expository essays
Fact-based school writing
Expository essays are essays that explain, inform, or describe rather than argue a position or tell a story.
The form is common in academic settings, where students learn to present information clearly and logically: The assignment called for a five-paragraph expository essay on photosynthesis.
Compare with persuasive, narrative, and descriptive essays.
- explanationStatement making something clear
- studentsThose receiving instruction
- introductionPreliminary section or presentation
- body paragraphsEssay's central supporting portions
- thesis statementCore claim of essay
main idea · supporting details · definition · comparison · transitions · clear writing · clarification · objectivity · educators · researchers · examples · organization · literary analysis · research paper · coherence · conclusion · analysis · topic sentences
- essay writingintroduction, structure, conclusion, body paragraph, outline
- School Writingbook reports, lab reports, research papers, term papers, thesis
- speechesspeech, addresses, historic speeches, lecture, soliloquy
- teen writingyouth literature, young writers
- essay typesthesis, argument, compare contrast, prose poem, reflection
expository essayspersuasive essays
Writing aimed at convincing
argumentative essays · opinion pieces · polemics · editorials · propaganda
expository essaysnarrative essays
Prose recounting personal experiences
personal narratives · short stories · fiction · storytelling · memoirs
expository essayspersonal essays
Nonfiction exploring the author's life
reflective essays · diary entries · stream of consciousness · rants · journal entries
expository, essay, expose, exposed, exposing, exposure, exposition, expositor, expound