ACADEMIC READING

1. Patterns in
writing/Reasoning
JOSEPH ALAGIARAJ

2. 6 common writing patterns
• LIST PATTERNN
• SEQUENCE PATTERN
• DEFINITION PATTERN
• CAUSE-EFFECT PATTERN
• COMPARISON-CONTRAST PATTERN
• SPATIAL ORDER PATTERN

3. Identify the pattern
• Criminologists have looked closely at situations in which assaults are
committed. One researcher identified six stages of a confrontational situation
that lead to an assault:
•
• 1. One person insults another.
• 2. The insulted person perceives the significance of the insult, often noting the
reactions of others present, and becomes angry.
• 3. The insulted person contemplates a response: fight, flight or conciliation. If
the response chosen is fight, the insultee assaults the insulter then and there. If
another response is chosen, the situation advances to stage 4.
• 4. The original insulter, now reprimanded, shamed, or embarrassed, makes a
countermove: fight or flight.
• 5. If the choice is a fight, the insulter assaults (and possibly kills) the insultee.
• 6. The “triumphant” party flees or awaits the consequences (for example,
police response).

4. • When document design is poor, both organizations and society suffer. The
Challenger space shuttle blew up because its 0-rings failed in the
excessive cold. Poor communication--including charts that hid, rather
than emphasized, the data--contributed to the decision to launch. The
Columbia space shuttle disintegrated during reentry, and poor
communication was again implicated in NASA's failure to ensure the
spacecraft was safe. After studying transcripts of meetings, Edward R.
Tufte, who specializes in visual presentations of evidence, concluded that
engineers did offer their concerns and supporting statistics, but they did
so using visuals that obscured the seriousness, and that the piece of foam
striking the shuttle was far larger than anything they had tested. In 2000,
the badly designed "butterfly ballot" confused enough voters to change
the outcome of the US presidential election.
•

5. • At first encounter with Guernica, Picasso’s 1937 mural protesting
the brutality of war, the viewer is overwhelmed by its presence.
The painting is huge--more than 25 feet long and nearly 12 feet
high--and its stark, powerful imagery seems to reach out and
engulf the observer. Picasso used no colors; the whole painting is
done in white and black and shades of gray. We cannot
misunderstand the scenes of extreme pain and anguish throughout
the canvas. At far left a shrieking mother holds her dead child,
and at far right another woman, in a burning house, screams in
agony. The gaping mouths and clenched hands speak of disbelief at
such mindless cruelty.ial
•

6. Reasoning/ Argument
•Inductive
•Deductive

7. Inductive Reasoning
• Presents –observations or facts that lead to generalization
• The size of computers has decreased
dramatically during the last several years. Cell
phones have also become significantly smaller.
It is clear that as technologu progresses ,
technological devices have become smaller.

8. Deductive Reasoning
• Starts with a statement or thesis followed by examples, reasons ,
cases.
• College students should participate in at least
one campus organisation. It provides a way to
make new friends and become part of college
community. It also helps them hold leadership
positions.