Phil Druker/Department of English/ University of Idaho

This is a basic _expository_ technique and many of you are familiar with it. 

Expository Paragraph sample:

Below is an example of this.  I’m providing this now so if you get a chance you can work on this with your rough draft.

Thesis:  Ehrenreich uses creative non-fiction techniques to show that people who work hard in low paying jobs still cannot get by, despite the claims of those who believe that welfare reform will help these workers.

Introduce -->Ehrenreich uses characterization effectively to show that even though the strength of the people in low wage jobs.  Give details-->For example, she describes her co-worker Gail, “who is ‘looking at fifty,” as a person who moves fast and efficiently (p.5). Gail lives in her truck during the winter and has to stay with friends in a hotel room in the summer when the bugs are too bad and the weather to warm to make ends meet.  When the restaurant manager tells Gail she can park her truck in the restaurant’s parking lot, she gladly accepts the offer.  Later, she mentions another waitress Lucy, “who limps towards the end of the shift” despite an un-diagnosed problem (p. 11).  Analysis-->These characterizations help show that people in low wage jobs work hard and want to make it, disproving the opinion of many that people in low paying jobs would make it if they try harder.