Course: Reading Test Remediation

Think about a time when you had BIG news to tell a friend. You could blurt out the news and then provide a bunch of details. You could give two options to your friend and tell them why one is better than the other. You could tell your friend the story in chronological order to set the scene. You could explain all of the causes that led up to the effect. These are patterns of writing. Not sure about this? Read on:

"I'm going to prom! Tim asked me last night. He had a pizza delivered to my house and the pepperoni spelled out P-R-O-M-? It was so cute. I called him up right away and said yes."

"What do you think is better--going to prom or not going to prom? If I go to prom, I would spend a ton of money on the clothes, dinner, flowers, car, etc. I might even be asked by someone who wouldn't be fun to go with. On the other hand, prom is the biggest and best dance of the year. Everyone goes and looks so good. Sometimes, people are asked in really cool ways--like with pizza! It's sort of like a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"So, yesterday in class, Tim asked me if I was going to be home later that night. I thought that was a strange thing to ask. Then, around 6:30, the doorbell rings. A pizza guy was standing there. I told him that I didn't order a pizza, but he asked me my name and said that someone ordered it for me. When I went inside and opened it, I saw the word "PROM?" and I knew that Tim was behind it."

"For a while now, I've been talking to Tim during math class. We even work together when there's partner work assigned. Recently, he's been showing up at a few of my basketball games too. This week, he actually started waiting for me after health and we walked to lunch together. When he asked me if I was going to be home last night, I knew he was up to something. When the doorbell rang and I saw the pizza guy, I knew that I might have a date for prom."

Each of these is a pattern of writing. Understanding the different patterns of writing helps you read better because it helps your comprehension and your predicting abilities.