Types of expository texts

When conducting an analysis, we can find different types of texts. Among them, one of the most used is that of an exhibition nature. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to define them and show the different types of expository texts and so that you can better fix your knowledge we will establish some examples that will help you to know how to identify them quickly.

Within the different types of texts that exist, the exhibitions are one of the most common. The expository textsthey serve to give a objective vision on a certain topic or issue. That is, they seek to inform and make certain very particular data, facts and concepts known. Their main characteristic is that they are always approached objectively. In other words, the author of the same does not take part in the matter and does not offer his personal vision of what he is narrating.

Because they seek to convey information, this type of text can also be explanatory, since in their eagerness to provide information with clear content

Expository text characteristics

Thus we could say that the expository texts have a series of characteristics that make them easily identifiable. These are the following:

• Objective writing of the text.
• Written in the third person.
• Use of precise and clear language
• Uses connectors, enumerations and comparisons to structure the text and facilitate understanding.

Structure of the expository text

Likewise, the expository text has a concrete structure which we will show you below:

• Introduction: the topic to be dealt with, the data of greatest interest and how it is going to be dealt with in the text are discussed.
• Developing: the information is presented in an orderly and clear way so that the subject is understood by the reader.
• Conclution: the most important aspects dealt with in the text are shown as a summary for the recipient of the information.

Expository texts serve to convey information clearly and objectively to a heterogeneous public, but depending on how these contents are approached, we can distinguish two subcategories. These follow a criterion exclusively related to the complexity of the matter to be dealt with and the necessary level of understanding by the receiver of the same. In this case, we find these two types of expository texts:

• Informative expository texts
• Expository texts of a specialized nature

Next, we are going to define each of them and offer you some examples so that you can learn the differences that exist between them and how to identify them.

Informative expository texts

The informative expository texts are those that are intended to offer objective information for wide and heterogeneous audiences. Considering the complexity criterion, these will be the simplest texts, that is, those that do not require prior knowledge understanding by readers. The receiver of the text does not have to know anything about the information that is offered in it.

We can find these informative expository texts in: school textbooks, newspaper articles, encyclopedias... etc. In order to understand them better, we are going to see an example of an informative expository text. In this case it is the lead of a news item published by the newspaper The country on February 28, 2020 in which they talk about the cases of Coronavirus in Spain:

“In Spain, 33 cases of coronavirus have already been registered. Two of them have been discharged, so there are currently 31 people infected. Despite the fact that the number of infections has doubled in practically 24 hours, all new ones are imported, according to explained on Friday morning Fernando Simón, director of the Alerts and Emergencies Coordination Center Sanitary. This means that the scenario continues to be one, "of containment", without requiring more drastic measures than those that are being applied so far: detection and control of cases. "

Expository texts of a specialized nature

Unlike the informative expository texts that we have seen in the previous section, those of a specialized nature do require initial preparation by the recipient of the same. In other words, these types of texts are intended for those people who already have knowledge about a certain topic and have the keys to understanding it.

This type of expository texts they are more complex and they are aimed at specific audiences who know the vocabulary and the methodologies used for the treatment of the subject that is being exposed. We can find this type of specialized texts in: monographs, doctoral theses, scientific articles, doctoral theses... etc.

Let's see an example so you can identify them. This is a scientific text on Neuroethics published in the scientific journal BIOETHICS UPdate entitled Neuroethics in Mexico: Medical, legal and sociocultural reflections, written by Karen Herrera-Ferrá, Garbiñe Saruwatari Zavala, Humberto Nicolini Sánchez and Héctor Pinedo Rivas:

"Current neuroscience and neurotechnology have allowed a greater understanding of alleged substrates and mechanisms involved in emotions, behaviors, thoughts and decision-making morals. The use of these tools raises concerns about the possible misuse, or even overuse, of brain manipulation. Neuroethics is the discipline dedicated to studying these issues. Neuroethics in Mexico is in a nascent stage, so caution is suggested in issues not reported in the international literature such as medical factors (for example, pre-Hispanic medicine), legal (for example, ambiguous frameworks in neuroscience and neurotechnology) and sociocultural (for example, example, ethnography, mixture of western and pre-Hispanic philosophy), so a reflection is necessary in order to focus on: a) the good of the patient in a Mexican cultural context and b) promote global neuroethics, considering neurocognitive cultural diversity within a framework of ethnographic respect. "

Now you know the types of expository texts that exist and you can identify them in a text.

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Mendoza, N. (2007). The types of texts in Spanish: forms, technique and production.