Expository Essay

EXPOSITORY ESSAY An expository essay attempts to explain the subject to the audience. This may be accomplished by explaining a process, comparing or contrasting two items, identifying a cause-effect relationship, explaining with examples, dividing and classifying, or defining. Expository essays most often use the following modes/strategies of development:

TYPES OF EXPOSITORY ESSAYS For our course, let’s limit the types of expository essays: Process/Analysis Comparison/Contrast Classification/Division Cause/Effect Definition

PROCESS/ANALYSIS A process/analysis essay is a type of a written assignment that implies describing a fixed series of events or actions leading to some result. In order to make your description clear and absorbing you have to know the procedure inside out. Good Process Analysis: Either helps readers perform the steps themselves or helps them understand how something works Presents the essential steps in a process Explains steps in detail Presents steps in logical order (usually time order - chronological)

PROCESS/ANALYSIS (Continued) The purpose of the process-analysis essay: To explain To inform To analyze To help the reader gain a better understanding of the process Remember your audience, focus on steps, explain the importance of understanding the process

COMPARISON/CONTRAST When you compare things, you show their similarities; when you contrast things, you show their differences. The purpose of comparing/contrasting is to explain your stand on the topic and provide reasons why you think your argumentation is valid. Choose criteria for your evaluation. Choose organization pattern.

CRITERIA Criteria means choosing similar things when you compare/contrast. For example, if you want to prove that one college is better than the other, you may come up with the following criteria: How easy it is to enroll in classes Quality of teaching Campus facilities Focus on your goal – WHY are you comparing? What do you want to explain? What is your point?

ORGANIZATION Two primary ways: Divided Pattern - by block Point-by-Point

DIVIDED PATTERN Part I provides all supporting details for one subject Part II provides all supporting details for the other subject

POINT-BY-POINT Organize your paragraphs by comparing each point. For example: 1. How easy/difficult it is to enroll in classes in both colleges you compare. 2. Education, experience, and professionalism of college professors in both colleges. 3. Campus facilities in both colleges Remember your purpose of comparing – what is your point?

CLASSIFICATION/DIVISION Classification is a development strategy used to organize information into logical categories that can be subjected to analysis and interpretation. The term is broadly used to refer to two related processes: division and classification.

CLASSIFICATION/DIVISION (Cont.) Division involves moving down what is called "the ladder of abstraction," from the abstract to the concrete. The process of classification moves in the opposite direction, grouping data, people, things, or ideas into progressively broader, more general, more inclusive, and ultimately, more abstract categories.

CLASSIFICATION/DIVISION (Cont.) What are the major categories? What is the principle of division behind classification? What are your reasons for presenting the categories in the order you choose? What is your point of classification? Make sure categories make sense. Choose categories based on a single principle of division and having equal degrees of abstraction.

CAUSE/EFFECT The cause/effect essay explains why or how some event happened, and what resulted from the event. This essay is a study of the relationship between two or more events or experiences. The essay could discuss both causes and effects, or it could simply address one or the other.

CAUSE/EFFECT (Continued) A cause essay usually discusses the reasons why something happened. An effect essay discusses what happens after a specific event or circumstance.

DEFINITION A definition essay defines a word, term, or concept in depth by providing a personal commentary on what the specific subject means. The definition essay provides a personal, extended definition (understanding) of terms by linking or comparing the term to a previous definition and by illustrating how that term should be applied.

DEFINITION (Continued) A formal definition is based upon a concise, logical pattern that includes as much information as it can within a minimum amount of space. The primary reason to include definitions in your writing is to avoid misunderstanding with your audience. A formal definition consists of three parts. The term (word or phrase) to be defined The class of object or concept to which the term belongs. The differentiating characteristics that distinguish it from all others of its class

DEFINITION (Continued) When to Use Definitions When your writing contains a term that may be key to audience understanding and that term could likely be unfamiliar to them: "Stellar Wobble is a measurable variation of speed wherein a star's velocity is shifted by the gravitational pull of a foreign body."

DEFINITION (Continued) When a commonly used word or phrase has layers of subjectivity or evaluation in the way you choose to define it: "Throughout this essay, the term classic gaming will refer specifically to playing video games produced for the Atari, the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and any systems in-between." Note: not everyone may define "classic gaming“ within this same time span; therefore, it is important to define your terms

DEFINITION (Continued) When the etymology (origin and history) of a common word might prove interesting or will help expand upon a point: "Pagan can be traced back to Roman military slang for an incompetent soldier. In this sense, Christians who consider themselves soldiers of Christ are using the term not only to suggest a person's secular status but also their lack of bravery.'

DEFINITION (Continued) Define a word in simple and familiar terms. Your definition of an unfamiliar word should not lead your audience towards looking up more words in order to understand your definition. Keep the class portion of your definition small but adequate. It should be large enough to include all members of the term you are defining but no larger. Avoid adding personal details to definitions. Offering personal definitions may only increase the likeliness of misinterpretation that you are trying to avoid.

DEFINITION (Continued) Don't rely on that old cliché of the dictionary or encyclopedia definition. The point of your essay is to provide your reader with a new way of looking at things — your way, not Noah Webster's. Define by what the term does not mean. This distinction can sometimes clarify a definition and help a reader to better understand it.

DEFINITION (Continued) Why Do We Define? 1. To clarify an abstract term or concept (“hero,” “success,” “loyalty.” 2. To provide a personal interpretation of a term that the writer feels is vague, controversial, misused, or misunderstood (“feminist,” “eco-terrorist,” “multiculturalism”) 3. To explain a new or unusual term or phrase found in popular culture (“helicopter parent,” “McJobs,” “metrosexual,” “lagniappe.”

DEFINITION (Continued) 4. To make understandable the language or technical terms of a particular field of study, a profession, or an industry (“deconstruction,” “identity spoofing”) 5. To offer information about a term or an idea to a particular interested audience (“Depression glass,” “film noir”) 6. To inform and entertain by presenting the colorful history, uses, effects, or examples of a word, expression, or concept (“comfort food,” “urban legends”)