Whether you teach middle or high school students, the most common essay form is the expository essay. When writing an expository essay, students are expected to either explain or describe something. A broad range of topics spans this genre, from how-to instructions to descriptions of a favorite summer vacation. Expository essays allow students to present the world as they see it and encourage them to excavate rich, relevant personal examples.
Essay Writing Lesson Objective
In the world of text messaging, U-tube videos, and interactive video games that perform at lightning speed, teens experience a constant vie for their attention. The goal of this expository essay lesson is to not only promote essay writing skills but also to allow students to ruminate on the less immediate benefits of reading for pleasure. The following lesson provides an opportunity for students to explore their reading experiences and to perhaps see reading in a different light.
Writing Lesson Using Quotes
Display the following quotes on separate sheets of paper around your classroom. Instruct students to grab their notebooks and walk around the classroom silently, jotting notes about their impressions of these quotes. Do any of them catch their attention or speak to them on a certain level?
- “Books do not make life easier or more simple, but harder and more interesting.” Harry Golden, So What Else Is New [G.P. Putnams Sons,1964]
- “If everybody could read all the books that have ever been published and still have time left over to lead a normal life devoted to other interests, there would be little need for universities.” Lyman Abbott, The Guide to Reading [Nelson Doubleday,Inc., 1924]
- Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Francis Bacon, “On Studies,” 1625
- “Books are messengers of freedom. They can be hidden under a mattress or smuggled into slave nations.” Daniel J. Boorstin, Books in Our Future [U.S. Government Printing Office,1984]
- “We are often told that we are what we eat. In our world since the printing press it might be more accurate to say we are what we read. How each of us digests what we read is a mystery. And what people really read is sometimes as puzzling as what they really think.” Daniel J. Boorstin, Introduction to A Memoir by Louis L’Amour [Bantam, 1989]
- “The purpose of fiction is still […] to make the reader see.” Peter DeVries, quoted in Without a Stitch in Time [Popular Library, 1972]
- “I like rereading books, too. I don’t trust folk who don’t reread . . . . What you’ve got to teach people is to read slowly.” Robert Frost, quoted by Ocavio Paz in On Poets and Others [Arcade Publishing, 1991]
- “Browse through the library of any writer or exemplary teacher and you will find the leaves of the book dog-eared and scribbled notations in all the margins. No one interested in what an author is saying should read without pencil in hand.” Harry Golden, So What Else Is New, 1964
Brainstorming About the Prompt
After 15 minutes, ask students to sit down and brainstorm about the following question:
Explain why reading can still be considered a valuable past time. Cite specific examples from current events, media, or your personal experience that will help your reader understand your position.
During this class period they should not begin writing their essay. Encourage them to focus on the brainstorming process by experimenting with list-making, free association, graphic organizers and freewriting strategies to help them identify succinct examples.
By encouraging students to think deeply on a topic without being forced to immediately start composing a timed essay, teachers communicate the importance of critical thinking while providing a formal setting that promotes retrospection and analysis as a significant part of the writing process.
Thadra Petkus - Thadra Petkus is currently a freelance writer, English teacher and mentor. Although she has taught students from age two through ...
