What you'll learn
Expository writing explains or informs. Where a narrative tells a story, a report sets out facts about a subject so that a reader learns something. On the SEA English Language Arts Writing paper you are given three items in 50 minutes, and an expository task asks you to write a report or explanation. This guide covers the difference between fact and opinion, formal language and tone, topic sentences, organising paragraphs so each carries one idea, using connectives, and writing an introduction and conclusion that do their jobs. The objectives reward factual details, formal language and tone, and clear, coherent expression — which means a plain, well-ordered report scores better than a lively one that wanders.
Key terms and definitions
Expository writing — writing whose purpose is to explain or inform.
Report — a piece of expository writing setting out information about a subject.
Fact — a statement that can be checked and shown to be true.
Opinion — a personal belief or judgement, which people may disagree about.
Formal language — careful, standard English without slang, contractions or casual expressions.
Tone — the attitude the writing gives off. A report has a neutral, serious tone.
Topic sentence — the sentence that states the main idea of a paragraph, usually its first sentence.
Supporting detail — a fact or example that backs up the topic sentence.
Connective — a linking word or phrase such as in addition, however, because or finally.
Introduction — the opening paragraph, which says what the report is about.
Conclusion — the closing paragraph, which sums up the main points.
Core concepts
Fact and opinion
A report is built from facts. A fact can be checked: the steelpan was invented in Trinidad; a week has seven days. An opinion cannot: mangoes taste better than oranges; cricket is the greatest sport.
Opinions are not banned outright, but they must be supported, and phrases such as everyone knows are not support. Everyone knows recycling is the best thing anyone can do is a sweeping claim with no evidence. Recycling one tonne of paper saves around seventeen trees is a fact a reader can weigh.
Formal language and tone
The objectives name formal language and tone appropriate to reports, so this is directly assessed.
- Not: Recycling is real good for the place.
- Yes: Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill.
Avoid slang (cool, kinda, loads of), exclamation marks, and questions fired at the reader. Avoid I and my as well: a report keeps its attention on the subject rather than on the writer. That is the opposite of a narrative, where I is perfectly at home.
Topic sentences and paragraph shape
Each paragraph should carry one main idea, stated in its topic sentence, and everything else in that paragraph should support it.
Recycling helps to protect the environment in several important ways. Recycling one tonne of paper saves around seventeen trees. It also reduces the waste sent to landfill, where rubbish can take many years to break down.
The first sentence announces the idea; the rest supply the evidence. A sentence that does not support the topic sentence — my cousin has a nice bicycle — belongs in no paragraph at all and should be cut, not moved.
Organising the whole report
A report has a shape:
Title — names the subject plainly. How Cocoa Is Grown in Trinidad, not My Amazing Adventure.
Introduction — one short paragraph saying what the report is about. It should not give the whole report away, and it should not contain every fact.
Body paragraphs — one main point each, in a sensible order. For a process, follow the order of the steps. For a subject with several aspects, take one aspect per paragraph and keep all the information about that aspect together.
Conclusion — sums up what has been explained. It must not introduce important new information, because there is no room left to develop it.
Jumping between subjects and back again — opening hours, then borrowing rules, then opening hours again — is the commonest organisation fault. Group related information together.
Connectives
Connectives tell the reader how one idea relates to the next.
- Adding: in addition, furthermore, also, moreover
- Contrasting: however, although, on the other hand
- Cause: because, therefore, as a result
- Sequence: first, next, then, finally
Using however where you mean in addition misleads the reader, so choose by meaning rather than by variety.
Precision
Vague quantities weaken a report. A lot of books tells a reader nothing; more than four thousand books tells them something they can use. Where you have a number, a date or a name, use it.
Worked examples
Example 1: Turning an opinion into a report sentence
Improve: "Recycling is real good for the place and everyone knows it."
Two problems: real good is casual, and everyone knows is a claim standing in for evidence.
Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill. Recycling one tonne of paper saves around seventeen trees.
The tone is now neutral and each sentence states something checkable. Nothing is lost by removing the enthusiasm — a report persuades by evidence, not by insistence.
Example 2: Building a paragraph from a topic sentence
Write a paragraph for a report on the school library, beginning with a topic sentence about borrowing.
The library operates clear rules for borrowing. Each student may borrow two books at a time, and books must be returned within fourteen days. A late fee of one dollar per day applies, which encourages students to return books promptly so that others can use them.
The topic sentence announces the subject; the next two sentences give the rules; the last explains the reason. Every sentence serves the same idea, which is what a paragraph is for.
Example 3: Ordering a report
Put these into a sensible order for a report on how cocoa is grown: drying the seeds, cutting down the pods, fermenting the seeds, selling the crop.
The subject is a process, so the order is the order of the steps:
- Cutting down the pods
- Fermenting the seeds
- Drying the seeds
- Selling the crop
Writing them in any other order would confuse a reader who does not already know the process — and a reader who already knew it would not need the report. When your subject is a process, the order is decided for you.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Writing a story instead of a report. Describing how you felt on the boat rather than what the swamp is like. Fix: a report stays on the subject, not on the writer.
Slang and exclamation marks. The library is the coolest place ever! Fix: read each sentence back and ask whether it would sit comfortably in a newspaper.
Sweeping claims. Everyone knows…, the best thing ever. Fix: replace with a specific fact.
Vague quantities. A lot of, loads of, lots. Fix: use the number if you have it.
Paragraphs with no topic sentence. Fix: make the first sentence say what the paragraph is about.
Irrelevant sentences. Fix: cut them rather than moving them elsewhere.
Splitting one subject across separate paragraphs. Fix: group everything about opening hours together, everything about borrowing together.
New information in the conclusion. Fix: the conclusion sums up; it does not introduce.
How parents can help at home
Report writing is a skill children use for the rest of their schooling, and it responds well to small conversations.
Ask "can we check that?" When your child states something in a piece of writing, ask whether it could be checked. That single question separates fact from opinion better than any definition, and it is the heart of this topic.
Read a real report together. A newspaper article, a leaflet, a page from a school newsletter. Ask what the first sentence of each paragraph is doing. Children spot topic sentences quickly once someone points at one.
Ask for the plan as a list of paragraph headings. Three or four headings, one idea each. If two headings say almost the same thing, they should be one paragraph.
Listen for the tone. Ask your child to read a sentence aloud and say whether it sounds like a newspaper or like talking to a friend. They can usually hear the difference even when they cannot name it, and hearing it is enough to fix it.
Exam technique for expository writing
Plan the paragraph headings before writing — three or four, one idea each. Organisation is directly assessed, and this is the fastest way to secure those marks.
Write a plain title that names the subject. It signals immediately that you understood the task.
Keep the introduction to two or three sentences. Its only job is to say what the report is about.
Check your tone as you go. If a sentence contains I, an exclamation mark, or a word you would use with friends, rewrite it.
Use a number wherever you have one. Precise detail is what the objectives mean by factual details appropriate to reports.
Leave three minutes to read it back for spelling, capital letters and full stops. Accurate mechanics are part of the assessment for a writing task, not just for the language paper.
Quick revision summary
- Expository writing explains or informs; narrative writing tells a story.
- A fact can be checked; an opinion cannot. Reports are built from facts.
- Use formal language: no slang, no exclamation marks, no I or my.
- Each paragraph carries one idea, announced in its topic sentence.
- Structure: title, introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion.
- Group related information together; do not return to a subject already covered.
- Choose connectives by meaning — in addition adds, however contrasts.
- Replace vague quantities with real numbers wherever you have them.
- The conclusion sums up and never introduces new information.
- Leave three minutes to check spelling and punctuation — those marks count here too.