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Example: Pointing to Instances Method: What is an example? An instance that reveals a whole type. “There are many women authors of distinction, such as.....” By selecting an example, a writer shows the nature/character of the group from which it is taken. In an essay, examples will often serve to illustrate a general statement: generalization. Taken from Raising a Daughter by Jeanne & Don Elium: “In the early 1880’s, the widespread belief that higher education was detrimental to a girl’s health, prevented many aspiring students from attending college. Those whose parents were of a more liberal mind studied at home or attended a school for young ladies, such as Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy, where they learned how to be virtuous young wives or perhaps teachers. A proper education of the times included watercolor painting and fine needlework, and a rare schoolmistress like Sarah Pierce also required her students to study ancient history, Latin, and Greek.” This method of giving examples - of illustrating what you’re saying with a “for instance” - is not only helpful to all kinds of writing; it is indispensable. Without this, essays are BORING! You could have a myriad of ideas, but if you don’t use any examples, you bore and therefore lose the reader. You NEED examples to make your ideas understandable. The Process: Any example essay is bound to have the generalization as its thesis, expressed in a thesis statement. The thesis statement establishes the central idea of an essay developed by example. Then the specifics bring the idea down to earth for readers. Examples: “Sometimes I think we would be better off (in dealing with social problems) if we forgot about the broad strokes and concentrated on the details.” - Anna Quindlen, “Homeless” “That first encounter, and those that followed, signified that a vast, unnderving gulf lay between nighttime pedestrians - particularly women - and me.” - Brent Staples, “Black Men and Public Space” An essay developed by example will often start with an example or two. You’ll see something and your observation will suggest a generalization (even passing judgment). Does an example or two demonstrate your generalization for readers? Is this enough to achieve your purpose? Where do you find more examples??? “We are eager to tunnel under the Atlantic and bring the Old World some weeks nearer to the New; but perchance the first news that will leak through into the broad, flapping American ear will be that the Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough.” Henry David Thoreau “Walden” This example was made out of thin air, yet is successful. Stated 2 decades before the telephone existed! A hypothetical example can work if it’s fresh & apt like Thoreau’s. An example from fact or experience definitely carries more weight. What would you do if you were to write about the benefits that recent science has conferred upon us? “Among these are the smoke detector, originally developed as Skylab equipment; the inflatable air bag to protect drivers and pilots, designed to cushion astronauts in splashdowns; a walking chair that enables paraplegics to mount stairs and travel over uneven ground, derived from the moonwalkers’ surface buggy; the technique of cryosurgery, the removal of cancerous tissue by fast freezing.” When giving examples, you’ll find the other methods of writing useful. An example can take the form of a narrative, and sometimes an example embodies a vivid description of a person, place or thing. DON’T BE LAZY! You may think, “Oh, I can’t think of an example right now, but the reader can use his/her imagination.” What if the reader is as lazy as you?? Sentence Variety: “One example of a movie about a disease is In the Forest. Another example is The Beating Heart. Another is Tree of Life. These three movies treat misunderstood or little-known diseases in a way that increases the viewer’s sympathy and understanding. In the Forest deals with a little boy who suffers from cystic fibrosis. The Beating Heart deals with a middle-aged woman who is weakening from multiple sclerosis. Tree of Life deals with a father of four who is dying from AIDS. All three movies show complex, struggling human beings caught blamelessly in desperate circumstances.” Three movies dealing with disease are In the Forest, The Beating Heart, and Tree of Life. In these movies people with littleknown or misunderstood diseases become subjects for the viewer’s sympathy and understanding. A little boy suffering from cystic fibrosis, a middle-aged woman weakening from multiple sclerosis, a father of four dying from AIDS these complex, struggling human beings are caught blamelessly in desperate circumstances.” What? Another Checklist? Generalization: What general statement do your examples illustrate? What ties the examples together? Support: Do you have enough examples to establish your generalization? Specifics: Are your examples detailed? Relevance: Do all your examples relate to your generalization? Sentence variety: Have you varied sentence structures for clarity and interest?