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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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Paper Undergraduate

Federal information security awareness and training program implementation

Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)

Paper Doctorate

Developing a teaching plan for type 1 diabetes in children

This paper contains two case studies of patients with diabetes: a ten-year-old-girl and a thirty-five-year-old man. Both have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The nursing teaching plan details various specific generational and intercultural factors the nurse must take into consideration when disseminating the self-care plan required for them to flourish.

Research Paper Doctorate

Deriving Kant's universal principle of right from categorical imperative

Kant's universal principle of right and categorical imperative has yielded a heated debate on whether there is relationship between the two (UPR and CI). The debate arises on the question, "Can Kant's "universal principle of right" be derived from his "categorical imperative"??" many authors have presented their view, against and supporting. This debate is significant since it helps in realizing the impact of the juridical law on the individuals in the society. It helps in determining whether personal self-interest, concerning moral principles, would affect the action of the judicial law.

Essay Doctorate

Understanding the origins and rise of Nazism through historical sources

This encyclopedia-like article aims to describe the concept of Nazism from an historical perspective, educating the general public on what the general sentiments, feelings, and politics of the Nazis and the overall…

Essay Undergraduate

Los Angeles budget proposal evaluation using GFOA standards

The organization that was selected is the city of Los Angeles, California. This is because the government has been facing challenges from the lingering effects of the recession and there is a projected budget deficit of…

Research Paper Doctorate

Managing scope, cost, and human resources in a Keppel shipyard project

Project Management: Case Study in Managing a Complex Shipyard Project in Singapore

Research Paper Doctorate

Symbolism of darkness in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness advances and withdraws as in a succession of long dark waves borne by an incoming tide. The waves encroach fairly evenly on the shore, and presently a few more feet of sand have been won.

Research Paper Doctorate

Obsession and infinity in Borges's "The Book of Sand"

Obsession with something, or with the idea of something, is what "The Book of Sand" by Jorge Borges is about. The man who buys the infinite book becomes haunted with the idea that something can exist with no beginning…

Essay Undergraduate

Racial segregation and economic decline in twentieth-century Memphis

The subjects of both of these articles are issues of relations between black and whites in America from the sociological point of view. The issues within each respective article are not directly related, though they are within the same network of issues regarding the modern history of race relations as they are considered with respect to class, economics, urban development, employment, and real estate. The latter article by Farley & Frey takes on a more academic tone than the more informative and less formal tone in the Powell article from the New York Times. The differences between these articles demonstrate how the sociological perspective is used by a variety of professionals as a means to inform, examine, discuss, and reflect upon lived social realities that occur as a result of a combination and convergence of factors.

Research Paper Doctorate

Human fascination with public death and dominance throughout history

Human beings appear to be fascinated with death. Throughout history, whether observing men in staged battles, lynchings, or executions, people have gathered to witness the end of another human life.

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