How To Write Expository Essay, Common Mistakes And More!

An expository essay is a formal piece of academic writing that uses facts to explain a certain subject. This essay form gives an unbiased point of view and doesn't try to prove a theory wrong. Let's understand it in detail.

What Is An Expository Essay?

An expository essay is a type of essay that requires a lot of research and thinking about a certain topic. It is a well-organized piece of writing with a solid argument. The word's literal meaning is easy to figure out: EXPOSE, an article or essay that reveals something.

In order to write this essay, you need to do a deep study of any topic and open up or reveal any information about it that is backed up by facts and figures. In order to write an argumentative essay that is based on facts and makes sense, you need to be able to do research and think critically.

How to Write An Expository Essay?

The main goal of writing an expository essay is to give the reader an essay that is well-balanced, objective, and full of details about a certain topic. The format of an expository essay has information that is logical and makes sense about any topic. 

What Are The Types Of Expository Essays?

There are five main ways to write an expository essay. Before you write an expository essay, you should know what kinds of writing and topics work best for it. 

Here is a list of the five types of essays:

Cause And Effect Essays

As the name suggests, are types of expository essays that explain the reasons or causes of an event or phenomenon. When writing, it's important to make sure that only facts are given and that causes and effects are linked.

Compare And Contrast Expository Essays

The main goal of a compare and contrast essay is to show how the two subjects are alike and how they are different. It could be a time, a person, or a thing that happened in the past.

Descriptive Expository Essays

Essays that are descriptive, describe or define. All of these types of essays have the same goal: to describe a place, an event, or a thing.

Problem And Solution Expository Essays

In a problem-and-solution essay, you identify a problem and suggest a way to fix it. It sounds sure, but it's not. The style of writing for a problem and solution essay is like putting up a problem, writing a solution for it, and giving both the pros and cons of the solution at the same time, then letting the reader decide. 

Process Expository Essays

Process essays explain how something is done. This type of essay, which is also called a "how-to" essay, is easy to explain if the steps are laid out.

How to Write The Best Expository Essay?

The first impression is the last, so the introductory paragraph should be very interesting and hooking. In the first two lines, the essay's main idea should be clear, and there should be fillers that keep the reader interested until the end.

For example, essays that are too long are boring and less interesting. So, the essay should have no more than three paragraphs. Every paragraph should have a different point that relates to the topic and is supported by facts. Make sure to back up your essay with facts so that you can keep your point of view.

When writing a long piece of writing, it is important to write down the bullet points or the most important points. Get all of your resources together and start researching. 

Brainstorm and make a small outline of the essay and the paragraphs that go with it. And always remember that having a third-person perspective is always the best way to write an expository essay.=

8 Things That Go Wrong With Your Expository Essay!

Many people say that it's better to learn from your mistakes than to try not to make any. That's a bad fact. When you're writing an expository essay, you think you're in charge until you see the letter C or D under your grades. 

So, the question is: what do you do when you're writing that makes your explanation paper a disaster? Time to learn from what you've done wrong!

1.     You don't plan what you're going to write.

There's no doubt that most topics for expository essays are hard. The truth is that they have a lot of social, cultural, and psychological problems that are connected to each other. If you don't take the task seriously and just write whatever comes to mind, things will get messy. The first step to getting an A+ on an expository paper is to make a plan and stick to it.

For example, you can make a short schedule on any device you have, outlining each step of the process: choosing a good topic, doing preliminary research, making an outline, writing an introduction, a thesis statement, the body of the essay, editing, and so on.

2.    Not having a strong thesis statement. 

How to write an essay that explains something? By giving it a strong center, which is a strong thesis statement, It is one of the best ways to make sure your expository essay flows well and makes sense. Start by coming up with a thesis statement, which will be the main point of all your facts and arguments in the body.

To make a good thesis statement, make sure you know enough about the topic to figure out what the main idea is. This simple part of the essay will help you make sure that every point you make is related to the topic.

3.    You waste your time gathering information that doesn't matter.

Most students make the same mistake, which is spending too much time researching a topic. There's no reason not to do some preliminary research. But don't get caught up in the never-ending flow of information and get stuck up to your neck in it. 

Get a few pieces of information together and then start writing your expository essay. So, you'll be able to focus more on the important parts of your paper since you won't be writing about anything else.

4.    You don't grab your readers' attention.

Considering that the main point of an expository essay is to teach your audience more about a certain subject, you need to find a way to grab their attention. In other words, you should write your content in a way that keeps people interested until the very end. Use interesting statistics, stories, facts, and other hooks in your work to make it great.

5.    "I" is used everywhere.

One of the most common mistakes in expository essays is using "I" over and over again. Students use this personal pronoun in all of their sentences, making them look pretty much the same. You should avoid doing this in every other paragraph. The best way to do this is to highlight every personal pronoun as you edit. You will get rid of any "I"s that aren't needed to clean up your piece.

6.    You use jargon a lot.

When you begin or end an expository essay, you must be clear. Most students use a lot of slang or words with more than one meaning. It is one of the most common mistakes that first-year college students make. But you can avoid this trap by not using words that are hard to understand. 

The point is that you are more likely to get an A+ if you use simple sentences, phrases, and words in your expository essay. As soon as a hard-to-understand word comes to mind, make sure to replace it with a simple one.

7.    Your essay doesn't have any words to connect ideas.

Many college and university students don't realize how important transition words are in an expository essay, which is a shame. Make sure your expository essay has all the words, sentences, and phrases called "transition words," like "coupled with," "accordingly," "equally important," "to say nothing of," and others. 

This will make your work consistent and help you avoid problems in the future. So, you help your readers move from one idea to the next in a way that makes sense. So, they don't forget the main point of your expository essay.

8.    You don't stick to a certain style of citation.

No matter what level of school your expository essay is for, you have to use a certain style of citation. No matter if you are using APA, MLA, Turabian, Chicago, or another style, you need to know how your text should be organized before you start writing. If you get to choose the style of citation to use in your expository essay, make sure to follow it from A to Z.

Still, struggling to write a good expository essay for your university assignment?

Let us write that for you. Visit us at Assignment Writing Services 

After reading this article, we hope you won't make the most obvious mistakes in your expository essay and get the grades you want.