How to Write an Expository Essay in Religious Studies: Spilling the Beans

To make it understandable, an expository essay is a type of paper, report, an explanation that deals with a description of particular events, situations, causes, and solutions, comparing and contrasting products/studies. It is also a sort of evaluation of your general knowledge obtained from the visited classes, and a professor’s chance to understand whether you can pass to the next level or you should repeat studying the ongoing lessons. There is nothing complicated and even kids from the first grade may write this essay. But, of course, the requirements will differ.

All in all, it is an obligatory stage in any college or university that you should master once and forever.

How to Write an Expository Essay in Religious Studies: Why and For What?

Knowing the goal of writing is vital to understand how much time a student can dedicate. First of all, a professor may assign this task to allow boosting the grade. For instance, if you have 4 GPA, and you see you can upgrade it to the excellent point, a professor may give you this task.

An expository essay may range in the volume but the standard one is 800 words. You can cope with it within one day but if you have two to three days in stock, there are more chances to detect mistakes and add more valuable references.

Then, a supervisor may want to see if you can manage the writing of the essays. How you explore your ideas, whether you are creative and how you can transfer brilliant thoughts to the paper. Somehow, it is popular to write them during the classes.

It is a practice before the scholarship. Yes, when you want to get free tuition at the university of your dream, exercising with writing expository essays may be an excellent approach. After that, you can manage any scholarship papers.

At last, it is your chance to climb a career ladder. The more correct you explain your strategies, ideas on the paper, the more correct you can speak using professional language. It means you practice your speaking and writing skills, and no interview may scare you later.

How to Write an Expository Essay in Religious Studies: What About Topics?

If your professor encourages a free selection of topics, it is your opportunity to pick up the distinctive one. First off, remember an expository essay is written in the third person thus think carefully what to pick up to fully address the matter. There should be no personal opinions but a narrow line explaining and describing particular events.

Religious Studies subject is hard to stuck with. Among the common examples of essays about God, his significance and types of religion, there are many things to speak about. Here comes the second rule, avoid banal topics, they are already well-researched ones and you will hardly find new material unless you conduct your research without relying on online sources. Read your studying books and syllabus and check the topics there, after that remember them to not repeat in your essay. For your convenience, you can find below the examples of interesting topics that may interest you.

• Religious Theories of the Origin of the World;
• Religion vs Terrorism: What Is the Connection?
• The Bible and the Quran: Fundamentals They Stand On;
• Hinduism in India and Middle East Countries;
• Yoga and Religious Studies: Coincidence or Not?
• Nordic Religion;
• Are More Religions to Appear in the Nearly Future?
• Why God Makes People Die: A Few Common Beliefs About His Wills;
• Why Men Are the Most Powerful in Christianity?
• Confucianism;
• Kabbalah: Why Should People Avoid Supporting It?
• How Religion Makes Money?
• Do Souls Exist: How Christianity Interpret Our Inner World?
• Atheism or How People Choose This Tendency to Hide Their Fears;
• The End of the World: Is It Still to Come?
• Ramadan: A Holy Month That Clears Your Sins;
• Shamanism in the Tribes of Today;
• Why the Church Is Wrongly Interpreted as a Home of God?
• What Are the Gods in the Culture?
• Why Religion Kills?

For the next examples, let’s pick up the Ramadan topic.

How to Write an Expository Essay in Religious Studies: Decoration or Format

The foremost problem within many students is that they have no idea how to format or decorate their essays. As a result, a professor may feel free to cut down the grade and unfortunately upset a student. Here are six essential aspects that make your essay look professional, correct and flawless:

• Count the words. A standard requirement for the composition is 500 to 800 words only. You can easily finish it within one hour even. But, do never try to impress your supervisor with exceeding this limit, he will not appreciate, and your work will not be accepted for evaluation. The basic allowed fluctuation is +-10 words.
• Remember about the thesis. Do not start writing about the problems or benefits of Ramadan from the first sentence. Intrigue the reader like “Ramadan is a sacred month in Muslim culture. People spend time praying and cleaning themselves from all the sins. At the same time, many restrictions are legally punished by law whether you are Muslim or not. It concerns the Middle-East countries. If you are a tourist there, you cannot escape following Ramadan Rules.” How can you be punished? What are the rules? Get your reader hooked.
• Structure your paper. After the thesis, come to the main body and conclusion. If needed, you may attach a reference page and appendices.
• No cliches and slang. Religious studies accept only professional terminology that has nothing to do with modern language. Ramadan topic will require you to know a few Arabic words.
• Organize your references as per Harvard, Chicago or APA.
• Do not persuade someone. The expository essay is not a paper where you should insist you are right. Every person has his own beliefs, religious views, GOD. Tolerate their choice, and speak only of the facts and evidence that is proven with times.

At last, do not be shy to ask your supervisor about additional requirements. He is an engaged person who wants to make his students knowledgeable.

Sources for How to Write an Expository Essay in Religious Studies

You might think copying information from reliable sources online is enough? You have never been so mistaken. Some professors are very strict about the references and they do not accept them if you only used online websites. So, to pass this evaluation with no trouble, divide your sources into three categories.

First off, do always refer to books. Luckily, any education establishment has a library where you can borrow some materials to use in your essay. Religious Studies do not involve only the Bible or other sacred books, there should be guidelines to the modern interpretation of religion or dissertations of well-known scientists. Make sure to have a minimum of 2 sources-books.

Online helpers. It is the easiest way to find something related to the subject. Especially, it works when you watch YouTube videos of travel bloggers who visit holy places of our world. The most informational details can be found even about UAE, there are many facts of how their people follow Ramadan how they fast and what restrictions to comply with. Other online materials are online journals, courses, and articles.

Your conducted research. Yes, it perfectly fits as a source. You can investigate again how Muslim people from your community anticipate this holy month, what they do not eat, and you can experiment to fast as well.

Avoid biased websites that do not even mention the writer’s, also skip plagiarizing other graduates’ works.

Guide to How to Write an Expository Essay in Religious Studies

Once you know approximately your topic, and have an idea about introduction and thesis writing, let’s speak about the main body, conclusion, proofreading.

Main Body

Before starting the writing, try to gather your ideas about the topic. What can you address? Ramadan is an interesting subject but there are lots of information that may seem not an interesting one. Thus, let’s divide the main body into three sub-paragraphs. The first part will speak of its occurrence in one county, origin, who established this month and where it is an obligatory part of the year.

Example,

‘UAE has a 40 years history, it is still a young country but it has already established its religion fundamentals. Ramadan is considered an obligatory rule for everyone who resides in any of the emirates. Thus, whether you are local or tourist, please follow the rules’. Then, you can support your words with some facts. ‘In 2020, Muslims will expect their holy month starting from April 23, and it will last one month.’

The second part will involve the description of basic rules.

Example,

‘During the daytime, you cannot eat, drink, smoke. If you cannot resist drinking water, you should hide somewhere so that others will not be offended.” Fact, “The only exception in this rule is pregnant women who are allowed to drink water or grab something to eat but again if they can stand no more fasting. Of course, it will be counted as a violation but the UAE police will not insult her or make her pay fine.’

The third one is your observation of its effect on society. Research the opinions of the tourists who visit this country during the Holy month, find out what are the fines for them if they violate the rules.

Conclusion

Please, do not write something new in your conclusion, it should be only a summarization of your thesis and the main body. One sentence can be dedicated to your personal opinion, all the rest should point out the significance of your essay. Do not make it too large. If your essay is 800 words, 150-200 words are more than enough.

Proofreading

It is the most underestimated part of the essay by students. They may think they know it all, and there will be no mistakes. Here are some tips for you to avoid disappointment when receiving your work back with F+ grade.

1. Check online samples. There are many services where students from around the world share their works and wait for feedback. Such acknowledgment can give you a better idea of the structure, format, stylistic features, citation, and references. If you feel to grab one part from someone’s sample, make sure you paraphrase it and investigate your own relevance. Otherwise, it is considered plagiarism and can be easily detected by the designated programs.
2. Edit your essay. There are such services as Grammarly and Hemingway App that were created to make your life comfortable. Insert your text in the first service, and a system will highlight the mistakes to correct. The second app can help you to understand the rate of readability of your work. It all about old-fashioned words, Passive voice, and wordy phrases.
3. Cite sources. Carefully double-check whether all your indicated sources are cited. Some students think that one copied sentence will do no harm to their essays. No, imagine such a situation, your essay was announced to be the best among the states, (yes, it can happen), the college would like to post it as an essay of the month. At the same time, a real writer of your borrowed information can check his work in the plagiarism program and find out that someone copied it without his permission. It can be a legal case. Of course, the chances are low but do not risk.

At last, do not hurry up to submit an expository essay in Religious Studies the first one. If you have enough time to revise it and double-check, use this chance. For the top results, it is recommended to put it apart for a few days or hours if you do not have much time in stock. It helps to refresh your mind, get new ideas and understand what grade your work deserves. Otherwise, ask someone to read it and tell real feedback. And, you can try to deliver it in front of other people as if you are in the interview and check the reaction.

References:

• Crane, M. (2010). Expository Writing: 50 Step-By-Step Lesson Plans with Formative Assessment.
• Degen, M. (n.d.). Crafting expository argument. 5th ed.
• Myhre, P. (2009). Introduction to religious studies. Winona, MN: Anselm Academic, Christian Brothers Pub.