Expository Text

EXPOSITORY TEXT

Instructional Objectives

​After learning the materials in this chapter you are expected to be able to:

1. Identify context, main ideas and detailed information from an oral and verbal expository text presented in multimodal form.

2. Communicate simple ideas and opinions in various discussions, collaborative activities and presentations orally.

3. Write an expository text with an appropriate structure of organization and linguistic features and present it.

​What is Expository Text?

Expository text is a text that conveys fact and opinion about a topic. Expository texts use different text structures and more complex grammar to get information across than narratives. Expository text is meant to teach something or to impart information to the reader. Because of that, it is a non-fiction text. It is not made up. Expository texts are often seen in educational settings, but they are also found in professional settings as well as in books that are meant to teach.

​Typical Text Structures of Expository Text

​1. Cause and Effect	Ideas, events in time, or facts are presented as causes​ of the resulting effect(s) or facts that happen as a result of an event.
​2. Compare and Contrast	Information is presented by detailing how or more events, concepts, theories, or things are alike and/or different.​
​3. Description	​A topic is described by listing characteristics, features, attributes, and examples.
4. ​Problem and Solution	A problem an done or more solutions to the problem is outlined.​
5. Sequence​	Items or events are listed in numerical or chronological sequence, either explicitly or implied.​

Cause and Effect

In the cause and effect structure, students identify the cause of events, actions, or ideas presented in a chapter or section.

The goal of cause-and-effect text structures is to explain events that happen as a direct result of other events. Some examples include the effect of water evaporating as a result of hot sunlight, or being out of breath after running a mile. Cause and effect can be very straightforward in some informational texts, while in others, the expository text meaning is more implicit. This creates more work for students, as they have to tease out the information.

The cause and effect of events such as war, described in a history text may be more linear than the cause and effect of scientific discoveries, such as vaccinations described in a science text. Although the content and organization will vary, the text structure remains the same and can be broken down and organized into its most basic and therefore, more easily understood, components.

Compare and Contrast

In the compare and contrast format, students spot the similarities and differences between two or more events or concepts.

In history class, for example, students are often expected to be able to identify the differences between two time periods, the similarities and differences between two cultures, wars, political leaders even artwork! When teachers present information from two different categories in this manner, they do so in a way that makes the information accessible and relevant. It is much easier to digest for youths than just teaching one category and following up the lesson with another one that on the surface, seems unrelated.

When texts engage in this latter process, without a teacher’s verbal explanations, the words may seem even more muddled. Providing students with a way to organize the data will increase recall and retention while also increasing their ability to identify the text structure in future instances.

This same strategy can be applied to comparing events or procedures in science and math. For example, a student may be more likely to remember what Christianity and Catholicism are if they can remember what is the same and what is different between the two.

Descrpition

In description expository text structures, students describe a topic by identifying and explaining its characteristics, features, and attributes, and by providing examples.

When a text spends time describing a particular person, event, time period, or object, students can lose the facts in the words. Organizing the key details will provide students with a visual aid and quick reference, and increase their ability to retain the information presented in the text.

For example, an expository text may go into extensive detail about how water moves through the water cycle, taking several paragraphs to do so, even though the water cycle only has five steps that could just as easily be listed in a sentence.

The extra information will enable students to gain a deeper understanding, but they still need to be able to pick out the five key steps in the cycle and organize the descriptive information beneath these steps. Descriptive graphic organizers assist eager readers with the aforementioned process.

Problem and Solution

In the problem and solution structure, students pinpoint the problem and one or more solutions to the problem as described in chapters or sections of expository texts.

Texts that are framed around a problem and its solutions come in all forms. History texts will often identify a problem that occurred, and then outline or describe the various efforts that were made to solve the problem. Science texts can define specific problems and their solutions. The arts and humanities will also define problems and outline potential solutions.

A concrete example would be a passage describing the problem of climate change, and then outlining several possible solutions, such as recycling, reducing fossil fuel usage, and turning off the water while brushing teeth. Then, it would discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the solutions, equipping the reader with tools to decide how they think the problem should be solved, even if the text offers its opinion on the best solution.

Because the problems and solutions may be less explicit in some texts, it is beneficial for students to organize the information in this way so that they have a clearer understanding of the concept as a whole.

Sequence

In the sequence structure, students identify and describe items or events in sequences.

In sequence text structures, passages will typically follow a timeline of events as it takes the reader through a story. Sequences can be implicit or explicit. Step-by-step procedures, math, and science texts will typically state a sequence explicitly. Recall the water cycle example from above: the text would begin its story at any point in the water cycle, and walk students through what happens chronologically to the water as it gets evaporated, stored in clouds, and rained back down.

Other texts, such as history or literature, may have an implicit sequence. For example, the school-to-prison pipeline in low-income American neighborhoods requires the ability to understand and connect nuances in order to fully paint the sequence picture.

Helping students to identify the sequences contained within a text will increase comprehension and retention of the information. One of the best ways to organize sequence expository text is to write the events or items down in order using Storyboard That’s vertical column organization method.

​Do the quiz to test your level of understanding about Expository Text!

Multiple Choice

1. The topic conveyed by the Expository Text is about ...

• Moral Value

• Facts and Opinion

Multiple Choice

2. The Expository Text uses a different text structure and more complex grammar to teach something or convey information to the reader. Therefore, the Expository Text is a type of ...

• Fiction Text

• Non-fiction Text

Multiple Choice

3. There are five typical text structures of Expository Text, below which are not included in that five typical is ...

• Cause and Effect

• Problem and Solution

• Chronological

Multiple Choice

4. Information is presented detailing how two or more events, concepts, theories, or things are similar and/or different. This sentence is an explanation of one of the typical structures of Expository Text, namely ...

• Sequence

• Descriptive

• Compare and Contrast

• Cause and Effect

Multiple Choice

5. The Goal of cause-and-effect text structures is ...

• To entertain the readers with the story which can be fiction or non-fiction.

• To explain events that happen as a direct of other events.