Practice Passage 3 Read the following paragraph, which describes a local community event. – START FROM THE BEGINNING: CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER– 56 The International Dinner raised $15,000 to renovate the Berkshire Park Com- munity Center. Three-hundred and fifty people attended the dinner, which was held in the ballroom of a local hotel. Tickets were sold in advance for $50 each. The attendees left the event feeling very good about their community. The Berk- shire Park Community Center was damaged in a fire six months ago. An ener- getic committee of eight community members came up with the idea of the International Dinner to raise funds to repair the damages. The plan was to cel- ebrate the diversity of the Berkshire Park Neighborhood Association by serving ethnic food that represents the various cultures in the neighborhood. The com- mittee also organized a silent auction with prizes donated by local businesses to take place during the dinner. The committee chairperson talked to a local news- paper reporter at the dinner and stated that the goal was to raise $10,000. A follow-up letter to community members thanked everyone for the huge success of the fundraiser and outlined a schedule for the renovation. Notice that this paragraph is not arranged in chronological order. Take the ten different events that make up the story and rearrange them so that they are in chronological order. Here’s the order of events as they are presented in the story. ■ The International Dinner raised $15,000 to reno- vate the Berkshire Park Community Center. ■ Three-hundred and fifty people attended the dinner. ■ Tickets were sold for $50 each. ■ The attendees left the event feeling very good about their community. ■ The Community Center was damaged in a fire six months ago. ■ A committee of eight community members came up with the idea of the International Dinner to raise funds for repairs. ■ The plan was to serve foods that represent the var- ious cultures in the neighborhood. ■ The committee organized a silent auction to take place during the dinner. ■ The chairperson talked to a local newspaper reporter stating the goal was to raise $10,000. ■ A letter to community members thanked everyone and outlined the schedule for renovation. Now put the events in chronological order. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Now, take these chronologically ordered events and make them into a cohesive paragraph. To do this, you need to add transitional words and phrases. Here is a list of transitional words and phrases often used in chronologically organized passages: Write your paragraph, putting the events in chronological order with transitional phrases, below or on a separate piece of paper. Answers There are, of course, many possible ways of using tran- sitional words and phrases to put this story in chrono- logical order. One paragraph might look like this: The Berkshire Park Community Center was dam- aged in a fire six months ago. S oon after, a commit- tee of eight community members came up with the idea of an International Dinner to raise funds to repair the damages. The plan was to serve foods that represent the various cultures in the neighborhood. I n addition, the committee organized a silent auc- tion to take place during the dinner. B efore the event, tickets were sold for $50 each. D uring the dinner, the committee chairperson talked to a local newspaper reported and stated that the goal was to raise $10,000. Three-hundred and fifty people attended the event which raised $15,000. W hen the attendees left the event, they felt very good about their com- munity. A fter the event, a letter was sent to com- munity members thanking them for everything w hile outlining a schedule for renovation. first second third next now then when as soon as immediately suddenly soon after before during while meanwhile in the meantime at last eventually finally – START FROM THE BEGINNING: CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER– 57 Practice Passage 4 Chronological order is very important, especially when it comes to procedures. If you perform the steps out of chronological order, you won’t get the results you desire. Just imagine, for example, that you are trying to bake a cake. What happens when you do things out of order? You go without dessert. Of course, the consequences of not following proper chronological order at work can be much more serious, so it’s important that you strengthen this skill. Read the following paragraph, marking it up to help you keep track of the steps that an employee must fol- low to get tuition reimbursement. – START FROM THE BEGINNING: CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER– 58 Our company will be happy to reimburse you for college courses that enhance your job performance. Before you register for the course, you must get approval first from your immediate supervisor and then from Human Resources. If you are taking the course for credit, you must receive a C+ or better in the course. If you are not taking it for credit, you must pass the course. After you have com- pleted the course, you must write a report explaining the content of the course and its relevance to your position. Then, you must fill out a reimbursement request. Attach a tuition payment receipt, your report, and a copy of your grades to this request and promptly submit this request to your supervisor. Once your supervisor has approved the request, you can then submit all these forms to Human Resources, and you should receive your check within two weeks. There are eight separate steps an employee must take to be reimbursed for college course work. What are they? List them below in the order in which the employee must do them. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. If you marked up your paragraph, you should easily see the different steps. Here’s how you might have marked it up. The transitional words and phrases are highlighted in bold. – START FROM THE BEGINNING: CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER– 59 Our company will be happy to reimburse you for college courses that enhance your job performance. Before you register for the course, y ou must get appr oval first fro m your immediate superv isor and then fr o m Human Resources.Ifyou are taking the course for credit, you must receive a C+ or better in the course. If you are not taking it for credit, you must pass the course. After you have com- pleted the course, you must w rite a report explaining the content of the course and its relevance to your position. Then, you must fil l out a reimbur se- ment r equest. Attach a tuition pa yment re ceip t,your repor t, and a copy of your g rades to this request and promptly submit this request to your supervisor. Once your supervisor has approved the request, you can then s ubmit all these fo rms to H uman Resourc es, and you should receive your check within two weeks. If you miss a step in this process, you won’t be reimbursed. Thus, it’s critical that you be able to iden- tify each step and the order in which the steps must be taken.  Summary Chronological structure is, of course, a very useful organizational pattern. Events happen in a certain order, so writers often present them in that order. Keep an eye out for the transitional words and phrases that signal this type of organization. need approval before registering! 1 st –get supervisor approval 2 nd –get HR approval 3 rd –take course– get C+ or better! 4 th –write report 5 th –fill out reimb. request 6 th –attach tuition, report + grades to request 7 th –submit to supervisor 8 th –submit to HR 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ■ As you think about things today, try to organize them chronologically. If you think back to something that happened over the weekend, for example, think about it in the order it happened: First ____, then _______, suddenly, ______, and so on. ■ As you read about events in the newspaper or in other places, put the different pieces of each event in chronological order, as you did with the story about the International Dinner. Skill Building until Next Time . describes a local community event. – START FROM THE BEGINNING: CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER– 56 The International Dinner raised $ 15, 000 to renovate the Berkshire Park Com- munity Center. Three-hundred and fifty. International Dinner raised $ 15, 000 to reno- vate the Berkshire Park Community Center. ■ Three-hundred and fifty people attended the dinner. ■ Tickets were sold for $50 each. ■ The attendees left. C+ or better! 4 th –write report 5 th –fill out reimb. request 6 th –attach tuition, report + grades to request 7 th –submit to supervisor 8 th –submit to HR 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ■ As you think about