Logical development across paragraphs and sections
Logical development across paragraphs and sections
This domain tests whether ideas unfold in a sequence a reader can follow. The co-requisite rewards deliberate paragraphing: each paragraph should do one job, and the order of paragraphs should reflect a plan, not the order ideas arrived in.
Core rules
- Give each paragraph one controlling idea, usually announced in a topic sentence.
- Support that idea with explanation, evidence or example, then link back to the through-line.
- Choose an organising pattern: chronological, cause and effect, problem and solution, compare and contrast, or order of importance.
- Use transitions to show relationships: however, therefore, in contrast, first, more importantly.
- In longer texts, use section headings or topic sentences to signal shifts; in shorter texts, ensure the introduction and conclusion frame the body.
- Build cohesion by repeating key terms, using pronouns carefully, and keeping the same terminology for the same thing.
Worked example
Plan for a report on lunchtime litter:
- Problem: litter is concentrated near the canteen.
- Cause: bins are far from seating.
- Solution: move two bins and add signs.
- Expected result: less litter and fewer complaints. Reasoning: each paragraph has one job and the order moves from diagnosis to action, so the reader does not have to reconstruct the logic. A weak alternative would jump from solution to cause, forcing the reader to reread.
Traps
- “List” paragraphs with no topic sentence or link.
- Repeating the introduction as the conclusion instead of drawing the logic together.
- Changing subject mid-paragraph.
- Using headings that do not match the content beneath them.