| name | expository-writing |
| description | Expository and argumentative prose techniques for nonfiction. Covers essay structure (thesis-driven, exploratory, lyric), argumentation (claim-evidence-reasoning, counterargument, concession, Toulmin model), paragraph architecture (topic sentences, development, transitions, coherence), clarity and precision (Orwell's six rules, plain language, jargon management), research integration (source synthesis, attribution, paraphrase vs. quotation), and nonfiction forms (personal essay, op-ed, critical review, academic paper, reported piece). Use when writing nonfiction prose, constructing arguments, or analyzing expository structure. |
| type | skill |
| category | writing |
| status | stable |
| origin | tibsfox |
| modified | false |
| first_seen | "2026-04-11T00:00:00.000Z" |
| first_path | examples/skills/writing/expository-writing/SKILL.md |
| superseded_by | null |
Expository Writing
Exposition is writing that explains, argues, or analyzes. It is the dominant mode of intellectual life -- the essay, the article, the review, the report, the academic paper. Unlike narrative, which organizes experience through story, exposition organizes ideas through logic. The essay is not a lesser form than fiction; it is a different technology of thought. James Baldwin called the essay "the personal voice engaged with a public issue." George Orwell called it "the attempt to find out what you really think." This skill covers structure, argumentation, clarity, research integration, and the major nonfiction forms.
Agent affinity: orwell (clarity, argumentation), baldwin (essay, moral voice), calkins (process pedagogy)
Concept IDs: writ-close-reading, writ-textual-evidence, writ-thematic-analysis, writ-revision-strategies
Part I -- Essay Structure
Thesis-Driven Essay
The classical form: state a claim, support it with evidence, address counterarguments, conclude. The thesis is the spine. Every paragraph exists to advance, support, or qualify it.
The thesis statement. A thesis is not a topic ("this essay is about climate change") or an announcement ("I will discuss three reasons"). A thesis is a claim that a reasonable person could disagree with: "Carbon pricing is the most effective policy lever for reducing industrial emissions because it aligns private incentives with public costs."
Structure:
- Introduction: context, significance, thesis statement.
- Body paragraphs: each develops one aspect of the argument.
- Counterargument and concession: the strongest objection, honestly stated, then addressed.
- Conclusion: restatement in light of the argument's development, implications, next questions.
Exploratory Essay
The essay as inquiry. Montaigne's form -- "essai" means "attempt" or "trial." The writer does not begin with a thesis but with a question, and the essay traces the process of thinking it through. The conclusion may be provisional, contradictory, or honestly uncertain.
When to use. When the question is genuinely open and the writer's intellectual honesty is more valuable than a forced conclusion. Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son" is exploratory -- it does not resolve the contradictions between love and rage, father and country. It holds them in tension.
Lyric Essay
A hybrid form that borrows techniques from poetry and narrative -- fragmentation, white space, image-driven logic, associative rather than linear structure. The lyric essay argues through juxtaposition rather than syllogism.
When to use. When the subject resists linear treatment -- trauma, memory, identity, landscape. The form should match the content's emotional logic.
