What does a writer use to develop
& Explain the topic?
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In order to thoroughly develop and explain the topic, a writer
must use EVIDENCE.
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Evidence used in expository writing comes in several forms.
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We will focus on:
– Logical Evidence
– Empirical Evidence
– Anecdotal Evidence
– Testimonial Evidence
What is logical evidence?
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Logical evidence, simply put, refers to FACTS.
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When a writer uses facts to develop an expository
essay and to support their thesis statement, the
writer is using LOGICAL EVIDENCE.
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Logical evidence is convincing for the
reader/audience because a fact is something that
can be verified, something real or actual.
Example: “In 2008, 7.3 million people died of heart
disease.”
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What is empirical evidence?
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Empirical evidence is evidence that can be
experienced or observed.
Scientific research is considered empirical evidence.
Example: “The sun will rise tomorrow.” (We know this to
be true because we have seen the sun rise every day.)
Example: reading the temperature on a thermometer (It
will say the same thing no matter who is looking at it.)
What is anecdotal evidence?
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Anecdotal evidence consists of an anecdote or a
descriptive story about an event or experience. Another
name for this type of evidence is a testimonial.
We are all familiar with this kind of evidence and commonly
use it in everyday decision making. For example, when
choosing a babysitter or dentist, we would often ask for the
experiences of friends and family.
Anecdotal evidence falls short of what is necessary for a
reasonable standard of proof.
Example: “During last week’s lockdown, I heard a student
was arrested for smoking in the bathroom.”
Testimonial evidence
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Testimonial evidence is given by an expert or
authority in a particular field (a doctor, lawyer,
police officer, etc.)
Differs from anecdotal evidence in that the evidence
is almost always considered to be credible.
Example: “Doctors say that eating candy is bad for
your health.”
Example: “Police say that the robbers were armed
and wearing masks.”
Figurative Language, Rhetorical
Devices, & Syntax
Appositive

An appositive is a noun or pronoun — often with
modifiers — set beside another noun or pronoun to
explain or identify it. Here are some examples of
appositives (the noun or pronoun will be in blue,
the appositive will be in red).
-Your friend Bill is in trouble.
-My brother's car, a sporty red convertible with bucket seats,
is the envy of my friends.
-The first state to ratify the U. S. Constitution, Delaware is
rich in history.
Anaphora
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a rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or
phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or
verses.
– “It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of
foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the
epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it
was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of
hope, it was the winter of despair.”
Allusion
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an expression designed to call something to
mind without mentioning it explicitly; an
indirect or passing reference.
-“We are also Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John.”
- “I am no Prince Hamlet.”
Figurative Language

Metaphor: a figure of speech which
compares two things without using “like” or
“as”
–
–
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Our house is our nest
My love is a deep ocean
Simile: a figure of speech which compares
two things using “like” or “as”
–
–
Our house is LIKE a nest
My love is AS deep as an ocean
Figurative Language

Extended Metaphor: a metaphor that draws the
comparison out and compares the two things at
length and in many ways
–
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Our home is our nest, we fly away only to return to its snug
protection.
Personification: figure of speech in which an object,
animal or idea is given human characteristics
–
–
Our house wraps our family in its warm embrace.
The dog laughed and the bears sang.
Onomatopoeia
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the creation of words that imitate natural
sounds
–
Buzz, murmur, hiss, bang, boom
Rhetorical Fragment
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A rhetorical fragment is an incomplete
sentence. It is used to evoke some emotional
response from the readers.
–
–
"See, a marriage needs love. And God. And a
little money. That's all. The rest you can deal
with.”
He knew it was not enough. Not enough.
Metonymy
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A figure of speech in
which one word or phrase
is substituted for another
with which it is closely
associated.
-England decides to keep
check on immigration.
-The suits were at meeting.
-Pen is mightier than sword.
-Let me give you a hand.
Synecdoche
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a figure of speech in which a term
for a part of something refers to
the whole of something, or viceversa.
Any example of synecdoche is
also an example of metonymy, but
only some examples of metonymy
are synecdoche.
–
Part to represent whole:
–
Whole to represent part: At the
Olympics, you will hear that the United
States won a gold medal in an event.
That actually means a team from the
United States, not the country as a
whole.
Asyndeton v. Polysyndeton
Asyndeton
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the omission of
conjunctions
“He has provided the
poor with jobs, with
opportunity, with selfrespect.”
“I came, I saw, I
conquered.”
Polysyndeton
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a list or series of words,
phrases, or clauses that
is connected with the
repeated use of the same
conjunction.
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“We lived and laughed and
loved and left.”
“Nor will it be finished in the
first one thousand days; nor in
the life of this Administration;
nor even perhaps in our
lifetime on this planet.”
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Epistrophe
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repetition of a word or expression at the end
of successive phrases, clauses, sentences,
or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic
effect
–
–
“of the people, by the people, for the people”
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child.”
Figurative Language

Hyperbole: figure of speech in which the truth
is exaggerated for emphasis
–
–
Our house means more to us than all the money
in the world
I’m so happy I’m just going to die
Loose/Cumulative Sentence
Structure
•
An independent clause followed by a series
of subordinate constructions (phrases or clauses)
that gather details about a person, place, event,
or idea.
–
I found a large hall, obviously a former garage,
dimly lit, and packed with cots.
I knew I had found a friend in the woman, who
herself was a lonely soul, never having known the
love of man or child.
–
Periodic Sentence
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A long and frequently involved sentence, marked by
suspended syntax, in which the sense is not
completed until the final word--usually with an
emphatic climax.
–
–
"In the almost incredibly brief time which it took the small
but sturdy porter to roll a milk-can across the platform and
bump it, with a clang, against other milk-cans similarly
treated a moment before, Ashe fell in love.“
"To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for
you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius."
Active v. Passive Voice
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In an active sentence, the subject is doing
the action.
–
–
"Steve loves Amy." (Steve is the subject, and he
is doing the action: he loves Amy, the object of
the sentence.)
“I Heard It through the Grapevine.” ("I" is the
subject, the one who is doing the action. "I" is
hearing "it," the object of the sentence.)
Active v. Passive Voice
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In passive voice, the target of the action gets
promoted to the subject position.
–
–
"Amy is loved by Steve." (The subject of the
sentence becomes Amy, but she isn't doing
anything. Rather, she is just the recipient of
Steve's love. The focus of the sentence has
changed from Steve to Amy.)
“It was heard by me through the grapevine” (not
such a catchy title anymore.)
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Jargon
Colloquialism
special words or
expressions that are used
by a particular profession
or group and are difficult
for others to understand

–
Touchdown, territory, scrambling, loose
ball, kickoff, man-in-motion, down, end
zone, goal line, hand-off, offside,
picked off, recovery, audible, blitz,
clipping, down.
–
“on cloud nine,” “sweet
tooth,” “poker face,” “back
burner”
a word or phrase that is
not formal or literary,
typically one used in
ordinary or familiar
conversation.
“Hallelujah holla back.”
–Barack Obama
- “Y’all”, “gonna”, “wanna”
–
Inverted Syntax
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Sentence structure in which the expected
order of words is reversed
Sometimes this is found in older poems
because authors would reverse word order to
conform to meter and rhyme scheme
however people did not speak this way in
everyday language
Inverted Syntax
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From the flames I ran away
I ran away from the flames
My words on deaf ears fell
My words fell on deaf ears
Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a
punishment.
Then, indifference is not only a sin, it is a
punishment.
Parallel Structure
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Parallel structure means using the same
pattern of words to show that two or more
ideas have the same level of importance.
-Mary likes to hike, to swim, and to ride a bicycle.
-Mary likes to hike, swim, and ride a bicycle.
-Mary like hiking, swimming, and riding a bicycle.
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DO NOT mix forms:
–
–
Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bicycle.
The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they
should not eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the
game.
Situational Irony
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Irony involving a situation in which actions
have an effect that is opposite from what was
intended.
- A man takes a back road to avoid traffic
on the highway, and a wreck end up
keeping him in stopped traffic for an hour.