Order of body paragraphs/examples in essay writing

Short version: In an essay that aims to persuade and leave an impact on the reader (which also involves making it flow logically), is it more effective to have the larger scale societal example in the first paragraph and the smaller more personal example in the third paragraph? Or vice versa?

Using the following essay format (which I am meant to follow):

• Intro
• Paragraph 1 (1st Argument, including 1st example, rebuttal, counter rebuttal)
• Paragraph 2 (1st Argument, including 1st example, rebuttal, counter rebuttal)
• Paragraph 3 (1st Argument, including 1st example, rebuttal, counter rebuttal)
• Conclusion

Example 1 will be a large scale societal or historic example, referencing a major event or phenomenon e.g. WWII, colonialism events or some other emotional event that impacted many people.

Example 2 will be around smaller scale/more local example based about how X has occurred withing our country/community. That aims to show the reader how it is relevant to our lives.

Example 3 will be personal example that shows how X has effected me. That aims to connect to the reader on a personal level.

Is it more effective to:

1. Have the larger/societal example in the first paragrapher and work down to more localised example and then the personal example in the third paragraph? Or

2. Have the personal example in the first paragraph and the larger societal examples in the third paragraph?

The bigger societal examples are arguably more powerful, but the guides suggest we do the smaller scale and more personal ones as well so that we can 1) make it more relevant to the reader and 2) connect to the reader (as mentioned above)..

What I believe are the pros and cons of each method:

1. Option 1 has the benefit of starting out strong and setting up the rest of the essay.
2. Option 2 has the benefit of finishing off strongly (and hopefully influencing the marker by having the last thing they read be the best part of your essay).

Which would be more effective in persuading the leader of my argument (which also involves making it flow logically) and making an impact on the leader (in terms of giving them a take away message)?

posted about 8 years ago

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K-Feldspar‭

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