When I was talking to my sister the other day she told me that the thing she hates most about the subject of English is all the classification. She said "All these categories are so ridiculous. Why are there all these genres: tragicomedy, satire, pastoral, drama, historical, etc. It makes everything so complicated. Who really cares?" I laughed when she said these things. It was pretty ironic considered we've spent an entire semester trying to classify what expository writing is.
So what exactly is expository writing? Is exposition objective or subjective? Is it used in textbooks only or in novels too? Is exposition even a real category of writing in the face of postmodernism? I don't even know what to think of it. I do find it funny that most people who don't view reading material as anything but something to read, just read and don't think or comment on the category type the writing falls under. It makes life much simpler, doesn't it? But in my case, I like to classify the types of books and articles I'm reading. That's why I'm in a writing program and that's why I want to become an English professor. It's no surprise that my favorite explanation of exposition in this class comes from William Peter Grabe's "Towards Defining Expository Prose Within a Theory of Text Construction." Why? Because he displayed it on a table with characteristics. Now that is how you classify a type of writing.
“So what have we decided now that our class is pretty much over?” I would have to say that as a class, we all agreed that the Reddick reading was one of the best articles that could be used to describe what the definition of expository theory is, along with Nietzsche’s article. In Reddick’s article, he concludes that expository discourse cannot be universally defined because each individual’s perception interprets the message given by the theorists differently, based on our personal experiences, education, and background. So expository theory is what you make of it.
ReplyDeleteWhich answers your next question: “Is exposition objective or subjective?” I believe exposition is subjective because the person who is writing the instructions or explanation of the topic being discussed is a unique individual who brings his or her own personal experiences, background, and education to the table, thereby creating a niche field tailor-made to fit their ideas and theories, and hopefully other people’s who have similar conceptions.
“Is [exposition] used in textbooks only or in novels too?” I would say that exposition is used within both types of books. Textbooks are clearer forms of exposition in that they are created for the sole purpose of explaining an academic subject further. Novels, too, can be considered expository, though how is more complex. The novel is a literary art form used by many as a source of entertainment. But the different genres that this particular form of entertainment is categorized by are niches that certain people with certain ideas, concepts, and perceptions gravitate to. People who like science fiction novels have a certain mindset that may be different from people who like a different genre, say trashy romance novels or historical fiction. Each genre, or category, for the novel attracts readers with similar perceptions and ideas, similar to expository theory.
“Is exposition even a real category of writing in the face of postmodernism?” Playing devil’s advocate here, but what is a category? It is a man-made concept to feed into our illusion of truth. There are no categories. Just as there are no words to truly describe what expository theory is, because to try and define it is to dilute its real meaning.