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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

Gender and race disparities in death penalty application across U.S. states

An Analysis of the Historical Effect of Gender and Race on the Application of the Death Penalty in the United States

Research Paper Doctorate

PRINCE2 versus DSDM: project management methodologies compared

¶ … PRINCE2 vs. DSDM compares and contrasts the two methodologies used in the development of projects. This paper explicitly defines each methodology and outlines its general characteristics and important features.

Religion across human cultures: origins, forms, and universal patterns

Religion is one of the constants that exist for all the peoples of the world. When the as yet primitive tribes in South America and remote Pacific islands in the twentieth century, they had firmly ensconced religious…

Paper Undergraduate

Social learning theory and juvenile sexual offender behavior and treatment

This research paper encompasses and discusses the juvenile sexual offenders and their ill-fated victims. The first part explains how the misfortunate occurrence of sexual molestation affects the overall behavior of the…

Paper Undergraduate

Park Ridge, Illinois budget goals and policy analysis

The budget for Park City, Illinois is complete with a table of contents, which identifies all pages by page number, and the page numbers are correct according to the table of contents.

Paper Doctorate

Symbolic systems of the totem pole, potlatch, and tamanawas dance

This essay has to do with how the Native American people of the Pacific Northwest conducted sacred ceremonies and what they meant to the people. Potlatch is a festival much like Christmas, but the gifts exchanged are meant as a redistribution of wealth. The totem poles are specific to people and tribes, and the Tamanawa is a sacred dance. All of these work together to form the sacred potlatch which was banned during the 1880's but returned in the 1950's.

Truman's decision to use atomic bombs: diplomacy, racism, and revisionist history

Sculptures and paintings depicting American Indians in the 19th Century followed certain predictable themes and patterns, particularly the idea of the destruction and disappearance of a supposedly inferior race by the Western march of white civilization. Two sculptures that once decorated the Capitol, Horatio Greenough's The Rescue and Luigi Persico's Discovery of America, both commissioned by the government in 1836, were so explicitly racist that Congress finally removed them in 1958 after years of protests by Native Americans.

Research Paper High School

Death and impermanence in Dubus and Dickinson's contrasting literary forms

Literature – Comparison of Short Stories and Poems This paper focuses on the similarities and differences of the representation of death and the impermanence in the short story "A Father's Story" by Andre Dubus, and the poem "Because I could not stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson. "A Father's Story" and "Because I could not stop for Death" are two very different approaches to the subjects of Death and impermanence. First, their forms are quite different. "A Father's Story" is a short story and is true to that form: it is brief, it uses few characters, it strives to prove a main point, and it uses concise, pointed writing to move the story along quickly and to portray characters by the way they speak. "Because I could not stop for Death" is a poem, written in balanced, lined verse with specific words used to arouse an imaginative or emotional response from the reader. Secondly, the two works approach the subject matter differently in several aspects. "A Father's Story" has a moral point of view about the father's abandonment of his principles to save his daughter. In this way, the short story acts as a parable and reflects Dubus' own Catholic beliefs. "Because I could not stop for Death" has no particular moral and makes no mention of God or religion; however, it speaks of "eternity" and gives Death human characteristics and is laden with sadness and hopelessness. In this way, it reflects Dickinson's own isolation and loneliness. Comparing these two works shows how very different writing forms can be in style and substance, even though they discuss the same topics. ?

Walter Benjamin's theory of aura in mechanical reproduction

The paper will present explanations of an essay written by the Walter Benjamin, "The Reproduction of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". In the first part of the paper, the explanation will be provided and in the second part, arguments given by the other authors will be given.The paper will present explanations of an essay written by the Walter Benjamin, "The Reproduction of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". In the first part of the paper, the explanation will be provided and in the second part, arguments given by the other authors will be given.

Essay Undergraduate

Management of mega events: London Olympics and World Cup case studies

This paper delves into the theory behind event management, and it dips deeply into several aspects of mega events like the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. While there were snags in London, and costs that rose above what had been planned, the Games were a huge success. In Germany, those games were also very successful, and the reasons why are contained in this paper.

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