by Answerbag Staff on March 14th, 2010

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What does expository text mean?

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  • by David Perez on March 14th, 2010

    Answerbag Experts

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    Professionally Researched. (What's this?)

    According to Stanford University, expository texts "explain, describe, give information or inform." Expository text is the opposite of narrative text, which uses storytelling to persuade and inform readers. While expository text might occasionally use techniques popular in fiction and poetry, such as metaphors, it differs from these forms in that it emphasizes facts such as sequential, categorical or explanatory information.

    Features

    Beyond enumerating facts, expository texts often examine the implications of facts in an attempt to draw conclusions. To this end, they may describe processes, address counterarguments or explore cause and effect relationships.

    Types

    According to English Companion, examples of expository text include essays, speeches, lab procedures, journals, government documents, newspapers and magazine articles. Other notable examples include school textbooks and how-to guides.

    Identification

    Although myriad forms qualify as expository material, they have in common fact-based description, suppression of the author's opinion and references to supporting information.

    Reading Techniques

    Some expository texts are less concerned with "readability" than they are with accuracy. Thus, it is helpful to use critical reading strategies. According to Salisbury University, strategies include identifying main ideas, placing texts in historical context and comparing related readings.

    Warning

    Sometimes biased entities disguise themselves as sources of expository material. For example, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staged a news broadcast where FEMA employees posed as reporters asking nonconfrontational questions of FEMA officials following the hurricane Katrina disaster.

    Source:

    Stanford University

    English Companion

    Salisbury University

    Los Angeles Times

    More Information:

    Literacy Matters: Text Structure

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