Paragraph & Essay - Deciding on Order of Information & Transitions

 If it is a story, use time order.

If it is made up of several descriptive examples, use spatial order (top to bottom, left to right, etc.)

There may be other logical order to follow.

If there is no special order necessary, place the strongest or most important example last, since this is what the reader is like to remember best.

a case in point is ...             

specifically

such as

to illustrate 

for instance

one such case  

another example is

Details are usually presented in a time order sequence.

previously

earlier

in the past

a few days ago

a hundred years ago

at once

suddenly

immediately

meanwhile

at the same time

within a few minutes

later, later on

after a little while

then

next, the next day

several weeks later

the following month

finally eventually in the end

Order in descriptive writing is often a spatial order (according to space.) The writer places him or herself at the scene and then uses a logical order such as moving from nearby to father away, right to left or top to bottom, saving the most important detail until last in order to achieve the greatest effect.

This is a two-part topic.

Point-by-Method:
You place comparison points next to each other.
Example: Comparing being a girl to a boy.
"While I stood paralyzed at one end of a dance floor trying to find the courage to ask a girl for a dance, most of the girls waited in terror at the other, afraid that no one, not even I , would ask them. And while I resented having to ask a girl for a date, wasn't it horrible to be the one who waited for the phone to ring?

Block Method:
You present all of the facts and  supporting details about the first topic, and then you give all of the facts and supporting details about the second topic.
Example: Comparing being a girl to a boy
Now, of course, I know that it was as difficult being a girl as it was being a boy, if not more so. I stood paralyzed at one end of the dance floor trying to find the courage to ask a girl for a dance. I resented having to ask a girl for a date. On the other hand, most of the girls waited in terror at the other end of  the dance floor, afraid that no one, not even I would ask them to dance. In addition, it was a horrible situation for the girls who had to wait for the phone to ring.

A good idea for development is to create a comparison table of information

similarly

like

likewise

just like

just as

furthermore

again, equally

also, too, so

on the other hand

in contrast with

in spite of

despite

instead of

different from

while

although

unlike

even though

nevertheless

however

but

otherwise

still

This method of development looks for the relationship between two actions or events, one of which we conclude is the reason for the other.