As described in Unit VI and reinforced in Unit VII, the expository essay is instructional and educational in that the purpose of this essay is to confer information from the author to the reader. There are many different kinds of expository writing that surround us each day. In fact, you have more than likely written in an expository manner before. Any time you have written to a friend and described the process for cooking a favorite dish, explained the process for enrolling in a fantasy football league, or explained how to plan and then execute a quilt, you were writing in an expository manner. 

For this journal, briefly introduce the topic of your expository essay. This is not a formal disclosure. Instead, describe what you intend to write about in your Unit VII expository essay. Use the following questions as a guide:

• What is your topic?
• How are you approaching it?
• What do you already know about the topic?
• What do you want others to know about the topic?
• What attracted you to this topic?
• Do you have a personal interest in the topic?
• What was the inspiration for writing about this topic?
• What do you want to know about the topic?
• What kinds of research are you doing already?
• How do you feel about the drafting process so far?

You certainly should not feel as though you need to answer all of the questions above. Instead, in your description, picture your course mates as your audience. Imagine that we are all sitting in a classroom together, and the instructor has the class to go around the room and describe their projects.

Your response should be at least 200 words and should follow APA format. No references or citations are necessary.

Unit VII Essay Expository Essay Draft Write a 1000-1500-word essay about a topic of your choice in the style described within Unit VI and VII. Purpose: Throughout Units VI and VII, we have discussed the conventions of the expository essay. The purpose of this assignment is to measure your mastery of those conventions by putting your knowledge to practice. As we discussed in Unit VI, Lesson 1, the expository essay is a general term for an essay that expounds upon or explains a topic. The objective of the essay is to convey information to the reader; most importantly, an expository essay is an exploration of a topic, and the tone is explanatory. After choosing your topic, you will need to choose the form that is most appropriate to fit the topic: cause and effect, problem and solution, or sequential. A thesis statement, which contains the paper's argument, will be appropriate to the form you choose. Process: For the expository essay, you will complete the following steps:

1. Choose a topic: See Unit VI, Lesson 2, for more information about choosing a topic.
2. Create a plan of action: See Unit VI, Lesson 3, for strategies for assessing what you already know and assessing what you need to know.
3. Research the topic: See Unit VI, Lesson 4, for instruction on research methods.
4. Choose the organization of your essay: Choose between cause and effect, problem and solution, or sequential organization types. See Unit VI, Lesson 1, for a list of the three organizational forms, and see Unit VII, Lesson 1, for a description of thesis statements written according to the organizational form of the essay.
5. Create a thesis statement: See Unit VII, Lesson 1, for a description of thesis statements written according to the organizational form of the essay.
6. Draft the essay: See Unit VII, Lesson 1, for keeping brainstorming in mind and Unit VII, Lesson 2, for more on the drafting process and description of each essay section.

Stylistic details: All essays must meet the following requirements:

• Include 1000-1500 words.
• Write in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font.
• Include one-inch margins on all sides.
• Use double spacing (top-to-bottom every page, to include above and below titles and centered words).
• Include an APA title page (for all essays) and reference list that includes all of the sources used in the essay.
• Include a header.
• Include page numbers (upper-right corner only).
• Adhere to APA convention and documentation style (See the CSU citation guide for assistance.). Information about accessing the grading rubric for this assignment is provided below.