EXPOSITORY WRITING GLOSSARY
Concluding or Transitional Sentence
A sentence that concludes each body paragraph; should restate topic
sentence idea and can transition into new idea of next body
paragraph. A concluding or transitional sentence can also be
placed at the end of the introduction.
Concrete Detail
A specific reference to a particular event or detail in the literature.
Context
Introduces the quotation or concrete detail. Informs the reader
where in the story the quotation occurs.
Major Support
Focuses on one important aspect of the topic.
Quotation
A passage copied exactly from another text, enclosed in quotation
marks, and cited properly (see page 10).
Topic Sentence
States the main point to be argued/proved in the paragraph.
Transition
A word or phrase used to logically connect two or more ideas,
sentences, or paragraphs.
For Essays:
Interest Creating Device (ICD)
Used at the beginning of an essay to attract the attention of the
reader. It must be relevant to the essay's topic/thesis. It
must be smoothly transitioned, through analysis or explanation, into
the thesis (see Conrad example on page 25).
Statements of Organization (SofO)
Three separate sentences placed in the introduction (in a
five-paragraph essay with three body paragraphs) which function as the
arguable topic sentences of the body paragraphs. Statements of
organization should relate to each other and should work together to
argue thesis.
Thesis Statement
An essay's controlling idea. It is both arguable and
provable. It is more than simple observation.