Lesson 6 of 22
Organising the detail paragraphs
A useful starting structure is:
- Introduction.
- Overview.
- First group of supporting details.
- Second group of supporting details.
This is a practical default. Paragraphs should serve the information; IELTS does not award a band simply for using four paragraphs.
Choose a grouping principle
| Information | Possible grouping |
|---|---|
| Several trends | Rising categories together, falling or stable categories together |
| A total plus components | Total trend, then comparisons between components |
| Many static categories | Larger values, then smaller values or exceptions |
| A map comparison | Northern and southern sections, or earlier layout and subsequent changes |
| A process | Preparation stages, then transformation and finishing |
| Two visuals | One paragraph per visual, with a supported connection where useful |
Choose a principle and follow it consistently. A paragraph should have a recognisable purpose.
Support a feature, then compare it
Unhelpful list: “A was 48%. B was 30%. C was 22%.”
More informative: “A accounted for the largest share, at 48%, compared with 30% for B. C was the smallest category, representing the remaining 22%.”
The second version reports the same figures while showing their significance.
For dynamic data, use the start and end values, a significant turning point, or a crossover when relevant. You rarely need a separate sentence for every year. For a process, cover the meaningful sequence, including branches or repeated stages. Grouping should remove repetition without hiding essential information.
Use reference carefully
“This figure” should refer to one obvious number. If two percentages appear in the previous sentence, repeating the category may be clearer.
“Respectively” means that two lists correspond in the same order:
“A and B recorded 48% and 30%, respectively.”
Here A is 48% and B is 30%. Avoid long lists with “respectively” if the reader has to keep looking back to match them.