A Student’s Guide to Write a Killer Exemplification Essay

So, you were assigned to write an exemplification essay. Where to start and how to write a top-notch paper? The professional team of writers from our essay writing service created a step-by-step instruction to guide you through the process and help you succeed!

What Is an Exemplification Essay?

When you are assigned with this type of paper for the first time, it can seem rather confusing. At this point, you may be wondering how to write an exemplification essay and what it is in the first place. The good news is that if you have ever faced an argumentative essay during your studies, you are already halfway to success. The purpose and main characteristics of such an essay are very similar to an argumentative paper, so even if it feels like you have no idea what is an exemplification essay, chances are that you actually do know.

In a nutshell, just like an argumentative paper, an exemplification essay is written with the sole purpose – to prove something. The difference is that it requires incorporating lots of specific examples, facts, and figures to support your claims. Thus, an exemplification essay is basically a more thorough, solid, and clarifying argumentative essay.

Exemplification Definition

Now, when you have a general understanding of what is an exemplification essay, let’s dig deeper into details and look at the exemplification definition to help you grasp the concept better.

So, based on the exemplification definition, we can see that the key goals of an exemplification essay are to illustrate or clarify a concept and build a solid argument to support it. Thus, it has to encompass plenty of detail, examples, and facts.

Best Exemplification Essay Topics and Ideas

When you know what is an exemplification essay, you are probably wondering how to write it. To get started, you’ll need an inspiring topic first. Just as it is with any other type of paper, choosing the right topic for your exemplification essay is the key to success. To make the right choice, you need to keep in mind the three key tips:

• Focus on your interest;
• Do background research;
• Choose a topic that offers enough scope for further research and building your arguments.

If you keep these three tips in mind, you won’t find it hard to pick a great topic. And here is a list of great exemplification essay topic ideas compiled by our custom essay writing service to get you started:

1. Should the drugs classification system be overhauled?
2. Are gun laws tight enough?
3. Are political polls proven to be fixed?
4. How should children be disciplined?
5. Does technology have a negative impact on our lives?
6. Do politicians care about their voters?
7. People become less self-conscious with age.
8. Should medical healthcare be free for everyone?
9. Should schools enforce any particular religious beliefs on students?
10. Religion in schools and its downsides.
11. Why it is bad that developed countries snatch talent from developing countries.
12. Why humanity is destined to collapse/succeed (Broad topics like humanity’s future, are recommended to be approached with an open and philosophical mind and narrow it down to specifics.)
13. The impact of rapidly evolving technology in modern society (Companies like SpaceX and Tesla, run by Elon Musk, are a great example to refer to when exploring this domain. With bold predictions of return flights to Mars within the next decade, it is a fascinating matter to wade through.)
14. The speed of architectural advancement in the age of the internet (People today can experience architecture from the drawn plans which social media implements and the success of the design is gauged by the community reaction. This narrow example does not have to apply only to residential or community architecture, but to street planning and city infrastructure.)
15. Soccer moms: a plague or a blessing (A mother, so involved in the betterment of her children that she lacks her life agenda. The opposite of parental neglect, perhaps, leads to a lack of freedom and creative expression. In other words, a Soccer Mom can be a positive attribute to a child’s life; but most of the time, it hinders the child’s self-growth.)

How to Structure a Paper: Exemplification Essay Outline

To write the best paper possible, you should draw up an outline first, and plan what you will be talking about in each section of your essay. Students often skip the outline-building stage, yet, careful planning will help you handle the assignment much easier and faster.

Exemplification Essay Example Outline

Basically, an exemplification paper follows the standard essay structure, which consists of an introductory clause, several body paragraphs, and a conclusion. An intro typically consists of an attention-grabbing hook, followed by a clear thesis statement (your main claim). The body of the text should include several (usually three) paragraphs, each stating a specific topic-related point and providing examples to support it. And, finally, a conclusion wraps up the whole essay with all your points and draws a logical conclusion.

Here is a standard exemplification essay layout used as a template by our writing paper service writers:

Now, let’s look at each part in detail.

Intro

An ideal place to start when drafting your exemplification essay would be crafting your introduction. So first, you should make a hook to intrigue the audience into the work and want to continue reading. A hook can be almost anything that drives the reader’s attention and urges them to keep on reading. Some commonly used hooks are rhetorical questions, facts or stats, quotes, etc. If you are not sure how to make a powerful hook, consider looking at a good exemplification essay example to see how others do it. Let our comparison essay writing service team help you with your writing.

Next, it is a good idea to give a brief background into what the topic is about and give details of what you will do.

Thesis Statement

Once the opening hook is written and you have introduced the readers to your topic, finish your intro with a clear thesis statement. The thesis’s objective is to gather the entire arsenal and summarize it into a comprehensive plan of action.

It must include but is not limited to:

• a factual statement
• observation
• a personal opinion
• or a question you intend to answer.

The following is a thesis statement example discussed previously in the topic suggestion section.

“Elon Musk’s energy efficiency revolution is still in its early life cycle; thus its slow progress must be put into a socioeconomic perspective.”

Now, let us put this thesis statement under the microscope.

Topic: The impact of rapidly evolving technology in modern society.

Opinion: Elon Musk’s progress with the transport and energy revolution is slow due to certain socioeconomic boundaries.

Reasoning: Market cost of coal vs. electric (energy), the lack of competition in the electric car market (transport), and the lack of US government’s subsidies into commercial space travel (SpaceX).

While the thesis statement is vague, the use of “socioeconomic perspective” implies a more elaborate description, which the reasoning section of the thesis statement mentioned. Such specifics give room for research and the focus on comprehensive examples as opposed to brief examples.

When formulating a thesis statement, you must distinguish between the type of paper you want to write. Longer works like an IB extended essay need more extensive thesis statements to encompass a wider range of arguments. Whereas shorter essays’ thesis statements can fit in one or a few sentences.

If you are struggling with formulating an effective thesis statement, try applying it to a particular formula to check its validity:

• “/Object/ acts upon /subject/ because of something.”
• “Even though /opposing view/ (conflicting evidence), your object still acts upon subject due to certain reasons.”

As you can see, it is quite easy to dissect the essay just by formulating your thesis, and thus giving you a direction when heading into the exemplification essay outline. Remember, keep track of your sources and extract only the most relevant examples. It is much better to use fewer but more elaborate examples rather than many inefficient ones. Make every single one work in your favor.

Body

First, plan out which points you have to back up your thesis statement and order them by importance. When writing the body of text, it is a good practice to put the weakest point or statement first, and then end on the strongest one. Remember, it is vital to back up every claim or point with strong evidence in the form of an example.

There are different kinds of exemplification examples types that could be used in an essay:

1. Brief examples – Could be a smaller and less descriptive, and could generally be a concise idea or concept.
2. Comprehensive examples – Would be better to illustrate a more complex idea or theme that can’t be described with a brief example.
3. Personal examples – Are subjective but often taken from the writer’s own experiences and are great to explain the author’s own thoughts and ideas.
4. Hypothetical examples – Can be described as a fictional example based on real statistics or ideas but is invented generally to help the reader better understand the term or concept. With this method, the audience can visualize the idea better if it is something difficult to picture.

A combination of the two types should be used in the paper to back up points, it is also possible to use many brief examples to support an idea. Try to find as many examples as possible, and later decide, which ones to keep as the strongest evidence.

Include interesting, yet relevant examples. You do not want to list boring findings. If the research is too predictable, this will also not interest the reader, so find good cases to include.

Also, keep the body of the article in some kind of order, either chronological or logical (by importance).

Conclusion

When writing the concluding part to an exemplification essay, remember to summarize the key points of the body text first. Do not just copy large paragraphs of supporting details. Instead, offer a short summary.

After the summary and important findings, write a final concluding statement. Then, add something that leaves your audience with some food for thought and makes suggestions for further research (e.g. an interesting question or finding). This can be around one or two sentences long.

The key thing to keep in mind when wrapping up your work is that a conclusion should give the paper a sense of completion so that the reader will feel all the ideas tie up nicely.

Bibliography

Any references used in the paper must be cited in the correct way, depending on the format that is required. To find out more about citation methods that can be utilized in an exemplification essay check out our free guide.

Exemplification Essay Rubric

In order to answer the question “how to write an exemplification essay”, it is vital to understand how it is being graded. The exemplification essay is assessed based on specific criteria that define the writer’s ability to research the topic, build valid example-based evidence, and integrate them in their essay.

To write a killer essay that deserves the high grade, a student must know and understand the criteria for evaluation of such work. So, the following is a foundation you need to keep in mind to create a top-notch essay.

• Thesis

Is it clear and relevant?

Does the thesis adequately unify all subtopics presented in the essay?

Is it well written within the context of the subject matter and the introductory paragraph?

• Example Quality

Are the examples provided within the paper valid?

Does the author use examples effectively to clarify and explain the concept presented to the reader?

• The Number of Examples

Are the given examples sufficient when presented within the context of the claim?

• Logical Order

Are opinions, ideas, examples, and paragraphs arranged coherently?

• Transitions

Are the transitions between paragraphs used effectively to drive readers from one topic/idea/example to the next?

• Detail

Is there a sufficient amount of details?

Are the examples developed sufficiently to maximize their usefulness?

Does the writer’s argument clearly portray his side in the discussion?

• Grammar and Mechanics

Are there grammatical errors?

Is the essay structured appropriately?

Does the writer use language effectively to persuade the reader?

• Word Usage

Does the range of the vocabulary convey sophistication within the writer’s voice?

How to Write an Exemplification Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide

Writing an exemplification essay may seem quite challenging, especially when you are facing this task for the first time. However, when you have a good plan, the writing process will be easier and less stressful.

If you are wondering how to cope with this task, use this step-by-step guide as your action plan or order essay paper from our service:

1. Pick a Topic

As was already mentioned, choosing the right topic is already 50% of success. The better the topic is, the easier it will be to conduct research, build arguments, and write your essay.

A good topic should be:

• Relevant;
• Useful;
• Interesting (both to you and your audience);
• Specific.

Also, keep in mind that your topic shouldn’t be too broad or, on the contrary, to narrow. It should offer enough scope for research and argument-building but, at the same time, it should not be too general.

2. Conduct Research

Once you have defined your topic, the next step is to collect the material for your essay. Since an exemplification essay is heavy on details and examples, it is vital that you collect a sufficient amount of data to support your ideas.

When researching the topic, make sure to use only valid and trusted sources, such as non-fiction books, or scientific journals.

3. Organize Your Material

Once you find plenty of resources and data, you should take some time to evaluate your material and prioritize the collected information. To make your paper truly engaging, it is vital that you use valid, significant, and relevant examples that bring real value.

4. Find a Good Sample

Check out some good exemplification essay examples before you start. Writing an exemplification essay is not that hard if you know what you’re doing. Thus, it is always a good idea to look at a few exemplification essay examples to get a sense of how this work is to be completed.

5. Make an Outline

There is no need to emphasize the importance of planning ahead. Thus, be sure not to skip this step and create a detailed outline for your future paper. Just as a quick reminder, here is how your exemplification essay outline should look like:

Introduction

• Hook
• Background information
• Thesis statement

Body paragraph 1

• Topic sentence (the main point of the paragraph)
• Example 1
• Example 2
• Transition

Body paragraph 2

• Topic sentence (the main point of the paragraph)
• Example 1
• Example 2
• Transition

Body paragraph 3

• Topic sentence (the main point of the paragraph)
• Example 1
• Example 2
• Transition

Conclusion

• A concise summary of the essay’s main points and findings
• Logical concluding statement

6. Write Your Paper

Once you have all the data to support your statements and a detailed outline, you can finally move on to the writing part. Follow the tips and tricks from the Exemplification Essay Example Outline section of this article to write each part of your essay.

7. Proofread and Edit Your Paper

Although many students skip this stage, it is crucial to leave some time to proofread and edit your essay before you submit it. It is recommended to take some time for rest before you move on to editing so that you could look at the text with fresh sight.

Another handy tip is to ask someone else to proofread your paper – a parent or friend may be able to spot some mistakes or inconsistencies that you have missed.

Top Tips for Better Grades

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1. Backup every point with clear examples. This is very important as anything stated without reference or example will not just be considered as commentary.
2. Correctly cite any references used. If you use citations in your paper, it is crucial that you also reference them properly. Otherwise, you may be accused of plagiarism and get a low grade.
3. Use transition words and sentences. The paper should flow well and be interesting to read, so introduce phrases like “for example” and “furthermore” between sentences and sections to make smooth and logical transitions.
4. Check the facts and figures stated. When referencing to different sources, do not take all facts for granted. Rely only on credible sources and always double-check the information.
5. Is the thesis proven well? The whole paper relies on this statement, so check that it is proven well. It is possible to adapt the thesis statement to the findings if after writing you can see an unpredicted trend with the research.
6. Try to use interesting examples. As the paper is mostly based on examples, try to use relevant but also interesting ones. If the article is just made up of predictable examples then the audience will not be so impressed.
7. Does the paper feel complete? It is important for any paper with findings and a conclusion that the reader goes away with a sense of completion. If there are any findings that do not logically complement the essay or the concluding statement is not fulfilling enough, such an essay will not get a high grade.

Get Professional Help and Boost Your Grades!

Hopefully, this step-by-step guide will help you deal with an exemplification essay. However, if you are still not sure what to write about or are running short on time – don’t worry, because we’ve got you covered.

It does not matter if you need help with writing an exemplification or descriptive essay, thesis, case study, or any other academic paper – EssayPro is always at your service. Entrust your academic matters to real pros and succeed!