Understanding Ethos, Pathos, Logos - The Rhetorical Appeals

An expository essay is a prevalent genre of writing that students get assigned as their academic assignments. Although, in some cases, the assignment instructions do not explicitly ask you to write an expository essay.

Instead, some specific key terms and words imply that you have to draft this essay type. Similarly, writing such an essay requires a writer to have good research and writing skills. If you are writing this essay for the first time and have no clue where to start, go through this guide.

What is an Expository Essay?

An expository essay can be defined as an essay that investigates and evaluates an idea or an event. This essay type requires a student to form an argument related to the concept and prove it using different techniques.

An expository essay is often assigned to high school students. They are used to explain a topic logically by presenting a balanced analysis using facts. Furthermore, this paper analyzes and tests the composition skills of the writer and his understanding of the topic.

Here are certain features that distinguish an expository essay from other types:

• It describes and explains the topic in detail.
• It informs the readers about the idea.
• It clarifies the subject.
• It organizes the information in proper order.
• It is an unbiased collection of facts.

Make sure your content should present all the necessary features while writing an expository essay.

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Types of an Expository Essay

The following are the common types of expository essay

• Definition Essay - It is an expository essay type that defines a topic to give a more precise image to the readers.
• Process Essay - A process essay is defined as a type of essay explaining and discussing the making of something.
• Problem and Solution Essay - This essay puts forward a problem and discusses it in detail by providing solutions.
• Cause and Effect Essay - This essay type studies and analyzes all the causes and effects of an action or an event.
• Compare and Contrast Essay - This essay highlights all the selected objects and subjects’ similarities and differences.
• Classification Essay - This document examines the topic in detail by splitting it into different categories.

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Expository Essay Format

Just like other formal pieces of writings, an expository essay also requires a proper format. However, there is no set of rules to format your essay, but there are general elements that your essay should have.

Below-given is an example of how you should format your expository essay correctly.

Sample Expository Essay Format

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How to Write an Expository Essay?

Students often find it hard to write an expository essay. It requires a firm knowledge of the topic and a good analysis.

The following are the steps that you should follow to write an impressive expository essay.

Choose an Engaging Topic

The first step is to decide on an expository essay topic. This step might sound easier, but it can be challenging for the students. Thus, your essay topic should fulfill all the basic requirements.

Keep the following things in mind while selecting a good topic for your essay.

• The topic should be interesting for the audience as well as for yourself.
• It should be informative enough.
• It should be broad as well to be explained in detail.

If you have not assigned a topic for the essay, you can be creative and choose a topic you like.

Gather Information

The purpose of drafting an expository essay is to inform the audience about the topic in-depth. For this reason, the essay content should be informative and well-written.

Note down the points that you know about the topic to get the research started. Conduct comprehensive research by going through multiple sources of information. Analyze every aspect and investigate the topic from every angle.

Create an Expository Essay Outline

The gathered information needs to be arranged in proper order to give your content logic. For this purpose, an outline is created to divide the essay’s content into different sections.

According to the traditional outline, there are three parts in which your essay is divided:

• 1. Introduction

  The expository essay introduction is written to let the audience know what the document is about. In this paragraph of the essay, the following information is presented by the writer:

  Hook statement - An opening sentence of the introduction paragraph drafted with the intent of grabbing the reader’s attention.

  Building sentences - Present the background information after the hook statement to give context on the topic to the readers.

  Thesis Statement - The last part of the introduction is the thesis statement. It is the main argument of the writer on the topic.

• 2. Main Body

  Following the introduction comes the body paragraphs of the expository essay. Here, all the details of the topic and thesis statement are presented. This section is based on the following elements:

  Topic Sentence - It is the first sentence of a body paragraph that expresses the idea provided in that particular paragraph.

  Supporting Sentences - They support the topic sentence and the thesis statement using examples, explanations, evidence, and logic.

  Concluding Sentence - It concludes a paragraph and links the next paragraph with the previous one.

• 3. Conclusion

  All the essay’s body paragraphs lead to the conclusion section, where the writer sums up his discussion. Include the following things in the expository essay conclusion:

  • Restated Thesis Statement - The conclusion paragraph is started with a restated thesis statement in different words.
  • Summary of the Main Points - Following the thesis comes a summary of the major points in the content.
  • Final Verdict - Finally, the essay is concluded by providing some final thoughts on the topic.

Revise Your Essay

After completing the essay, the next essential step is to revise what you have written. Without proofreading the content, you will probably submit unstructured and imperfect content. It can affect your grades.

Thus, proofread your essay a couple of times and do the editing. Ensure that the essay should be free from punctuation, grammar, and vocabulary mistakes.

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Expository Essay Writing Tips

Students always require extra support and assistance when it comes to essay writing. Follow the tips given below to write your expository essay easily.

• Choose an interesting topic to make your essay look attractive to the readers.
• Choose clear and concise wording for the text.
• Avoid using vague and lengthy terms and descriptions.
• Always draft your expository essay from the third-person perspective if not asked otherwise.
• Write a strong thesis statement and argument to make the essay powerful.
• Each body paragraph should present a single idea. Avoid stating multiple ideas and concepts in one paragraph.
• Arguments should be provided in proper order. Use a pyramid approach to arrange the order of the arguments.
• Use transition words to connect and link ideas and paragraphs.
• Always cite your sources in the content to avoid plagiarism.
• Draft a compelling conclusion to leave your audience with something to remember.

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Expository Essay Topics

Here are some of the topics for you to write an impressive essay on.

• Explain who a true leader is?
• Explain why strict parents raise disturb children?
• Explain why the majority of teenagers are in depression?
• Describe some material things that make people happy.
• Explain how music influences a student’s life?
• Explain the reasons behind the rise in the suicide rate in America?
• Describe the damages of consuming drugs to mental health.
• Describe the effects of marijuana.
• Describe the importance of physical activities in college
• Explain the consequences of not getting a degree in professional life.
• Describe what interests you to be in your choice of the field?
• Describe photosynthesis.
• Explain why people should live in a house and not in an apartment?
• Describe the things you would like to change about your school, and why?
• Describe some productive activities that students can do in their leisure time.

If any of the topics motivate you to write an essay, then pick from the list. Otherwise, think of your expository essay topics that you think can be a good choice.

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Expository Essay Examples

It is always suggested by professionals to first go through examples when writing something important. If you are confused about the assignment, search for already existing samples related to your topic. With this, you will understand how professionals have approached the essay writing process.

Below are some useful examples to help you understand the expository essay structure.

Expository Essay Outline Template

Sample Expository Essay

Expository Essay Rubric

Expository Essay on Covid 19

Expository Essay Example for High School

Expository Essay on Importance of Planting Trees

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