How to Write an Expository Essay
Most people believe that expository essays are gifts to human beings. This is because such kind of essays allows human beings and particularly students, to express what is in their minds without having any fear of being judged. Expository essays contain an individual`s opinions about a particular subject matter. Apparently, the only way through which a student can be wrong when writing an expository essay is when they do not support their claim using facts, reasoning, and logic. The process involved in writing an impressive expository essay, just like any other essay, is not a walk in the park. You will be required to do a lot of research, analyze your findings, and thereafter organize your findings in a way that will make sense to the reader. One fact is that, if you are struggling to improve your writing skills, a miracle cannot occur overnight. Therefore, you will need to do a lot of practice and have determination, if you are to succeed in the world of writing. The good thing, however, it that students struggling to write their expository essays can always seek assistance from companies providing essay writing services. That way, you will have ample time to work on your different writing skills.
Expository essay definition
An expository essay is one of the genres of essays, which requires a scholar to person an investigation of an idea, evaluation of evidence, expansion of the idea, and thereafter write a strong argument about the concept of the idea using a concise and clear manner. Writing an expository essay can be accomplished using various ways such as analyzing the cause and effect, definition, as well as through making contrast and comparison. Expository essays are normally meant to assess the student`s writing skills when it comes to composing essays regarding a particular topic. Whereas they tend to involve a less amount of research as well as original ideas as compared with the argumentative essays. While on campus, you may be required to write an expository essay as a coursework assignment, exam question, or as an in-class exercise. Apparently, at times it is not obviously stated that a certain type of essay is an expository essay. However, well-adverse writers can tell the type of an essay by checking certain keywords such as explain, define, and explore.
When you are told to explain, your response to the prompt should explain the various historical processes and not just the main arguments surrounding a particular topic. Other times, you may be requested to define a specific concept or term. In such a case, you will be required to perform more than just copying and pasting since you should explore the various ideas revolving a particular term. When writing an expository essay, you should employ an objective approach in the sense that you are not writing about your personal opinions or experiences. Instead, your primary objective is to provide a balanced and informative explanation of your topic.
Choosing a topic for an expository essay
The good thing about expository essays is that a writer can write about any topic or subject of their interest. However, you also have to ensure that your topic is not only informative but also interesting. On the same note, you have to ascertain that your essay adheres to the provided instructions by your professor. Here is are a few steps you could take when deciding on the most appropriate topic for your essay;
Make a list of the different topics
One of the most effective ways of thinking of the most appropriate topic is through brainstorming. You can do this by making a list of all the topics that appear interesting to you. Always write down what comes to your mind regardless of whether you think of it as a good topic or not.
Evaluate the different topics
After coming up with a list of the different topics, you should thereafter, consider whether the topics are appropriate. When settling for a topic for your expository essay, you should consider selecting the one that you can explain.
Narrow your focus
After selecting your topic, you should consider your primary focus. Avoid choosing a topic that is too wide or general because you will have a difficult time explaining and supporting your subject with credible evidence.
If you are writing a cause and effect essay, always ensure that your essay does not have too many causes and effects to be explained to ensure that it is complete.
If you are writing a classifying and divide essay, always ensure that you can sort out all the essential elements of your topic into a single category.
If you are writing a compare and contrast essay, ensure that you can provide all the necessary information on the differences and similarities.
If you are writing a definition essay, ensure that you can also effectively define the subject or topic to avoid confusing your readers.
Check your sources
Your final step when it comes to deciding the right topic for your essay should be ascertaining whether you will be able to find adequate information on the discussion topic. Writing an impressive expository essay requires the reader to be able to locate credible sources of information and thereafter, provide a thorough explanation of essential parts of the essay. The following are some of the expository essay topics you could use for your paper.
Expository essay topics
- How sleep helps people to live more
- Why I want a cat and not a dog
- The benefits of going to the gym
- Importance of having a family
- Importance of being independent
- Why are weight diets not as effective as they are believed to be?
- How social media assists campus students to excel academically
- How emotions assist humans to overcome difficulties
- How various banking systems are ruining the growth of the economy
- Why are there increased incidents of terrorism in modern society?
- Why do people stay in abusive relationships?
- What are the characteristics that make a good leader?
- How can you minimize the negative impact of social media?
- How can a person invest their money after school?
- Describe why you admire a particular person
- Explain some of the reasons why parents are at times strict
- How can a person understand the code of ethics?
- Has social media made communication easier?
Expository essay format
Your introduction should able to capture the reader`s attention and maintain it throughout your essay.
Your thesis statement should be the last sentence of your introduction paragraph and it should provide a summary of what your essay is going to discuss.
The format of your expository essay should be divided into the introduction, body paragraphs, and finally, the conclusion.
There should be a clear and smooth transition between the various parts of your paper (introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion).
Every paragraph should contain the main idea that supports your thesis statement. Your main ideas should also be supported with credible sources of information.
The conclusion of your paper should reinstate the thesis statement and provide a summary of your entire paper.
Always try as much as possible to adopt the five-paragraph format, which includes; the introduction, three main paragraphs for your main points, and one paragraph for the conclusion.
Expository essay outline
The outline of your essay functions as a blueprint, since its primary objective is to provide guidance, which you can use to develop your essay. Without an outline, there is a high probability of writing content that strays off the main subject. There is will also be a high probability of mixing up your ideas. Therefore, it is essential to always make use of an outline before you start writing your essay. Here is an example of an outline you could use in writing your expository essay.
Introduction: you should use it as your opportunity to make a first impression on your readers.
Hook: it could be in the form of a statement, question, anecdote, or statistic.
Background information: Should provide brief information about your discussion topic.
Thesis statement: Should summarize the main ideas of your paper.
Body paragraphs: It entails the main part of your essay. Apparently, you could write as many paragraphs as possible since the number is not specified. In most cases, an individual is required to write 4-5 paragraphs, which should be organized in the following manner;
Topic 1 – fact 1 + evidence, fact 1 + evidence etc.
Topic 2 – fact 1 + evidence, fact 2 + evidence etc.
Topic 3 – fact 1 + evidence, fact 3 + evidence etc.
Topic 4 – fact 1 + evidence, fact 4 + evidence etc.
Conclusion: Should provide a summary of your thesis, facts, as well as evidence. In addition, your essay should provide a discussion on the importance of the subject.
Introduction of an expository essay
Most writers believe that the body paragraphs are the only important parts of an essay, which is a wrong perception. For you to write an impressive essay, you first have to capture your reader`s attention using your introduction. You may consider asking yourself one question such as; when was the last time you read a complete paper even when the introduction did not sound appealing to you? Researchers believe that if the beginning of a paper is not interesting, there are very few chances that you will continue reading the piece of article, journal, or newspaper.
When writing the introduction of your expository essay, you should include a hook that will lure the reader. After writing down your hook, you should proceed to the next sentence, which provides the background information of the discussion subject. You should never assume that the reader knows everything concerning your discussion topic. Finally, you should never leave out your thesis statement. The quality of an essay is determined by how well the thesis statement is written. A thesis statement provides navigation of how your ideas in an essay are flowing. Without a thesis statement, you will end up with a lot of information that stray from the topic.
Body paragraphs of expository essay
Now that you have an interesting, informative, and strong introduction, you should proceed to the body paragraphs. The primary objective of this part of the paper is to investigate your topic of discussion. Various main ideas should be clearly arranged in different paragraphs. Your body paragraphs should include the following;
Topic sentence, which refers to the primary idea of the paragraph
Factual evidence, which contains ideas that have been researched
Analysis of the evidence, which compares different findings on your discussion topic
Transition sentence, which ensures that ideas flow smoothly from one paragraph to the next
The conclusion of the expository essay
After you have introduced your topic and thereafter, supported it with factual information, the last thing you need to do is concluding your work. Similar to your introduction, the conclusion of your paper should be short. You must make it strong so that it does not ruin the quality of your paper. You should do the following when writing your conclusion;
Provide a summary of your thesis, findings, and facts.
Provide a discussion of the significance of your subject
Reveal some of the unanswered questions in your discussion topic
When you write an academic paper, your conclusion should be arranged logically and precisely. Avoid introducing new ideas that may lead to a new discussion.
Expository essay prompt
Concluding Remarks
Writing an impressive expository paper is not easy for all students. That is why we are always willing and ready to assist you to come up with quality academic papers. Students struggling to write their expository essays can always seek assistance from essay writing services. You can also use our free plagiarism checker and thesis statement generator to ensure your paper is of high quality.
