Expository and Research Writing

Expository writing presents factual information clearly and succinctly. The writer’s goal is to explain, inform, examine, or clarify an idea or event in an attempt to increase the readers’ knowledge. The writer maintains objectivity and tries to inform rather than to persuade, argue, or interpret. The topic of an expository composition can be “almost anything” (according to Toby Fulwiler). What’s most important is how the subject is treated. When you write to explain, you are answering one or more of these questions:
• What is it? (definition)
• What happened? What does it look like? Where is it? (description)
• How is it related to other things? (comparison/contrast)
• How does it work? Why did it happen? (analysis)
• How is it held together? (synthesis)

The expository essay is driven by a clear focus or controlling idea, which is supported through elaboration. The writer uses examples, anecdotes, facts, statistics, and details to explain and support the main idea.

Expository Elements Kinsella Handout •
This handout compares the differences between narrative and expository texts. Also explains the organizational patterns you will find in informational texts.

Writing and Reading Expository Compositions •
California Writing Project’s summary of expository compositions including the purposes, characteristics, and strategies and links to the ELA standards.

Writing to Explain and Report •
A chapter from Toby Fulwiler’s College Writing: A Personal Approach to Academic Writing

Strategies and Lessons for Organizing and Developing Ideas in Expository and Research Writing

Kate Kinsella’s Color Justification Paragraph •
Kate Kinsella’s Instructional Sequence for a process approach to writing assignments and a writing assignment, a color with special significance.

How to Write a Research Question Template •
A template to help students write a research paper and two examples.

Literal v. Research Questions Activity •
Practice for students identifying literal and research questions.

Guidelines for Evaluating Sources •
Questions to help students assess sources for accuracy, objectivity, substance, and currency.

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting •
An overview of the differences.

Guidelines for Works Cited Page •
Directions for citing sources (MLA style) and an example works cited page.

Research Paper Outline Template •
Erin Carlson used this with seniors (at EOSA) but it is applicable to any grade level.

Expository Paragraph Signal Words •
Kate Kinsella’s list of signal words and phrases to support expository writing and reading.

Ranking Introductory Paragraphs Activity •
Erin Carlson’s activity of having students rank paragraphs in order to teach the components of effective introductory paragraphs.

Expository Paragraph Template •
A graphic organizer to help students organize their ideas in an expository paragraph. (from Stephanie Robillard)

Teacher-Created Units for Expository Essay Writing

9th Grade Oral History: Biography/ Social Reality Research Project •
This is a two-part project designed to introduce 9th grade students to the basic process of conducting an interview and using information from that interview to incorporate into a research project.

9th Grade Marijuana and Teens •    Handout: Fact Sheet •
This unit is a response to a non-fiction article. Students will read an article about the effects of Marijuana on teens and write an expository essay that reports some of these effects. Students will use the article as their only source. This unit is designed to help students form an idea of the basic structure of an expository essay without given them the challenge of also having to collect, analyze, and interpret many sources..

9th Grade Exploring Thematic Motifs in The House on Mango Street •
The stylistic and thematic richness of Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street provides many opportunities to strengthen student writing and inquiry. As an on-going part of our study of the text, students keep vignette logs--in-depth studies of individual vignettes-in which they summarize, identify thematic motifs, and explore connections between vignettes . In the course of writing these vignette logs, students explore the following motifs: Freedom/Entrapment, Growth, Maturity, Identity, Gender Roles, Racism, House / Home / Neighborhood / Community, and Poverty.

9th Grade Social Justice Research Paper •
A powerful goal to have for 9th graders is for them to become more aware of their community, and specifically their role and influence in their community. This unit seeks to make students aware of key issues in their community, and identify and voice changes they believe should be made.

9th Grade Expository Writing Unit : Our Oakland •    Handouts •
This expository writing unit is part of a much larger unit which aims to develop interviewing skills. In this unit, students will identify issues of concern in their Oakland communities. They will learn how to write good questions. Students will also learn the etiquette of interviewing strangers and gain practice doing so. The information they gather from conducting these interviews will be used as evidence in their final expository essay.

9th Grade Expository Writing Unit : Our Oakland •    Handouts •
This expository writing unit is part of a much larger unit which aims to develop interviewing skills. In this unit, students will identify issues of concern in their Oakland communities. They will learn how to write good questions. Students will also learn the etiquette of interviewing strangers and gain practice doing so. The information they gather from conducting these interviews will be used as evidence in their final expository essay.

Persuasive Writing

The primary aim of the writer of a persuasive essay is to “win” the reader’s agreement. S/he does this by presenting a position and authoritatively defending that position with precise and relevant evidence. In addition, a persuasive composition:
• Excludes irrelevant information and arguments
• Arranges the evidence, reasons, examples, and anecdotes, effectively
• Uses a range of strategies to elaborate and to persuade such as definitions, descriptions, illustrations, examples from

About Reading and Writing Persuasive Compositions •
CWP’s one-page description of persuasive compositions.

Strategies and Lessons for Organizing and Developing Ideas in Persuasive Writing

Ideas for Developing Content •
A list of ideas to help students develop content for their essays before they begin to write.

Essay Template for Change at School •
A template for a writing assignment, “What is something you would like to see change at your school?”

Strategy for Responding to Counter Argument •
A graphic organizer with transition words that helps students develop responses to counter-arguments.

Incorporating Quotations •
Handouts from Joan Cone’s workshop on persuasive writing including strategies for incorporating quotations (an argument on an argument) and conjunctions.

Joan Cone’s Templates for Persuasive Writing •
Joan Cone’s templates for an argument to which writer brings all the data, letter to a parent, three-part argument, New Year’s resolution argument, an argument that compares and contrasts, and an argument on an argument.

Persuasive Patterns •
Four patterns found in persuasive writing that are based on a problem, an opinion or claim, a thesis, or a process.

Persuasive Writing Tips •
Four logic errors that students often make and how to avoid them from Meredith Pike-Baky.

Activity Ideas for Developing Persuasive Content •
A list of activity ideas for helping teachers plan for how to help students develop content in persuasive essays. (Compiled from many sources by Stephanie Travaille)

List of Rhetorical Strategies for Developing Persuasive Content •
A list of rhetorical strategies to introduce to students to help them identify and develop ideas and content for persuasive essays. (Adapted from Thinking Through Genre, by Heather Latimore)

Argument and Answer to Counter Argument •
An activity to introduce students to the idea of argument & counter argument (from Stephanie Travaille)

Argument and Counter Argument Dialogue Chart •
A great lesson to help students write a better counter argument by asking them to literally “stand in the shoes” of the person on the other side of the debate. (Adapted version of lesson by BAWP TC Leslie Moitoza)

Teacher-Created Units for Persuasive Essay Writing

7th Grade Persuasive Essay Unit by Emily Wiseman (Montera) •
In this two week writing unit students took a position on one of the following topics: the educational benefits of homework, whether or not junk food should be banned from school cafeterias, and why Obama, Clinton, or McCain should be elected in the 2008 presidential election. Students learned how to do internet research on their topic and write persuasive essays.

7th Grade Persuasive Essay Unit by Candace Cofield (Coliseum College Prep) •
This unit is an expansion of the 7th grade World History Assessment pilot integrated into a 6 week unit on the Middle Ages in Europe. Students wrote a persuasive essay taking a position on the positive or negative effect of the Crusades.

Response to Literature Writing

In a response to literature, writers demonstrate an understanding of the significant ideas within a text and are able to show that they can read a literary text with understanding, find main ideas or themes of a text, and determine the author’s purpose. In their essays, the writers create a context for the literary response by identifying the text and the author, developing a controlling idea/claim/thesis that takes a stance or posits a position, and demonstrating an awareness of appropriate audience.

Writers may demonstrate their multiple levels of understanding of a text by making inferences, addressing ambiguities, nuance, and complexities, and by making claims based on prior knowledge, textual clue, personal experiences and related readings. To support their ideas, writers include textual evidence by paraphrasing information, using direct quotes, and selecting appropriate, relevant textual details.

In some situations, writer must demonstrate awareness of author’s use of literary and stylistic devices and their effects. They are able to identify stylistic devices such as tone, mood, symbolism, figurative language, flashback, foreshadowing and explain the effects of stylistic devices. (From California Writing Project’s CAHSEE Resource Guide).

Information about Response to Literature Writing

Writing About Literature •
Chapter from Teaching Writing in Middle and Secondary Schools by Margot Iris Soven


Strategies and Lessons for Organizing and Developing Ideas when Responding to Literature

Say Mean Matter •
A note-taking technique designed to help students keep track of details from the text, to clarify confusing elements of the text, and a way for students to practice summarization and analysis. It is an important pre-writing tool when students are required to integrate quotations from the text in an essay.

Character Transformation Chart •
A note-taking chart to use when students will write about character.

Essay Template for Response to Literature •
Template for students to compose a response to literature essay.

Peer Review of Essay Sheet •
A peer review sheet for response to literature essay.

Template for Evaluation of a Poem •
Template for students to compose an evaluation of a poem.

A short story analysis frame and note-taking grid •
A frame to help students get started writing about a short story and a note-taking grid to help students keep track of how the author’s design conveys meaning. (from BAWP tc Joan Owen)

A practice CAHSEE Response to Literature prompt •
A scaffolded approach to help students deconstruct a CAHSEE prompt and write about “The Hiking Trip.” (CAHSEE released item)


Teacher-Created Units for Response to Literature Essay Writing

8th Grade Response to Literature (Poetry) Unit by Greg Holtz (Elmhurst) •
This four week unit focuses on teaching students about figurative language, tone, and forms and purposes of poetry. Students were exposed to a variety of poems that illustrated various literary devices, and finished the unit by analyzing and responding to one of the poems in a mock poetry critique for an online poetry magazine.

8th Grade Response to Literature (Poetry) Unit by Lia Izenberg and Lisa Sindorf (Edna Brewer) •
This three week unit was part of a larger unit on poetry and an introduction to writing a response to literature essay. Students wrote a response to literature essay based on Emily Dickenson’s poem “Hope.”

8th Grade Response to Literature (Poetry) Unit by Lia Izenberg & Lisa Sindorf (Edna Brewer) •
This four week unit focuses on teaching students about figurative This three week unit was part of a larger unit on poetry, and an introduction to writing a response to literature essay. It is a different variation on the unit posted above. Students studied theme, mood, and tone, and wrote a response to literature essay illustrating these literary devices in one of the poems that they studied in the poetry unit.

7th Grade Expository Essay – Kristen Caputo (ASCEND) •
The purpose of this four to eight week unit is for students to research and become thoroughly knowledgeable about slavery and the abolition movement in U.S. history. After working in groups/pairs to research a famous abolitionist, students write an expository essay which prepares them for the digital storytelling unit to follow.

6th Grade Response to Literature Unit by Jeni Frudden and Kara Virgallito (Edna Brewer) •
This two week writing unit follows a novel unit based on the book The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake. The skeleton of the novel unit plus key activities that helped students with analytical skills needed for the essay unit are included. Students were given a choices of prompts: describe how a character changes or describe the theme of the novel as shown through character, symbol, and and connection to your own life. The essay unit follows the Step Up To Writing format.

6th Grade Response to Literature Unit – Andrea Maoki (Melrose Leadership Academy) •
This is a four week unit designed to teach 6th grade students in a duel immersion (Spanish and English) Language Arts class to write a response to literature based on the science fiction story “All in A Summer Day” by Ray Bradbury. Students are introduced to literary analysis and theme through fairy tales. Stories and scaffolding for essay are available in both English and Spanish.