University Language Skills

Exemplification: Using Examples to Illustrate Ideas

One of the most common ways to develop your ideas in an essay is to use concrete examples to support, illustrate or clarify an abstract idea or generalization. This form of rhetorical development is called exemplification, and it is very useful in supporting assertions or arguments, in showing (rather than telling) your reader what you mean, and in making difficult or complex ideas easier to grasp.

This is particularly true when you are writing about abstract concepts; concrete examples of the idea you are trying to communicate provide your reader with information in a form the brain can easily process. If you have ever had a paper returned with comments like "support?" or "give specific examples," there is a good chance your writing would have been more effective if you had made use of exemplification to anticipate and answer your reader's questions and need for clarification.

Study the following example* of a paragraph developed through the use of examples. (Notice that in this example, the first sentence is not the topic sentence and, even though the text consists of a single paragraph, the last sentence summarizes the point the author wants to make.)

 

The topic sentence; a general statement that needs support.

Detailed example

 

 

Undeveloped examples to add support

     Opinion polls show that many Moon Valley residents prefer to support local charitable organizations rather than larger, seemingly more impersonal agencies. One of the favorites, the Moon Valley Relief Association, enjoys an unblemished reputation as a model of efficiency and compassion. Last year, for instance, at midday on July 14, a tornado cut a swath through residential and commercial areas of the town, destroying homes and severely damaging most buildings in the town's commercial district; by nightfall, well-trained volunteers had provided food, shelter, and a bed for everyone whose home had been hit; an emergency kitchen had been set up at the local high school and was serving soup, sandwiches, fruit and warm drinks. Additionally, each young child had been given a stuffed animal or rag doll—a tangible "comfort toy" to hold on to. Hardly a month goes by without similar acts of compassionate support: food baskets at Thanksgiving and toys at Christmas for the families of unemployed people; brigades of volunteers shoveling snow in front of the homes of elderly residents after a blizzard; food, clothing and shelter for families after an apartment house fire. Such reliable, compassionate, unbeaurocratic responses to community needs are typical of the Moon Valley Relief Association; is it any wonder that the Association is Moon Valley's favorite charity?

*Adapted from Decker's Patterns of Exposition 10 (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1984).

The class reader includes several additional models of essays developed through the use of concrete examples. (Refer to the online syllabus for specific titles.) Study these, paying special attention to the ideas presented and the way exemplification is used to develop or support the points the authors want to make.

Once you have read the models, try your hand at using examples to illustrate or support a point. A good way to begin is to make a list of German or English sayings—every language has a stock of such phrases that give expression to a particular cultural value, e.g. "too many cooks spoil the broth," or "it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings." Choose one and write at least one well-developed paragraph which you develop using one or more examples that illustrate the truth (or falseness) of the phrase you have chosen.

Before you hand in your text, do the following:

  1. Perform a careful edit on your paper, using the Editor's Checklist as a guide. Try to eliminate every single formal error, e.g. spelling, capitalization, punctuation (be sure, too, that you have used the apostrophe key instead of an accent key), spacing after punctuation marks, and format (include all required header information, single-space the header and double-space the remainder of the text, use a 2.5 cm left margin and a 5 cm right margin, and indent the first line of each paragraph, center the title and left-justify the remainder of the text). Make all necessary changes, save the file, and print it out to hand in.
  2. Now save a copy of your text under a different name, following this pattern: yourname_exempl_hi.doc
  3. Working with this copy, mark (highlight) the text like the example above. Change the topic sentence's text color to red. Change the text color of the main, developed example to blue. Change any undeveloped examples to fuchsia.
  4. Save this file with the colored text and attach it to an e-mail (jsuther@uni-bremen.de) addressed to me.

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This page is maintained by Janet Sutherland
Last updated: 10 September 2005