The Expository Essay

What is an expository essay?

An expository essay explains, about the topic.

Expository essays use facts and statistical information, cause and effect relationships, or examples.

What s an expository essay?

Since expository essays are factual, they are written without emotion and usually written in the third person. That means that the use of the pronoun "I" is not usually found within the essay.

Patterns of Organization

ChronologicalCause/effectCompare/ContrastProblem/SolutionDescriptionProcess Order

Elements of and Effective Expository Essay

The essay has a controlling idea- thesis statement This is a statement that controls what to include in

the essay. This is usually found in the introduction There are no set number for paragraphs Captures the reader with a STRONG lead Remains objective… can not be biased A definite pattern for organization Transition words are used to move ideas from one to

another

Elements cont.

Uses vivid words and interesting vocabulary to engage the reader

Uses Rhetorical Schemes ….(See Slide 9) Uses a variety of sentence forms Uses comparisons to build images for the reader All paragraphs support the controlling idea/thesis Individual Paragraphs are supported with factual information

Paraphrases Text evidence in the form of TLQ (transition, lead-in, quote) Narrative anecdotes that help explain the idea

Expository essays also have a distinct format.

The main idea (thesis statement) must be narrow enough to be supported by everything in the essay.

Each paragraph must have a topic sentence and all other sentences must relate directly to it.

Transition words or phrases are important as they help the flow and reinforce the logic.

Format (cont’d)

Finally, the conclusion paragraph should originally restate the main idea (thesis) and the main supporting ideas. Finish with the a statement that reinforces your position in a meaningful and memorable way.

Never introduce new material in the conclusion. This should highlight the most important pieces of the essay

Leaves the reader with a final though (Rhetorical Question)

Schemes of Rhetoric

Anaphora….Definition: The repetition of a sequence of words in neighboring clauses. Example- “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in

camp….Never Shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children.” (Elie Weisel, Night)

Parallel Structure: the repetition of a chosen grammatical form. Example- “John Taylor Gatto criticizes public schools because they

require students to attend, receive money from the government, and destroy students humanity.” (Evergreen Writing Center)

Paraphrase verses Plagiarism

Paraphrase A rewording of a text or passage. A restatement of text or passage in a new form.

Plagiarism The act of using someone else’s words without giving

credit to the author Largely keeping the authors words and sentence structure,

and only changing a few words.

Expository Prompt

Writing Situation: Tragedy affects many people.

What is a tragedy you recall? How did it affect the people involved?

Directions for Writing: Now explain in an essay a tragedy you recall (personal experience, or you heard about it, read about it, or saw something about it). Discuss the affects of this tragedy with examples and details.

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

Topic sentence or thesis statement (will become basis for introductory paragraph)

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

THESIS STATEMENT:The tragedy that affected many people was Hurricane Katrina.

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

Conclusion: (Complete sentence) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast directly and caused a lot of damage.

Transition Word:In the begin-ning,

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

THESIS STATEMENT: :The tragedy that affected many people was Hurricane Katrina.

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

Conclusion: (Complete sentence) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Storm winds destroyed buildings and uprooted trees.The storm surge flooded the coast for several miles inland.Some people died, and many others were injured.

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

THESIS STATEMENT:The tragedy that affected many people was Hurricane Katrina.

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

Conclusion: (Complete sentence) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast directly and caused a lot of damage.

Transition Word: In the begin-ning,

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm also affected New Orleans in many ways.

Transition Word:However,

Storm winds destroyed buildings and uprooted trees.The storm surge flooded the coast for several miles inland.Some people died, and many others were injured.

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

THESIS STATEMENT:The tragedy that affected many people was Hurricane Katrina.

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

Conclusion: (Complete sentence) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast directly and caused a lot of damage.

Transition Word:In the begin-ning,

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm also affected New Orleans in many ways.

Transition Word:However,

Storm winds destroyed buildings and uprooted trees.The storm surge flooded the coast for several miles inland.Some people died, and many others were injured.

THESIS STATEMENT:The tragedy that affected many people was Hurricane Katrina.

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

Conclusion: (Complete sentence) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast directly and caused a lot of damage.

Transition Word:In the begin-ning,

The city was flooded with several feet of water from the storm surge.Since the city rests below sea level, that lead to more flooding.The worst happened when the levies broke, leading to tremendous flooding from Lake Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River.

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm affected the people in these areas deeply.

Transition Word:Finally,

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm also affected New Orleans in many ways.

Transition Word:However,

Storm winds destroyed buildings and uprooted trees.The storm surge flooded the coast for several miles inland.Some people died, and many others were injured.

THESIS STATEMENT: The tragedy that affected many people was Hurricane Katrina.

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

Conclusion: (Complete sentence) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast directly and caused a lot of damage.

Transition Word:In the begin-ning,

The city was flooded with several feet of water from the storm surge.Since the city rests below sea level, that lead to more flooding.The worst happened when the levies broke, leading to tremendous flooding from Lake Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm affected the people in these areas deeply.

Transition Word:Finally,

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm also affected New Orleans in many ways.

Transition Word:However,

Storm winds destroyed buildings and uprooted trees.The storm surge flooded the coast for several miles inland.Some people died, and many others were injured.

THESIS STATEMENT: :The tragedy that affected many people was Hurricane Katrina.

Many of them were left homeless.Many of them lost family members.Some people had to make new lives in different cities.

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

Conclusion: (Complete sentence) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transition Word:

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast directly and caused a lot of damage.

Transition Word:In the begin-ning,

The city was flooded with several feet of water from the storm surge.Since the city rests below sea level, that lead to more flooding.The worst happened when the levies broke, leading to tremendous flooding from Lake Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River.

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm affected the people in these areas deeply.

Transition Word:Finally,

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm also affected New Orleans in many ways.

Transition Word:However,

Storm winds destroyed buildings and uprooted trees.The storm surge flooded the coast for several miles inland.Some people died, and many others were injured.

THESIS STATEMENT: :The tragedy that affected many people was Hurricane Katrina.

Many of them were left homeless.Many of them lost family members.Some people had to make new lives in different cities.

__________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________

Conclusion:Hurricane Katrina was a storm few will forget.

Transition Word:As a result,

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast directly and caused a lot of damage.

Transition Word:In the begin-ning,

The city was flooded with several feet of water from the storm surge.Since the city rests below sea level, that lead to more flooding.The worst happened when the levies broke, leading to tremendous flooding from Lake Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River.

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm affected the people in these areas deeply.

Transition Word:Finally,

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm also affected New Orleans in many ways.

Transition Word:However,

Storm winds destroyed buildings and uprooted trees.The storm surge flooded the coast for several miles inland.Some people died, and many others were injured.

THESIS STATEMENT: :The tragedy that affected many people was Hurricane Katrina.

Many of them were left homeless.Many of them lost family members.Some people had to make new lives in different cities.

People in Mississippi will recall the many towns destroyed.People in New Orleans will remember the floods after the levies broke.Six years later, many people still are trying to rebuild their lives.

Conclusion:Hurricane Katrina was a storm few will forget.

Transition Word:As a result,

Supporting reason or idea 1: (Complete Sentence)

The storm struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast directly and caused a lot of damage.

Transition Word:In the begin-ning,

The city was flooded with several feet of water from the storm surge.Since the city rests below sea level, that lead to more flooding.The worst happened when the levies broke, leading to tremendous flooding from Lake Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River.

Developing the introductory paragraph.

Use a HOOK to engage the reader:The Hook (PowerPoint  Download)

August 29 started out as a normal day, with a storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. But by the end of the day, this storm, named Katrina, would leave massive destruction in its wake.

THESIS STATEMENT:

The tragedy that affected many people was Hurricane Katrina.

The concluding paragraph

The concluding paragraph:Restates the main idea or thesisSummarizes the supporting

ideasEnds with a punch!

The concluding paragraph

As a result of all the damage and lives lost, Hurricane Katrina has become storm few can forget. People in Mississippi will recall the many towns destroyed. People in New Orleans will remember the floods after the levies broke. Six years later, many people still are trying to rebuild their lives.

Expository Essay Graphic Organizer

Utilize the four square graphic organizer template to develop an expository essay.

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Graphic Organizer

Expository Essay Resources

The Expository EssayExpository Writing PromptsExpository EssayTN Writing Prompts Transition Words