The Expository Essay Mr. McPherson

Organization and Development

An essay should have a controlling idea or centralized purpose: this controllong idea is sometimes called a thesis. the thesis of an essay must be appropriately limited with respect to a topic, or much of what you write may be too vague. In order to help your readers understand your opinion, idea, experience -- whatever you are writing about -- it is very important to organize an essay well. Every essay must have a beginning (introduction), a middle (body), and an end (conclusion). The ideas in your essay should progress in a manner that does not unnecessarily confuse or disorient your reader. Paragraphs within the essay as well as sentences within each paragraph, should be well connected with some sort of transition wherever such devices are necessary. In addition, paragraphs and sentences should present ideas in a coherent fashion; you don't want your reader to stop in the middle of reading and wonder "How on earth did this sentence get here? I don't understand how this has anything to do with what I just read." Keep your reader's attention until the last word by guiding him/her clearly through your essay by organizing your material in a logical way. Finally, no matter how well an essay is organized, it is always important to explain and illustrate your ideas thoroughly. It is far more effective to describe the colour of the sky, the sound of the wind, the intensity of the rain than to say "the weather was bad." Also, be sure that whatever details, arguments, or illustrations you present are logically justified; if you are trying to convince your reader the joys of sewing, it is not logical to emphasize the boring and repetitious parts of the job of making a dress. Below is an outline that you might want to use when you write your essays so that you will remember all the necessary elements of the expository essay:

The Introduction (usually one paragraph)

1. The attention getter This may be a story, a personal experience, a question, a quote, a shocking statement, some general background which leads to the thesis statement.
   
2. The thesis statement This tells the reader what the essay is about. It sometimes contains the plan-- the major points to be discussed. Do not roadmap (eg. "In this essay I will...")
   

The Body (at least one full paragraph for each major point defined or implied by the thesis; there should be at least two major points).

• Topic Sentence Explanation
• Support 1: Specific Example/ Explanation
• Support 2: Specific Example/ Explanation
• Support 3 : Specific Example/ (Two supports for each major point are necessary; more may be included)
  1. Restate the thesis.
     
  2. Relate the thesis to a more generasl issue and/or
     
  3. Convince your readers of the importance of your thesis
     

  If you use this outline when you are writing your essays, you will probably be able to remember more easily what you need to include in them.

  

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