expository
Meant to inform
Expository describes writing or speech that explains, informs, or sets forth facts and ideas.
An expository essay presents information rather than arguing a position or telling a story.
Expository passages in fiction provide background or context: The novel opens with expository chapters establishing the political situation.
Serving to clarify meaning
- informationalProviding facts or data
- elucidativeTending to clarify
- descriptivePortraying with specific details
- illustrativeServing to explain
factual · instructive · clarifying · revealing · substantive · explicative · interpretive · enlightening
Intended to educate
- pedagogicalRelating to teaching methods
- academicRelating to education or theory
- scholasticRelating to formal learning
- tutorialInstructional step-by-step guide
curricular · textbook · lecture · teaching · classroom · syllabus · seminar · didactic
Unversified language
- essayShort argumentative prose work
- compositionArranged elements forming whole
- discourseFormal communication on subjects
- treatiseFormal scholarly composition
article · thesis · dissertation · monograph · paragraph · introduction · body · conclusion
Expressing disapproval or importance
- systematicFollowing ordered procedures
- methodicalOrganized and deliberate
- logicalBased on valid reasoning
- investigativeDevoted to examination
evaluative · comparative · interpretive · deductive · empirical · reasoned · theoretical · conceptual
explanatory
Serving to clarify meaning
- informationalProviding facts or data
- elucidativeTending to clarify
- descriptivePortraying with specific details
illustrative · factual · instructive · clarifying · revealing · substantive · explicative · interpretive · enlightening · discursive
instructional
Intended to educate
- pedagogicalRelating to teaching methods
- academicRelating to education or theory
- scholasticRelating to formal learning
tutorial · curricular · textbook · lecture · teaching · classroom · syllabus · seminar · didactic · mentoring
prose
Unversified language
- essayShort argumentative prose work
- compositionArranged elements forming whole
- discourseFormal communication on subjects
treatise · article · thesis · dissertation · monograph · paragraph · introduction · body · conclusion · topic sentence
critical
Expressing disapproval or importance
- systematicFollowing ordered procedures
- methodicalOrganized and deliberate
- logicalBased on valid reasoning
investigative · evaluative · comparative · interpretive · deductive · empirical · reasoned · theoretical · conceptual · scrutinizing
- Informativeeducational, helpful, useful, detailed, factual
- writing stylesformal, informal, minimalism, maximalism, concise
- documentary typesdocumentaries, cinema verite, observational, fly on the wall, talking heads
- sermonsSunday sermon, homilies, Easter sermon, exhortations, messages
- documentary techniquesinterviews, narration, voiceover, voice-over, voice over
- writingwriting, drafting, authors, author, books
expositorynarrative
Account of events
persuasive · argumentative · polemical · creative · fictional
expositoryuninstructive
Not conveying useful knowledge
uninformative · obscurantist · confusing · unclear · obscure
expositorysuggestive
Hinting at impropriety
implicit · allusive · symbolic · metaphorical · indirect
- expository writingProse that explains or informs
- expository essaysWriting that informs readers