How to Write a Good Expository Essays

Benefits of Writing Expository Essays

Expository essays are different from other literary works like fiction, prose, and poems. In fact, while in school, a high number of the academic writing assignments you have been given falls under this category. Many benefits are derivable from knowing how to write expository essays. It will enable you to learn a lot of writing skills. Some of the things you stand to gain when writing expository essays include: Organizational skills: since this type of essay requires good presentation ability. You won’t just clutter your writing together in a random manner. Rather, there is a need for proper organization of information. By so doing, you will learn great organizational skills needed in good write-ups. Critical thinking: expository essays require good thinking ability. This will enable you to examine properly every aspect regarding the subject under discussion. Research ability: for you to write an expository essay effectively, you need to research. This will enable you to get unbiased and reliable information about the topic. When you do this, you are gaining research skills which you will need throughout your life.

As You Begin—What You Need Most

Before you start off with your expository essay, write out an outline. An outline will guide you throughout your writing process. An outline is to an essay what a building plan is to a building. Putting out an outline draft will facilitate your writing exercise greatly. It will help you to stay in line with what you are writing on. So for you not to deviate, get a writing outline.

Structure of Expository Essay

An expository essay just like any other type of essay has the following structure

• Introduction
• Well developed body paragraphs
• Concise conclusion

Introduction

This is where you have to tell your readers what your essay is about. You do this by writing a thesis statement. This statement will tell the readers what your essay will revolve around. You can also provide some background information and statistics about the problem that necessitated the topic. Try to make your introductory paragraphs catchy and attractive. This will go a long way in determining if your readers will continue reading down the rest of the essay body or not.

Well Developed Body Paragraphs

This is where you can write in a detailed form about the topic. Your ideas should be developed in paragraphs. If you are writing a 5 paragraph essay, then the body paragraph should be about three out of the five. Each idea is developed in a separate paragraph. At least 3 paragraphs are good for you to develop the body of your expository essay.

Concise Conclusion

Before you end, write a brief conclusion. This should be a summary of the main ideas and facts you explained in your essay body. The conclusion can also show the importance of the topic you have discussed. Always end in an impressive mood. You can raise some questions that will make the reader think further. Another way you can end a concluding paragraph is with a call-to-action sentence.

Some Expository Essay Topics You Can Write On

There are many areas of interest where you can select an expository essay topic from. Family life, business, science, health, politics, music are some areas where you can choose a topic from. You can also choose any of the following topics for your expository essay writing

1. Importance of technology in healthcare
2. How to create impressive social media brands
3. The role of a proper fiscal budget plan on national economies
4. Benefits of good antenatal care for expectant mothers
5. Dividends of democracy to developing countries
6. Negative effects of smoking
7. How HIV/AIDS can be properly managed
8. Why women should leave abusive relationships
9. Areas social media is revolutionizing modern day politics
10. How accurate tax payment could boost a nation’s infrastructural development
11. The role of the military in the security of a nation’s sovereignty.
12. Good eating habits that can check overweight and obesity
13. Effect of the cold war in the USA-Russia relationship
14. The true heroes of the French revolution
15. How to manage pets properly
16. Why the slave trade was lucrative for European Merchants.
17. Best ways of writing for a grant for small business startups.
18. How to grow your business with small starting capital.
19. Ways information and communication technology is improving learning
20. Effects of global warming on human survival.

Writing Tips and Guidelines for Expository Essays

The difference in your expository essay writing will be seen if you are able to provide adequate information and clarity in expression during your writing. The best ways to achieve this is to follow a guide. Here we provide you with some important tips to do this.

• Research and acquire adequate knowledge about the topic you are writing on. This will help you to explain the subject properly to your audience. Remember that you may have readers with different level of knowledge about the topic.
• Use a third person narration while writing. This is required in expository essays since you are not addressing the readers directly, nor are you writing about yourself.
• Add facts and statistics to your write up. You can also ask some pertinent questions that will help buttress the points you are raising in the essay.
• Expository essays require you to provide some level of exposition of the topic to your readers. In doing this you can choose any of the following approaches: problem/solution method; cause/effect method; comparison/contrast method; descriptive method; process method. The name of each of these methods will determine the style and mode you will employ in presenting your arguments.
• Write your arguments and deductions based on the facts and pieces of evidence provided. Since this is an essay exposing a given subject, your personal opinion should be minimal.

Example of an Expository Essay

Take a look at this expository essay sample here

Expository Essay Topic: Gang Related Activities Among Teenagers

Adolescence is often considered as one of the most challenging and turbulent stages of an individual’s life. During this transition stage from childhood to adulthood, teenagers often seek the opportunity to discover themselves. They learn to interact with other members of the society, define their priorities and adapt to social norms. It is this stage that some would make regrettable mistakes in their lives. Even though some teenagers go through this stage smoothly, some however do not. They get influenced through peer pressure. This is the stage where they experiment with illegal substances like drugs. They learn to smoke and are thrilled with the lifestyles of alcoholics. Among the biggest problems is when teenagers start to belong to so-called teenage gangs. According to experts, this might be linked to a desire to have respect and authority in the society of teenage hierarchy. Gangs usually attract unsuspecting teenagers who are looking for platforms to gain security and anonymity.According to studies, the percentage of criminals among teenagers is on the rise. This makes it quite imperative to address the gang related activities by teenagers. Even after some of them have quitted the gangs, there is still a tendency for some to engage in some illegal activities during adulthood. Parents need to be extremely careful about the attitudes of their teenage children. If a child is always withdrawn to himself, shows signs of bullying, starts staying back from school as well as having unknown friends. You should endeavour to check him/her more. Gang-related activities among teenagers are negative trends that need to be checked by all especially parents. This is because the impacts could be very harmful to the child and society generally.

To Wrap Up

Writing an expository essay is quite complex, but it’s highly incorporated into higher education. Learning and knowing how to write good expository essays enables you to gain important life skills like observation and problem analysis. This is in addition to impressing your professors and obtaining high grades in your essay assignment.