There are many styles of writing but there are also patterns in writing too. A reader of any age or skill may benefit from learning and practice identifying the most common patterns. Being able to identify what kind of pattern an author has written in can make understanding what is being read easier. Arguably the most common patterns found in writings are:
Cause-Effect
The author explains several causes and then the effects that directly result from the causes. For example, a textbook might explain how a rise in the demand for milk and decreased production (cause) resulted in an increase price of milk at the grocery store (effect).
Problem-Solution
The author explains and describes a problem. Then, the author explains a solution to the problem. In fiction writing, this pattern appears when a character encounters conflict and his conflict or problem gets resolved or a solution happens by the end of the book. In a textbook, this is most often seen as a direct, matter-of-fact writing style such identifying the problem of a dripping faucet and listing a step-by-step way of fixing it.
Chronological Sequence
The author makes a list of events, actions, or steps that either occurred or need to happen in sequence. The most common places to encounter this pattern of writing are in historical articles in textbooks and in mathematics. The subject of algebra, with its pages describing different types of chronological sequences of steps is probably the easiest level of math to identify this writing pattern.
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