Writing Expository Essays Is an Art

An expository paper is a kind of academic writing that requires a writer to investigate a brilliant idea, find the supportive evidence, expand on the idea as well as organize the thoughts in a concise and clear way. In order to create a good expository essay paper, a student may use the various techniques such as analysis, contrast and comparison, the causes and effects, definition, and many others. As you may see, the process of writing a good expository essay may be completed by applying various approaches, and it is widely assigned to the students as a tool for evaluating their knowledge. Very often, the expository essays are a part of examinations. Usually, students fail their grades by submitting the expository essay examples available online as their own. This can lead to a lot of problems. Thus, if you don’t know how to write a good expository essay, we offer you a wiser solution – learn the following secrets and improve your writing skills!

What Is an Expository Essay?

An expository essay is a type of structured academic writing where the writer uses factual evidence to explore a specific topic. Usually, expository essays are short assignments intended to check your understanding of a certain subject or your composition skills.

Expository essays are essays that communicate factual information; they are focused only on providing a factual analysis and have a neutral point of view, unlike argumentative essays that require that the author form his/her opinion on a topic. Generally, this type of essay is known as expository writing. An expository essay uses various structures in order to communicate their positions, such as process, analyzing cause and its effect, compare and contrast, etc. Expository writing belongs to four main types of writing, which include narrative, descriptive and persuasive writing. Expository writing is a form of discourse used to define, explain, describe, clarify or inform. Its literal meaning is “to expose”. It doesn’t intend to prove a point, it only gives a balanced view of the subject matter.

Knowing how to write a good expository essay is the vital skill for all students to master. This is the type of writing where students are thinking critically about concepts learned in class, analyzing information they have been assigned to study, and explaining the reasons and processes behind the conclusions they’ve made. When writing exposition, the author should not assume his/her readers have any knowledge of the topic. Even if the author thinks that some facts are common knowledge, he/she shouldn’t gloss over basic or significant details. When writing expository essays, one should use third person narration, although in some cases second person is acceptable, e.g. for guidelines or instructions.

To support the topic you are investigating, you should provide a lot of facts, examples, explanations and details and do so in a logical and organized manner. Here are the details that can support your expository writing:

• Quotations
• Anecdotes
• Definitions
• Descriptive details
• Statistics
• Graphs and charts
• Comparisons

What Is the Purpose of Expository Essay Writing?

The purpose of this type of writing is to present an objective and balanced description of a topic. The format of the essay makes it possible to provide a logical and clear explanation of complex information rather than prove some point or express the author’s personal opinion on a subject. Thus, expository writing is an essential and valuable skill in such fields of work as business, science and journalism.

The main objectives of an expository essay may be explained in the following statements:

• It performs the analysis of a concrete concept.
• It is about a situation, event or scientific work.
• An expository essay explains some instructions or describes how things should be done.

Depending on expository essay topics that students choose, you might want to pick one of the most commonly used expository essay writing protocols, which are the following.

The main purpose of an expository essay is to:

• Expose a particular topic.
• Investigate a topic to increase your understanding as well as the readers.
• Present an objective description of the topic.

Moreover, an expository essay is an informational, conceptual essay that has a single point of view to support it. This type of essay usually involves illustration and explanation to make the main idea clear while also providing useful facts for readers with little knowledge on the topic. 

The Difference between Expository and Argumentative Essays

An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

The main differences between the two types of essays are provided below:

The Elements of a Good Expository Essay

The structure of the expository paper can be supported by the following elements:

• A clear thesis statement that points to the main problem of the essay.

It is vitally important to put the thesis statement at the end of the introductory paragraph. It should be narrowed to one or two sentences and contain the main idea of the paper. If the learner fails to create a good thesis statement, it will be difficult to follow his or her idea throughout the essay.

• Logical and smooth transitions between the main parts of the paper, namely introduction, body, and conclusion.

Transitions are very important in academic writing since sometimes it is very difficult to understand what the writer is trying to say. A good essay should contain the transition words and should be clearly divided into the paragraphs.

• Body paragraphs with the evidence of ground research.

The main student’s problem is submitting the essay with no preparation. However, we assure you that a good expository essay needs much more than several hours of surfing the web. It needs ground research as well as the presence of reliable sources. These sources should serve as the evidence of your idea. Also, you may use the books or articles that argue your ideas. We assure you that choosing the best one from a variety of expository essay topics will help you get good grades.

• Your creativity will help you get a few additional points!

Be sure to include only fresh ideas and creative thoughts in your paper. The artfulness and creativity will help you impress your professor. Forget about using the examples of expository essays as your own! Remember, you may not have excellent writing skills, but you can always leave positive impression of your work!

• A good conclusion that is not just the repeating of an introduction, but an independent unit that is able to explain why the essay is worth reading.

We assure you that a conclusion is the most important part of your paper because it can either leave a positive impression or ruin it. Do not include brand new information into your conclusion. Everything mentioned in conclusion should readdress all the key points discussed in the paper. For your convenience, you may compare your written assignment with the example of an expository essay available online.

The Checklist for Writing an Expository Essay

• Is your essay written with an unbiased analysis?
• Are the facts and examples relevant to the topic of the essay?
• Is the information written and communicated to the readers?
• Are there any unnecessary details included in the essay?
• Is the entire content of the essay focused on the topic?
• Are there strong transition words being used in the body paragraphs?
• Is there a smooth flow between the body paragraphs?
• Is the conclusion correlating with the supporting details mentioned in the essay?

If your essay is written according to these parameters, then you do know how to write a good expository essay and you can easily compose a brilliant paper. 

Learn More about a 5 Paragraph Paper

The most common structure that is applied to an academic paper is the 5 paragraph essay. Sometimes, its variations may include the abstract or appendix but the most well-known structure is as following:

1. Introduction with a clear thesis statement at the end.
2. The first evidentiary body paragraph.
3. The second evidentiary body paragraph.
4. The third evidentiary body paragraph.
5. Conclusion with the restated thesis.

Perhaps, it will be helpful to discuss your sample expository essay with one of your friends or classmates. We assure you that it will be easier to see its flaws and shortcomings. You have to be sure that you submit a totally unique and original paper. Your arguments used to support your essay have to be clear. If your professor sees the professional approach to work, you will easily achieve the best results. Accomplishing an expository essay requires not only perfect writing and organizational skills but also endless inspiration and love to writing. Learn carefully the tips for the effective essay writing stated above and you will not have any problems with expository essays writing!