How To Write A Expository Essay Outline, Topics, Examples and Step-By-Step Guide

How To Write A Expository Essay: Outline, Topics, Examples and Step-By-Step Guide Chances are you have already had an assignment which required a report on a given subject. That means you were writing an expository essay, a common type of writing style that many professors and teachers assign to their students. How to improve writing skills and get a better grade next time? This guide will help you out. Definition An expository essay is a writing style wherein an author exposes or informs readers about a series of events, idea, book, historical event, or some other subject. The main purpose of this essay is to explain a topic in a precise, straightforward, and logical manner. The expository essay requires a great deal of research in order to provide a deep insight into the topic. Unlike some other types of an essay, a writer doesn’t need to take sides and develop an argument. Writing style should be in the third person and unbiased. Benefits of writing an expository essay Every school assignment has its own unique purpose and an expository essay is not the exception. No, the purpose of this essay isn’t a lecturer’s desire to have you glued to the subject they teach, but to help you develop and improve some valuable skills. Below, you can see the most important benefits or skills you can gain with expository essays: Research – expository essay is all about research. The more you do it, the better your skills are. You’ll need research skills throughout your life. Expository essay teaches you how and where to look things up for maximum results Critical thinking – while the expository essay involves an unbiased approach to the subject, you still need your critical thinking skills in order to approach the subject from different angles Reporting – the expository essay is like a huge report, but it is still necessary to be concise and present facts in a coherent and easy-to-follow manner. As your skills improve, you’ll be more efficient in the way you express yourself in other aspects of your life Organizational skills – this type of paper revolves around the facts on a given subject, but they need to be represented in an organized manner. You can’t write them randomly because the essay would be cluttered and difficult to follow. Therefore, you need to organize your paper. Since practice makes perfect, you’ll notice soon that your organizational skills developed significantly Areas of interest Like many other essay types, the expository essay is versatile. You can write about anything you’d like, including: Education Family Health History Law Literature Movies Music Personal relationships Politics Religion Science Social media Taboo Wars Expository essay outline The outline is like a blueprint; its function is to act as a guide that you can use to build a house, or in this case an essay. Without the outline the risk of straying off the subject increases. It’s needless to mention you get confused due to a multitude of ideas that you don’t know where to place. Let’s take a look at the outline you should follow when writing an expository essay: Introduction – your opportunity to make a positive first impression. It should consist of the: Hook – the first sentence of the essay; it can include quote, statistics, anecdote, or anything else you find catchy Background info and context – a brief info about the topic itself Thesis statement – specifies the exact topic you’re going to write about, things you will analyze Body paragraphs the central part of the essay. The number of paragraphs isn’t specified, you can write as many as you need to thoroughly analyze the subject. In most cases, 3-5 paragraphs are enough. They should be written in the following manner: Topic 1 – fact 1 + evidence, fact 2 + evidence etc. – basically, each paragraph starts with a topic sentence that announces what aspect of the subject you’re going to discuss. Within the paragraph, you mention the facts you discovered while researching supported by evidence Topic 2 – fact 1 + evidence, fact 2 + evidence etc. Topic 3 – fact 1 + evidence, fact 2 + evidence etc. Conclusion – summary of the thesis, facts, and evidence. It also discusses the importance of the subject, raises more questions that make a reader think, and finishes with call-to-action Writing tips An expository essay is similar to working as an investigative journalist on some super important assignment. Your job is to investigate a topic thoroughly and report facts, regardless of your own opinion about them. In order to write a top-quality expository essay, follow these tips: Research topic thoroughly and try to learn more even though you may already be familiar with it Use evidence to support every claim or fact you include Use only reputable sources for evidence e.g. studies, official figures and announcements, journals, and other similar sources Avoid fabricating information just because you want to emphasize something Avoid showing how you feel about the topic Organize facts in a manner that will be easier to follow e.g. chronologically, based on priority etc. Use concise and clear language Prioritize quality over quantity; it’s not about how many facts you introduce, but how strong they are If the essay describes a process or activity, second person writing can be used too Vary sentence length throughout the paper to add more rhythm Avoid vague expressions, be precise