Common Core Writing

Writing to Inform and Explain

Choose a Kind of Expository Writing

An essay is the most general form of expository writing. The
introduction of an essay includes a thesis statement, a one-sentence
summary of purpose. The body is made up of one or more paragraphs of
details that support the thesis. The conclusion states the implications of the
thesis. Within the general essay format, the specific kind of exposition you
write depends on your goal, as the chart shows.

Six Kinds of Expository Writing

Kind Attribute Examples

Process Explanation Uses step-by-step organization to How do you run a computer program?
explain how something happens, works, How are homes built? How does the
or is done. human body process food?

Cause and Effect Identifies the causes and/or effects of What causes freckles? What causes
something and examines the relationship sunspots? What are the effects of
between causes and effects. poverty on children?

Comparison and Contrast Examines similarities and differences to Compare jazz and rock, or blues and
find relationships and draw conclusions. country music. Compare and contrast
basketball and ballet.

Definition Explains a term or concept by listing and What is hypothermia? What is

examining its qualities or characteristics. “grandstanding”? What was the Harlem
Renaissance?

Classification Organize subjects into categories and What organisms are considered fungi?
examines qualities or characteristics of How would you characterize the writing
those categories. of Stephen King?

Problem and Solution Examines aspects of a complex problem How can your community increase
and explores or proposes possible literacy? What can be done to protect
solutions. wilderness areas?

Grammar Tip: In the editing stage, check that words used to represent
themselves have been italicized or underlined.

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 Revising Tip
Whenever you revise
expository writing,
ask yourself whether
using a different kind
of exposition would
help you develop your
topic more clearly or
completely.
Combine Various Kinds of Exposition
To fully explore the qualities and characteristics of a topic, you will
most often need to use a combination of expository types. In the following
passage, authors Betsy Armstrong and Knox Williams write about an
avalanche-prone area in Switzerland. The authors begin by explaining how
forests tend to inhibit avalanches. Then they discuss what happens when areas
are deforested for building or heating purposes. Finally, the authors describe
how reforestation can prevent avalanches. As you read, try to pick out the
specific kinds of expository writing the authors use.

Literature Model

In many cases, the villagers made the avalanche problem worse.

What is the cause-and- Before settlement, dense forests covered many of the steep slopes above the
effect relationship valleys. The forests inhibited large avalanches, since catastrophic avalanches
between human do not originate in a heavy forest, and avalanches traveling into such a forest
settlement and an will often slow as the snow encounters the trees. [A forest] tends to diminish
increase in the speed of the snow and break up the avalanche. However, villagers often
avalanches? cut down the forests for building and heating purposes. In many areas the
trees never grew back, leaving the slopes bare and smooth—a perfect track
for the run of a snow avalanche. A prime example of deforestation is in the
valley of Ursental in central Switzerland. Above the town of Andermatt,
there remains just a wedge of trees, while the remainder of the steep slope is
bare. Up valley, near the Furka Pass, is the town of Hospental, which also
maintains its own protective wedge of trees. As the story is told, the
inhabitants of the valley systematically cut down the forests that covered the
steep slopes on both sides. Almost too late they realized their mistake; they
saw that on the bare, treeless slopes, huge avalanches began descending to
How do the
writers explain the valley floor, making travel between towns extremely dangerous. All tree-
reforestation in cutting stopped and the wedges of trees above the towns were preserved.
Ursental, Reforestation, the systematic planting of trees, continues today in the
Switzerland, as the Ursental, to thicken the wedges that are periodically thinned by avalanches.
solution to a
problem? Betsy Armstrong and Knox Williams, The Avalanche Book

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 Writing to Inform and Explain

Key Information
Expository writing, often in the form of an essay, informs or explains. It
usually consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Six kinds of
expository writing are process explanation, cause and effect, comparison
and contrast, definition, classification, and problem and solution.

A. Six Kinds of Expository Writing

For the six topics listed below, decide which kind of expository writing
would be appropriate. In the blank, write PE for process explanation, CE for
cause and effect, CC for comparison and contrast, D for definition, C for
classification, and PS for problem and solution.

______ 1. The many different languages of southern Africa.

______ 2. Differences between acting on stage and in movies.

______ 3. What is slavery?

______ 4. How can your school cut down on littering?

______ 5. How is a book printed?

______ 6. The effects of burning fossil fuels on global warming.

B. Writing a Thesis Sentence

Choose two of the above essay topics. For each one, write a thesis statement
that summarizes the purpose of an essay on the topic.

Topic: _______________________________________________________
Thesis statement: ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Topic: _______________________________________________________
Thesis statement: ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

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 Summary Writing

Often when you read a story, whether it be fictional or informational, you will be asked
to summarize it. To summarize means to retell the main points of a story or article in
your own words. Summarizing helps you understand and remember what you read. In
a summary, you:

- State the main ideas of what you have read

- Identify the most important details that support the main ideas
- Use your own words

In summary writing you want to avoid:

- Giving your opinion

- Using the author’s words
- Discussing minor points

PRACTICE
Read the paragraph below and answer the questions that follow.

Scientists have known for years that the sun is a great source of vitamin D. This
vitamin naturally boosts the immune system, your body’s defense against disease.
Each year there are more and more studies released that suggest if you want to be
healthy, vitamin D is where it’s at. Vitamin D strengthens your heart and bones, and
can prevent asthma and some forms of cancer and diabetes. Some foods, like fish
and eggs, are naturally brimming with the vitamin. And others, like milk and some
cereals, are fortified with vitamin D. But you would need to consume a lot of milk and
cereal to get your daily dose of vitamin D. Sunlight still reigns king as the best source
for vitamin D.

1.) What is the main point of this paragraph?

2.) Which of the details are the most important?

3.) On your own sheet of paper, summarize this paragraph. Remember to use your own
words.

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Read the following article and fill in the following outline.
Why Not Eat Bugs?

In America and Europe, most people accept crustaceans such as crab, lobster,
and shrimp as food items. In fact, diners often view these foods as special, tending to
pay far more for them than for chicken, pork and most beef, or serving them on special
occasions. Yet crustaceans are ―the ocean equivalent of insects,‖ says David Gracer.
In fact, crustaceans belong to the same part of the animal family tree as insects
do.
When people argue that eating grasshoppers or beetle larvae is yucky, Gracer points
out that lobsters tend to ―eat trash and dead things.‖ And Insects? Most of them dine at
nature’s salad bars. Knowing that, he asks, ―Which would you rather eat?‖
Gracer’s primary job is teaching writing to college students. However, in his off
hours, he holds workshops on edible insects. He also performs cooking
demonstrations to introduce Americans to bug-based recipes. He’s even started a
company in Providence, R.I., called Sunrise Land Shrimp. It supplies frozen and dried
insects to chefs and other individuals.
Besides pointing out that insects are good food, Gracer also argues that insects
can be ―a better choice‖ than most meats — at least ecologically.
It takes a lot of natural resources — land, water, feed and energy — to create a
pound of beef or chicken. Those resources are not only costly, but can also be
damaged or polluted by livestock operations. By contrast, insects can be grown on low
-quality plants — even weeds, sometimes — and often using little water.
The environmental resources associated with bringing every pound of insect
protein to market, therefore, are far fewer than for an equivalent amount of regular
meat.
That’s why Gracer argues that ―cows and pigs are the SUVs of the food world. And
bugs — they’re the Priuses, maybe even bicycles.‖
The muscle tissue in conventional livestock — such as cattle, hogs, chicken,
and fish — is what we think of as meat. It’s made primarily of protein. By eating protein,
we give our bodies a nutrient needed to build structural materials, including muscle.
Insects are tiny animals. And studies have shown that their protein typically has
higher quantities of minerals and vitamins than occur in many conventional meats that
people eat. That finding was a surprise to Sandra G.F. Bukkens, an independent
nutrition scientist based in Barcelona, Spain. While she was working in Italy, several
years back, she was asked to survey what scientists around the world had published
on the nutritional value of bugs.
―I was pleasantly surprised,‖ she reports. ―Insects were far more healthy than I
expected.‖

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 Gene R. DeFoliart isn’t surprised by Bukkens’ assessment. His research over
the years has shown that the protein in insects tends to be at least as nutritious as that
in conventional livestock meats. Sometimes, the insect protein is even better, he says.
DeFoliart is an entomologist (en toh MOL’ oh jist), a scientist that studies insects.
Although now retired, he worked at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for many
decades.
His studies have shown that people throughout much of the world eat insects.
Many cultures have eaten them for thousands of years. Although many people in
wealthy Asian nations, like Japan, will snack on certain bugs, most insect dining takes
place in poorer countries. Insects are popular, for instance, throughout India, much of
Asia and Africa, and in South America’s rural populations.
In Mexico, however, insect dining remains common among all classes of
people. As a result, insects can be purchased from street stalls or at expensive five-
star restaurants, says Julieta Ramos-Elorduy of the National Autonomous University in
Mexico City. Indeed, she notes, ―I served them at my daughter Mariangela’s
engagement party.‖ And from adults to small children, everyone ate her insect-laden
foods, Ramos-Elorduy recalls.
Then again, Ramos-Elorduy knows how to make such meals especially tasty.
Over the years she has collected recipes, tried them out, and packaged the best in a
picture-filled cookbook, Creepy Crawly Cuisine: The Gourmet Guide to Edible Insects.
Most insects are eaten before they become adults, she told Science News for
Kids. The reason: ―Their nutritional value is greater, because they have not wasted
nutrients while forming such things as wings.‖ In some instances, people eat the eggs
of insects. More frequently, people eat the grub or caterpillar stage of butterflies,
beetles and moths. Even young bees, ants and wasps may be added to improve the
nutritional quality of food. Altogether, she’s found, some 1,700 different species of
insects are eaten in Mexico.

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 SUMMARY WRITING
I. Introduce title, author, and subject of article.

II. Main Points & Details (Find all of the author’s main points and decide which
details are important. Identify the main points and details that are necessary to
help your audience understand the article.)

Main Point: ____________________________________________________________

Main Point: ____________________________________________________________

Main Point: ____________________________________________________________

Main Point: ____________________________________________________________

Detail: _________________________________________________________________

Detail: _________________________________________________________________

Detail: _________________________________________________________________

Detail: _________________________________________________________________

Homework:
Write a 200-word summary of the article “Why Eat Bugs.” Be sure to use your own
words. Leave out information that does not help the reader understand the article.

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 WRITER’S WORKSHOP I
WEEK 6

10-MINUTE WRITING WARM-UP:

Spend the next 10 minutes writing a response to the question below. Be prepared to share
your answer with the class.

Question: If you could have a round-trip ride in a time machine and travel any distance
into the past or future, where would you go? Why? What questions do you have that
would be answered?

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