Explaining through writing

Explaining and demonstrating relationships is a frequent purpose for writing. Explaining goes beyond investigating the facts and reporting information; it analyzes the component parts of a subject and then shows how the parts fit in relation to one another. Its goal is to clarify for a particular group of readers what something is, how it happened or should happen, and/or why it exists or occurs.

Explaining begins with analysis: You divide a thing or phenomenon (object, person, place, feeling, belief, event, process, or cause) into its various parts. Explaining how to learn to play the piano, for example, begins with an analysis of the parts of the learning process: playing scales, learning chords, getting instruction from a teacher, sight reading, and performing in recitals. Explaining why two automobiles collided at an intersection begins with an analysis of the contributing factors: what the intersection looked like, how many cars were involved, whether the drivers were sober or intoxicated, and what the condition of each vehicle was. Then you bring the parts together and show their relationships: You show how practicing scales on the piano fits into the process of learning to play the piano, or you demonstrate why one small factor — such as a faulty turn signal — combined with other factors to cause an automobile accident.

How much emphasis you give to the analysis of the object or phenomenon and how much time you spend explaining relationships of the parts depends on your purpose, subject, and audience. If you want to explain how a flower reproduces, for example, you may begin by identifying the important parts, such as the pistil and stamen, that most readers need to know about before they can understand the reproductive process. However, if you are explaining the process to a botany major who already knows the parts of a flower, you might spend more time discussing the key operations in pollination or why some flowers cross-pollinate and others do not. In any effective and clear explanation, analyzing parts and showing relationships must work together for that particular group of readers.

Expository writing, or writing to explain, should be as clear as possible, since its purpose is to teach the reader. In doing that, however, explanations are more than organized pieces of information. Expository writing contains information that is focused by your point of view, by your experience, and by your reasoning powers. Thus, your explanation of a thing or phenomenon makes a point or has a thesis: This is the right way to define "happiness." This is how one should bake lasagne or do a calculus problem. These are the most important reasons why the senator from New York was elected. To make your explanation clear, you show what you mean by using specific support facts, data, examples, illustrations, statistics, comparisons, analogies, and images. Your thesis is a general assertion about the relationships of the specific parts; the support helps your reader identify the parts and see the relationships. Expository writing teaches the reader by alternating between generalizations and specific examples.