What Is an Explanatory Essay and How to Get Started

Humans have the characteristics of storytelling, whether formal or informal. We cannot do without explaining certain issues or events, sometimes for research purposes, other times among ourselves unofficially. What is explanatory writing? An explanatory essay is often known as an expository essay and it is one of the commonest kinds of essay writings.

What is an Explanatory Essay?

Explanatory writing definition is easily one of the most straightforward definitions you can find. As the name implies, it is a write-up that explains an act, person, event, or anything from a neutral point of view in an unbiased way. Hence, you do not have to support or oppose an idea to write an explanatory essay. You should resist the temptation to argue in support of, or against a notion. This type of essay is rather factual, informative, and unbiased. You can write an explanatory essay on nearly anything, and in different ways. The pattern of explanatory writing is used in persuasive college essays, writing research projects, textbooks and newspaper articles, etc.

The Difference Between Informative and Explanatory Writing

Both informative and explanatory writings possess similar characteristics of giving out information, however, there are some differences between them. Explanatory essay definition tells us that it explains an idea. This means that it comes from a person’s point of view, albeit impartial. However, informative writing is providing pure facts about something like a given report. Explanation essay is always informative, but informative writing may not always be explanatory.

What is a Thesis Statement?

In every write-up, essay, research paper, or project, a thesis statement is very important. This is because it plays the primary role of introducing the topic, and giving the basis of your write-up. Although thesis statements aim to achieve one goal, there are often different approaches to reach the goal. There are three types of thesis statements; argumentative, exploratory, and analytical thesis statements. Your thesis statement could be any one of the three types if you like. Your kind of thesis statement often depends on the type of paper that you are writing.

The Importance of a Thesis Statement

  1. It gives you an angle from which to approach your topic

Your thesis is like a laid-down plan to guide you as you write. Thesis statements can be revised as many times as possible in the course of writing. However, they generally outline the writer’s work uniquely.

  1. It tells your reader what your work is about

It is like a summary of what your work is about. It gives your writer an overview of what they’ll be reading. Your thesis contributes to fanning interest in your reader or making them lose interest in your work even before they dig in properly. You must be well-oriented in thesis construction.

Explanatory Thesis Statement

An explanatory thesis is often used in explanatory writing to give the reader an insight into what they should expect in the written essay. These kinds of thesis are not biased and do not argue for or against something. They rather cover important information regarding the topic and themes of your write-up.

Features of an Explanatory Thesis

  • It is concise

All theses should be concise, precise and matter of factly. As you write your thesis, you have to master the skill of writing only important details. Your thesis is not your introduction, but it is part of your introduction. Hence, you should leave out the stories and include them in your main introduction.

  • It is not argumentative

Like the explanatory essay itself, an explanatory thesis is not argumentative. You should not write this kind of thesis like you are supporting or opposing a motion because it defeats the purpose of your writing.

  • It gives important details

Your explanatory thesis should be concise but not so short that you miss out on important details and make it bland. This feature of giving out important details is what is explanatory about the thesis. It often includes the topic of your work and the major themes involved.

Some Frequently Asked Questions about Thesis Statements

Writing an explanatory essay can be quite simple. This is because it deals with facts and information on specific topics. Hence, you just explain what the topic is all about. However, the challenge begins to surface when we have to include a thesis statement. Some of the questions people ask about thesis statements include “can thesis statements be two sentences?” Here are a selected few addressed here;

Can a thesis be more than one sentence?

One of the features of a thesis is the need to be concise in its structure. People also ask; can a thesis statement be two sentences. The fact about a thesis statement is that, to a large extent, they depend on the broadness of the topic that you are writing. Shorter topics may require just a one-sentence thesis, while broader ones may need more than one sentence (sometimes two or three) to make the right thesis. The right answer to the question; can a thesis be two sentences, will depend on the complexity of your write-up. The key is making your thesis statement as concise as possible while containing the necessary information.

Does your thesis have to be in the first paragraph?

Usually, a thesis statement introduces the reader to your work. It tells the reader what they should expect as they begin the journey of reading. It is only ideal, therefore, that you include your thesis in the introductory part of your work. Your introduction will always be the first paragraph of your essay. Hence, your thesis should be included in the first paragraph of your work.

Does the thesis have to be the last sentence?

in addition to the common question “can a thesis statement be 2 sentences?” people also ask “does the thesis have to come last when I write my thesis paper?” Although your thesis should be in the introductory part of your work, it shouldn’t be the first sentence that your reader comes across. The beginning part of the introduction often talks about the thesis, but the thesis generally comes towards the end of the introduction. Every writer has their writing style, sometimes unique to them. You may choose to craftily make it the last sentence of your introduction. Be that as it may, your thesis should not be the conclusion of your work.

Starting Your Explanatory Essay

An explanatory essay is easy to write if you’ll take the leap and start today. Everything that you need to know about writing your essay and including your thesis statement to your work has been simplified here for you.