The term expository essay sounds very strange and mysterious,
but it actually is something most of us see every day and don't
recognize.
Essay terminology
The term essay merely means a short literary composition.
Short could mean anything up to a 50-page booklet. Most of the
time, though, essays are between 500 and 5,000 words.
An essay is a literary composition because it uses words
instead of images or musical tones to convey its message.
It is composed, not just scribbled or thrown together.
The essay is literary because essayists are literate.
They not only know their subject, but also know their craft. They
can put words together in a way that has style. Their prose flows.
They don't turn off readers by poor
grammar or strange syntax.
Unlike journal writers, who write for themselves, essayists
write to communicate with readers. They prefer having people
understand the message to having people dazzled by their writing.
Being clear is more important to an essayist than being
clever or creative.
Textbook definition misleads kids
The textbook definition of expository essay is "a
personal statement of informed opinion."
The term personal statement always gives students the
wrong impression. Students think they have to write about some
deeply held conviction and put the phrase “in my opinion”
in every paragraph at least twice.
That's not what is meant at all.
The statement is personal only in a grammatical sense. The
writer writes as if the opinion were his or her own. In many
cases, the opinions the essayists express may not be their opinions
at all.
In many real world writing situations, essayists write what their
teachers or supervisors want to hear rather than what they really
believe. (Students are accustomed to doing this; it's the terminology,
not the practice, that they won't recognize.)
Essays must support a thesis
The important part of the definition is the last part: informed
opinion. The writer has to expose
or explain the evidence that supports the opinion. The opinion
of the expository essay is a thesis statement, of course.
The evidence (see Linda Says, right)
might be anything from government statistics to the writer’s
experience raising guinea pigs. The essay might be dense with
facts or it might be frothily entertaining. Both approaches are
equally valid if they are appropriate to the situation
and the readers.
All expository essay writing is at least a little
bit persuasive.
The essayist says to the reader, "Look at this from my perspective
for a minute."
Exposition aims at clarity
Readers don't have to agree with the writer's thesis, but they
should not be confused as to what the writer’s opinion
is or why the writer holds that opinion.
Writers may produce a piece of exposition based on invented or
exaggerated facts. Humor and satire often take liberties
with the facts in order to make a point. Sometimes what makes
a piece funny is the combination of a traditional, stodgy persuasive
essay pattern with absurd “facts.” Incidentally, I use
that combination to teach academic writing skills in my short
student course, Zucchini
in Zero Gravity.
Knowing what is an expository essay is of little use unless writers
can write one. Your job and mine is to make sure students master
that skill.
Published 18-Mar-2008; updated: 15-Jun-2010
