How to Write an Expository Essay Mrs. Farrell English 8
Format Introduction Hooks the reader and captures his or her attention Contains the topic sentence of the essay Briefly states 3 or more main ideas which will be explained in body of paper Body Longest section of the essay Contains 3 or more fully developed paragraphs (one paragraph to support each main idea stated in the introduction) Each paragraph contains a topic sentence and at least 4 to 5 supporting detail sentences Transition words and phrases help move reader from one idea to the next (Ex: also, in addition, another reason, etc.) Conclusion Brings closure to the essay Briefly restates 3 the main ideas (without repeating the exact words in the introduction) May end with strong statement or an appeal to the emotions
We created an introductory paragraph: Opening Sentence: Horrifying workplace disasters, like the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911, led to drastic changes in health and safety regulations and the role of government to control business and labor. What are health and safety regulations? What is the role of government when it comes to businesses and employees?
Introductory Paragraph Context:Sentence from paragraph: Unfortunately fires can ignite anytime without warning despite the best fire prevention plans. Therefore to protect your family and yourself from fires and other unexpected disasters, it is important to stop them before they can start. We created a context by taking our broad topic: why fire safety is important to you and your family and zeroing in on looking at events from the past, the Triangle Factory Fire, to see what sort of rules were created by the government in response to the death of so many woman.
Intro Paragraph: Thesis Statement Thesis Statement This sentence tells the reader what you are going to talk about for the rest of the essay. You have to decide what type of essay you are writing. Cause and Effect In order to prevent future fires, it is critical to consider some of the working conditions in the US and the knowledge society obtained as a result of the government changing what is acceptable in the workplace.
You have to refer to the format and to the thesis statement to move on: It’s a good idea to create a simple to use graphic organizer. I use the same one EVERY time I write. We set our graphic organizer up with text- details last week.
Body Paragraphs What will be the topic sentence of your first body paragraph? It comes from the thesis statement Working Conditions that interfered with fire safety Condition: Workers didn’t have multiple exits from the building Resource #1: “There was only one exit from the workroom and it was down a hall so narrow that people had to walk one by one.” Work rooms were overcrowded Resource #1: “workers were crowded elbow-to-elbow and back- to-back at rows of tables.” Resource #8 “The last State Labor report stated: “The Triangle Company wasn’t overcrowded. “The total number of employees at the time of the dated report was 400, on the Saturday of the accident it was 600 employees.
What is the next paragraph about? What changed from the factory fire? Francis Perkins-Resource #9 “The Factory Investigating Commission was continued from year to year until it sat for four years and its report was long-it had seven volumes or recommendations and testimony.” “Although the commission’s job was to create ways to prevent accidents by fire in the State of New York, we went on and kept enlarging the job of the commission until it came to be the report on all kinds of human conditions that were unfavorable to employees, including long hours, low wages, the labor of children, the overwork of women, homework put out by the factories to be taken home by women.” What did we learn?
Conclusion Brings closure to the essay Briefly restates the main ideas (without repeating the exact words in the introduction) May end with strong statement or an appeal to the emotions
Conclusion Don’t even try to use any lame phrases like: “as you can see” Add Student Resource #11 “Workers Assail Night Lock-In’s By Wal-Mart”