Scott raises another issue which I have never really understood . . .  
although I have taught writing for more than 30 years.  What do people  
mean by expository writing?  Is it different from argument?  I used to  
think I understood.  Argument has a thesis, proves a point.   
Expository writing simply informs.  But then does it have a thesis  
too?  And if it does, doesn't that make it an argument?  How is  
esposiition different from argument?  Does it try to prove a point, a  
thesis, but in a less argumentative way?  Is it an argument that is  
more balanced?  Or, as Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz put it, is "everthing  
an argument"?

Peter


On Jun 8, 2009, at 10:24 PM, Scott wrote:

> Expository writing uses a thesis; descriptive writing, a motif.
> In Senior English the mid-term examination included a descriptive
> writing assignment.  I started, “Once a man passed by and saw a
> field of weeds, then I passed by and said, ‘Yesterday’s flowers
> am I’, for what is a weed but a flower that no one loves.”  I
> continued in the same motif.  It may sound silly today but it was
> genuine when I wrote it.  No thesis needed.
>
> N. Scott Catledge
> P.S.  The longest string of garbage in the posting to which I am  
> replying
> was my previous post—-almost 20 pages.
> I wonder about dropping digest and getting them one at a time.
>
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