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The Basics of Writing with Examples
Just as we all use narratives to tell stories about who we are and what we are doing, we routinely use examples in conversation to make ideas clear to others. In both your academic and professional life you will be expected to provide such examples in writing to clarify and support your respective points of view. As we saw in the last module, given the complexity of language and its connection to the world (by its nature our words are never an exact replication of the universe we inhabit), every time we communicate we are establishing a perspective that we are asking others to believe. In writing, examples illustrate general observations and thesis statements in a more interesting, persuasive way. Good writers use many examples that relate to a reader’s experiences, hoping to convince them that the points they are making are believable.
- Examples can be used throughout the essay: in the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. They are usually most prominently discussed in the body paragraphs which make up the majority of a paper.
- Examples are used in all essays to help support general statements
- Examples describe or illustrate major points
- Examples may be facts, descriptions, or narratives (events)
- Examples should be specific and relevant to the general statement that they illustrate
Building a Better Wordhouse: General and Specific Information
In order to truly understand how examples can help persuade an audience to believe a persuasive point, it is necessary to understand the difference between general and specific information. Indeed, an example essay can be thought of as a collection of these kinds of information: general claims are the large points a writer makes, while specific examples and details explain those points.
The largest general statement a writer will make is called the thesis statement, the main idea that a whole paper is trying to get across. This is the statement that expresses the persuasive perspective that ties everything together. We can liken a thesis to the foundation of a house: everything rests on it and is connected to it in some way. Because it is making a general claim about something, such as “The Funjammer Playcore is the best video game console in its price range” or “Tennessee is a surprisingly fun and affordable place for a winter vacation,” the thesis is not itself an example but is the statement to which all the other information in a paper must relate.
The purpose of the more specific information that populates the rest of an essay is to shed light on this thesis statement; to go back to our house construction analogy, the examples make up the framing that sits on the thesis’s foundation and provides structure. If we want to carry this comparison even further, we could say that the specific details that explain the examples are the interior decorating that makes a house a home.
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For example, let’s say you want to write a simple piece explaining how well your cousin Allison cooks. Your thesis, then, could be something like, “My cousin Allison is a masterful cook.” One way to explain that someone is a great cook is by including an example to illustrate this general statement, so you could offer the following: “One reason Allison is a great cook is because she always adds something new to old recipes.”
Which of the three following more specific details supports the general statement?
- Allison is a great caterer.
- Allison’s macaroni and cheese casserole is one of her specialties.
- Allison adds asiago cheese to her macaroni and cheese casserole.
The last statement is the correct answer because it is most relevant to the general example statement. Now you would need to explain why this recipe is such a stunning creative choice and perhaps couple it with some other specific details about Allison’s surprising additives to persuade your reader that she is indeed so gifted in the culinary arts!
Let’s break down what we’ve just come up with in simple outline form to get a handle on what it looks like to plan a persuasive example paper.
Directions: Select each topic below to reveal more information on each topic.
If you are just writing a short paper, this already might be enough information to fill out the essay’s body , which is what we call all of the paragraphs that house the general examples and the specific details that go with them. Basically, everything that comes after the thesis statement, which itself comes near the end of the introduction of the paper (its first part, which we’ll discuss in a minute), and before the paper’s conclusion (the very last section, which we’ll come back to, as well), is considered the paper’s body . This is the longest part of an essay and could be any number of paragraphs. The paper based on the above outline might have two body paragraphs, one for each one of the general examples that are listed, but those general examples might themselves get broken up into separate paragraphs if they start getting long.
You might be wondering in what order you should present the examples you have come up with for an example paper. Perhaps the most effective way to organize your examples is emphatic order; this is when you discuss your examples based on their importance, moving from your least important or convincing point to your most important or impactful one. Emphatic order is effective because it helps you build a case for your main point; just as a lawyer builds up evidence in a jury trial and ends with the most convincing piece so that the jurors have this final point on their minds when they deliberate, a writer using emphatic order leaves readers with the major example that best supports the essay’s thesis.
This means that you need to carefully consider the audience that you are trying to reach. By what do you think your readers will be most affected? When you are using personal experiences as examples, often the example you have the most to say about, the one that has the most specific details attached to it, is the one that is most emotionally important to you and is the one that will translate as most important to your readers.
Another way to develop an example paper involves using one long example to illustrate the thesis statement; this particular technique is referred to as an extended example . For instance, sometimes a writer may use a single, heavily detailed narrative to persuade readers of a point, making sure to focus on those moments of the story that best illustrate their perspective. Unlike the narratives we discussed in the last module, though, this kind of narrative/example writing hybrid usually has a more traditional introduction and an overt thesis statement instead of an implied narrative purpose. If you choose to just use one example to illustrate your point, make sure that all of the specific details you present relate specifically back to your thesis statement. If not, you might get off topic, and your paper will lack focus.
Beginnings and Endings: What Introductions and Conclusions Need to Do
In the last section we discussed the different levels of information that a writer must manage when organizing an example essay. In order to understand how general and specific information fit together, we took a look at two essential parts of example essays that will be of the upmost importance moving forward in this course: thesis statements and body paragraphs. To recap, a thesis statement is the most general statement in an entire essay: it states the writer’s main idea and is the foundation for everything else that is written. On the other hand, an essay’s body is where all of the examples that explain the thesis are housed. Another way to say this is that the body paragraphs are where a writer puts the reasons for believing the thesis, reasons that must then be explained with specific details to convince an audience to believe, as well.
We briefly touched on two other essential parts of an example essay, as well: the introduction and the conclusion. Much like the first paragraph of a narrative essay, the introduction for an example essay needs to get the reader’s attention and start a conversation with the audience. Because stories are so appealing to readers, many writers will use a short narrative as a hook; the catch is that this story needs to relate specifically to the thesis statement that will eventually appear at the end of the introduction. For example, thinking back to the essay we were developing about cousin Allison and her cooking, we might offer the following tale as a hook.
Directions: Select each topic below to reveal more information on each topic.
Another primary function that introductions can serve is to provide important background information on a topic. For example, the above paragraph deftly lists the standards by which cooks can be judged: “a creative flare and passion for trying new things” and “an intense understanding of recipes and their fundamental ingredients.” These standards set the stage for proving that Allison herself is a masterful cook (as we have seen, the body paragraphs will provide examples of exactly these two qualities as they are exhibited by Allison!)
Remember that you should avoid blurting out your thesis at the very beginning of the introduction, as that will make for an abrupt opening and will blindside your readers with a main point before they are prepared for your perspective. A good introduction serves as both a lead-in to the essay’s main idea as well as provides viable information related to the topic itself so that the audience is fully vested in the subject and is eager to proceed.
Shockingly, the conclusion is . . . the final part of the essay. Many students have been taught to end a short writing assignment by summing up everything that they already have explained, but this is a bad idea because your reader just has read all of your examples in your body paragraphs, so if you just repeat this information, your audience will be bored and possibly even insulted that you think so little of their reading comprehension. Instead, your conclusion should tell your audience why the essay you just wrote matters. Just ask yourself these kinds of questions:
- Why is my take important?
- What do I want my reader to understand?
- Do I want the audience to go and do something now?
Your answers to these questions should be enough to generate a few compelling sentences that will put a satisfying spin on your essay. Consider this concluding paragraph below.
Directions: Select each topic below to reveal more information on each topic.
Prewriting Strategy: Mapping
In our previous modules we discussed listing, questioning, and freewriting as possible prewriting strategies for developing ideas. As we now prepare to tackle our example essay, let’s consider another such strategy, this time one that works very well for visual learners who like to represent their thoughts graphically. Mapping is an excellent visual approach to writing an essay. When mapping, students select a topic and place it in a circle in the middle of a sheet of paper. Then they draw lines radiating out from the center to other circles to represent subcategories. Finally, they select the best ideas from the map to plan the essay. This kind of exercise can help you not only to find a good thesis statement but also to discover the examples that will help you persuade your audience that your thesis is true.
Assignment: Example Essay
Example essays are the most typical kind of academic writing, and they come in all shapes and sizes. For this module, your assignment is to develop an example essay type known as a critique, which is when you judge something by a set of standards. Our example about Allison is this type of example writing; we used examples in order to persuade our audience that she is a “masterful cook.” In so doing, we also revealed exactly what a masterful cook “looks like:” remember, we showed that such cooks try creative new recipes and have a knack for (and understanding of) ingredients. These are the standards by which we judged our cousin, and she came out on top! Your assignment, then, is to write just such a critique by judging any movie, TV show, video game, book, product, service, job, or travel experience with which you are intimately familiar. Remember, this should be an opinion-piece – your purpose is to convince your audience to see the film or show, play the game, buy the product, use the service, or travel to the place.
Make sure to prewrite in some way to develop your ideas. Then fill out the example outline located in the course shell to make sure you have a clear thesis and plenty of examples that support it, moving carefully from general to specific ideas as we have discussed. After you’ve submitted your outline to the discussion board and gotten some feedback, you will be ready to draft. As you do so, make sure to write an introduction that has an effective hook and that leads to your thesis statement and to develop a conclusion that says something important and interesting!
References
Florida State College at Jacksonville. (2022). ENC1101-OER: English Composition I.
