Writing a Great Expository Essay About Family
Table of contents:
Writing an expository essay about family is a great topic to choose, as there are so many different ways you can approach this particular subject. For an expository essay, there are five different kinds of essays you can write: problem/solution, cause/effect, how-to, descriptive, and comparison.
Thesis
Start by figuring out what you want your thesis, or statement of purpose to be. In other words, what is the point you want to make, or what would you like to teach people about? Write this at the top of a new piece of paper for now. Then go on to make a brief outline of your points below.
Here’s some samples of thesis statements that might inspire you.
Thesis idea 1: Family has always been an important part of society, but is the importance of family overrated?
Thesis idea 2: When children and parents fall out, there are a few techniques which can be used for reconciliation, thus improving family functioning, if both parties want it.
Thesis idea 3: My father has been the best dad ever and here’s why!
Thesis idea 4: The style of parenting used by parents has an indelible effect on children’s mental health as they grow up.
Thesis idea 5: The history of the phrase “family values” is long and complex, having been co-opted by a number of different organisations for their own benefit over the years.
Introduction
Once you’ve settled on your thesis, then start writing your introduction. Begin with a hook, which is something that will grab your audience’s attention like a startling statistic, an amusing anecdote, or an interesting fact. Also use this paragraph to define your audience. Are you writing for other students your own age, your parents, teachers, or the world at large?
The last part of your introduction is the thesis statement itself. Word it clearly and succinctly so it’s not confusing or ambiguous. Once you’ve done this, you can then move on to the essay body.
Body paragraphs
If you’ve made an outline, writing your body will be relatively straightforward. Each point you want to make is a new paragraph, and every paragraph should contain the evidence you are using to back up your points. If, for example, you are writing about how your dad is the best dad, every paragraph should contain reasons why he’s the best dad, presumably in this case backed up by the evidence of your personal anecdotes.
Conclusion
As you work your way through the body of your essay and head toward your conclusion, remember that when you write an expository essay, you are supposed to maintain a neutral stance and rely on logic and reason for your evidence, leaving subjective opinion out of it. So, if you are trying to prove that your dad is the best dad, you will do this by explaining why he deserves that title, not just by saying that “he’s the best dad because I love him,” or something similar.
Your conclusion should consist of a brief summary of all your points, followed by a restatement of your thesis, showing what has been learned in your essay. Finally, finish by framing the question you’ve asked in a larger context, or ask a related question you didn’t answer in this essay.
And there you go! You are now well prepared to write a great expository essay!
