Expository Writing Explains or Informs. It Talks About A Subject Without Giving Opinions

Handout Writing
1. Expository
Expository writing explains or informs. It talks about a subject without giving opinions.
Main purpose of Expository writing is to explain. It is a subject-oriented writing style, in which
authors focus on telling you about a given topic or subject without voicing their personal opinions.
These types of essays or articles furnish you with relevant facts and figures but do not include their
opinions. This is one of the most common types of writing. You always see it in textbooks and
articles. The author just tells you about a given subject, such as how to do something.
Key Points:
 Usually explains something in a process.
 Is often equipped with facts and figures.
 Is usually in a logical order and sequence.
When You Would Use Expository Writing:
 Textbook writing.
 Recipes.
 News stories (not including opinion or editorial pieces).
 Business, technical, or scientific writing.
Example of Expository Writing
To make your pumpkin pie, you’ll just need a few simple ingredients and tools.
First, pour flour, oil and ½ teaspoon salt into a bowl

and mix with a fork. Secondly, add 1 teaspoon of ice
water at a time, tossing with a fork until all the water
is absorbed. This dough will be your pastry filling.
Shape dough into a ball and press into the pan—

filling the bottom and sides. Meanwhile, in a large
bowl, beat eggs with a wire whisk or hand beater.
Beat in ½ cup sugar, cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt,
ginger, cloves, pumpkin and milk. This will be your
pie filling.
Place the pastry-lined pie pan in the oven. Pour

filling into the shell. Bake for 15 minutes at 425°F;
then bake for 45 minutes at 350°F.
Insert knife—it should come out clean when the pie

is done. Let cool for about 2 hours.
2. Descriptive
Descriptive writing focuses on communicating the details of a character, event, or place.

Descriptive writing's main purpose is to describe. It is a style of writing that focuses on describing
a character, an event, or a place in great detail. It can be poetic when the author takes the time to
be very specific in his or her descriptions.
Example:
In good descriptive writing, the author will not just say: “The vampire killed his lover.”
He or she will change the sentence, focusing on more details and descriptions, like: “The bloody,
red-eyed vampire, sunk his rust-colored teeth into the soft skin of his lover and ended her life."
Key Points:
 It is often poetic in nature
 It describes places, people, events, situations, or locations in a highly-detailed manner.
 The author visualizes what he or she sees, hears, tastes, smells, and feels.
When You Would Use Descriptive Writing:
 Poetry
 Journal or diary writing
 Nature writing
 Descriptive passages in fiction
Example of Descriptive Writing
My Imaginary Animal
This is my imaginary animal. It has got
a purple cat’s head. It has got big round
brown eyes, pointy ears and whiskers.
It has got camel’s legs a green
dromedary’s body and a colorful
scorpion’s tail. My imaginary animal is
called ‘Catmel’. It lives in the desert.
Its favourite food is fish. It is carnivore.
My animal doesn’t like water but it
loves sleeping in the sun.
3. Persuasive
Persuasive writing tries to bring other people around to your point of view. | Source
Persuasive writing's main purpose is to convince. Unlike expository writing, persuasive writing
contains the opinions and biases of the author. To convince others to agree with the author's point
of view, persuasive writing contains justifications and reasons. It is often used in letters of
complaint, advertisements or commercials, affiliate marketing pitches, cover letters, and
newspaper opinion and editorial pieces.
Key Points:
 Persuasive writing is equipped with reasons, arguments, and justifications.
 In persuasive writing, the author takes a stand and asks you to agree with his or her point of
view.
 It often asks for readers to do something about the situation (this is called a call-to-action).
When You Would Use Persuasive Writing:
 Opinion and editorial newspaper pieces.
 Advertisements.
 Reviews (of books, music, movie, restaurants, etc.).
 Letter of recommendation.
 Letter of complaint.
 Cover letters
Example of Persuasive Writing
Fast Food: Be Careful What You Eat!

Although many of us find fast food convenient
when in a rush, it is a bad idea to eat it too much or too
often. Recently, McDonald’s in Canada had a two dollar
deal: a Big Mac and small fries. This is a very big
temptation, and even my son (who doesn’t normally eat
at McDonald’s) bought this meal last week. But what
did he eat when he ate a Big Mac and fries? For the
hamburger, 570 calories, with almost half (280 calories)
coming from fat. Ten grams is saturated, the most dangerous kind, the kind most harmful to
our heart. The Canadian Food Guide recommends that we "choose lower-fat foods more
often." Now, remember that my son also gets a small fries! Unfortunately, there are another
210 calories in the fries, with 10 more grams of fat (1.5 grams of it saturated). I’m sure he
bought a drink as well, which adds another 150 calories (small size). Now, imagine he eats
this dinner more than once a week! A two dollar meal contains a lot of fat.
Although it is very convenient (and cheap) to buy fast food, it is quite alarming to see just
how much fat we are eating—I think I’ll go and eat an apple instead.
4. Narrative
A narrative tells a story. There will usually be characters and dialogue.
Narrative writing's main purpose is to tell a story. The author will create different characters and
tell you what happens to them (sometimes the author writes from the point of view of one of the
characters—this is known as first person narration). Novels, short stories, novellas, poetry, and
biographies can all fall in the narrative writing style. Simply, narrative writing answers the
question: “What happened then?”
Key Points:
 A person tells a story or event.
 Has characters and dialogue.
 Has definite and logical beginnings, intervals, and endings.
 Often has situations like actions, motivational events, and disputes or conflicts with their
eventual solutions.
Examples of When You Would Use Persuasive Writing:
 Novels
 Short stories
 Poetry
 Autobiographies or biographies
 Anecdotes
 Oral histories
Example of Narrative Writing:
The story of a woodcutter
Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter

asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got
it. The pay was really good and so was the work
condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter
was determined to do his best.
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the

area where he supposed to work. The first day,
the woodcutter brought 18 trees.
“Congratulations”, the boss said. “Go on that
way!”
Very motivated by the boss’s words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only
bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees.
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying
that he could not understand what was going on. “When was the last time you sharpened your
axe?” the boss asked. “Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to
cut trees”.

Expository Writing Explains or Informs. It Talks About A Subject Without Giving Opinions

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Expository Writing Explains or Informs. It Talks About A Subject Without Giving Opinions

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Expository Writing Explains or Informs. It Talks About A Subject Without Giving Opinions

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Handout Writing

First, pour flour, oil and ½ teaspoon salt into a bowl

Shape dough into a ball and press into the pan—

Place the pastry-lined pie pan in the oven. Pour

Insert knife—it should come out clean when the pie

Descriptive writing focuses on communicating the details of a character, event, or place.

Example of Descriptive Writing

Fast Food: Be Careful What You Eat!

The story of a woodcutter

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the

You might also like