Figures.
Charts.
Tables.
A chart is evidence, not decoration. It must be introduced, explained, and discussed, or it has failed its job.
A visual is
an argument.
Four moves turn a picture into evidence: Introduce, Explain, Emphasise, Discuss. Learn them once; they work on any chart, in any discipline.
Introduce · Explain · Emphasise · Discuss.
Name the figure and signal what it shows. Present tense.
Describe the axes, lines, colours, what the reader is looking at.
Point to the data the reader should notice. Past tense for the trend.
Explain the significance. Connect the visual to your argument.
Your essay must contain at least two images, each integrated with all four moves in the surrounding paragraph, not left to speak for itself.
Five ways to visualise data.
Bar chart
Use for comparing categories side by side.
Avoid for a continuous trend, use a line.
Line chart
Use for a trend across a continuous variable.
Avoid for unrelated categories.
Pie chart
Use for parts of a whole, five slices max.
Avoid for six-plus categories.
Scatter plot
Use for the relationship between two variables.
Avoid for one variable, or few categories.
| Sector | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | 4.2 | 3.1 |
| Logistics | 2.8 | 5.6 |
Table
Use for exact values the reader may cite.
Avoid when the pattern matters more than digits.
The test: does the reader need an exact number, a comparison, a trend, a relationship, or a proportion? The answer picks the visual.
Three styles, one habit.
| Element | APA | IEEE | MLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Figure | Below. Italic “Figure 1”, title below, source note. | Below. Bold “Fig. 1.”, title in sentence case. | Below. “Fig. 1.” roman, caption follows. |
| Table | Above. Italic “Table 1”, notes below. | Above. Bold “Table 1”, source at end. | Above. “Table 1”, source note below. |
| In-text | “Figure 1 (Author, Year)” | “Fig. 1 [1]” | “fig. 1 (Author 12)” |
Whichever citation system your discipline requires governs your figure and table captions too. Never mix styles within one essay.
One chart. Three wrappers.
Korean DRAM market share, 2023.
Figure 1
Korean DRAM Market Share, 2015–2023
Note. Data adapted from Statista (2023).
Fig. 1. Korean DRAM market share, 2015–2023. Source: [2].
Fig. 1. Korean DRAM market share, 2015–2023. Data from Statista; see Works Cited.
Caption tells.
Paragraph means.
Five worked examples, a bar, a line, a pie, a diagram, and a photograph, each carrying the full IEED frame in the body paragraph around it.
Sector productivity, IEED.
“Figure 1 shows the net change in productivity across five sectors since 2020. Each bar is one sector, measured against the 2020 baseline.” “Only the service sector fell below baseline, by nine percent.” “This is the evidence that remote work is sector-dependent: where the work is front-line, coverage costs outran any flexibility gain.”
Figure 1. Net productivity change by sector, % from 2020 baseline (n = 412 SMEs).
● The dip below the line is Service, coloured to match the “Emphasise” sentence above — same sector, same colour, same −9%.
Same frame, different data.
Emphasise: “The phase-change line plateaus at minute 40; the standard design keeps climbing past 45°C.” Discuss: “The plateau is evidence the material absorbs peak load exactly where throttling would begin.”
Fig. 2. Core temperature over 90 minutes, by cooling method.
● The dot marks the exact plateau named in the sentence above.
Emphasise: “Paid social absorbs 41% of spend, more than the next two channels combined.” Discuss: “This concentration is the evidence behind reallocating a fifth of that spend toward logistics.”
Fig. 3. Share of 2025 marketing spend, by channel.
● The largest, accent-coloured slice is the 41% named in the sentence above.
A labelled diagram works the same way.
“Figure 4 diagrams the layer structure of the proposed solid-state cell, from cathode to current collector.” “The electrolyte layer, highlighted, is only 20 micrometres thick, roughly a fifth of a human hair.” “This thinness is precisely what raises the interfacial-resistance problem: less material leaves less margin for imperfect contact between layers.”
Figure 4. Cross-section schematic of the proposed solid-state cell (layer thickness not to scale, except the electrolyte).
● The accent band is the same layer, and the same colour, named in the Emphasise sentence above.
A photograph is evidence too.
“Figure 5 shows a covered alley in a traditional Korean market, photographed during fieldwork in 2025.” “International flags line the covered roof, and most shoppers and vendors still wear masks, despite formal mandates having ended years earlier.” “This persistence of caution in a dense, food-stall setting is the visual evidence for the essay's claim: consumer habits here outlasted the public-health rules that produced them.”
Figure 5. Covered alley, traditional Korean market, taken by the author (2025).
● A photo still needs all four moves: what it shows, what to notice, and why it matters, the same as any chart.
Show your partner a figure from your own essay. Read them only the surrounding paragraph, no pointing.
- → Could they picture the chart from your words alone?
- → Which of the four moves is thinnest?
- → Is it even the right chart type for this data?
Choose your chart
For each dataset, name the best-fitting chart type from §14.2, and why.
| Dataset | Best chart & why |
|---|---|
| Monthly website traffic, last two years | |
| Exam scores vs. hours studied, 60 students | |
| Exact GDP figures, five countries |
Trade answers. Would a table beat a chart anywhere your partner chose a chart?
Visual audit of your essay
List every figure and table you plan to include. Tick whether all four IEED moves surround it.
| Visual | Introduce | Explain | Emphasise | Discuss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | |
| ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
...is a revision target. The caption alone never counts as discussion.
The chapter in one slide.
- Every visual needs Introduce, Explain, Emphasise, Discuss
- Bar compares; line trends; pie proportions; scatter relates; table gives exact values
- Figures caption below; tables caption above, in all three styles
- APA, IEEE, and MLA change the wrapper, never the four moves
- A caption says what a figure is; the paragraph says what it means
- Two images minimum, each fully integrated, not just dropped in
Chapter 14, pages 80 to 86: the chart-type gallery, three-style captions, and three fully worked examples.
Make it mean something.
Chapter 14 · Next, structuring the essay