VISUALIZING A PROCESS ANALYSIS ESSAY: A GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Seeing the content and structure of an essay in simplified, visual form can help you analyze a reading, recall key steps as you generate ideas for an essay, and structure your own writing. The graphic organizer in Figure 15.1 shows the basic organization of a process analysis essay. When your main purpose is to explain a process, follow this standard format. When you incorporate process analysis into an essay using one or more other patterns of development, briefly introduce the process and then move directly to the steps involved. If the process is complex, you may want to add a brief summary of it before the transition back to the main topic of the essay. (For more on creating a graphic organizer, see Chapter 3.)

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Figure 15.1: FIGURE 15.1 Graphic Organizer for a Process Analysis Essay