The Explanatory Essay

Much of your reading and writing as a college student involves learning the concepts that are the building blocks of academic subjects.  These concepts may include principles (equal justice), theories (evolution), ideas (commodification), conditions (state of flow), phenomena (inflation), or processes (socialization).  To communicate effectively and efficiently about a subjectwhether you are writing to your instructor, your boss, or your friends, or writing an essay exam, a blog post, or a presentationyou need to be able to explain concepts clearly and compellingly.

How well a writer analyzes and explains a concept can demonstrate how well he or she understands it.  That is why this kind of writing is so frequently assigned in college courses.  But it is also a popular genre outside the classroom, where effective writers manage to make the most inaccessible topics both interesting and important.  These authors understand that a concept explanation risks being boring to those not familiar (or intrigued) by the topic, so they try to focus on what will excite their readers.

Ultimately, a good explanatory essay anticipates the audiences needs!

Think about your purpose

Will you inform readers about an important idea or theory?

Will you show readers how a concept has promoted original thinking and research in an area of study?

Do you want to gain a better understanding of the concept through your explanation?

Can you demonstrate knowledge of the concept by applying it to a relevant social issue?

What about the audience?

Readers will (mostly) be unfamiliar with the concept.  Youll need to start by catching them up 

on the conversationusually done with a strong introduction.

Sometimes readers will know something about the topic, but still want to know more.  The

writers job is to anticipate WHO the audience is and WHAT intrigues them most.  

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH

Most likely, youll work with a topic with which you have limited familiarity.  Before being able to explain it to an audience of your peers, youll need to become an EXPERT.  This involves research.  Use the librarys databases to help you locate information about the topic.  If you hit a roadblock, go visit the reference librarian for direction (thats what they are there for!).  While you can gather research (books, articles, websites, etc.) from various places, its recommended you use the library to do so because you can trust that these sources are credible.  With the internet, one must be more vigilant when evaluating the information he or she gathers!

Annotated Bibliography

A useful tool (especially for this unit) is the annotated bibliography.  I have posted a longer explanation of the AB in this module; ultimately, though, its a way to organize your research.  An annotation requires you to cite the source (MLA or APA); consequently, the librarys databases will do this for you (click on citation help).  In addition, you should record all the relevant information from the source (the stuff you might use in your essay) and briefly explain how you plan on using it in your essay (or how it connects to another source).  Sometimes it is also necessary to discuss the credibility of the source and/or the author.  Integrating sources into your essay gets easier as you get better at annotating.

Appropriate Explanatory Strategies

While gathering research, you should be looking for information that helps you do the following:

Definition (includes defining characteristic and term being defined)

Each person carries in his or her mind a unique subliminal guide to the ideal partner, a love map.

Comparison-Contrast (highlights similarities and differences)

While Western culture holds fast to the idea that true love flames forever, nature apparently meant passion to sputter out in something like four years.

Example (something tangible that helps to make an abstract idea more concrete)

When they forced themselves to remain stoic during a tearjerker movie, afterward they gave up more quickly on lab tasks requiring self-discipline, like working on a geometry puzzle or squeezing a hand grip exerciser.

Illustration (sometimes includes a chart or graph; works much like Example)

Like Hurricanes, the power of volcanoes is measure using an exponential scale, the Volcanic Explosivity Index or VEI.  See figure 1.

Cause-Effect (illustrates reasons and results; also known as causal chain)

To a fatigued judge, denying parole seems like the easier call no only because it preserves the status quo, but also because it leaves more options open.

A writers job is to apply the most effective strategy, and this is usually determined by the type of information youve gathered.  Most essays use a combination of strategies to get the job done!

TOPIC BANK (If you cant come up with one of your own, feel free to choose any of these topics for you upcoming essay):

Biology, nursing, and the physical sciences:  morphogenesis, phagocytosis, homozygosity, diffusion, entropy, epidemiology, toxicology, holistic medicine

Business and economics:  opportunity cost, minimum wage, affirmative action, collective bargaining, flex time, family leave

Environment:  fracking, toxic waste, endangered species, sustainability, climate change

Identity and community:  multiculturalism, racism, sexism, social contract, community policing, social Darwinism, identity politics, public space

Literature and Cultural studies:  irony, semiotics, dystopia, canon, postmodernism, realism, genre, connotation

Psychology and sociology:  assimilation/accommodation, social cognition, emotional intelligence, the Stroop effect, trauma, ethnocentrism, social stratification, acculturation, cultural relativism, patriarchy

Management and finance:  risk management, leveraged buyout, deregulation, branding, monopoly, capitalism