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Expository Essay Writing

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While many inexperienced students are browsing nervously asking "What is an expository essay?", every essay writer knows that this kind of essays essay is the easiest one to deal with. In this case, the key to writing it lies in the very expository essay definition.

What is the Main difference Between an Expository Essay and Other Essay Types

The peculiarity that makes this kind of essay stand out is that you don't have to prove anything or appeal to anybody's feelings. As opposed to a descriptive essay, for example, an expository one doesn't require you to create any images in your reader's mind. Readers don't have to be stunned or forced to follow your ideas (like in the case of a persuasive essay); they just have to be informed about the topic under your consideration.

The topics of other essay types can be touching or disputable. The only two features expository essay topics have are to be interesting and, which is of the most importance, unquestionable. However, this is not that easy to achieve. Here, we have collected the tips on how to write an expository essay and how to choose the best expository essay topics.

Defining An Expository Essay

The fact that the hardest part of writing this kind of essays is picking a topic can't be taken for granted if you lack the basic information about this type of essay. So, what is an expository essay? We can define expository essay as a five-paragraph writing in which you have to explain something to the reader. Mind that this is the most objective type of essay. Ideally, it mustn't contain anything personal: no judgments, no subjective perception, no appealing to senses (as we all add some dimension to what we see, hear, taste, or smell), no opinions at all.

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In reality, though, this is not quite possible. If you describe any aspect of the WWII, which is one of the most common expository essay examples, you should be aware that people of different nations treat some of its events differently. Not oppositely, just differently. If you study at a college in your home country, your perception will likely coincide with that of the majority of your teachers and fellow students. On the other hand, if you study abroad, something that doesn't seem controversial to you may be seen by your audience from a different angle. Now, when you know how to define expository essay, you can consider some aspects of its structure.

The Structure of an Expository Essay

Like the majority of other types, these essays have one paragraph for the introduction, three paragraphs for the main body, and one for the conclusion. Here is what these parts have to include.

Expository Essay Introduction

The introduction requires a sentence that will grab the reader's attention. You will tell about things that are clear to your readers and that they have probably known before. That is why the hook is necessary. First, it will not allow your readers to get bored from the very beginning. And, secondly, it will make them read your essay to the end. The introduction also contains a precise thesis statement.

The Main Body

You have to start each of your body paragraphs with a topic sentence. This is a tailored version of the main idea of the paragraph you indicate in the expository essay outline. The second and the third topic sentences may be preceded by a transition sentence which will be the last ones in the previous paragraphs. After all, your essay has to be a coherent piece of writing, so a smooth transition is sometimes obligatory.

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The Conclusion of the Expository Essay

One can state that a concluding paragraph is the most important part of an essay. This is the final chance to produce an impression on your reader. There are several ways to conclude an expository essay. Drawing a conclusion and restating your thesis is the most beneficial one. However, you can use a rhetorical question or a call to action as well.

Outlining an Expository Essay

An expository essay definition and structure give an idea on how to create expository essay outline. Although the majority of students are aware of the importance of outlining an essay, many keep neglecting this stage of preliminary work. However, your essay needs a proper outline most of all. It can be explained by the fact that, in this essay, the arguments have to be very straightforward and there is no opportunity for an essay writer to ramble on them. Let"s presume that you have picked teen cigarette smoking as your topic. Here is how you write an outline for these essays:


The Hook: Today, only about 10% of teens smoke cigarettes, which is the lowest level registered in two decades.

Thesis Statement: The increasing number of teens understand the negative consequences of cigarette smoking.

The Main Body

Paragraph #1 Although there are fewer and fewer teens who smoke, we still need to raise awareness.
Paragraph #2 The negative consequences of smoking for teens include social issues, financial issues, legal issues, the impact on one"s health.

Paragraph #3 The most effective ways to inform teens about the consequence should be found.


Rephrasing the statement: Our society has made a significant step towards the overall healthy lifestyle, which made it possible to reduce smoking among teenagers.

Rhetorical Question: Can"t we convey the idea that smoking is an atavism we don"t need in the modern world?

Choosing the Best Topic for an Expository Essay

It is quite easy to understand how to write an expository essay. Now, let"s turn to the essence of your writing - choosing a topic for your essay.

The first stage is to choose a general topic. Sometimes, the teacher will assign it to the whole class. What you have to do is to reveal one of the aspects of this topic. The general topics may be summed up in History, Social Issues, Technology, etc. Or they can, in these cases, be narrowed down to definite periods in the history of different countries, parenting, teenage problems, social inequality, robotics technology, nano-technologies, and other topics for expository essay examples.

As mentioned above, topics for these essays have to dwell the discussion to almost nothing. In other words, your readers are to agree with every word in your essay. So, you need to think twice how to word your topic.

As an example, if you want to write about the education in the US, there are different ways to put your topic:

A Bad Way: The American Educational System as an Iconic Pattern for the World

A Good Way #1: The History of American Educational System

A Good Way #2: Innovative Education as a Part of the American Educational System

The choice here shouldn't be based on any subjective opinions, even if you truly believe them to be true. Even the most profound scholars can find disadvantages of the educational system of any country, not to mention students who always want something better. That is why the first option is not the best one for this kind of essays. As for the second and the third expository essay topics, one can hardly take either of them in the wrong way. A historical retrospective is always beneficial for these essays. All you need is reliable facts from credible sources. When you describe a single aspect of the whole (here - innovative education), you may describe it objectively too, but only if you don't try to make your own judgments.

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