Expository Essay Outline All You Need to Know

Expository Essay Outline All You Need to Know Expository essays are a preferred assignment used for various exams, such as SATs and the like. Just as other approaches (or modes of discourse), i.e., Description, Narration and Argumentation, expository writing has its own set of rules that one should follow in writing. Even though often confused with research writing, expository writing does not require as much depth in research. However, it does have the purpose of presenting an idea and then supporting it with evidence. Here we will take a closer look at how to write an outline for expository essay and provide other useful information that will help students master this assignment. What is an expository essay? An expository essay is an academic piece designed to investigate a certain scientific idea and illustrate it with evidence. Different techniques can be used for such illustration, compare and contrast being one of the most frequently used. Others include definition, providing examples, etc. The key elements of an expository essay Even though a standalone genre, an expository essay does not differ that much from other types of academic writing. It includes all the main elements â€" a thesis statement, a three-part structure, a list of sources used, and clear transitions between paragraphs. The rules of thesis writing for expository essay The best practices of thesis writing apply to expository essays as well. A thesis that you choose for your essay should be: Narrow so that you could focus on a certain area and avoid scattering your efforts across multiple fields. The only limit here should be availability of information â€" if your thesis statement is too narrow, you won’t be able to find enough information to base your research on. Relevant, so that it matches the prompt that you have received to write the assignment. If you roam too far away from the topic, you risk lowering your grade. Up-to-date for applicable fields. This rule does not apply if you are writing an expository essay in, say, history, but it should apply for all the sciences that deal with urgent issues, such as sociology. Succinct to be put in a single sentence. Debatable, which means opposing points of view should exist and they should not be in absolute minority. It’s absolutely normal to go through several iterations of your thesis statement before you reach the one that will be used in the paper. How to write introduction for expository essay Your thesis statement, as is the case with other papers, will be presented in the first part of your paper â€" the introduction. There are a few things that you should keep in mind when writing this chapter: It is better to write the introduction after you write all the other chapters, because then you will have a better idea of what should be included in it. The thesis statement comes around the end of the first paragraph of your introduction. Prepare the reader to your thesis statement â€" don’t assault them from the very beginning. Use attention hooks that will make sure your reader becomes interested in what you have to say and continues reading. The most frequently used attention hooks are quotations, statistics, and anecdotes. How to write the body for expository essay Body paragraphs in your expository essay should provide evidential support for your thesis statement. In writing them, stick to these best practices: Reserve each paragraph for each argument. The number of paragraphs in your body should indicate the number of arguments you have. Start every paragraph with a summarizing sentence. In other words, the evidential support should be presented in a summarized way in the first sentence with the rest of the paragraph reserved for elaborations and details. It helps to make your writing more comprehensible for readers. Every paragraph should be like a small article of its own. Ideally, it should be possible to change the sequence of paragraphs without losing much sense. Provide transitions between paragraphs so that the reader could understand how one idea arises from another one. Don’t be afraid to add a little bit of creativity to your body paragraphs so that your readers are entertained at least a bit. How to write a conclusion for an expository essay The conclusion chapter is one of the most difficult ones because students often simply reiterate what they have already said in the main part or, which is even worse, repeat their thesis statement. What should be done, however, is revisiting the thesis statement in view of the arguments provided in the body paragraphs. Best practices for conclusion writing include: Do not introduce any new information in your conclusion â€" it should elaborate on what has already been said. Do not restate your thesis statement. Map possible areas for further research. Write the conclusion after you wrote other chapters. Outline template for expository essay If you are struggling with an outline for your expository essay, here is a template to use: Introduction (1 page, a thesis statement is in the first paragraph) Body paragraph 1 â€" Evidential support summarized in the first sentence + details Body paragraph 2 Evidential support summarized in the first sentence + details Body paragraph 3 Evidential support summarized in the first sentence + details Conclusion â€" revisiting the body paragraphs and the thesis statement on their basis. This, of course, is the simplest expository essay outline that you could possible use. However, even with additional paragraphs and details, the fundamental structure will remain the same. So if you want to elaborate, take this as your starting point and build on it. General recommendations about writing an expository essay Here is some general advice on how you can simplify the writing process: Always review the assignment several times before you even start writing. It is all too often that students realize they have been answering the wrong question when there is almost no time left. Read it twice, then put it aside, and then read once again. Ask for a consult if needed. Always plan your time. As any other paper, an expository essay will require you to research sources, outline, draft, and edit. It all takes a lot of time and so should not be taken lightly. Spend half an hour planning and you might as well save hours of time and spare yourself lots of worrying. Ask a different person for review if possible. It is easy to miss the mistakes that you have made if you are proofreading by yourself. A different person has higher chances of spotting grammar mistakes, typos, and even logical flaws. Edit ruthlessly. The best kind of content, academic or otherwise, is born out of ruthless and extensive editing. If parts of your writing don’t fit the general writing, then you should drop them without mercy. Additional paragraphs of text, even nicely written and elaborately inserted, usually clutter your paper and prevent readers from understanding fully what you are trying to say. If something seems out of place, good chances are it is out of place. In general, writing an expository essay is not that difficult â€" you just need to get organized, plan your efforts, and not shy off research and hard work. With all those components, the result might be even better than you could expect.