expository essay writing workshop

Expository Essay

Writing Workshop

Sample PromptRead the following paragraph: In the 1980 Boston Marathon, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line. She was declared the winner among the female runners. Later, when it was discovered that Ruiz had run only the last half mile of the race, the title was taken away from Ruiz and given to the first woman who had actually run the full 26.2 miles.

Think carefully about the following statement: Sometimes people are so focused on winning that they disobey the rules for their own personal gain.

Write an essay explaining whether it is ever okay to break the rules to get what you want.

Be sure to: clearly state your controlling idea Develop your idea effectively Use appropriate organization.

Lesson One: Termso Controlling Idea- Your answer to the prompto Reason- Answers because… Supports your

controlling ideao Clarification Statement- An explanation of your

reason. Tell what you mean. o Example-Evidence/Logos. Show what you mean. o Hook- Grabbing the reader’s attention. o Global Statement- So what? o Transition Words/Phrases- Phrases that connect one

idea to another.

Lesson Two Steps to writing a successful Expository Essay1. Analyze and Annotate the Prompt2. Brainstorm using the Brace Map3. Organize & Expand Ideas in a Flow Map4. Write your Rough Draft5. Revise and Edit6. Write your Final Draft

Read the following paragraph: In the 1980 Boston Marathon, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line. She was declared the winner among the female runners. Later, when it was discovered that Ruiz had run only the last half mile of the race, the title was taken away from Ruiz and given to the first woman who had actually run the full 26.2 miles.



Be sure to: clearly state your controlling idea- Write your position. Develop your idea effectively Use appropriate organization.

Step #1: Analyze the Prompt

Whether = Pick a Side/Subjective Tone

Why= Informative/Objective Tone

Reason 1

Controlling Idea Reason 2

Reason 3

Example 2

Example 2

Example 2

Brace Map

Example 1

Example 1

Example 1

Step

2: B

rain

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m

Brac

e M

ap

Reason 3Reason 1 Reason 2

Controlling Idea/ ThesisHook

Clarification Statement

Clarification Statement

Clarification Statement Example Example Example

Transition TransitionTransition

Purpose/Life Statement-BIG So what?Echo the hook

Paraphrase Controlling Idea/Thesis

Step 3- Expand & Organize Ideas

QUIZ over Terms, Steps, Maps

Be able to:

1. define all of the terms covered in our lesson.

2. list the six steps you will take to writing a successful expository essay.

3. recreate the maps and label all the parts of the maps.

Lesson Three: Global vs. Specific

In order to fully develop your explanations, you must start with a broad idea or a global statement.

Then you can explain yourself more thoroughly and TELL your reader exactly what you mean.

Finally, you can SHOW your readers what you mean using a specific example.

Think of this process as a funnel, moving from broad to more narrow/specific.

Global vs. Specific GLOBAL REASONS SPECIFIC EXAMPLES

DEFINITION: Big ideas that would allow extensive elaboration

A detailed example

EXAMPLE: Breaking rules reveals weakness and compromise.

After using performance enhancing drugs, baseball player Mark McGwire apologized for dishonoring himself, his organization and his fans.

EXAMPLE: Disobeying authority is disrespectful.

After the students disregarded their teacher’s expectations and ran through the halls, the principal lectured them on the importance of being respectful.

EXAMPLE: Breaking the rules is unethical.

After repeatedly leaving lying to his boss, George Stanton was fired for unethical behavior.

EXAMPLE: Breaking the rules might be necessary the greater good.

In the book, Counting by 7s, Willow’s counselor breaks the rules governing foster families to protect her from any further heartbreak.

Global Reasons

Did you notice that the global statement conveyed an important message, but did not use a specific person or situation or fact?Global reasons help you establish the bigger picture, the overall idea.

Global ReasonsYour turn! Practice coming up with some global reasons. Prompt: Explain why it is important to work hard. o Hard work is necessary to get through

difficult times.o Hard work builds character.o If you work hard, people will think highly of

you.o If you don’t work hard, you will fail.o Hard work will get you farther than

laziness.

Lesson Four: Clarification Statement

o To clarify means to say the same thing using different words.

o Clarification statements CLARIFY global reasons.

o Therefore, they usually follow immediately after the global reason.

o Clarification statements are NOT examples.

CLARIFICATION STATEMENTSGLOBAL REASONS CLARIFICATION STATEMENT

DEFINITION: Big ideas that would allow extensive elaboration

A statement that further explains the global reason in different diction.

EXAMPLE: Breaking rules reveals weakness and compromise.

In other words, those who choose to break rules do not have the personal strength and resolve to achieve success honorably.

EXAMPLE: Disobeying authority is disrespectful.

In other words, breaking the rules is an insolent, rude behavior.

EXAMPLE: Breaking the rules is unethical.

Despite knowing right from wrong, people still make conscious decisions to break the rules and act immorally.

EXAMPLE: Breaking the rules might be necessary the greater good.

In simpler terms, people might actually benefit from breaking the rules.

CLARIFICATION STATEMENTSREASON CLARIFICATION

STATEMENTEXAMPLE

Those who knowingly break rules ignore the expectations of their elders.

In other words, they disrespect their elders and overstep their boundaries.

For instance, underclassmen often take the 8th grade staircase to the second floor, despite being told many times that this path is off limits.

Breaking the rules reflects poorly on the individual and his or her family and school.

More specifically, it reveals one’s immaturity and lack of ethical values.

Cutting corners in a district track meet will not only cause a runner to be labeled a cheater, it would also disqualify the team and give the school a bad reputation.

CLARIFICATION STATEMENTSYour turn. With your elbow partner, write a clarification statement for each of the following global reasons.o Breaking the rules is dangerous and can

harm others.o Breaking the rules to gain what you want

in life can diminish the true sense of accomplishment.

o Breaking the rules is not showing respect to authorities.

CLARIFICATION STATEMENTSPotential Answers

REASON CLARIFICATIONSTATEMENT

YOUR CLARIFICATION

STATEMENTBreaking the rules is dangerous and can harm others.

This means that disobeying the rules can jeopardize someone's future.

Breaking the rules to gain what you want in life can diminish the true sense of accomplishment.

Success will not taste quite as sweet if you know that you had to breaking the rules to accomplish it.

Breaking the rules is not showing respect to authorities.

In other words, you are being imprudent if you knowingly disregard the expectations of those in charge.

Lesson Five: ExamplesYou may use the following as examples to elaborate your evidence.

• Personal experience• Books• Movies• History• Science• Current Events

Specific ExamplesWhen thinking of specific examples to prove your point, attempt to

1. Diversify. In other words, don’t use personal experience examples in both body paragraphs. Show that you are capable of using your vast knowledge of books, history, science, etc.

2. Use sophisticated examples when possible. Your knowledge of historical figures might be more impressive than your knowledge of cartoons.

3. Most importantly – Choose wisely. These examples must SHOW your readers what you mean and prove your point flawlessly.

Specific Exampleso You will brainstorm many different examples in your

BRACE MAP. This will allow you to explore all the potential paths you can take toward proving your point.

o However, you need to keep in mind that development of your thoughts and thorough explanation is KEY to success in expository writing.

o Therefore, you will evaluate these examples to determine which ideas will work best at proving your point and which ones allow for the best development. THEN you will narrow down to only one example per reason in your FLOW MAP.

Flow Map Plug your reasons, clarification statements, and examples into the flow map.

Breaking the rules is dangerous and can harm others.

Breaking the rules to gain what you want in life can diminish the true sense of accomplishment.

Breaking the rules is not showing respect to authorities.

Success will not taste quite as sweet if you know that you had to breaking the rules to accomplish it.

In other words, you are being impudent if you knowingly disregarding the expectations of those in charge.

This means that disobeying the rules can jeopardize someone's future.

For example, Lance Armstrong lost several cycling honors after he was caught having taken performance-enhancing drugs to help him win.

ONLY ONE example

ONLY ONE example

Lesson Six: Introductions Your introduction should have 3 main parts:

1. Hook/ Attention Getter

2. Bridge/ Connecting Statement (Somehow tie your hook to your thesis)

3. Thesis statement (state your opinion as a FACT)

Breaking the rules can harm your good reputation.

Breaking the rules is dangerous and can cause people to get hurt.

Breaking the rules is basically cheating, and that usually backfires and you’ll get caught

3 2 1

It’s all fun and games until someone gets caught. There are many times in life when a person could be faced with an opportunity to break the rules in order to get what they want. While breaking the rules can be tempting, it is just not the right thing to do.

Breaking the rules is dangerous and can cause people to get hurt.


Breaking the rules can harm your good reputation.

Introductions

Hook Strategies: SSQ – MD1. Surprising fact or statementEx: Not guns, not drugs, but cars are the main cause of teen deaths in this country.Ex: Technology is overrated.

2. Suspense: description of the topic that does not name it right away Ex: It has no taste. It has no smell. It is lighter than air. It is carbon monoxide.Ex: His head aching, his legs tired from pacing, he tries and tries to make a decision.

IntroductionsHook Strategies: SSQ – MD3. Quotation from a book, famous person, song, or movie Ex: Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The time is always right to do what’s right.”Ex: “You can’t always get what you want” is not just true in a song; it’s true in life.

4. Metaphor or simile (original comparison of 2 unlike things)Ex: Pursuing a dream is like running in a race with no finish line.

IntroductionsHook Strategies: SSQ – MD5. Dialogue “in medias res” (spoken words from the middle of an action scene)

Ex: “Candy, can you tell us the answer to number 12?”“Jus’ sec, Ms. Thomas – I’m on the phone.”

Ex: “Wait,” I called as my legs raced toward the yellow bus. “Wait for me!”

Lesson Seven: Memorable ConclusionsConsider using these elements to conclude your expository essay

1. Reworded Bridge/Connecting Statement2. Reworded Thesis3. A Memorable Conclusion Strategy

Strategies for Memorable ConclusionsThe conclusion paragraph is your opportunity to wrap up the essay cohesively. They are not that easy to write, especially if you feel like you’ve said everything that needs saying. Here are a few strategies that can help make your conclusion MEMORABLE.

STRATEGY #1:Dramatic Sentence: A one word sentence or a sentence fragment used purposefully for effect.

Ex. Big trouble.

Strategies for Memorable Conclusions

STRATEGY #2:Parallel Sentences or parallel elements: An anaphora (repetition of the beginning clauses or phrases) is a great syntactical technique to use in conclusions.

Ex. He was slogging through the mud. Slogging through the dull ache from the goose egg growing on his head. Slogging through the confusion of what made his car veer off the road.

Strategies for Memorable ConclusionsSTRATEGY #3:Come Full-Circle from your Introduction: If you used a quote in your intro, either reference it, or use a portion of it, or tweak it slightly for your conclusion. If you used a moment-by-moment scene, return to continue that scene. Connect to your intro in some meaningful way by repeating a dynamic word, structure, or image.

Ex. It is evident that year=round school is not the best option for students. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the traditional school year. Why change something that works so well? Let’s make sure this bell means “real” summer vacation has commenced.

Strategies for Memorable ConclusionsSTRATEGY #4:Make it Universal: Ask yourself, “So what?” Now that you’ve written your paper…

Why is any of this important? How does this have any importance in the world around us? Does this topic act as a warning for current and/or future generations?

You might need to take a little bit of time to free-write about this to generate some ideas before actually pulling your conclusion together.

Strategies for Memorable ConclusionsSTRATEGY #5:Call to Action/ Repercussions of Your Assertion: Consider the Cause and Effect of your topic. If people don’t ______________, then __________. Ex. People tend to focus on the here and now. However, once global warming is something most people can feel in the course of their daily lives, it will be too late to prevent much larger, potentially catastrophic changes.Ex. People, especially younger individuals, may not see the harm in bending the rules from time to time, but later in life, when the stakes are higher, the consequences could be far more dangerous. Unemployment. Jail. Maybe even death could result from unprincipled behavior.

Strategies for Memorable ConclusionsSTRATEGY #5:A Statement of the Essay’s Broader ImplicationsEx. Because these studies of feline leukemia may someday play a crucial role in the discovery of a cure for AIDS in human beings, the experiments, as expensive as they are, must continue.

STRATEGY #6: A Warning Based on the Essay’s ThesisEx. Understanding the politics that led to Hiroshima is essential for all Americans – indeed for all the world’s people. Without such knowledge, the frightful possibilities exist that somewhere, sometime, someone may drop the bomb again.

Conclusion So, even though we will all be faced with the opportunity to break the rules, probably on many different occasions, it simply isn’t worth it. Rules are there for a reason, and it is NEVER okay to break the rules just to get what you want. The world would be a better place if everyone followed the rules. Let’s do our part to make the world a place we are proud of.

THIS CONCLUSION INCLUDES:REWORDED BRIDGEREWORDED THESISSO WHAT STATEMENT

STUDENT PROCESS PAPER PROMPTREAD the following quotation.

True humor is fun—it does not put down, kid, or mock. It makes people feel wonderful, not separate, different, and cut off.—Hugh Prather

THINK carefully about the following question. Does humor make life better?

WRITE an essay explaining whether it is important to laugh.

Be sure to —• clearly state your controlling idea• organize and develop your explanation effectively• choose your words carefully• use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentences

Instructional Example

Whether = Pick a Side/Subjective Tone

Why= Informative/Objective Tone

Read the following paragraph: In the 1980 Boston Marathon, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line. She was declared the winner among the female runners. Later, when it was discovered that Ruiz had run only the last half mile of the race, the title was taken away from Ruiz and given to the first woman who had actually run the full 26.2 miles.



Be sure to: clearly state your controlling idea- Write your position. Develop your idea effectively Use appropriate organization.

Satisfaction of knowing you did it “the right way”

Treat others like you would want to be treated.

Breaking the rules is basically cheating, and that usually backfires and you’ll get caught.

“I can’t do this! It just isn’t right!” I thought to myself. There are many times in life when a person could be faced with an opportunity to break the rules in order to get what they want. Even though it might seem appealing, some reasons why breaking the rules isn’t a good idea are that breaking the rules is cheating and will backfire, people should treat others like they want to be treated, and there is a sense of satisfaction that comes in knowing you accomplished something “the right way”. It is never okay to break the rules to get what you want.

1. Breaking the rules is basically cheating, and cheating usually backfires. 2. If a person is caught cheating, whatever they have accomplished usually gets taken away, so this really isn’t worth it. 3. For example, Lance Armstrong lost several cycling honors after he was caught having taken performance-enhancing drugs to help him win. 4. If you’re caught cheating by breaking the rules, what accomplishments you could have achieved would be taken away, and all your hard work would be for nothing.

1. We should all treat others the way we would want to be treated. 2. It wouldn’t feel very good to know you were beaten out for something important to you by someone who cheated to win. 3. I have experienced this in my own life. I missed out on the top seller award when I sold Girl Scout cookies by a person whose mom sold all of theirs for them. I didn’t feel like that was fair, because she broke the rules and was rewarded for it.. 4. As in most important things in life, we should always treat others the way we would want to be treated, and hope everyone else follows the same philosophy.

1. If you follow the rules, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did it “the right way”. 2. You can take great pride in any of your accomplishments, knowing that you didn’t break any rules. 3. For example, in the book Tangerine by Edward Bloor, a character turns himself in for cheating, costing the whole team their season records and affecting many characters. 4. No one wants to have the heartache of having to give up accomplishments, because they broke the rules. We should all be able to take pride in our accomplishments, and if we follow the rules, that is possible.

So, even though we will all be faced with the opportunity to break the rules, probably on many different occasions, it simply isn’t worth it. Rules are there for a reason, and it is NEVER okay to break the rules just to get what you want. The world would be a better place if everyone followed the rules. Let’s do our part to make the world a place we are proud of.

Transitions

Add transitions for each body paragraph. Make sure they are meaningful. Do NOT use first, then, next or last!!

Satisfaction of knowing you did it “the right way”






1. If you follow the rules, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did it “the right way”. 2. You can take great pride in any of your accomplishments, knowing that you didn’t break any rules. 3. For example, in the book Tangerine by Edward Bloor, a character turns himself in for cheating, costing the whole team their season records and affecting many characters. 4. No one wants to have the heartache of having to give up accomplishments, because they broke the rules. We should all be able to take pride in our accomplishments, and if we follow the rules, that is possible.So, even though we will all be faced with the opportunity to break the rules, probably on

many different occasions, it simply isn’t worth it. Rules are there for a reason, and it is NEVER okay to break the rules just to get what you want. The world would be a better place if everyone followed the rules. Let’s do our part to make the world a place we are proud of.

My initial reason is

Furthermore, My most significant reason is

Ways to ElaborateExplain: Tell what you mean

This color is not right for you. I mean, you look dull as a dirty sock in beige. You should wear blue like your eyes.Exemplify. Give an exampleMy brother helps me out when I am in trouble.For example, yesterday I missed the bus and he drove me to school. I had a test first period and he didn’t want me to make a zero.

Elaborate Each reason will be its own

paragraph, and should have the following parts:1. Topic Sentence (Present your

piece of evidence clearly)2. Explanation3. Example4. Clincher/Transition Sentence (So

what? Why does this matter?)Satisfaction of knowing you did it “the right way”



3 2 1




1. If you follow the rules, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did it “the right way”. 2. You can take great pride in any of your accomplishments, knowing that you didn’t break any rules. 3. For example, in the book Tangerine by Edward Bloor, a character turns himself in for cheating, costing the whole team their season records and affecting many characters. 4. No one wants to have the heartache of having to give up accomplishments, because they broke the rules. We should all be able to take pride in our accomplishments, and if we follow the rules, that is possible.

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