What is an Expository Essay? Your Complete Writing Guide
Exposition means “a detailed, comprehensive description” or “an explanation of an idea or theory.” Knowing this, it’s relatively easy to say what an expository essay is meant to be and what it’s meant to do: it’s a piece of writing that describes or explains a topic in detail so that the audience can understand it.
Differences Between Expository and Argumentative Essays
Expository essays are similar to argumentative essays in that they’re both designed to provide the reader with a strong factual knowledge base for a topic. The difference between the two formats is that while an argumentative essay by nature must be attempting to sway the audience’s opinion in favor of a particular viewpoint or end goal, an expository essay may simply be presenting the facts without bias or a particular goal outside of education.
Types of Expository Essays
There are five main types of expository essays, broken down by how they present information about a particular topic. Each one is useful for a different kind of exposition and can be used in different scenarios, though there is some overlap.
Cause and Effect
Cause and effect essays seek to examine a particular occurrence and its consequences or influences. To put that more simply, a cause-and-effect essay looks at something that happened and either explains the causes of the event or the effect that the event had on its environment or historical period.
For example, say you are writing a cause-and-effect expository essay covering the Chornobyl disaster. Treating the disaster as the cause, you might talk about the size of the affected area of fallout and what the released radiation and fire did to the environment. Treating the disaster as the effect, you might talk about the test that was occurring when the disaster happened and what went wrong with it to cause the meltdown.
Compare and Contrast
Compare and contrast essays take two subjects and highlight their similarities and differences. They’re typically used to debate two sides of a problem or idea, solutions to a potential problem, people, events, or objects. These essays don’t make an argument for or against either subject; they simply present the facts as they stand.
As an example, you might write a compare and contrast expository essay about the latest iPhone and Google Pixel. You could explore the features that they share – such as their smart assistant features, app availability, and USB-C charging ports – and the features that make them unique – such as the iPhone’s iMessage system and Airdrop feature and the Pixel’s no-cutout display and Magic Eraser function.
Descriptive
Descriptive essays seek to thoroughly detail a particular subject, painting a comprehensive picture of what it is, its history, and its purpose. These generally tend to cover single people, places, events, time periods, objects, or experiences. They’re relatively straightforward.
You might write a descriptive essay about the English monarch Henry VIII. You could begin by explaining how he came to power (being born to King Henry VII, taking over when he died in 1509), his accomplishments on the throne, the infamous situation of his six wives, how and when he died, and who succeeded him. The general thesis of the essay might be his impact on English politics and culture.
Problem and Solution
Problem and solution essays are the closest to argumentative essays in that they discuss a particular issue, but they differ in that they explain all the possible solutions to the issue. These are good for complicated political and cultural issues and interpretations of texts.
You could write a problem and solution essay about the issue of alcohol addiction. You might explain what it is and how it happens, then discuss various solutions to addiction including cold-turkey quits, therapeutic addiction recovery programs, and medical rehabilitation.
Process
Process (or “how to”) essays do exactly what the title implies – they explain how to perform a specific task or accomplish a specific goal. They typically detail the steps in the process and what the result should be.
You might consider this article a process essay for how to write an expository essay!
How to Write an Expository Essay
According to Purdue University, a student writing an expository essay should be composed of a clear thesis statement, strong support for this statement in the form of logical evidence, and a conclusion that readdresses the thesis with the context of the support and offers the reader something to think about.
It’s generally a good idea to spend time pre-writing essays. Pre-writing includes brainstorming about your topic, then researching based on the ideas you noted as important. You can then take that research and organize it into specific subtopics and a thesis idea. The subtopics then become the outline of your essay; you should restructure them to make the most logical sense from a narrative perspective.
Once you have your research and outline, flesh out your thesis statement. It should explain the core idea of the essay – “X thing caused Y effects,” “X and Y are similar in this key way and different in this key way,” “X thing is defined as Y,” “X problem can be solved by doing Y,” “This is how you do X thing,” etc. From there, you can write your body paragraphs to support that thesis with the logical presentation of facts.
After you have your body paragraphs and know what information you’re working with, you can finally write your introduction and conclusion. Your introduction should give your reader a reason to keep reading – often called a “hook” – and your conclusion should explain why what they read should matter to them.
Consider using the following template for expository essays.
- Paragraph 1 – What are we talking about, and what makes it interesting?
- Paragraph 2 – Context about the topic’s history or cultural significance OR the first in a list of chronologically-equal points (i.e., points that can go in any order)
- Paragraph 3 – The topic’s main details or series of events OR the next in the chronologically-equal list
- Paragraph 4 – Your final and most important point about the topic
- Paragraph 5 – Why does this topic matter to your audience, and (if applicable), what can they do about it?
While this works for a standard five-paragraph academic essay, you may have more than three points to make in the body paragraphs, so add in paragraphs as needed and logically appropriate.
