Rhetorical Styles of Expository Essays

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Rhetorical Styles of Expository Essays

• June Olson
• Mountain Pointe High School 2004-5

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Development by Example or Illustration
Purpose to provide concrete, clear facts,
details, anecdotes, statistics, expert opinion,
and/or personal observations in the heart of the
essay. All types of essays include this aspect.

• Examples are
• relevant, providing the reader with additional
  insight.
• well-chosen, strong, convincing, recent.
• clear, persuasive, just the right number to
  balance the paper.
• sufficiently detailed, not too much or too little
• are presented with smooth connections to ideas
  that come before and after.
• add interest to the essay.
• documented, documented, documented

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Description
Descriptive paragraphs and essays bring to life
experience through vivid language allowing the
reader to evoke a particular time and place.
Description is essential in all types of writing,
especially narration and persuasion.

• Descriptive elements
• appeals to the senses
• Feel and touch-temperature, weight, texture
• Sight-color, pattern, shape, size
• Smell-pleasant, unpleasant
• Taste-agreeable, disagreeable
• Sound-pitch, volume, quality, timbre
• Uses figurative language
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Imagery
• Develops from a spatial orientation (lens-focal
  point)
• Right to left
• Long-shot to close
• General to specific

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• Descriptive essays or passages should
• demonstrate definitive, thematic purpose using
  description as means of delivery
• describe clearly, using specific details
• select appropriate details to create a dominant
  impression
• present vivid, sensory details throughout
• use figurative language when appropriate
• start in definitive location and progresses in
  an ordered, organizational pattern
• choose between objective or subjective
  presentation
• incorporate transition words to allow readers
  to follow the description
• use active verbs throughout
• Remember the audience- What do they need to see
  the subject as clearly as you do?

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Definition
Definition essays tell what a term means and how
it is different from other terms in its class.
It goes beyond dictionary definitions to provide
implied meanings and examples.

• Definition includes
• Distinguishing factors
• Definitive circumstances or stipulations
• Historical or linguistic origins if appropriate
• Clarification of technical, nonstandard or
  ambiguous terms
• Clears up controversial or misunderstood terms
• Explains abstract terms or concepts
• Keep your audience in mind. Do not assume
  anything. Provide help for all potentially
  unfamiliar terms

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• Definition may use any or several expository
  forms but always should
• focus on the purpose, to define a viable,
  abstract term
• state specific examples
• describe the individual parts
• compare and/or contrast to similar terms. Goes
  from familiar to unfamiliar.
• explain in detail, with active verbs if
  possible
• define by negation (i.e. tells what the term is
  not/does not mean)
• present the history of the term if appropriate
• discuss causes or effects of misunderstandings
  in use of term
• document, document, document
• Choose a subject that is not too broad or
  complex for your essay length
• Begin the essay with an interesting element
  rather than the Webster definition. (Yawn.)
• Explain the term rather than offering circular
  definition. Explain dont just rename.

Above all, definition shows rather than tells.
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Comparison-Contrast
Comparison-contrast essays provide analogies,
help readers judge or make decisions. In a
consumer-driven, legalistic society, this type of
essay is an essential element in the continuous,
democratic process.
Two organizational patterns
Block
Alternating Block
A. ITEM 1 1. Point A 2. Point B 3. Point C B.
ITEM 2 1. Point A 2. Point B 3. Point C
A. Point A 1. Item One 2. Item Two B. Point B 1.
Item One 2. Item Two C. Point C 1. Item One 2.
Item Two
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• The comparison-contrast essay should
• present subjects sufficiently alike so as to be
  logical and meaningful
• serve to purpose of the essay (to inform,
  evaluate, persuade)
• establish and maintains the selected form
• employ transitions to signal smooth movement
  from idea to idea and active verbs to engage the
  reader
• recognize that not all comparison-contrast
  essays seek to assert absolute superiority or
  inferiority of the subject. Rather, focus on
  your purpose
• describe subjects clearly and distinctly using
  vivid examples and details
• document, document, document

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Cause and Effect
Cause and effect essays seek to uncover the
subtle and often surprising connections between
events or phenomena. It helps us make sense out
or our experiences and can give birth to creative
solutions to persistent problems.

• Causal relationships are
• historically bound or current and must be
  examined in context
• based on research
• deep enough to uncover true relationships
  rather than just superficial coincidences
• focused on observable as well as inferred
  causes.
• complex in nature
• use chronological or emphatic sequence for
  presentation
• maintain a clear purpose of informing,
  persuading, or
• speculating. (Be careful with the latter)

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• Cause and effect essay should
• present a reasonable thesis statement
• limit the discussion to appropriate context
• maintain clear organization
• convince the reader that a causal relationship
  exists by showing how the relationship works
• seek to provide a thorough, analysis rather
  than a superficial one
• avoid post hoc fallacy (after this, therefore
  because of this) by seeing beyond temporal
  events and coincidences
• avoid circular logic
• distinguish between main and contributory,
  immediate and remote causes
• Use effective transitions and active verbs
• document, document, document

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Classification-Division
Classification essays either systematically group
a number of items into categories to make the
information easier to grasp. Division essays
separate one item into its parts. Both seek to
help us make order out of the chaos of life. It
helps define functions and responsibilities or
identifies subset that must be dealt with.

• Classification-division is
• accounts for all parts of the topic
• identifies distinguishing attributes of each
  part
• identifies parts on the same level of a
  hierarchy
• creates mutually exclusive attributes when
  possible
• deals with significant and relevant attributes
  and parts

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• Classification-division essays should
• specify a principal or criteria for grouping
• identify the categories and distinguishing
  elements between them
• present categories in logical order, using
  effective transitions to signal to the reader
• account for all parts of the subject
• develop each category, equally with specific
  examples (Be careful not to use stereotyped or
  simplistic examples.)
• seek to go beyond diametrical categories
• use active verbs wherever possible
• document, document, document

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Argumentation-Persuasion
Argumentation is the most challenging for of
expository writing. While one of the most widely
used, it also affords the most responsibility
onto the writer.

• Argumentation
• maintains a balance between logos, pathos, and
  ethos
• depends on denotative and connotative meanings
  of words
• is judged on the basis of credible, reliable
  evidence
• considers whether the audience is supportive,
  wavering, or hostile and demands research into
  the relevant values and beliefs of selected
  audience
• forces the writer to take a strong position and
  maintain it
• demands specific, researched examples, facts,
  interviews, expert opinion for evidence
• avoids logical fallacies
• should acknowledge and directly refute the
  opposing position in some manner

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• The argumentation essay should
• establish a strong position and maintains it
  throughout
• present criteria for the position
• ascertain an appropriate approach and tone to
  win the selected audience
• present the credibility of the writer and the
  evidence used in presentation
• acknowledge the opposition (perhaps through
  Rogerian strategy)
• refute the opposition
• employ strategies such as Toulmin to avoid
  logical fallacies
• doggedly attempt to cull logical fallacies
• use language appropriately to serve your
  purpose without enflaming or
• alienating the audience
• document, document, document