Expository Writing

Expository Writing • Expository writing gives information. • It can: • Explain a subject • Give directions • Show how something happens/works • Topic sentences are vital in expository writing as they are often the only way for the reader to know the main topic • Expository writing will always be from the 3rd person point of view (no I or you)

Time 4 Writing Example Going to college can be expensive. First, college tuition and room and board can cost anywhere from $2,000 to more than $10,000 per semester. Other expenses make going to college even more expensive. For example, books typically cost between $100 and $500 each term. Second, materials are also very expensive. Paper, notebooks, writing utensils, and other supplies required often cost more at the college bookstore than at any local discount department store. For instance, a package of notepaper costing $2 at a discount store might cost $5 at a college bookstore. Finally, there are all kinds of special fees added onto the bill at registration time. A college student might have to pay a $50 insurance fee, a $20 activity fee, a $15 fee to the student government association and anywhere from $500 to $100 for parking. There is another fee if a student decides to add or drop classes after registration. The fees required to attend college never seem to end.

Writer’s Digest Example The use of wedding rings has evolved as the latest of all the bridal traditions. From the earliest times, kings used initial rings to sign documents because they were unable to write. Since the initial, or signet, ring had the potency of the king’s signature, anyone possessing a facsimile was put to death immediately. Later, during Greek times, when Alexander the Great died, his vast kingdom was, according to his instructions, divided among his generals. They also got copies of his signet ring. They used these themselves and even allowed trusted advisors to use them when they served as the generals’ proxies. Eventually, rulers even allowed their courtiers to wear copies of their royal signets. Finally, the custom spread among the common people, and nearly everybody who couldn’t write signed official documents with a signet ring. Rings thus became a sign of contractual agreement, which meaning was eventually applied to wedding rings.

from A Conspiracy of Paper, by David Liss (Random House, 2000) Many of the Jews of Iberian origin had long ago been robbed of the knowledge of their rituals, forced, during the time of the Inquisition, to convert to the Catholic faith. These so-called New Christians were sometimes sincere in their conversions, while others had continued to practice their religion in secret, but after a generation or two they often forgot why they secretly observed these now-obscure rituals. When these secret Jews fled Iberia for the Dutch states, as they began to do in the sixteenth century, many sought to regain Jewish knowledge. My father’s grandfather had been such a man, and he schooled himself in the Jewish traditions—even studying with the great Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel—and he raised his children to honor the Jewish traditions.

Practice • Explain the rules of a game. It can be any kind of game, such as a sport, a card game or a board game. Explain it so that someone who has never played it will understand it. Be sure and include what kind of equipment is needed.

Practice 2 • Write about your favorite style of music - history, influential musicians, etc.

Practice 3 • Explain how to do a very simple cooking task, like boiling an egg, making a PB&J, or tossing a salad.

Expository Writing