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The Basics of Expository Essay Writing

Expository writing, unlike creative genres, is based on hard data. It is applied for presenting and explaining all sorts of studying and research materials, categories, definitions, or various aspects of specific processes. Examples include, but are not limited to, newspaper articles, academic writing, financial reports, scientific research, press releases, textbook sections, or encyclopedias, reference information, and how-to manuals.

If you wish to inform someone about your hobbies or position on the specific issue, you might face the need to deal with expository content. The idea is to educate the audience on the topic that is interesting to you. However, personal opinion is not enough for expository assignments. Factual evidence from credible sources also matters when creating this genre of essay.

If you, for some reason, lack time to craft an expository piece (or do not know how to do it right), you may think about the services that offer a team of experts dealing with expository essays whom you can hire to help you boost your grades. This article will tell you more about how to write an expository essay.

The purpose of your expository paper will always be to present information in an objective and logical fashion. Unlike the persuasive essay or argumentative one, you are not supposed to give opinions or develop arguments meant for convincing someone.

Why should you write it? You tackle such tasks to master the style. An expository essay explains with hard data an issue, situation, or idea in a neutral tone with clear and concise statements.

This is a useful skill, even if you aren't planning to pursue an academic or journalistic career. The reports or presentations you are to prepare as part of an office job can also be used as examples of expository writing. Want to start a blog? This occupation can be just a fun thing with musings on your experiences. However, you might still sometimes want to focus on a wider scope of things or go through something bit-by-bit.

What Is an Expository Essay? Defining This Type of Work

The primary step, to begin with, is to answer the question, “What is the purpose of an expository essay?” By definition, this type of assignment is directed to make students research and explore a specific topic or issue by assessing the evidence and expounding the ideas to present and interpret the data. Hitting books and scholarly articles is the basic stage of creating an expository essay. A writer should reflect on a topic in a way that will be easy to understand even if the issue itself is complicated. Information and evaluation are the core words when it comes to developing an expository piece.

The complexity of expository writing depends on the complexity of the investigated problem. Teachers tend to assign a complex issue. If they leave the choice to you, they still expect to see a challenging problem discussed in your essay. Not every source that you find on the web is reliable and relevant to expository writing. High school and college students should be ready to spend hours collecting data and info. Although, it can be that way only if they refuse to hire essay experts to prepare quality expository texts for them.

The learning outcomes of an expository essay vary from class to class. The aim is not just to inform the student about the specific topic or research question, but accomplish certain educational goals like:

  • Realize that writing is a complex activity with social objectives;
  • Learn how to recognize argumentative structure in a variety of content;
  • Master various writing and analytical techniques;
  • Understand that expository essay writing is governed by genre conventions;
  • Think about what you do and why;
  • Realize that the primary objective is to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the problem;
  • Assess academic writing as a continuous and never-ending conversation on a particular topic;
  • Detect and recognize genre conventions of writing;
  • Explore the existing issues in-depth and offer valuable solutions and forecasts.

As we can see, there are more than enough reasons to learn how to write an expository essay. Many citation formats exist that you’ll have to master to get the highest possible marks on your homework assignments.

Learning More About Expository Essay Writing

The expository essay definition, to put it short, is to "inform, analyze, describe, and explain." It is vital not to mix up expository writing with other types, where the authors get to choose how to influence the reader. This type of paper aims to deliver information backed by facts. Personal opinions or emotions should be filtered out.

This sounds simple, but it is easier said than done because it's hard even to recognize it sometimes. Many college and high school students only notice details like these when the teacher highlights them. Since expository essays usually do not bring up personal experiences, they are written in the third person. The viewpoints used in good expository essay examples are those of professionals in the field.

The essay you've come up with can be called expository and well-structured if you have followed all the requirements of the five-paragraph essay example design. The word count and the level of complexity of the expository essay structure can vary, but the critical elements are the same, even if it includes more than five paragraphs.

A great expository essay is built upon the chosen subject and thesis statement. It also consists of the main body to your central idea, summation, and logical transitions between parts. In some other styles, like reflective or exploratory writing, you can get away with a more disorganized manner. But don't expect a high grade for that when writing expository essays.

Make sure each body paragraph contains an independent point and a topic sentence favoring your main idea or thesis, and these three paragraphs (or more) are built on facts and evidence from respected primary sources. The concluding paragraph should sum up the points and facts, stating the importance of your topic. And don't forget to develop an expository essay outline, which will help you manage your work and list examples to include in each paragraph.

Different Types of an Expository Essay: Which One to Choose?

The expository essay format and outline depend on the type of this writing task. Those have different purposes and outcomes, here are the types of expository essays:

  • The definition piece interprets what the specific word or term means, but it is not enough to define the concept in a couple of sentences here. It is possible to choose between a specific subject such as “a bed” or “man” or an abstract word like “sadness” or “hatred.” Here, one should cover the term’s denotation (literal/glossary meaning). An author should also include various variations of the term, explanations, and add examples to let the reader have a clear picture of it in their minds.
  • Compare and contrast essay covers the differences and similarities between two or more subjects that one chooses for their discussion. Those could be things that belong to the same category but are still different (e.g., heavy metal and hip-hop belong to the art of music, but they have plenty of differences).
  • Classification paper breaks down a broad topic into sub-sections to make it simpler to understand. General classes are placed at the beginning of the essay. After that, the writer must identify and provide an example of every separate category.
  • Cause and effect paper interprets the way subjects impact each other and how they are interconnected. List the reasons for something to take place in this world and the outcomes of the phenomenon.
  • Process essay describes how something is done step-by-step, a bit like we are explaining how to write an expository essay step by step in this article. So, from some point, we can call this post a process paper.

Those are the types of expository essays. Once you get the topic for your discussion or pick one on your own, move on to the expository essay outline and format.

Expository Essay Format and Recommended Structure

After choosing the topic, students start to think about how to structure an expository essay and organize it clearly. The format is not the same as the structure or outline. It is how the final draft will look once the author is done with content, its overall organization (design, outlay). Formatting makes academic and scientific works look organized and easy-to-read.

As for the specific formatting style, most often, students face MLA. It is the writing style created and established by the Modern Language Association and is used in such disciplines as liberal arts, literature, languages, humanities, cultural studies, etc. An expository essay is a common tool for knowledge assessment in these classes. Just like sports referees dress in a specific way, and police officers have their uniforms, authors in the listed areas should obey the rules of formatting. Here are the primary elements of MLA to keep in mind:

  • Document settings (in your Microsoft Word, choose one-inch margins on all sides, double-space the entire doc, and make it twelve points);
  • Page header (you do not need a separate title page in MLA, but, still, add the name and page number, upper right of each page; add the name of your work and an info-title on the first page before the text itself);
  • Citations (there is no need to add a comma between the author and page number; put the punctuation outside of inline quotations);
  • Works cited (that is the same as bibliography or references page; sort the information about all sources that you’ve used in your research alphabetically).

Do not leave out any of the mentioned elements as they are equally important! Apply the same recommendations to the full document. It is easy to apply the same settings to the Word doc – technologies speed up your writing and make it look more accurate.

No matter whether you choose MLA or APA style established by the American Psychological Association, you should check the latest guidelines published by the responsible organization. For instance, in the case of MLA, it would be the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 8th edition. Here are some basic rules for sorting the entries in Works Cited:

  • If the author is an organization (e.g., non-profit company), alphabetize based on the company’s name
  • Unless you are asked to apply different rules to creating the Works Cited section, alphabetize everything together, in just one complete list;
  • In case you’re quoting a picture or track, interpret an author a bit loosely;
  • Apply double-spaced line height (in Word, select Format -> Paragraph -> Line spacing -> Double -> OK);
  • Indent the paragraphs throughout the text (select Format -> Paragraph -> Indentation -> Special -> Hanging Indent.)

That is when you should think about the expository essay structure. The format is the same for the entire work once you decide on one, but the structure can be different based on the type of essay. While an outline for an expository essay for most of its types looks like more of a typical essay outline, the structure for a compare and contrast paper and cause and effect assignment might be different. Let us have a closer look at these two.

How to Outline Different Types of an Expository Essay

We’ll begin with a compare and contrast essay. Its main goal is to detect the differences and similarities between two or more people, objects, events, settings, etc.

  1. Introduction
    Present what you plan to compare and contrast to your audience, giving a background on all subjects;
  2. Thesis statement
    That is an impression of the suggested theories, meaning that you should decide whether the subjects have more features in common or are completely different. One of the excellent expository essay thesis statement examples could be, “The Civil War in the United States have arisen from a fundamental dispute over freedom: which is more sacred, freedom for individuals, or freedom from the government?”
  3. Main body
    • list the similarities;
    • list the differences;
    • back up your thoughts with a relevant study;
  4. Conclusion with a restated thesis
    Weave the main idea together, and emphasize the way it supports the central argument.

That is how an outline for a compare and contrast essay might look, but how about another popular type of an expository essay, the cause and effect one? Here is a recommended structure for it:

  1. Introduction (an example of a thesis – “While many factors have contributed to the rise of homelessness rates, one of the most influential is the lack of adequate social support services.”
  2. Cause 1
  3. Cause 2
  4. Transition sentence
  5. Effect 1
  6. Effect 2
  7. Conclusion

A 'chain' essay will look like this:

  1. Introduction
  2. Cause and effect of cause 1
  3. Cause and effect of cause 2
  4. Cause and effect of cause 3
  5. Conclusion

It might look a bit trickier than other types of an expository essay, but this structure makes the entire process simpler and clearer. Now, we suggest that you look at different parts closely.

How to Write an Expository Essay Introduction in 1-2-3!

The opening paragraph sets the tone of the entire work. It is essential to present the subject clearly and in an engaging manner so that the readers think that the issue is worth their time. An intro predetermines the further interest of the target audience in your academic work. It is the first impression – everyone judges a book by its cover. The opening paragraph must have:

  • Hook (a bang, meaning a quote, short joke, or shocking fact to catch an eye)
  • Background (a brief description of the problem along with its origins, as well as the reasons to discuss the issue)
  • Thesis statement (1-2 sentence(s) representing the central argument – the author’s position towards the given topic (or just any position that needs to be proven)
  • Transition to the body paragraph (to keep the logical flow)

Grab the attention, and make the audience want to read your text in full. Otherwise, you risk getting a lower grade than you deserve. Stress that the problem that you observe matters to most of the humans, and explain that you are going to provide not only the issue itself but an effective solution too. Explain how the information might help the reader.

For example, you may say that your piece will explore the most common causes of COVID-19, symptoms, and the ways to prevent this disease (as well as the consequences to show how the audience can benefit from reading your piece and staying safe). A rhetorical question with the implemented shocking statistic may additionally motivate the audience.

The author might acknowledge what experts say on the subject. People tend to trust field experts more than college students, so be ready to share facts from credible sources and primary sources such as in-person interviews. An irony or paradox might be a good way to open your essay too. Once again, speaking about the background info, try to make it as short as possible, but stress the vital details (e.g., in case of an expository essay on COVID-19, mention the date of the pandemic beginning, spread, the number of victims, etc.) Finally, state your topic and opinion, along with the primary focus, in a powerful yet concise thesis statement.

How to Create a Body of the Expository Essay

In the middle of your work, which is called a body, it is necessary to clarify the ideas related to the thesis statement. It is vital to indicate why the discussed issue matters for the community. You may divide the general topic into sub-sections and focus on explaining and providing examples for each of them. The appropriate support is what your readers expect to see. Keep in mind these simple rules:

  • Start every paragraph of the body with a topic sentence to reflect the main message of the story;
  • Find the supporting points to defend your thesis statement (use various sources);
  • Offer up to two sentences interpreting every quotation or example;
  • Suggest no more than three sentences that define the importance of every citation;
  • Make sure that the info offered is relevant to the central argument;
  • The final sentence should be a transitional one (connect the body with the concluding paragraph somehow).

The opening sentence of every paragraph of the body must present one of the ideas linked to the thesis statement. This topic sentence may sound this way, “While the involvement of the United States in World War II was not the primary contributor to the ending of the Great Depression, this phenomenon was one of the leading motives for penetrating those events.” The final formula for this part of an expository essay would look this way:

  • A claim clearly identifying the central argument (main author’s position): horror movies can result in social isolation and anxiety (stresses);
  • Supporting fact + examples: X% of adolescents report being addicted to horror films;
  • Supporting fact + example: X% of adolescents report having anxious syndrome;
  • A single statement that analytically sums up everything from the paragraph.

Writing a Conclusion to Leave a Long-Lasting Impression

Do you know how to write a conclusion for an expository essay? If you are sure that it is a piece of cake, you’re wrong! It is the most complicated part as your aim here is to make the readers remember what they have read about and entice them to continue the research or, at least, follow your recommendations. The final part is when a writer should begin with recalling the primary problem and argument of the entire task, meaning restated thesis statement. Make sure that the concluding paragraph has a sense of closure and clarification. Do not repeat the ideas the same way they were introduced and never start new discussions in this part. Reiterate the clarifications from the body part of an expository essay, stressing the validity of your judgments.

  • Start the final part with a claim (major sentence) that retells the thesis;
  • Shortly provide a summary of the main ideas and messages (e.g., the adverse results of excessive gaming or watching horror films);
  • The connection of the dots throughout the essay;
  • Highlight the value of your independent study;
  • Offer a powerful, impressive closure for the audience.

You need to be concise and highlight your thesis once again. Do not come up with absolute claims or apologize. You may insert more hook sentences in the end or suggest some predictions for the future based on your best guess combined with the facts and stats.

Find Out How to Write an Expository Essay: The Significance of Expository Essays for College

Why are expository assignments vital for students? They expose analytical and writing skills as well as improve one’s knowledge of the specific topic. An expository assignment is an excellent chance for students to expand their worldview. At the same time, for their tutors, it is an opportunity to assess the quality of student’s writing and level of understanding of the subject.

Remember that you’re the center of an expository piece. If you want it to sound like as you have written it, attach the sample of your work when placing an order on our website. We will present the story the way you feel about it then. If you are more-or-less ready to compose an expository essay and earn a good grade, it is time to review the entire process in short.

Pre-writing

The primary stage of pre-writing is selecting the topic. We will explain how to do that in a separate section of this article. Another good idea is to review free expository essay examples for college that you can download from various educational sources, but do not copy-paste anything from there. Dedicate some time to brainstorming the issue and basic idea. After that, a student should conduct a profound study, taking notes, ensuring that they possess enough knowledge of the chosen topic that will lead them to a solution.

The final step is to develop an essay outline, displaying the info to present in every part of your text (put it in a logical sequence).

Drafting

While developing an expository essay outline, keep in mind the suggestions from the professional academic writers. Here are some of them that can be useful:

The most essential sentence in the intro part is the topic sentence (main claim) that presents the thesis (central argument) of the entire writing. Another good question is how to write a thesis statement for an expository essay. This part is a well-defined sentence or few with a manageable scope that is addressed within a five-paragraph text, precisely stated without subjective opinion on the given topic.

Once you are done with the thesis part and introduction, move on to the rest of the body that will fortify the central argument. Try to support the major claim in each paragraph of the body with the help of supporting evidence retrieved during the process of research and evaluation. Once you get closer to the end (conclusion), reinforce the primary argument, as well as the supporting facts and statistics. Never present any fresh info or data in the last paragraph. As for the specific recommendations, it is vital to compose everything in the third person (“she” or “he”) as the writer has to discuss an event or case in an expository essay.

Revising

Revising and editing can be seen as two different processes. At least, by the experts. When you move to the revision stage, re-read, modify, and restructure the whole thing with the aim of polishing the final draft. You should remember the following:

  • Ensure that an expository essay provides an unbiased evaluation of the events or subjects;
  • Check whether the content is clear and effectively communicated;
  • You have used only proven facts, stats, and quotations, with the corresponding references;
  • Transition words like “additionally,” “as mentioned above,” “after all,” and others are inserted in the text seamlessly and create a logical bridge between the different parts of the text;
  • Make sure you are on track (sometimes the author loses the point and veers from the issue by presenting use);
  • Check the word choice and sentence structure;
  • Check if the final part communicates the value of the central argument and the topic sentences from the body.

That is the pre-writing plan that also contains post-writing advice. It is all about focusing on the thesis statement and the supporting ideas that you grab from the credible sources.

How Can These Expository Essay Examples Be Handy?

College students may use professional essay samples and templates to ease up their lives when writing an expository task. On our website, you can review some free essay examples. However, they only serve as samples, so we do not recommend submitting them to your professors, pretending that you were the one to write them. To get an original essay tailored to your needs, pay for one of our expository services – it won’t cost you much! We have the best price on the web.

From our examples of expository content, you may learn about the organization and the flow of this essay. If you choose to buy an essay from our professional service, the experts will start with an outline, which is included in every order at no charge. Our writers will add a plan for you, which involves creating:

  • An informative and eye-catching introduction;
  • A strong thesis statement;
  • Five-paragraph body with the assessment of the problem and evidence as well as findings;
  • Finishing lines with the summary and paraphrased main claim (thesis);
  • Works cited page or references page (depending on the used writing style).

With our service, you’ll quickly handle any academic challenge. Our writing wizards will develop the entire essay from scratch!

Expository Essay Topics

Many topics look fun to take on, but they may be challenging to phrase properly. Think about tackling a well-known subject so that you can easily find lots of useful information and maintain interest during the writing process.

Take a look at these ten sample expository essay topic ideas:

  1. In what way industrialization has changed.
  2. Easy changes and habits for an improved life.
  3. Every country has its heroes and achievements they are proud of.
  4. Modern life as compared to the last century.
  5. Time management and things that kill your productivity.
  6. People whose examples we can follow.
  7. The contrast of living in larger and smaller towns or countries.
  8. Habits that steal one's happiness.
  9. How "something can be done" on a limited budget.
  10. Historical background of an activity, hobby, or profession.

Having a choice is always an advantage. Whenever we tell about the things we are familiar with or interested in, it is much easier to put our thoughts into words or elaborate on something. If you aim for an excellent grade and pleasant process, choose something you already know.

Examples of expository essay topics

The moment when you have to pick expository topics for an essay is always a challenge, as there are many things that one can discuss. Teachers today rarely assign any specific subjects or questions to cover in your homework. Why? They wish to see how well the students know how to choose interesting issues on their own. The topic should be decent, informative, relevant, and related to the lessons covered in class. Also, it has to be recently discussed.

Before starting to write an essay on the specific subject, check out the availability of sources. If you select to work with our expository writers, you don’t have to bother. Our essay experts in research will carefully explore and analyze a great variety of sources from different databases to retrieve information and citations to use in your expository writing.

Our specialists in essay writing offer a vast range of topics for customers who lack specific prompts. You are free to choose one of them! We present to you the examples of the good expository essay topics that our skilled group of college writers can cover for you (it’s included in the total price of the order):

  • How to save the planet from global warming
  • The fashion trends in the United Kingdom
  • Effective ways to relieve stress in teenagers
  • Describe the world that you would create
  • Is leadership a born talent (or can you obtain it)?
  • The advantages of wearing a school uniform
  • Where did the invention of the World Wide Web take us?
  • The connection between the health and IQ level (if any)
  • “Code of ethics:” defining the term
  • The reaction of masses to the assisted suicide
  • Staying fit thanks to healthy nutrition
  • The outcomes of Queen Victoria’s reign
  • Discussing teen’s role models and their responsibility
  • Is Dorian Gray a real villain or just a victim?
  • What is common about missing people in the United States?
  • Financial independence: the most effective methods to achieve it
  • What should a 17-year-old guy do if his girlfriend gets pregnant?
  • Black Lives Matter: For and against the movement in the US
  • Detrimental nature of the Elon Mask’s inventions
  • The reasons for the divorce rates to rise dramatically in the United States
  • Stages of gaining and developing leadership and management skills
  • The impact of violent video games on the kids' brains
  • The adverse consequences of procrastination
  • Can people survive and live on Mars?
  • Describing favorite drama film of 2020
  • Is there a concept of ‘honor' in contemporary society?
  • The causes and effects of COVID-19 in Italy
  • The ingredients that make snacks harmful to human health
  • The factors that make people believe in aliens
  • Gunpowder invention and its outcomes for humanity
  • Best ways to live a healthy life in a modern, highly-polluted world
  • Effective methods to prevent further overpopulation
  • Consequences of Nietzsche’s claims about God
  • What kind of book would you write one day, and why?

Five best expository essay topics for high school

Most often, high school students have to compose expository essays. As our essay experts possess the highest degrees from the UK and the US colleges, they will complete your tasks correctly. At our service, we create 100% quality texts as our native-speaking writers avoid all sorts of mistakes as well as plagiarism.

We can offer help of any academic level. From expository essays to dissertations, our clients can find assistance with any task. For example, if you are a high school pupil, you can count on help with topics of this academic level. For your various assignments of different academic levels, you may pick one of the following topics for an expository essay:

  • Discussing the best book from your memory (or the one you recently read)
  • Pick a moment from your past that you would want to run back
  • Share the experience of writing your first expository piece ever
  • Explain which college you wish to attend and why
  • Tell about your top-preferred artist or music composer and provide explanations

The expository essay sample questions given out by the teacher to evaluate your level can be an issue. Sadly, the truth of studying at a university is bitter: you get many assignments of no interest to you. They are simply meant to test if the students grasp the material. It is an easy method for the teacher, but not an easy task for the students who have to limit themselves to a specific topic or information.

Moreover, such writing prompts and essay questions can seem discouraging, as writing about something that doesn't spark interest is utter boredom. This is why it makes sense to delegate this to someone else. Preferably, to someone who is an expert writer recommended by a reputable service or satisfied customer reviews. It is smarter than spending lots of time on what might cause a reverse or even adverse effect.

Additional Expository Essay Tips for Successful Writing

Looking for more tricks and tips on writing an expository essay? How about this: you sit down and think about the goals that you wish to achieve with the help of this piece of writing. Describing or explaining something is key here. Apart from having an expository essay as a part of your homework, you should be ready to face this type of task at any examination or test. It is critical to be well-informed about the topic or problem. Thus, one has to analyze all the lecture notes and course materials, along with the primary and secondary data found in the college library or on the web.

One more reason to handle this assignment is to introduce yourself to expository writing, which is present in almost every sphere of professional life. It is one of the four rhetorical modes that one has to master. The main disciplines where tutors may ask you to compose this sort of task include:

  • English composition
  • Literature
  • Business
  • Journalism
  • Science
  • Nursing, etc.

The written content, such as articles, magazines, and press releases, are all some formats of the mentioned form of writing. While choosing the topic, the author should try to narrow it down. The example could go something like this:

“The adverse impact of video games” – a general one, but you can make it narrower by specifying age, gender, demographics, and other factors. The narrowed down version may sound like, “How excessively playing violent battle royale video games may lead to higher rates of violence among adolescents.”

Some students may confuse an expository essay with an argumentative one. That is a huge mistake! You should note the difference:

  1. Argumentative essay: selects a position for or against something; can be composed in the first person; is subjective; thesis is the author’s argument.
  2. Expository essay: observes multiple angles of a problem in a neutral way; uses the third person to express opinions and provide info; is always objective; thesis refers to the topic.

Before getting started, mind that you need a profound study that would provide you with a dozen or more fields to discuss in your writing. Usually, it takes 500 words to compose an expository essay, and it’s better to stick to that limit. Mix the most common problems related to a specific field, along with the recent news on the topic. In-person interviews, polls, reviews, news, social media, scholarly articles, research papers, memos, reports – numerous sources exist that will help you with your research.

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  • Quick and safe delivery
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