A Guide for Writing Expository Papers and Checklist
of Requirements for All Written Work
·
your professor!!!
See me during office hours for help.
I’ll gladly review drafts and help with hypothesis construction.
·
the
·
the reference librarian – this brilliant person can help you find
information you need in the library (a very helpful website: http://www.library.siue.edu/lib/
)
·
Diane Schmidt’s Expository
Writing in Political Science – I have a copy as does the library (usually
on reserve)
Second,
don’t be afraid to do your best work:
·
have confidence in your self and your abilities; take the assignment
seriously and try to do more than just comply—try
to master the assignment; view the
assignment as an opportunity for you to shine
·
demonstrate your knowledge, skills, and abilities on a given topic; be
sure to add your own thinking to what the sources have to say (the sources
provide you with facts; YOU provide the meaning, value, perception)
·
do work that is worthy of your time to write and worthy of your
teacher’s time to read; hurried work is
worried work
·
edit your work into a second draft (never turn in a first draft – it
shows)
Third,
use critical thinking and present your arguments in well-organized manner:
·
expository papers are not opinion papers; opinion is “a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof
or certainty” (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn); expository writing is
logical and concise inference; inference is “the
reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the
basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis
of direct observation” (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)
·
in other words, make an argument; this rubric will demonstrate one way
to think critically and develop a solid paper
Can’t
seem to get started? Take ten minutes
and do this exercise.
·
All writers—you, me, and Ernest Hemingway—have experienced writer’s
block. You just can’t seem to get the
words to form in your brain. It is
normal and does not have to be a major barrier to doing the assignment
·
Waiting is not always a good idea for dealing with writer’s block;
sometimes it goes away on its own, but often you need to take some kind of
action to make it go away
·
Find some kind of timer or alarm clock, and set it for ten
minutes. Start writing. Anything.
Even if you have to write words like “I don’t know what I am doing. I can’t think of anything. This is a silly exercise, but I’m going to do
it anyway.” Just get your fingers moving
on the keyboard. Do this for ten minutes
straight. Do not stop for a sip of
coffee. Do not run to the restroom. Do not look at the clock. Do not pause to think. Focus on the screen and type, type, type
until the alarm sounds. As you type,
start thinking about the assignment.
Type out some choices you have, or some thoughts, or some opinions on
the topic. Let it flow. When the alarm sounds, take a moment and
review what you’ve written. You’ll
probably be surprised that some useful content has spilled onto the page.
·
Find something worthwhile on the page that makes sense to you, set the
clock for another ten minutes, and repeat.
Soon, ideas will indeed take shape and your writer’s block will go
away. It works! Try it!
·
Give yourself time; good work does not begin the night before it is
due; ideally you have at least two weeks notice on an assignment—spend the
first week picking up information and making research observations and notes;
start drafting a hypothesis and simple outline; a week before the due date,
fill out a sentence outline and prepare a first draft. Let it sit a day or so. Come back to the draft and edit. Perhaps share it with someone else (like the
professor). Make final changes and turn
it in.
PART TWO OF THREE: STARTING
AT THE RIGHT SPOT
·
Good expository writing starts with good critical thinking; you cannot
just open a book and begin. Good
critical thinking starts with an intentional and thoughtful review of both the
question and the possible answers to that question.
·
The first step of the scientific method is observation—look at the
subject at hand (a person, a city, an event, an object). Examine the whole situation. Look at the subject, the components of the
subject, the qualities of the subject, the surrounding environment of the
subject. Just doing this observation
might require you to do a bit of digging, so that you can understand enough to
make intelligent inference.
·
The next step of the scientific method is to develop a hypothesis. In order to develop a hypothesis, you need to
come to a conclusion that answers the question posed in the assignment. For example, if the assignment is to choose
the greatest president the
·
A good hypothesis should be a single sentence about 35 words long, with
the word “because” following your conclusion (please note: if you have the
phrase “because of” in your hypothesis, you’ve done it wrong—remove the “of”
and rewrite your hypothesis)
Example: A good hypothesis goes “three questions deep,” like this –
Conclusion = “John Kennedy was the greatest president.”
You cannot just say this is so; you must show that it is true. The conclusion needs some help. It needs some detail. It needs some meat on the bone.
Now go three questions deep:
(#1 ask why?) because he was a strong leader
(#2 ask how?) because he challenged rogue nations and protected the needy
(#3 ask so what?) well, if Kennedy did not take those actions, then we would
have a drastically different world today
The hypothesis becomes: “John Kennedy was the greatest president because he demonstrated strong leadership against the actions of rogue nations while supporting the rights of the underprivileged in society, forever changing the direction of American foreign and domestic policy.” 36 words, with “because”
· You will want to have three reasons after “because” so that you are adhering to the principle of “triangulation,” the notion that if your conclusion is correct there should be at least three sources that will support such a conclusion (if you can’t find three reasons, then it is probably not a strong enough conclusion).
PART THREE OF THREE: PREPARING
YOUR ESSAY
·
Expository papers should have an introductory paragraph (that ends with
a hypothesis), body paragraphs (that substantiate your argument and provide
comparison or contrast), and a conclusion paragraph (that restates your
hypothesis theme and summarizes your key points)
·
The introductory paragraph should have relevant information that sets
the stage for your hypothesis, gives the reader a flavor of the overall
discussion, and end with your 35-word (+/-) hypothesis.
·
The body paragraphs should be built around your three reasons, at least
one paragraph per reason. The paragraph
should begin with a good topic sentence that explains your reason in about 15
words; it should have some statements of evidence that supports your reasoning
(these come from books and other sources, and are cited appropriately), and it
should have some statements of relevance (why the sources you chose actually
support your reasoning). Never
cite sources for your topic sentences or your statements of relevance. These are YOUR contributions to the
essay. Use outside sources for statements of fact only.
·
The last body paragraph should be some anticipation of how a critic
would view your conclusion, and your best response to that critic. (It
could start out with something like “Opponents will be quick to recognize that
thus-and-so exists. This perspective
comes from here-and-there. However, it
fails to consider this-and-that, which is really at the heart of the
matter. Etc. etc. etc.)
·
The conclusion is the “see I told you so” paragraph. It restates your hypothesis in different
words, reviews the merits of the evidence, and repeats the conclusion. It is akin to a defense attorney making a
closing argument to a jury.
CHECKLIST FOR
WRITTEN WORK
·
a five page paper is five pages long; don’t submit three pages, and
don’t submit seven; the assignment is five pages
·
fonts should be plain and easy to read – Arial or Times New Roman are
preferred
·
font size should be 12 with serif (like Times New Roman), or as small
as 10 sans serif (like Arial)
·
margins should be one inch to 1.5 inches all around
·
your name goes at the top of the page; do not use more than two single-spaced
lines for personal/identification information
·
always number your pages and put your name on each page
·
always staple your pages (never submit loose pages)
·
no cover pages for documents under 10 pages
·
no report covers for documents under 25 pages
·
underline or italicize titles of
volumes, “quote” titles of articles within volumes (see MLA standards)
Communication
Tips: get a handle on good written
grammar
·
expository papers are objective in analysis and argue a point through
reason and logic; justify your content (otherwise it’s just opinion)
·
avoid colloquialism (writing as one would speak)
·
avoid slang and jargon; profanity is rarely (if ever) acceptable
·
avoid first and second person language (me, you, I, we)
·
never use “thing” or “stuff,” as we use these terms when we do not know
what we really want to say
·
“impact” is not commonly used as a verb
·
do not end sentences in a preposition (the dog ran ___
the rabbit) not: “what are you waiting for?” (colloquial);
rather: “for what are you waiting?”
·
be careful not to string too many prepositional phrases together; avoid
putting two prepositions next to each other – it’s a sign that you need to
change your verb (not: I turned the paper in for a grade; rather: I submitted the paper for a grade)
·
do not begin sentences with a conjunction (and, but, or) I know the Post-Dispatch does this,
but this doesn’t give license for you to do so – it is colloquial
·
do not use abbreviations in an expository paper (not
Analysis
and Expression: think about whom you’ll consult, what you’ll say, and how
you’ll say it
·
avoid all-inclusive language (every,
all, each) unless you can justify such claims
·
use scholarly references (published academic work), or respected
private sources (New York Times);
just because it is in writing doesn’t mean it is true (especially on the
internet)
·
draw realistic conclusions (my uncle, brother, dad, and cousin like football, therefore, all men
like football – wrong!)
·
beware the internet! (cite whole web address and print out
at least the lead page with date, if not whole article); Andy always recommends
using a book source over an electronic source (I’m referring to internet-only sources, not electronic versions of
printed periodicals like newspapers)
·
beware of biased sources; look for the data, not the perspective
·
triangulate your data wherever possible; find multiple sources that
support your example
NEED MORE HELP? TRY ANDY’S STEP-BY-STEP RUBRIC BY CLICKING HERE.