Expository Writing

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Expository Writing

I really don't have any idea on where to start this paper, where it should go, and how it should end. It seems that I'm having a slight problem grasping the idea of expository writing. It's like when you were a kid trying to make it all the way across the monkey bars. You want to be able to reach that next rung and you try very hard, but somehow you just can't reach it. I seem to be having that problem. Right now, as I write, I'm not exactly sure I'm reaching the goal of this assignment, but this may be the best that it gets.

All through elementary school, high school, and my freshman year of college, I was taught (and believed it was the only right way) that you must start your paper with a introduction, followed by the body of the paper, and wrap up your main thoughts in the conclusion. Although, in the past three weeks, I have learned that writing can go beyond those boundaries. Now, isn't that a shock after all these years of "formal education". It just doesn't seem right not to construct a paper in the way I have always done in the past, or should I say as this bad habit I've always had. But is actually bad? It always appeared to fit me just right.

I am not planning a career in writing. I only want to add and subtract numbers, things that make sense to me. These are the things I understand, to some extent anyhow. There is no alternate interpretation of fourteen minus seven. It will always be seven, no matter how you look at it or who looks at it. It will always be seven. There is one definite answer and if you get it wrong, you're just plain wrong. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. No one can decide that on some particular day that fourteen minus seven is eight. It is impossible. The answer will, f...

... middle of paper ...

...convey your message and get the reaction(s) you want, what is there to change? How about leaving well enough alone? If it's not broke, why fix it?

As I look back through this paper, I am not certain I have met the requirements of this writing assignment. I feel as though I am still trying the reach that next bar on the monkey bars as I did when I was young. No matter how much I struggle and lunge for the next rung, it is just barely out of my reach. But in all actuality, is that what I'm really trying to accomplish? Is just reaching the next rung my main objective? No, reaching the end of the monkey bars is my goal. As for right now, I would be happy just reaching that next rung. As my first paper in approximately two years, I hope it is not too terribly bad. As the quarter progresses, I hope to improve in this writing style that is all too new and foreign to me.

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