How to Write an Explanatory Essay – A Quick Guide

Studying in high school or college, one has to know how to write essays well. An explanatory essay is the most frequently assigned type among the various essay genres for students. It is mainly used to assess how students understood a particular topic or lecture material. Professors would give students a reading assignment and follow up with a task to write an explanatory essay to see how well they’ve acquired the material.

For students who find the task of writing an explanatory essay daunting, the phrase “write my essay” becomes a beacon of hope. This is where an assignment writing company comes into the picture as a valuable resource. These companies provide professional assistance to students who struggle with the intricacies of essay writing. With expert writers who specialize in various academic disciplines, these companies can offer guidance on how to effectively structure an essay, develop a coherent argument, and articulate ideas clearly. They can be particularly helpful in ensuring that the essay adheres to the required academic standards and formats. For students juggling multiple assignments and tight deadlines, an assignment writing company can be a lifesaver, offering them the support they need to submit high-quality essays and improve their academic performance. Whether it’s help with research, drafting, or editing, these services can tailor their assistance to meet the unique needs of each student, making the process of essay writing more manageable and less stressful.

The current guide is designed to help you write a perfect explanatory essay from scratch – from topic selection to conclusion.

What Is an Explanatory Essay

The primary explanatory essay definition describes it as a type of academic essay that serves to present information and explain a material, concept, idea, phenomena, etc. It has much in common with an expository essay, and both names are sometimes used interchangeably. This connection helps in understanding an explanatory essay, as its primary task is to expose the reader to a particular topic.

The key distinctive features of the explanatory essay are strict academic language and the absence or at least a meager amount of the author’s opinions, emotions, and personal bias. Persuasion techniques are not welcomed in this essay type either. Instead, a neutral and objective tone of voice should be preferred, as it is the backbone of every decent explanatory essay.   

Explanatory Essay Topics

Topics of explanatory essays can vary significantly, and span across different disciplines. However, all of them share one thing in common – they are always clear and concise, making it easy to focus on the explanation itself, rather than on understanding and deciphering a topic.

Below, you can find several examples of such topics:

1. The principles of supply and demand in economics.
2. The structure and function of the human cardiovascular system.
3. The causes and consequences of the Great Depression in the US.
4. The key principles of multitasking.
5. Why is diversity in academia important?
6. The basics of effective time management
7. The history of Portugal: from the great discoveries to the modern day.
8. The significance of the General Theory of Relativity.

How to Start an Explanatory Essay

Before you even write anything, research your topic. If you have a chance to do it online – that’s great! Google it and find something important that you’d like to explain. If you’re writing it in class and you are not allowed to use gadgets – try to recall as much information about your topic as you can. In doing so, use a blank sheet of paper to write sketches of your future text: important facts, ideas, concepts you’d like to include, people characters, and so on.

Then, carefully estimate your workload. Depending on the length requirement of your essay, you may need to include chapters or headings in your paper. The rule of thumb is to include headings for essays longer than 3 pages. For essays up to 2-3 pages long, you’d be fine with plain text, arranged into separate paragraphs.

Explanatory Essay Outline

Outlining is the logical next step in your preparation for writing an explanatory essay. Don’t rush at this stage – the more information and the better it is structured in your outline, the less work you’ll have to do in the actual paper. With a thorough outline at hand, all you’ll need to do is enhance each chapter and each paragraph by filling them with the necessary details and explanations. Think of an outline as the skeleton of your essay, while the text is the meat that you need to grow.

An outline can be done on a separate sheet of paper, or directly in MS Word or other text editors that you use for writing on your laptop. To save time and speed up your work, we recommend the second option, as most essays these days are done in electronic form anyway.

Explanatory Essay Introduction

An introduction to an explanatory essay has to be clear and reasonably short. It should present the topic, ideally from an interesting angle, such as a cool fact or an intriguing assumption. However, one must avoid going too deep into explaining the topic right from the start – it’s better to leave this information for the main body, where it is advisable to make a separate relevant chapter.

The introduction to an explanatory essay would be incomplete without a thesis statement – the central idea of the text. It can be expressed explicitly or implicitly. For instance, one can explicitly say “In this essay, I will argue that marine life has suffered greatly from ocean pollution in the past 10 years”, or drop the first part, and leave the main point: “Unfortunately, marine life has suffered greatly from ocean pollution in the past 10 years.”  

How to Write Your Explanatory Essay

Begin writing according to your outline. Don’t try to put all the arguments into the very first paragraph. It’s better to break them into several paragraphs if you are writing an essay of up to 3 pages long. 

How many paragraphs in an explanatory essay overall? Well, on average, explanatory essays contain 3-5 body paragraphs. Anything beyond that volume tends to look messy unless you organize it into chapters and subheadings. Bullet or numbered lists also help, however, be aware that those are not widely used in essay writing in general, so you’d better make not more than a single list. 

A good explanatory essay body paragraph starts with a topic sentence – an introduction to the theme of the paragraph. Throughout the entire paragraph, avoid using extensively long sentences, but consider connecting separate paragraphs by transition words or phrases, such as “Additionally”, “On the second thought”, “However”, and the like.

In the explanatory essay conclusion, you should sum up the entire essay’s contents, repeat your key statement, and discuss the significance of your findings.

Explanatory Essay Example

Conclusion

Mastering the art of writing an explanatory essay is essential for students. This guide has explored the definition, topics, and steps involved in crafting a successful explanatory essay. As you plan to write your first explanatory essay, remember to maintain a neutral and objective tone, present your key ideas effectively, and conclude by emphasizing the significance of your findings. Good luck with your essay-writing endeavors!