WriteTraits The Voice of Knowledge (Expository Writing)

Good Fictional and Narrative Writing Have Strong Voice Examples include: Novels Novels Poems Poems Short stories Short stories Journal Entries Journal Entries

What Types of Writing Have Weak Voice? Directions Directions Manuals Manuals Rule books Rule books Text books Text books How to books How to books …These are examples of Expository Writing

Informational Texts An informational text has an author who understands his/her subject well and writes with authority and self-confidence An informational text has an author who understands his/her subject well and writes with authority and self-confidence With this type of writing, you must ask, “Does this type of writing reflect the confidence that comes from knowing the topic well? With this type of writing, you must ask, “Does this type of writing reflect the confidence that comes from knowing the topic well?

Expository Writing Used to explain, describe, give information or inform Used to explain, describe, give information or inform Writer can not assume that the reader or listener has prior knowledge or understanding of the topic Writer can not assume that the reader or listener has prior knowledge or understanding of the topic Uses a different kind of voice Uses a different kind of voice

Guts – Gary Paulsen In Guts, Gary tells the real stories behind the Brian books, the stories of the adventures that inspired him to write Brian Robeson's story: working as an emergency volunteer; the death that inspired the pilot's death in Hatchet; plane crashes he has seen and near- misses of his own.

….Excerpt I have spent an inordinate amount of time in wilderness woods, much of it in northern Minnesota, some in Canada and some in the Alaskan wilds. I have hunted and trapped and fished and have been exposed to almost all kinds of wilderness animals; I’ve had bear come at me, been stalked by a mountain lion, been bitten by snakes and punctured by porcupines and torn by foxes and once pecked by an attacking raven, but I have never seen anything rivaling the madness that seems to infect a large portion of the moose family. I first witnessed this insanity when I was twelve, in northern Minnesota. I had just started hunting with a rifle. Back then there were none of today’s modern hunting weapons and I was, to put it mildly, financially disadvantaged. I worked hard at setting pins in a bowling alley, selling newspapers in bars at night and laboring on farms in the summer (hoeing sugar beets for eleven dollars an acre and picking potatoes for five cents a bushel) to make enough money to buy clothing and supplies for school. There was little left for fancy weapons, and after saving for a long time I finally managed to come up with enough money for a Remington single-shot.22 rifle. It was bolt action, with a twist safety on the rear of the bolt, and had to be loaded for each shot by opening the bolt, which extracted the empty shell if you had just fired. Then you put a new cartridge into the chamber by hand, closed the bolt and fired. It was a long process and the end result was that it forced the shooter to pay attention to his first shot and make certain it was accurately placed. It also made the hunter careful not to waste his shot. Within a short time I was very accurate with this little rifle and was steadily bringing home rabbits and ruffed grouse, which I cleaned and cooked.

Expository Writing is meant to inform the reader is meant to inform the reader

Expository Writing Very different from either fictional stories, which use imagination, or persuasive writing, which depends upon a well- formed argument to convince a reader of an argument Very different from either fictional stories, which use imagination, or persuasive writing, which depends upon a well- formed argument to convince a reader of an argument

Expository Writing can Center on recounting an event in an organized manner Center on recounting an event in an organized manner Explain a process Explain a process Describe a favorite place or person Describe a favorite place or person Anything else which requires logical organization in its presentation Anything else which requires logical organization in its presentation Transitional words are often used Transitional words are often used

Let’s Practice Choose one of the following writing prompts to write a piece of expository writing – this will be collected on Friday, April 30 Choose one of the following writing prompts to write a piece of expository writing – this will be collected on Friday, April 30 REMEMBER: Use strong voice REMEMBER: Use strong voice

Writing Prompts Choose one of the following prompts: Explain how disappointments can have a good side Explain how disappointments can have a good side Explain why someone you care about is important to you Explain why someone you care about is important to you Through the years new inventions have changed the way we live. Think about one invention that has had an impact on the way you live and explain how this invention has changed your life. Through the years new inventions have changed the way we live. Think about one invention that has had an impact on the way you live and explain how this invention has changed your life. Write about something you do that has to be done in a certain order or follow a specific process – what is the process? Write about something you do that has to be done in a certain order or follow a specific process – what is the process?