Even Semester 1718 [WRITING COMPOSITION 2]

Graph or Chart Description

I. Example of phrases used to describe charts:

 The pie chart is about ...

 The bar chart deals with ...
 The line graph (clearly) shows ...
 The slices of the pie chart compare the ...
 The chart is divided into ... parts.
 It highlights ...
 ... has the largest (number of) ...
 ... has the second largest (number of) ...
 ... is as big as ...
 ... is twice as big as ...
 ... is bigger than ...
 more than ... per cent ...
 only one third ...
 less than half ...
 The number ... increases/goes up/grows by ...
 The number ... decreases/goes down/sinks by ...
 The number ... does not change/remains stable
 I was really surprised/shocked by the ...
 So we can say ...
Or any other expression you could relevantly think of.
Please pay attention on the tenses you used, make sure to read carefully the time signal
expressed in the chart or graph.

II. Structure of chart description

1. Introduction
Here you say (or write) what the diagram is about. Mind the title and don’t forget to
include the source.
2. Message of the chart/diagram
Here you say (or write) the content displayed on the chart. The example of expression
written above (part I) will give you a lot of help in conveying the chart’s content.
3. Conclusion
Here you say (or write) the conclusion of the chart. Remember not to repeat the global
message in the conclusion, the conclusion usually derived from the content not from the
introduction.
 Even Semester 1718 [WRITING COMPOSITION 2]

III. Example

Student's favorite activities*

12.5%
Hands on
12.5%
Demonstration
50%
Reading
25%

Discussion

*East Jember’s school district representative on the year of 2016 from total of 250 Biology students

Description:
The pie chart is about student’s favorite learning activities. The data was taken from 250 Biology
students of several different schools in east Jember districts. The chart showed that the majority
of students (50% of respondents) choose hands on activities as favorite learning activity. A half
of this majority (25% of respondents) considered a demonstration was best learning method for
their studies. The remaining students divided into 2 exactly same percentage, 12.5% choose
reading and another 12.5% had better learning with discussion. So, we can say that hands on
activities was the most desirable learning activity in the year of 2016 while the least preferred
activities were reading and discussion.
The structure of the description is as follow:
introduction
chart content
conclusion

Now its your turn..!!!!

Scroll down, take a look at these 2 charts example and give them suitable description.
 Even Semester 1718 [WRITING COMPOSITION 2]

1. A survey held by Program Study of Biology Education in January 2018 resulted in the
chart below.

Most difficult concept in Biology

2%

10% 14%
Morphology
Anatomy
30%
27% Genetics
Microbiology
17% Physiology
Cell Biology

2. Growth rate differences in a green house resulted from artificial fertilizer

4
length/week (in cm)
3
number of leaves
2

0
Plant #1 Plant #2 Plant #3