expository writing

(noun)

Derived from the word "expose," expository writing seeks to expose, explain, describe, define, or inform.

Related Terms

Examples of expository writing in the following topics:

  • Getting Help Meeting College Writing Expectations

    • College-level writing obeys different rules, and learning them will help you hone your writing skills.
    • Academic writing can, at times, feel overwhelming.
    • Sunday: Write a final draft.
    • Subject: Expository Writing 101: Office hours on Tuesday              
    • I have a few questions about the next essay assignment for Expository Writing 101.

  • Introduction to the Writing Process

    • Learning to write is like following a recipe; there is room for creativity, but you need to know the basics.
    • Beginning writers often protest that imposing formal rules on writing contradicts the notion of writing as a creative art.
    • Approaching the process of writing the same way each time builds facility and ease into your writing.
    • Here, then, are the steps of the writing process: our "recipe" for good expository writing.
    • It's important to recognize that writing is a recursive process.

  • Paraphrasing

    • As you're writing your paper, you'll want to bring in evidence to support your claims.
    • You'll generally do this through paraphrasing and quoting what you've discovered in the research phase of your writing process.
    • Expository writing isn't about giving us other people's opinions—it's about giving us your own.
    • What you'll be doing, then, is writing what you think and weaving in evidence to support your thinking.

  • Transitions, Signal Phrases, and Pointing Words

    • In expository writing, each paragraph should articulate a single main idea that relates directly to the thesis statement. 
    • Using transitions will make your writing easier to understand by providing connections between paragraphs or between sentences within a paragraph.
    • By doing so, transitions help your writing feel like a unified whole.
    • "Jennifer Aaker of the Global Business School at Stanford University writes, in support of this idea, that ..."
    • Here are some common signal-phrase verbs: acknowledges, adds, admits, argues, asserts, believes, claims, confirms, contends, declares, denies, disputes, emphasizes, grants, implies, insists, notes, observes, points out, reasons, refutes, rejects, reports, responds, suggests, thinks, writes.

  • Step 2: Researching

    • Researching your subject is an important step in writing because it helps you narrow your focus.
    • The point of writing the paper is to explore your own thoughts about a topic. 
    • When you write expository essays, you hear a lot about primary and secondary research.
    • The student above, for example, may find so many comparisons in her reading to the women's suffrage movement that she becomes intrigued and writes an essay contrasting the ERA campaign with the campaign for women's suffrage.
    • You don't want to have to seek out every source again when you're writing your reference page.

  • Step 1: Prewriting and Choosing a Topic

    • When you have no idea what to write about, prewriting can help get ideas flowing.
    • And, yes, even in an expository composition, heart matters!
    • You're much more likely to write an interesting paper if you care about the topic.
    • Just keep writing as thoughts occur to you.
    • You begin by writing down a key word in the middle of a blank page.

  • Introduction to Writing in the Humanities

    • There is no single, all-encompassing type of writing in the humanities.
    • You might write a literary analysis of a novel, story, play, or poem; an analysis that explains how a written or visual text works to persuade a specific audience; an expository essay that shares personal experiences or explores ideas; a research paper investigating the history of a particular theoretical approach; or a persuasive article that works to convince a specific audience of your thesis.
    • Generally, however, writing in the humanities falls into one of three categories: research writing, interpretive/analytical writing, and creative writing.
    • As such, analytical writing focuses on the questions of "how?"
    • Theoretical writing involves writing on a topic from a particular theoretical perspective or combination of perspectives (e.g., modernism, deconstructionism, psychoanalytic theory, etc.).

  • Introduction to the Writing Process

  • Introduction to Writing in the Humanities

  • Introduction to Writing in Business