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Exemplification Essay
Resources: Remington College and website ehow.com
Exemplification means to provide examples about something. Writing an exemplification essay typically
involves offering many examples to support a generalization about something. In this type of essay,
examples act as supporting material to explain or clarify the generalization.
An exemplification essay (or illustrative essay) uses examples to show, explain, or prove a point or
argument (the essay’s thesis).
The key to a good exemplification essay is to use enough detailed and specific examples to get the point
across. Examples should be carefully chosen so that they will appeal to readers and help them understand
the main point of your essay.
Effective examples should enhance your writing, giving your essay vitality and intensity.
Exemplification essays may contain both brief and comprehensive examples.
Brief examples may occur relatively frequently within the essay, with just enough concise details
to illustrate clear-cut ideas.
Comprehensive examples are used to illustrate complex ideas that can not be adequately
explained using brief examples.
The examples used in your essay must be relevant; that is, they must be directly tied to the point. You
should not necessarily expend lots of ink on a particular example just because you have found a lot of
information on it.
Instead, find as many examples as possible and then be choosey about what you include, using the
strongest and most representative examples. Make every example work in your favor.
The examples used in your essay must also be representative. Unless you are specifically discussing
exceptions to a rule, your examples must reflect the majority (i.e., what is usually the case, or what is “on
average” true). You might, for example, hear a drinker try to deny the risks of heavy drinking because he
knew someone who drank every day until he was ninety. This is not a valid example since most people
could not drink a lot over an extended period without succumbing to some ill effects. The example does
not represent what would usually happen to most people.
Organization (order of importance)
A fundamental skill in writing this essay is that of organization.
Consider the order in which sub-claims that support the thesis statement are presented in the essay.
Writers call this the order of importance, and three basic methods exist:
1. Chronological
2. Ascending
3. Descending.
Chronological order of importance is mainly used in
narrative/descriptive essays because events have to be told from beginning to end
process-analysis essays because the sequence of steps is crucial to the understanding of the topic
cause and effect essays since one thing leads to another
With ascending and descending order of importance, chronology or time sequence does not matter.
What's more important is the degree of the sub-claims.
In the ascending order of importance organizational method, arrange the paragraphs from least
significant to most significant so that the reader is left with the strongest point that has to be made. The
points gradually build up to a powerful, loud crescendo at the end of the essay.
On the other hand, descending order of importance organization works in the opposite direction. The
main body paragraphs begin with the most compelling reason or point and gradually work down to the
least important point.
Above all, do not just randomly toss reasons or examples into the main body section. Careful readers will
detect that this is a sloppy arrangement and give up reading if they have to struggle with the lack of
organization.
Example topic:
Although faulty street lights contribute to neighborhood car thefts, pure forgetfulness gives thieves a
prime opportunity to steal cars effortlessly.
If this thesis sentence were in an essay on the reasons cars get stolen, it is plain to see that "driver
forgetfulness" could be the biggest reason cars get stolen. Under this claim, the writer could list several
concrete examples or illustrations to make this point clear:
1. drivers who leave their door unlocked
2. drivers who leave the keys in the seat while they dash into the 7-11 store for a quick candy bar
3. drivers who leave the keys in the ignition with the engine running
In these 3 internal examples for this paragraph, each is an example of an increasingly stupid mistake. The
unlocked car is an invitation to steal a car, but the thief has to hotwire the vehicle. In the most severe case
of forgetfulness (i.e., stupidity), the driver has practically handed the car over to the thief because the
driver would never hear the sound of the engine turning over. Hence, this example shows the ascending
order of importance to illustrate examples of driver forgetfulness.
Clear discussion
The topic of this example essay is driver forgetfulness. But such a claim as the three example sentences
above is not sufficient on its own. The writer must back it up with evidence. That is where the details of
explanation come in. The unlocked door, the keys in the seat, and the keys in the ignition are all
examples of forgetfulness (and stupidity, some people might argue).
Each of these examples or details needs some explaining, so the writer should elaborate on what he or she
means through thorough discussion.
Outline of an exemplification essay:
Consider the following diagram to help visualize what a well-developed essay can look like. Keep in
mind, though, paragraphs are not formulaic; this diagram is just meant as an example:
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THESIS STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTORY
PARAGRAPH
TOPIC SENTENCE AND PARAGRAPH
o EVIDENCE/EXAMPLE 1
 explanation/elaboration
TOPIC SENTENCE AND PARAGRAPH
o EVIDENCE/EXAMPLE 2
 explanation/elaboration
TOPIC SENTENCE AND PARAGRAPH
o EVIDENCE/EXAMPLE 3
 explanation/elaboration
TOPIC SENTENCE AND PARAGRAPH
o EVIDENCE/EXAMPLE 4
 explanation/elaboration
CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH
How to Write an Exemplification Essay:
1 Decide on a topic. Basically, what generalization do you want to exemplify? If a topic is
assigned, most likely you will already have a set of generalizations about it so you can just build
your essay from that. If you choose your own topic, you will have to decide on a generalization
about that topic that you can support with examples.
2 Determine a purpose. What angle of the generalization do you want to present to the reader?
Having a clear purpose will help you choose examples and write your thesis.
3 Think about your audience. How do you think members of the audience feel about the
generalization that you are discussing?
4 Make a list of examples related to your generalization. Initially list all examples that you can
think of--you will narrow them down later. Include anecdotes (short stories), facts, statistics and
any other types of examples as appropriate.
5 Choose examples from the list that are relevant to your purpose. Make sure that all of the ones
that you choose support the generalization. Obviously, you do not want to choose ones that
contradict your purpose.
6 Write a thesis statement. The thesis statement should state the generalization that you are
exemplifying and make it clear that you are attempting to support it with examples.
7 Write an introduction that lets your reader know what to expect from your essay and states the
thesis.
8 Write a well-developed body that supports the thesis. The body should fully support the
generalization. Each paragraph should directly relate to the thesis. The body will be made up of
all the examples you listed earlier.
9 Arrange your examples logically. It may be important to categorize examples if you have a lot
of them so that you don't confuse your reader.
10 Use transitional words and phrases to guide readers through your essay.
11 Write a conclusion that sums up the essay's main points and restates the thesis. Remember to
make it clear in the conclusion what you want readers to take away with them.
Created by Austin Peay State University, 22 March 2012; revised 13 February 2015