Newspaper articles consist of expository paragraphs.
Paragraph , which has its origin in the Latin term paragraphus , is a concept that is used to name the different fragments that make up a text . Paragraphs begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop.
Expository , for its part, is an adjective that refers to that which makes an exposition about something (that is, that expresses it).
Expository paragraphs , therefore, are responsible for providing information about various events without including subjective comments. Its purpose is to disseminate events, and not to convince the reader.
Example of an expository paragraph
“The dog is a four-legged mammalian animal. It is a domesticated canid that has a highly developed sense of smell. There are numerous dog breeds, which means that specimens of this species can have quite diverse characteristics..
As can be seen, in this paragraph there is an abundance of specific data (the dog is a mammal, a canid, it has four legs, etc.) and no opinions are included or emotions are transmitted.
The case would be different for a paragraph that states the following:
“The dog is man's best friend because of its friendliness and incomparable beauty. By sharing life with a dog, people are happier since they have a companion to play with. To live fully, therefore, the only option is to live with an animal of this type.”
This last paragraph is not expository since it does not expose the characteristics of the animal , but rather suggests certain qualities that are subjective (incomparable beauty, its friendliness, the effects it generates on people...).
Academic and scientific publications usually present expository paragraphs.
Some features
One of the most obvious characteristics of the expository paragraph is the use of the present tense of the indicative mood; Unlike the narration of a story, in which it is necessary to tell a series of events ordered in time, the information transmitted in the sentences of a paragraph of this type is usually true regardless of the time plane. A clear example of this is seen when saying that water boils at 100 °C ; The verb boil is used in the present, since this phenomenon will be repeated as many times as desired, always with the same results .
From a technical point of view, the expository paragraph should be part of a text of the same kind; The expository text is made up of paragraphs that contain objective information about concepts, ideas and events. In both cases, the use of this type of writing serves to provide knowledge to generally non-specialized readers; On the other hand, there are those that present scientific content and that can be considered within this group.
Expository paragraph in specialized and informative texts
It is possible to classify expository texts in the following way:
* specialized : the difficulty of its content is considerable and, therefore, requires prior knowledge at a very deep level for understanding. Some examples are articles on scientific topics, laws and monographs;
* informative : they serve to inform the general public about a topic. They are the most common, since we find them daily in encyclopedias, newspapers, pamphlets and textbooks, for example.
Throughout the paragraphs of an expository text, a certain structure should be noted that contributes to the transmission of knowledge; The three main parts are: the introduction , which details the way in which the main topic will be treated; the development , which constitutes the most significant and extensive portion of the entire text, since its lines present the information in order and clearly; the conclusion , with the aim of reviewing the most important points of the exhibition.