In this lesson,
you'll learn how to write an expository essay that explains how to
do something.
What is Expository
Writing?
Expository writing
involves explaining concepts and ideas to others who may not be familiar
with them. Writing to explain, or exposition, is very much
like teaching someone. To explain, or expose, a subject requires that
you know why and how something is or is not.
There are two basic types of exposition. One addresses
the question of how to do something, often called a process
paper. The other type addresses the questions of why and why
not. This lesson will address the first type of essay that explains
how to. To learn more about the second type of exposition—the
why paper—see "Exposition: Explaining
Why."
Expository essays
are among the most frequently assigned types of writing for college
courses. Because you'll write expository essays often, it's helpful
to review some of the most important principles for this kind of writing.
However, you'll
also find exposition useful in the work world outside of school. Memos
in the office, "how-to" manuals in the shop, procedure papers at the
factory—someone who knows the subject has to write them all,
and often that person will be you. Promotions and increased responsibilities
at work can come from knowing how to explain information to your co-workers
that they need.
Audience and
Purpose
When your audience
is a teacher who has assigned the essay and if the assignment is based
on your class work, there is a good chance that s/he knows a great
deal about the subject. In that case, the purpose of your essay
is to test your knowledge and ability to express the ideas clearly.
However, when your audience is your classmates or a group not directly
involved in your writing situation, you must analyze the audience
to consider how much they might know about your subject. If they know
very little, or if you are presenting the material in a new way for
them, then your purpose in writing the essay is to teach
the audience something. See "How the Audience
Affects the Purpose for Writing" and "Analyzing
the Audience."
Explaining
How: The Process Approach
How does
an airplane fly?
How do college
admissions specialists decide which students to accept and which
to reject?
What is the
process of learning how to swim the front crawl stroke?
These are the
kinds of questions that require explanations of processes.
Addressing these
process-based questions requires several steps from you as writer:
Know What
You're Trying to Explain
It might seem to go without saying, but you must know something
yourself before you can explain it others. Before you begin to write,
think about the process that you're going to explain. Make a thorough
list of the steps in the process or procedure from beginning to
end. Once you are comfortable that you thoroughly understand the
process, you'll be ready to explain it to your audience.
Know Who
Your Audience Is and What They Know
In addition to knowing yourself, you must also know your audience.
What are they likely to know about your subject and what do they
probably need to learn? Even if your audience is already somewhat
familiar with your subject, you may need to review the basics; written
procedures are passed around to many different people, even those
who you never suspected would read them. As the writer, it's your
job to strike a balance and meet your listeners at the level of
their understanding.
For example,
take the first question from above: How does an airplane fly?
For this question, you'll need to determine just how deep your
explanation should be about the processes of aerodynamics. For
that knowledge, you'll need to understand your purpose for writing
(Is it a test of knowledge and writing skill? A procedural manual?)
and for whom you are writing this explanation.
Formulate
Your Thesis
Begin your exposition with a clear thesis or statement of what you'll
be explaining to the audience. Your reader will become very confused
if s/he gets halfway through your essay or memo and doesn't know
what process or procedure you're explaining. For example, look at
the second question from above: How do college admissions specialists
decide which students to accept and which to reject? Answering
a "how" question such as this suggests a need for a step-by-step
process. Your thesis can reflect that process: "College admissions
specialists go through a multi-step process to determine which students
they will accept or reject for their college."
Exercise
In the
text box below, write two draft thesis sentences for the question:
"What is the process of learning how to swim the front crawl
stroke?" Then, click on "Compare" to see our response.
Develop
your thesis by breaking the process into steps
No matter what process you decide to teach, the nature of expository
writing is to break down the process to manageable, explainable
steps. For example, the essay that develops from our first sample
thesis will require explaining five specific steps to learning the
front crawl stroke: "Learning the front crawl stroke is a five-step
process." These five steps each can be handled in one paragraph
for a more basic explanation or in five sections for a more detailed
explanation of the process.
From the
second thesis, "Learning the front crawl stroke requires coordination,
practice, and knowledge of specific body movements," three
sections of the process suggest themselves: coordination (talk
about muscles and kinesthetic movement), practice (the efforts
that learners must put out), and knowledge (specific steps or
body movements). The essay would have at least these three sections
and each may need to be developed to differing degrees of detail.
The final section about knowledge of body movement might be as
long as the first essay described in the paragraph above!
Let your
thesis guide your essay's organization.
Just as your thesis can guide your development of reasons and sense
of paragraphing for the essay, it can guide your organization of
your reasons. You can look at the reasons offered in the following
thesis sentence and see that an organizational pattern already is
suggested for you: "College admissions specialists go through
a multi-step process to determine which students they will accept
or reject for their college." The multi-step process that college
admissions specialists experience probably does not vary much from
student to student, leading to an organization of chronological
(or time) order.
Exercise
Return
for a moment to the thesis sentences that you wrote in the exercise
above. Do your thesis sentences indicate the steps of the process
that you'll need to explain in your essay? Do they assist you
in planning the essay's organization? In the textbox below,
copy one of your thesis sentences and list the steps of the
process in the order that you think they should be presented.
How long do you think your essay will need to be to explain
these steps?
Write an
interesting introduction and a summarizing conclusion. As with
most writing, academic or otherwise, readers require some introduction
to a subject—why it is important, interesting, or relatively
unknown. Your introduction actually tells readers why they should
read further. Likewise, especially in an exposition, your conclusion
serves an important function of summarizing and restating the reasons
provided in your explanation. In essays that "teach," the general
rule is to tell the readers what you are going to talk about (introduction),
talk about it (body paragraphs), and then tell them what you talked
about (conclusion).
Use concrete
language.
Use language that will convey your ideas clearly. Readers who are
learning from your essay want to concentrate on what you're teaching,
not on figuring out the meaning of your words. Be specific and include
all necessary details. Use as many examples as necessary to explain
the process clearly. In this kind of essay, sometimes graphics or
other drawings can be very helpful to readers. A word of caution,
though—don't go to the other extreme of including unnecessary
details! Unrelated or irrelevant information can be as confusing
to the reader as too little information.
Use Transition
Words When you explain, or teach, a process, your organization
is important. To support the order of the process' steps, use transition
words and phrases to let your audience know when you're taking them
to the next step. Transitions are like little bridges that carry
the reader from one idea to another. If you don't use transitions,
readers will become confused and lose focus. Some common transition
words and phrases are:
afterwards
during
later
finally
next
previously
simultaneously
immediately
before
then
last
eventually
at the
same time.
Check any writing
handbook for a more complete list.
Review
the first draft for a new thesis.
An interesting occurrence in essay writing is that sometimes you
will start a draft with what you believe is your thesis and then,
during the writing process, you will discover a stronger or more
clear thesis. Look at your final body paragraphs and the conclusion
to see whether you actually want to say something new or different.
If this has happened, congratulate yourself! It means that by engaging
in the writing process, you have let your thinking develop and grow
to a new level. To address the new thesis, cut and paste it to your
introduction paragraph and revise each paragraph to support the
reasons and new main points suggested by that thesis.
Summary
You'll use expository writing to explain processes many times during
your college and professional careers. By following these principles,
you can prepare yourself for writing successful and helpful explanations.
