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Explanation
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What is Explanation?

Explanation as a mode of academic writing appears across virtually every discipline, from biology and economics to history, theology, and technology. Rather than arguing a position or narrating events, explanatory writing prioritizes clarity — breaking down complex systems, processes, or phenomena so that a reader can genuinely understand them. This makes it a foundational skill in English composition courses, where students learn to present information in structured, accessible ways regardless of subject matter.

The papers collected here reflect the broad range of contexts in which explanation is required. Some take a scientific or technical approach, such as examining how LASIK surgery works or identifying the symptoms caused by exposure to mercury and arsenic. Others explain organizational structures, business strategies, or economic paradoxes like the diamond-water problem studied in microeconomics. Still others address social, legal, or cultural subjects — from reciprocity within the Iroquois Confederacy to the traditions of the Catholic faith — demonstrating that explanation adapts to whatever situation or subject demands it.

A strong explanatory essay begins with a clear sense of scope: identify precisely what needs to be understood and why it matters to the reader. Evidence carries weight when it is specific and well-sourced — definitions, data, examples, and step-by-step reasoning all serve the goal of genuine understanding. The most common pitfall is confusing explanation with argument; an explanatory thesis states what something is or how it works, not what the writer believes about it. Keeping that distinction sharp ensures the writing stays focused on illuminating rather than persuading.

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Research Paper Doctorate

Liquidity and solvency analysis of Arctic and Polaris

The current ratios and quick test will be used in evaluating the liquidity and the short-term solvability of the two companies. A company that is in short-term financial difficulties may have difficulties in the long…

Research Paper Doctorate

John Donne's evolving conception of death and grief

There can be no question that one of the central themes of John Donne's work, in poetry and prose, is death. Not for nothing did a recent academic biographer of Donne devote an entire chapter to his subject's attitude…

Research Paper Doctorate

Can technological progress overcome scarcity?

¶ … technological progress ever overcome scarcity?

Paper Undergraduate

Foucault's "History of Sexuality" and modern discourse on sexuality

Michel Foucault, French philosopher, articulated The History of Sexuality (1976-1984) in three volumes: The Will to Knowledge, The Use of Pleasure and the Care of the Self. Purportedly, much of Foucault's focus was with power structures and how they related to each other. The following will examine the strengths and weaknesses of Foucault's work in understanding the current discourse on the subject.

Research Paper High School

Glenn Curtiss and the Wright Brothers' patent dispute

The Wright Brothers historic flight of December 17, 1903, is the stuff legends are made of. Although there had been many others who attempted flight and flew aircrafts before them, like their mentor and predecessor…

Research Paper Undergraduate

Evaluating a friend's argument for Christianity as the only true religion

¶ … friend who attempted to convince me that Christianity was the only "true religion." He based his argument upon several quotations from the Bible, one of which holds that human beings are only "saved" by Jesus…

Research Paper Undergraduate

Alienation and family dysfunction in Kafka's Metamorphosis

Gregor, a traveling textile salesman living with his parents and sister, Grete, finds himself burdened by the responsibilities of providing for his family and his monotonous and tiring profession "O God," he thought,…

Paper Undergraduate

Women's health priorities and institutional responses over twenty years

This paper discusses some of the health challenges encountered by women across their lives and provides a general idea of some of the fundamental determinants of wom¬en's health. It is apparent that women around the world encounter health challenges at every stage of their life, that is, at birth, adolescent throughout to old age regardless of their locality. Even as the world develops, women's health is deteriorating at every state of their life. This is a critical review of Women and health Agenda over the Last twenty years up to date.

Paper Doctorate

Bernard Williams's body-swap argument for bodily identity

This document contains a description of two thought experiments and arguments defined and explored by Bernard Williams in regards to identity and its relation to bind body duality and divisions. The paper essentially describes William's thought experiments in summary form, reconstructing the argument, though points out a key flaw in the reasoning that renders the argument moot.

Essay Doctorate

Romuald's hesitation and the cost of priestly vocation in Gautier's "La morte amoureuse"

The hesitation of characters when confronted with questions of reality is clearly depicted in The Dead Lover and becomes the driving force of the plot through the experiences of the protagonist Romuald as recounted by him at the age of sixty-six. The hesitation of Romuald to confront the question of which of his experiences—the ones as the priest or the one as Seignior Romuald of Venice—are real forms the basis of much of the plot. This hesitation is built into the constitution and personality of the protagonist as he is a young priest recently ordained and is not mature enough to deal with the temptations of the world that he comes across for the first time since his education in a cloistered environment is complete.

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