Lastly, the topic for a problem or solution essay could be how society can reduce or eliminate racism, using facts to expose the history of racism in specific communities.
Once you’ve done brainstorming, start planning. Use the outline mentioned above. It will help you stay focused on the topic and build your argumentation in an effective way.В
Make sure that the body paragraphs are logically linked. Incorporate transitions either in the last sentence of the previous body paragraph or in a topic sentence of the following one. Use linking words to make the text cohesive.В
- “What is Friendship?”
- “What does Being Tolerant Mean?”
Expository Essay Writing Guidelines
As it is an academic piece of writing, refrain from using contractions, informal phrasal verbs, slang, and even first-person pronouns. Make sure that the style of writing is formal, and the tone is neutral and objective.В
Trust real pros to write your essay. Hire an expert to deal with your paper and chill out.
An expository essay is a piece of writing that involves exploring a particular idea or issue, researching the existing evidence, and presenting a coherent and to-the-point argument. A writer should define concepts, exemplify the ideas, compare and contrast related phenomena, or provide cause-effect reasoning to reach the desired result.В В
Now that you know the expository writing definition, there is one more important aspect to consider: expository essays can be of various types, which influences their structure and content. You need to know the differences between them to write a quality paper. Commonly, there are six main types of expository essays:
Sample expository essay outline on the topic How Excessively Playing Video Games Can Provoke Teen Violence:
While editing, you need to focus on grammar, punctuation, and spelling. It is always a good idea to use grammar checking tools to ease the process and save some time. However, do not rely on such software heavily, as a machine still won’t be able to assess the quality of a text as well as a human can. Some of its suggestions may be incorrect and it may not be able to detect all gaps and errors.
- Make it well defined
Now, when you have a clear understanding of the key terms, know the basic structure, and the purpose of this work, you may wonder how to write an expository essay.
1. Prewriting: Expository Essay Topics
Asking the questions from this rubric will help you double-check if your expository essay is good and ready for submission.
Want to save your time on writing an essay? Hit the button below.
What is expository writing? Why is it so complicated? And how can you write an A-level paper with ease? In this article you are going to find answers to all of these, and many other, common questions, as well as find a step-by-step guide for creating a flawless essay.
To get to the point of the expository essay definition, let’s start with the basics — the word “expository” is a derivative of the word “exposition.” As you can already understand from the name, the core task behind an expository essay is to expose information. Simply put, to expose something means to lay something bare, uncover, or discover information in a way to make it understandable for a reader.
There are several text structures you can use to write an expository essay and present your arguments. The block structure and the chain structure are the two most common types. The block method implies that you discuss one subject at first, and then you move on to another subject in a separate paragraph. For example, such a structure of a problem and solution essay may be illustrated in the following way:В
Make sure you cite the information from outside sources in the style that your assignment requires, such as MLA, APA, Harvard referencing, etc. Correctly cited and incorporated evidence will show the audience that the information you present is credible and trustworthy. It is best to have three points or pieces of evidence to support each topic sentence. Finish the paragraph with a concluding sentence to summarize the claims you have made.
Compare and contrast expository essays aim at discussing similar and divergent aspects of ideas, concepts, locations, or objects. To present your findings, you can use one of the following techniques: the alternating method, combination method, or block method. The examples of a compare and contrast essay can include the following topics:
- Hook
- General information
- Proof of topic relevance
- Context of the topic
- Thesis statement
Definition essays
As it is an academic piece of writing, refrain from using contractions, informal phrasal verbs, slang, and even first-person pronouns. Make sure that the style of writing is formal, and the tone is neutral and objective.В
Classification essays require a particular mastery of critical thinking as you need to categorize objects according to their distinctive features. Thus, these essays discuss the aspects of a certain broad topic in detail. You should explain the reason for sorting items into categories and provide examples. The classification essays include such topics as:
- “Democracy vs. Autocracy: Differences and Similarities”
- “Comparison of In-Class Education and Homeschooling”
No matter what your topic is, your expository essay outline will include the following parts:
Now, it is time to conduct a profound research and put your ideas into words. While writing, use short sentences. Choose the proper vocabulary. Exclude the following:
There are no images in this kind of essays. Even if you have to explain economic and social reasons for famine in an African nation, you can't make your paper more vivid by picturing the everyday life of starving people. If you have to write about global warming, never make predictions about what awaits the humankind. The history of your country described in your essay can't be enriched with the pictures of your grandfathers' great deeds. The ultimate goal of these essays as a high-school and college assignment is to teach you to present the information as it is and in an unemotional manner, for lack of a better word. So, you will never find the inspiration in novels and writers' experience, which are great for other essay types, by the way. To understand how to write an expository essay, read research articles from the credible scientific journals. You can also find the best expository essay examples in your library. Searching online is not prohibited either. But, please, mind that some of them are only ‘the best' because website admins claim so.
Although the outline is an enormous part of your work, it is not everything. What you’ve got up to this moment is:
Choose the Right Sources
When your essay is completed, you have to proofread it thoroughly. There is nothing more disappointing than grammar and spelling mistakes in a valuable research. To avoid typos, use grammar checkers. But you can't fully trust them, as they don't indicate all the mistakes. Besides, you have to reread every sentence to check if they make sense. Ask somebody to read your essay before you hand it in. It can be your friend or a fellow student. Ask them ‘What is an expository essay?' and whether your paper meets these requirements. There is nothing wrong with it. Mind that every professional essay writer relies on a team of proofreaders and editors.
Just like any other type of academic writing, these essays require reliable sources. Don't use any free encyclopedias, blogs, and forums. They are only allowed in the very first stages of your research when you are trying to understand what your topic is about and how you can present it. Besides, you can only use them for the insight into the subject matter, and you can't cite them, even if you could imagine what an impression it would make on your teacher! If a student uses someone's superficial judgments (which are, in most cases, contained in blogs and, sometimes, even in Wiki) to create something ‘unprejudiced,' he or she hardly understands the expository essay definition and its aims.
- Define expository essay. The first thing you have to pay attention to when you are assigned to write an such an essay is to answer the question ‘What is an expository essay?' Unlike many other types of academic papers, there is nothing tricky about the definition here: this is an essay that explains the object or phenomenon under consideration. In such an essay, you are to describe something without being metaphoric. None of the reader's senses should be involved when he or she reads your essay. The expository essay definition may be complemented with some features. In most cases, this is a five-paragraph paper. It is quite convenient because the introduction and conclusion that are very concise don't allow you to give a lot of unnecessary details.
- Find out what citation style to use. Before you proceed to write, make sure you understand the format in which you are to submit your essay, whether it is APA, MLA, Harvard or any other style.
- Make sure you understand your topic. An essay has to be clear and unbiased. So, you should understand every single word in your topic. Usually, it is not enough to google the term you don’t know. Its essence may lie in the etymology of the word. Consult trusted dictionaries. Turn to your teacher or ask a fellow student to help you.
Compare and contrast expository essays aim at discussing similar and divergent aspects of ideas, concepts, locations, or objects. To present your findings, you can use one of the following techniques: the alternating method, combination method, or block method. The examples of a compare and contrast essay can include the following topics:
The outline of the introduction can be summarized in the following way:
Here is a list of examples of expository essay prompts and what they are trying to achieve compiled by our online paper writing service professionals:
Now that you know the expository writing definition, there is one more important aspect to consider: expository essays can be of various types, which influences their structure and content. You need to know the differences between them to write a quality paper. Commonly, there are six main types of expository essays:
Process or “how-to” essaysВ
As it is an academic piece of writing, refrain from using contractions, informal phrasal verbs, slang, and even first-person pronouns. Make sure that the style of writing is formal, and the tone is neutral and objective.В
- “Causes of Unemployment in Your Country”
- “What are the Reasons for Burnout at Work?”
This type of expository essay focuses on the definition of a term or concept. It entails providing a common dictionary definition in addition to less conventional interpretations. You may add examples, explain the origin of the term, and refute the wrong understanding of the concept under discussion. For instance, you may discuss the following topics: