An illustrative essay is one of the simplest essay types there is. It doesn’t ask you to analyze information or draw conclusions or formulate hypothesis or explain why one side of an argument is right while the other is wrong. It merely asks you to give examples that something exists.
Though it is quite a simple form of essay, that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily easy to write. Perhaps the most important part of writing an illustrative essay is making sure you have good, reliable and factual resources to back up your statements.
Here are some tips on how to get an illustrative essay right:
Introduce Your Topic
A strong introduction can help hook the reader and get them interested to read more. In your introduction you should make sure to have a sentence that states the idea you’re planning to prove in the rest of the essay. For example, say you’re planning to prove that global warming exists. You could say something like, “Over the past couple of decades, scientists have been collecting evidence that the planet’s temperature is rising.” As an opener, you can use an interesting quotation or a fascinating statistic or an entertaining anecdote that has to do with global warming. As long as it supports the topic you plan to discuss, any of these can make good introductions.
Body Paragraphs
This is where you’ll provide your evidence. Remember that you’re not arguing the cause of global warming or choosing sides or debating the fact. You’re merely showing the reader that it exists. In this case, you’ll want to include sources that demonstrate a rise in temperatures as well as the melting of polar ice caps. You can cite the increasing prevalence of record highs being recorded in various countries around the globe. In an illustrative essay, there’s no need for you to provide counterpoints.
Sources
This is a strictly factual essay, therefore you need to make sure your sources are reliable academic sources that show factual data, statistics and reports, not just someone’s opinion or personal analysis. Keep the tone neutral and focus on presenting the facts throughout the essay.
Use Third Person
Avoid using first person such as “I” and “We” in an illustrative essay. This type of essay should use the third person (“he/she/it” or “they”).
Word Choice
In an illustrative essay, it can be tempting to overuse the term “For example” since you’ll be offering plenty of them. Try to use some other terms such as “Interestingly” or “Moreover” or “Furthermore” to avoid being overly repetitious.
Conclusion
A strong conclusion for an illustrative essay can include a summary of the facts already presented or the presentation of your strongest and most compelling fact to end the essay with a bang.
Edit
The first step in the editing process is giving yourself a break. Take at least a few hours between when you wrote the last line and when you start to edit. Having this time will allow you to read your essay with fresh eyes. As you edit, make sure to re-read it for spelling and grammatical errors as well as typos. You’ll also want to review it for content. Are your examples solid? Do they illustrate the point you’re trying to prove? Are your sources reliable? A top tip for editing any essay is to read it out loud to yourself. This allows you to catch mistakes you may have missed if you merely scan it with your eyes. To be extra sure that your essay is 100%, give it to a friend or parent to read and check for mistakes.
See how simple an illustrative essay is? By introducing your topic with a compelling quote, statistic or anecdote and including strong supporting facts from reliable resources and an interesting conclusion, you can ace your essay. Don’t forget to vary your wording (not too many “For Example”s) and edit it well before handing it in.