Expository writing: A short guide
Ken Cheng
ãCopyright 2020
Photo from Pixabay, author unknown:
https://pixabay.com/photos/fountain-pen-note-notebook-
page-1851096/
, Expository writing
Contents
Chapter 1 Classic style 3
Classic style: a window to the truth 4
Paragraphs 6
Sentences 8
Other issues 14
References 16
Chapter 2 Nitty-gritties: Fixing common
problems in students’ writing 17
Run-on sentences 17
Sentence fragments 20
Subject–verb (mis)agreement 21
Accompanying words for nouns 22
Pronouns, deictic words, the words that and which 28
Punctuation 33
Commonly misused words 43
Final words 46
References 47
2
,Expository writing
Chapter 1 Classic style
Writing is a strange business. It is like talking, but no audience
is present except for those who may flash upon that inward eye,
to borrow a poetic turn from William Wordsworth. No sounds,
or gestures, in the case of sign languages, emanate except for
what may chime upon that inward ear. Talking, most often,
flows naturally. Writing can be a struggle for students, with the
blank space of the electronic page sometimes foisting an
insurmountable barrier to the flow of words. At other times,
“flow” hardly describes the writing process, with the jumble of
keyboard strokes stumbling and staggering incoherently on the
page. To switch metaphors again, this little guide aims to set
university students of all writing calibres on a basic course of
smooth sailing in writing, to navigate around common
obstacles, and to ease the angst in writing. For all students,
writing is a most—perhaps the most—important generic skill to
develop in university.
We begin with overarching style in this chapter, followed
by a short guide on two units of writing at different levels, the
paragraph and the sentence. Chapter 2 delves into nitty gritties.
Common problems in student writing will parade on the pages,
flagged with warnings and exercises for avoiding and fixing
them. The pageant of mishaps features run-on sentences, their
opposite, sentence fragments, subject–verb (mis)agreement,
accompanying words for nouns (or their lack), ambiguities in
pronouns and other deictic words, and errors in punctuation.
Some students might consider the last issue to be small fry, but
errors in punctuation do tarnish style, and sometimes mess up
the intended meaning. Exercises are sprinkled in the book.
Improving writing is like improving tennis playing. Both these
activities will not improve much from spectating, watching a
3
, Expository writing
tennis superstar play or reading writing guide after writing
guide. To improve in tennis, the player must get out on the court
and hit tennis balls. To improve writing, the writer must write.
Classic style: a window to the truth
Our journey must begin with overarching style, an aesthetic
philosophy for writing. Style in this sense does not concern
nitty-gritty rules such as how to format references or what
sections and subsections to include in a work, the stuff of
instructions for authors on journal web pages or sometimes
instructions for assignments. Rather, style concerns broad
principles, fundamental aesthetic stances, and, as already said,
overarching philosophy. A variety of styles have evolved in the
history of writing. For academic writing in university, the style
that I recommend, along with other scholars (Brown 2016;
Pinker 2014; Thomas and Turner 1994), is classic style. This is
not to say that classic style is the best style, tout court. As in
styles of painting over the ages, one cannot legitimately say that
one style is best overall. Of all writing styles, however, classic
style suits university academic writing best.
The basic stance of classic style is the presentation of a
window to the truth. Writing presents a window to the truth, a
view that the writer has come to after her travails of research.
(Following Pinker’s (2014) conventions, the writer takes the
female gender in this chapter and the reader takes the male
gender, while in the next chapter, gender roles are reversed. My
apologies to those who identify themselves as some other
gender.) The writer and the reader come to the party with
different backgrounds. In expository writing, the writer has read
literature on a topic or sometimes conducted as yet unreported
research, on the basis of which she has formulated her views.
The reader is not privy to that background. The writer’s job is to
4
Ken Cheng
ãCopyright 2020
Photo from Pixabay, author unknown:
https://pixabay.com/photos/fountain-pen-note-notebook-
page-1851096/
, Expository writing
Contents
Chapter 1 Classic style 3
Classic style: a window to the truth 4
Paragraphs 6
Sentences 8
Other issues 14
References 16
Chapter 2 Nitty-gritties: Fixing common
problems in students’ writing 17
Run-on sentences 17
Sentence fragments 20
Subject–verb (mis)agreement 21
Accompanying words for nouns 22
Pronouns, deictic words, the words that and which 28
Punctuation 33
Commonly misused words 43
Final words 46
References 47
2
,Expository writing
Chapter 1 Classic style
Writing is a strange business. It is like talking, but no audience
is present except for those who may flash upon that inward eye,
to borrow a poetic turn from William Wordsworth. No sounds,
or gestures, in the case of sign languages, emanate except for
what may chime upon that inward ear. Talking, most often,
flows naturally. Writing can be a struggle for students, with the
blank space of the electronic page sometimes foisting an
insurmountable barrier to the flow of words. At other times,
“flow” hardly describes the writing process, with the jumble of
keyboard strokes stumbling and staggering incoherently on the
page. To switch metaphors again, this little guide aims to set
university students of all writing calibres on a basic course of
smooth sailing in writing, to navigate around common
obstacles, and to ease the angst in writing. For all students,
writing is a most—perhaps the most—important generic skill to
develop in university.
We begin with overarching style in this chapter, followed
by a short guide on two units of writing at different levels, the
paragraph and the sentence. Chapter 2 delves into nitty gritties.
Common problems in student writing will parade on the pages,
flagged with warnings and exercises for avoiding and fixing
them. The pageant of mishaps features run-on sentences, their
opposite, sentence fragments, subject–verb (mis)agreement,
accompanying words for nouns (or their lack), ambiguities in
pronouns and other deictic words, and errors in punctuation.
Some students might consider the last issue to be small fry, but
errors in punctuation do tarnish style, and sometimes mess up
the intended meaning. Exercises are sprinkled in the book.
Improving writing is like improving tennis playing. Both these
activities will not improve much from spectating, watching a
3
, Expository writing
tennis superstar play or reading writing guide after writing
guide. To improve in tennis, the player must get out on the court
and hit tennis balls. To improve writing, the writer must write.
Classic style: a window to the truth
Our journey must begin with overarching style, an aesthetic
philosophy for writing. Style in this sense does not concern
nitty-gritty rules such as how to format references or what
sections and subsections to include in a work, the stuff of
instructions for authors on journal web pages or sometimes
instructions for assignments. Rather, style concerns broad
principles, fundamental aesthetic stances, and, as already said,
overarching philosophy. A variety of styles have evolved in the
history of writing. For academic writing in university, the style
that I recommend, along with other scholars (Brown 2016;
Pinker 2014; Thomas and Turner 1994), is classic style. This is
not to say that classic style is the best style, tout court. As in
styles of painting over the ages, one cannot legitimately say that
one style is best overall. Of all writing styles, however, classic
style suits university academic writing best.
The basic stance of classic style is the presentation of a
window to the truth. Writing presents a window to the truth, a
view that the writer has come to after her travails of research.
(Following Pinker’s (2014) conventions, the writer takes the
female gender in this chapter and the reader takes the male
gender, while in the next chapter, gender roles are reversed. My
apologies to those who identify themselves as some other
gender.) The writer and the reader come to the party with
different backgrounds. In expository writing, the writer has read
literature on a topic or sometimes conducted as yet unreported
research, on the basis of which she has formulated her views.
The reader is not privy to that background. The writer’s job is to
4
