What is an illustrated article?

Illustration is a rhetorical style that uses examples to support the thesis or main idea of a paragraph or essay. Illustration is most often used at the paragraph level to help illustrate or support a point, but you may also encounter illustration essays of various types in your college courses.

Techniques for writing

You should only choose examples that are relevant to your main idea.

​You may arrange your examples chronologically. 

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​You may arrange your examples by order of importance. 

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​You should start with simple examples and build up to more complex examples. 

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Illustrated articles are often used as a platform to state your opinions drawn from research and experience.

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​Use your platform

Who is your audience?

Different audiences require different approaches. The most important thing for you to begin to understand now is that argumentative writing is all about your audience, which means you’ll need to spend some time getting to know your audience.