This document provides an overview of expository paragraphs, including their purpose, structure, and common approaches. Expository paragraphs aim to explain or analyze a topic using specific details and examples. They can be organized in various ways, such as by description, sequence, cause/effect, comparison/contrast, or problem/solution. Strong expository paragraphs use specific details and examples to support the controlling idea stated in the topic sentence, and ensure coherence through logical organization and transitional phrases.

1. The Expository Paragraph
Chapter 5
Intermediate English - ENGL 3103
Prof. Mara Luna
To be used with: Refining Composition Skills, 5th ed.
by R. Smalley, and M. Ruetten

2. Expository Paragraph
 Is a paragraph that explains and analyzes
a topic giving you information, an
explanation, facts, or a illustration.
 Expository comes from the term expose,
meaning, “to reveal”.
 Although explaining a topic can be done
in several ways, the most common
approach to developing an expository
paragraph requires using specific details
and examples.

3. Five basic ways in which authors can
organize information in expository text
 Description - in which a topic is
introduced and followed by its attributes
 Sequence - in which a topic is
introduced and followed by details that
need to be presented in an order
 Cause/effect - in which an event or act
and its effects are described
 Comparison/contrast - in which the
similarities and differences in two or
more things are presented
 Problem/solution - in which a problem
is presented followed by one or more
solutions

4. Types of Expository Text
 ABC books * editorials
 advertisements * instructions
 autobiographies * interviews
 biographies * invitations
 book reports * journals
 brochures * lab reports
 campaign speeches * letters
 cartoons * lists
 catalogues * maps
 comics * menus
 complaints * newspaper articles
 definitions * etc.
 directions

5. Organization and content of a
paragraph
 A topic sentence must be supported with
details organized chronologically in a
narrative paragraph.
 Spatially in a descriptive paragraph.
 When you support the controlling idea
with information, details, facts, or
illustrations, in other words, when you
explain or analyze a topic, you are doing
an expository paragraph.

6. The most common approach to
developing an expository paragraph
 Requires using specific details and
examples. This is needed in order
to support the controlling idea in
your topic sentence. The controlling
idea is the word or phrase in the
topic sentence that states an idea
or an attitude about the topic. This
is frequently referred to as a
generalization.

7. Generalization
 Is a statement that applies in most
cases to a group of things, ideas, or
people.
 A generalization can be a value
judgment or an opinion or a factual
statement. (p. 83)

8. Specific Details
 You need to provide some information or
explanation about the controlling idea.
Give “hard evidence” to support the
controlling idea. You need to illustrate or
“prove” or support the generalization.
Specific details can help to achieve that.
 In expository writing, the writer is like a
lawyer who is trying to prove a point.
Good proof is factual detail.

9. Examples
 Is an item that represents a group of
things, people, or ideas. In other words,
an example is a specific representative of
a general category. Examples make the
controlling idea, clearer and more
convincing and therefore are an effective
means of support.
 It is not usually sufficient just to name an
example; often it is necessary to explain
the example to show how it relates to and
supports the generalization.

10. Examples
 The explanation of an example does
not have to be lengthy; sometimes
all you need to do is add a few
words. The writer could add a
clause to explain the example. It is
useful to provide specific detail for
support.

11. Illustrations and Anecdotes
 It is not always necessary to give several
examples to support the controlling idea,
sometimes one example that is explained
in greater detail will suffice to support the
controlling idea.
 This kind of extended example is useful,
not so much for “proving” the statement
in the generalization but for illustrating it.
This is why it is called an illustration.
 Another type of illustration is an
anecdote. An anecdote is a brief story
that dramatizes the point made in the
generalization. It is a brief narrative.

12. COHERENCE
Organization of Details and Examples
 When a paragraph contains several
details and examples, it is necessary to
consider the order of their presentation.
The sentences in an expository paragraph
follow no prescribed or set pattern of
organization. The ordering depends on
the subject and often on the author’s
logic.
 Here are some patterns or guidelines:

13. Organization of Details and Examples
1. Order of Importance: Saving the best
for last – Readers generally remember what
they read last, and since it is good idea to
leave a good impression on the reader, it is
wise to place the most impressive example at
the end of the paragraph.
2. Order of Familiarity: From the more
familiar to the less familiar – When the
details in the expository paragraph are
mostly factual, it is common to begin with
the most obvious or familiar detail and move
toward the less obvious or less familiar
detail.

14. Organization of Details and Examples
3. Order of Time: From the past to the
present – When the details and examples
in a paragraph are taken from history or
are events that have taken place in the
past, it is often a good idea to order the
examples according to chronology.

15. Transitional Words or Phrases
Not only should sentences and ideas in a
paragraph be logically arranged, but they
should flow smoothly as well.
 Expressions such as next, then, after
that, and similar, signal time sequence.
 Expressions such as above, farther on,
next to, and so forth, signal location.
They are called transitional words and
phrases.

16. Remember …
 There are many ways to achieve
coherence; do not rely entirely on one
way.
 Try to use a variety of coherence devices
– a mixture of clauses, phrases, and
transitional expressions.
 Do not overdo the use of transitions; it
could be repetitious.
 Generally, two or three transitional
expressions in a paragraph are sufficient.