Tips on How to Write an Explanatory Essay

Tips on How to Write an Explanatory Essay

 With climate change becoming a major area of interest worldwide, your instructor requests you write an essay on the "causes and effects of climate change." You do not know where to begin because you are unfamiliar with the subject. This article provides guidance on writing this type of essay, commonly called an explanatory essay.

What is an Explanatory Essay?

To anyone unfamiliar with the topic, it might be a challenge to develop an informative write-up and this is where an explanatory essay comes in. By writing an explanatory essay, complex concepts are broken down into simple language that can be understood by anyone with the basic knowledge of the language used to develop the write-up.

It is very common to encounter explanatory essays in an academic setting. However, they are not limited to academics but can also be found in magazines, newspapers, journals, and online publications to inform the general public.

Format of an Explanatory Essay

A typical essay consists of five paragraphs and the case is no different when writing an explanatory essay. However, it is important to note that it does not necessarily mean that all explanatory essays must have five paragraphs but can exceed depending on the broadness of the topic.

It is important to note that an explanatory essay is based on facts. It is key to base the essay on research findings rather than personal opinions. In-depth research and data analysis must be conducted to develop an informative explanatory essay. To achieve this, sources of information that can be utilized include peer-reviewed journals, newspapers, and published materials either online or in hard copies.

 	
Introduction

By maximumly utilizing all available resources to you to extract information, it is very easy to develop a strong thesis statement. The thesis statement presents the main idea in the explanatory essay and guides the reader through providing a summary of the main points discussed in the paper. The statement should appear in the second last sentence of the introductory paragraph.

The introductory paragraph should be as captivating as possible. The writer can capture their readers' attention by giving facts about the topic. Facts can include statistics or a historical event related to the topic. Other tools that can be leveraged to capture readers' attention include using quotes or rhetorical questions.

 	
Body

In the body, you leverage all information gathered from different sources. The body paragraphs are solely made of facts that answer all the questions that the reader might have asked in the introductory paragraph.

The facts supporting the questions can be in the form of statistics. In the body, it is important to quote other authors and the year their work was published to provide readers with a broader view of the topic. Quoting other authors also provide readers with an opportunity to explore these sources of information on their own time to get a better understanding of the topic.

 	
Conclusion

The conclusion should convince the reader to believe in your ideas. The conclusion should begin with reinstating the thesis statement intended to bring the reader back to the main point of discussion. The thesis statement should be followed by a summary of key points in the essay's body. Finally, a concluding statement should come last, giving the writer's point of view concerning the topic.

Types of Explanatory Essays

 	
Compare and Contrast Explanatory Essay

This type of explanatory essay seeks to establish the similarities and differences in situations, phenomena, time, and ideas, among others. Examples include.

 	
Difference between white-collar job and blue-collar job.
 	
College Versus High School


 	
Definition Explanatory Essay

A definition essay is considered the basic type of explanatory essay. In this type of essay, the writer is required to define and describe a component ranging from a concept, situation, a person. Example of a definition Explanatory Essay is "Defining Climate Change Causes and Impacts." 

In writing this essay, it is possible to encounter terminologies such as greenhouse effect, global warming, greenhouse gases, climate change, mitigation, adaptation, and renewable energy, among others. Defining this term gives the reader a clear understanding of climate change, and therefore, it is easy to understand other related concepts, such as causes and effects.

 	
Cause and Effect

The cause-and-effect essays explore what led an event to occur and the effects of the event happening. When writing this type of essay, the most important question to ask as a writer  is the reason behind the cause and the resultant impact. Examples of cause-and-effect explanatory essays include:

 	
Cause and effect of climate change to the food security
 	
Causes and effect of forest clearing to the climate
 	
Causes and effect of social media on mental health
 	
Causes and effect of eating processed food.


 	
How to Essay

How to essay provides a chronological order in performing a particular task to achieve the desired results. How to essay very sensitive essay because missing a single step can result in your readers achieving completely different results from what was intended. For instance, a recipe is a type of how-to explanatory essay. Missing a step of adding spices such as salt can result in completely different results. Other examples of how to essays include:

 	
How to write an opinion essay
 	
How to prepare homemade tomato paste
 	
How to effectively read a novel
 	
How to dress for an interview


 	
Problem and Solution Essay

This type of essay closely relates to the cause-and-effect essay. This is because, in the initial stages, the cause and effects must be provided first to provide a solution. Problem and solution essays can also be combined with comparing and contrasting elements to provide the most suitable solution. Examples include:

 	
Finding a sustainable solution to climate change and its effects.
 	
Solutions to gender-based violence.
 	
Minimizing students' over-reliance on AI when doing assignments.


 	
Chronological Essay

This type of essay chronologically explains an event in the order in which it occurred. Chronological events can be a history of a person, a place, a thing, or an idea.

 	
The evolution of man
 	
The history of the United States of America
 	
The biography of Adolf Hitler
 	
The evolution of mobile phones

The six types of essays provided above prove that explanatory essays are broad. It is therefore important to have the necessary skills and technical know-how because there are high chances of encountering this type of essay in the course of learning. The above-provided tips and examples will guide you in making your work easier when writing an explanatory essay.

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