For more on order of importance, see pages “Order of Importance” in Chapter 3.
Illustration often uses order of importance to organize several examples, saving the most vivid, convincing example for last.
Transitions are important in illustration because they signal to readers that you are moving from one example to another. Use transitions to move between sentences within a paragraph and also to move between paragraphs.
Common Transitions in Illustration
| also | finally | for instance | in addition |
| another | for example | for one thing | one example . . . |
| another example |
ILLUSTRATION AT A GLANCE
Introduction with thesis statement
Says what you want readers to know about the topic
First example
Details about the example
Second example
Details about the example
Third example (often the most powerful)
Details about the example
Conclusion
Reminds readers of the main point and makes an observation based on it