen in order from beginning to end. Writing in chronological order helps the reader follow what is happening in a story. For example, if a student wants to prepare for an exam, she will first go to class, then study, and finally, take the exam. These events all happen in an order the reader knows.
Chronological Order Definition & Examples
Chronological Order Writing Assignment. In this activity, students will review the importance of chronological order to the process of learning by creating scenarios that are out of chronological ...
Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab
The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services. ... OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL ...
Lesson 35. Chronological Order: Process Essay.
About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright ...
Resume Formats That Help Get You Job Interviews
There are three basic resume formats to choose from. They are: Chronological - Lists your work history in order, starting with your most recent job first. Functional - Focuses on your skills and accomplishments instead of your work history. Hybrid - Places your skills and accomplishments at the top, before your work history.
15 Free ATS Resume Templates (Optimized for 2024)
4. Use Chronological or Hybrid resume format to write your resume. Recruiters do not like the functional resume format. Unless you're making a career change, a functional resume is going to work against you. (And even then, we recommend you steer clear of the format for a career change resume.)

9.3 Organizing Your Writing

Chronological Order

Writing at Work

Order of Importance

Spatial Order

Key Takeaways

Chronological Order In Essay Writing

What Is a Chronological Order Essay

Chronological Order vs. Sequential Order

Importance of Correct Historical Occurrences

How to Write a Chronological Paragraph?

Tips on Writing a Chronological Essay

Pick an Idea and Make a Plan

Use a Variety of Sentence Structures to Keep Your Writing Interesting

Provide Sufficient Details

Use Transitional Words and Phrases, Such As “First,” “Next,” and “Then,” to Indicate the Chronological Flow

Use Headings and Subheadings to Organize Your Essay

Use Introductory and Concluding Sentences to Signal the Main Points of Each Paragraph

Use Appropriate Citations and References (Especially for the Historical Essay)

Maintain a Consistent Timeline and Avoid Jumping Back and Forth in Time

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Table of Contents

Brevity - Say More with Less

Clarity (in Speech and Writing)

Coherence - How to Achieve Coherence in Writing

Flow - How to Create Flow in Writing

Inclusivity - Inclusive Language