Expository
Writing
Preparation
for Writes Upon Request
Expository Writing
• Writing that attempts to explain or clarify
by assigning meanings or making
interpretations.
• The purpose is to explain how or why,
clarify a process, define a concept or
instruct.
• Transitional devices help guide the reader
through the explanation.
• First, next, then, after that, finally
Essay Structure
The most familiar form of
expository writing is the
essay. An essay consists of
an introduction, body, and a
conclusion.
Introduction
• The introduction usually
contains a thesis statement –
a sentence that states the
main idea of the essay.
Body
• The body is made up of one
or more paragraphs that
include details supporting the
thesis statement.
Conclusion
• The conclusion draws the
essay to a close. It may
restate what has been said or
suggest a different way of
looking at the same material.
Planning
1. Plan by asking the following
questions:

Subject: What is the topic?

Purpose: Will this writing explain
how or why?

Audience: Who will be reading
this piece?
Planning continued
2. Gather information
 Facts or examples which explain how or
why.
3. Put the information in order:

Opening paragraph (introduction)
 Paragraphs with details/extensions
 Conclusion that briefly restates your
explanation
Opening Paragraphs
Introductory paragraphs for expository
essays must:
• Gain the reader’s attention
• Introduce the topic
• State the reasons you will explain or
elaborate on
• Give a hint of the details you will provide
• Transition into the first paragraph
Introductions
A good introduction often presents a
person, a setting, and an event. If
unable to use all three, choose at
least one device and practice it.
Elaborate with Details
Supporting details are the heart of
expository writing. They support the
thesis statement in the introduction
of your essay.
• Facts
• Statistics
• Examples/incidents
• Reasons
Facts
Facts: Use information that you know to be
true to infuse your writing with details that
capture the reader’s attention.
For example: Momenta International of
California introduced a computer that can
recognize and interpret printed
handwriting.
Statistics
Statistics: similar to a fact yet given in
a mathematical concept
For example: The processor inside a
typical computer can carry out one
million additions in only one second.
Examples & Incidents
Examples: specific cases or instances
that illustrate your main idea
Incidents: events that illustrate your
main idea
For example: The optical processor is
an example of a computer that uses
light beams to process information.
Reasons
Reasons: details that are valid
supports for your statements
For example: Computer manufacturers
are developing smaller computers
because business people demand
them for use when they travel.
How Can I Use Elaboration
Techniques?
To improve interest in your writing,
show your reader what you are
talking about.
You can show a feeling or an event.
You can also show cause and effect
as well as comparisons and
contrasts.
Showing a Feeling
When you write about your important
experiences, you may focus on
showing your feelings. Notice how
Gary Soto uses striking comparisons
and vivid descriptions to show his
disappointments over his new jacket.
Telling: I couldn’t believe my mother gave me such
an ugly jacket!
Showing: When I needed a new jacket and my
mother asked what kind I wanted, I described
something like bikers wear: black leather and
silver studs with enough belts to hold down a
small town…The next day when I got home from
school, I discovered draped on my bedpost a
jacket the color of day-old guacamole. I threw
my books on the bed and approached the jacket
slowly, as if it were a stranger whose hand I had
to shake…I stared at the jacket, like an enemy,
thinking bad things…
Gary Soto
Now You Try It
• Write about an important event in
your life. SHOW the reader how it
felt by using striking comparisons
and vivid descriptions.
• Use the “My Life-So Far!” Planning
tool to plan for three…then choose
one to write about.
Showing an Event
When you are reporting an event,
don’t try to include every detail.
Instead focus on the most important
and vivid details. You might also
include dialogue.
Telling: The raft began to capsize.
Showing: “Hang on!” a crewman shouted
over the crash of the waves. Suddenly,
the whoops of excitement turned to cries
of alarm. In the fast and furious chute of
Crystal Rapids, the three-ton, 38-foot long
raft had pitched onto a rock and stopped
dead. A crewman bellowed orders to stay
put. But when the raft heeled to an angle
of 70 degrees, John yelled into Tyler’s ear,
“JUMP.”
Showing Cause and Effect
When you write about a situation and its
results, use specific details to make each
point clear. You might include first-hand
observations, facts, examples, and expert
opinions, for example.
The telling sentence states a connection
between rope jumping and tennis. The
showing paragraph, however, provides
specific details and the experience of an
expert to explain the cause-and-effect
relationship.
Telling: Rope jumping can improve your tennis game.
Showing: The big appeal for tennis players is that rope
jumping mimics many movements you execute on the
court. Tennis is played on the balls of your feet. You’re
constantly moving in short, controlled steps, much the way
you move while jumping rope. Improve your jumping
ability and you’ll get to the ball quicker. “One of the
biggest problems tennis players have is being out of
position,” says Greg Moran, the head pro at the Four
Seasons Raquet Club in Wilton, Conn., who has been
jumping rope for ten years. “You need short steps to adjust
to the ball. If I stop jumping rope for a while, I feel heavyfooted and slow on the court.”
Showing Comparisons and
Contrasts
When you compare or contrast two
subjects, use the same set of details
to show their similarities or
differences. Each paragraph should
focus on the same kinds of details, in
the same order.
Compare and Contrast
continued
Telling: Saturday feels different from Sunday.
Showing: Without the help of an alarm clock, at
8:30 AM sharp Saturday morning, I wake up
brimmed with energy and ready to take on any
activity that floats my way. The sun is pouring
bars of golden liquid through my window and the
blue jays are singing merrily at the top of their
musical voices. Anticipating a whole day to do
whatever I want, I eagerly throw on my clothes
and spring down the stairs. In a flash, I’m out
the door and running.
Compare & Contrast continued
Telling: Saturday feels different from Sunday.
Showing: on Sunday, though, my mother is shaking
me and saying, “It’s past 11:00. Get up, there’s
work to do.” With a deep groan I open my eyes
and am immediately blinded by the terrible glare
of the sun beaming hot and stuffy directly on me.
Very slowly I claw my way out of bed, and in a
drained, limp state of semi-consciousness,
stumble sheepishly down the stairs. Saturday
was freedom; Sunday means mowing the lawn.
Developing Paragraphs
Like a mosaic, a piece of writing is
made up of smaller parts, or
paragraphs. The process that writers
go through in creating a piece of
writing may be similar to the way an
artist works. Often writers first think
about the overall purpose of their
writing and then work on individual
paragraphs.
Writing a Topic Sentence
A topic sentence makes the main
idea of a paragraph clear and tells
readers what to expect from the
paragraph. In addition, a good topic
sentence can serve as a lead to catch
the reader’s attention and make
them want to keep reading.
Topic Sentence Pre-test
Which of the following topic sentences would
make you want to read the rest of the
paragraph?
1) I am going to tell you how to fix a flat
bicycle tire.
2) Imagine a computer that responds to the
sound of your voice or reads even the
most illegible handwriting.
3) The giant octopus has been called the
“devilfish” – with good reason.
4) This paragraph is about windsurfing.
Paragraph Techniques
• State an unusual fact or intriguing
detail
Mozart had an older sister who may
have been just as talented as the
famous composer, but she never got
a chance to fully develop her genius
– just because she was a girl.
• Ask a question
• How can you make a healthy food
choice at a fast food restaurant?
• Give a command
Try to remember what it was like to be
four years old.
Paragraph Elaboration
To write an effective paragraph, you need more
than just a main idea. You need to support that
idea with additional details or elaboration.
• Facts & statistics – statements that can be
proved
• Sensory details – words that appeal to the five
senses
• Incidents – events that illustrate your main idea
• Examples – specific cases or instances that
illustrate your main idea
• Quotations – the words of an expert or an
authority
Methods of Elaboration
• Facts & Statistics:
A statement that can be proved is a
fact.
Ex. “Greg LeMond of the United States
won the Tour de France bicycle race
in 1986, 1989, and 1990.”
Methods of Elaboration
• A statistic is a fact stated in
numbers.
“Cyclists in the Tour de France usually
cover between 2,500 and 3,000
miles.”
Methods of Elaboration
• Sensory details
You can help readers experience what
you are writing about by showing
how something looks, sounds,
smells, tastes, or feels.
Sensory details
The musty, somewhat sweet odor of gorilla
hung in the air. Somewhere ahead and
out of sight, a gorilla roared and roared
again, uuua-uuua! An explosive, halfscreaming sound that shattered the
stillness of the forest made the hairs on
my neck rise. I took a few steps, and
stopped, listened, and moved again. The
only sound was the buzzing of the insects.
Far below me white clouds crept up the
slopes and fingered into the canyons.
Then another roar but farther away. I
continued over a ridge, down and up
again. Finally, I saw them, on the opposite
slope about two hundred feet away, some
sitting on the ground, others in trees.
Methods of Elaboration
• Incidents
Sometimes describing a brief event, or incident, can help you
explain an idea.
Seek help. Just as police are trained to call for backup during
emergencies, so the rest of us should guard against going it
alone if help is available.
When fire was reported in Hartford, firefighters were startled
to see how far the blaze had progressed by the time they
arrived. Construction workers on the scene had tried to put
the fire out themselves. “By the time they called the fire
department,” says fire captain Fred Crocker, “smoke was
up to the third floor. It was amazing nobody died.” Crocker
points out that the proper sequence is to call for help first,
and then try to handle the problem.
Methods of Elaboration
Sometimes a “for instance” or example can help you
elaborate an idea.
Kersee is a keen student, staying abreast of all the latest
training developments and scientific research. He knows all
about weight training, diet, muscles, massage, and
techniques for throwing, running, and jumping. He sees
himself as a “detail person.” He carefully studies video
tapes of his athletes’ performances and watches for the
smallest change in form or the tiniest adjustment. What he
notices may add only an inch to a long jump or shave only
a hundredths of a second off a sprint, but at the highest
levels of track and field, those differences can decide who
wins and who finishes last.
Methods of Elaboration
Quoting people directly can be a powerful way to
elaborate on and support your ideas.
There’s all sorts of junk whizzing around in Earth
orbit, bits and pieces of spacecraft that nobody
cleaned up. The military’s early warning radar
can spot the big pieces – those four inches long
and up…Researchers even know a lot about the
tiny pieces, less than two hundredths across…
But between four inches and two hundredths of an
inch lies a lot of garbage about which little is
known. “These things have a closing speed of ten
miles per second,” says Richard Goldstein, a
radar specialist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in Pasadena. “That means that if you’re ten miles
away from a piece of debris, you have one
second to duck.”