Writers' Bloc: How to Write the Example Essay

A while back, I read an article by a movie reviewer, and he tried to convince his readers that the best movies ever made were produced in the 1970’s. At first, I didn’t think he was serious.

After all, the movie industry has experienced major improvements in technology during the last 30-40 years. Could the movies from that long-ago era really compare favorably to modern films? Yes, according to this author, and he provided five strong examples to make his case. Naturally, you can also use examples to support your persuasive arguments, but as you write the example essay, you should try to answer the following three questions.

How many examples should you have? For an example essay, the magic number is usually a minimum of three. If you have only one example, your argument might not be very convincing because that one example could be an aberration – an out-of-the-ordinary event that rarely occurs. For instance, if you tried to argue that people in the Capital District should build tornado shelters because a tornado hit Mechanicville a few years back, most people probably wouldn’t take you seriously. Tornadoes rarely occur in this area, so building shelters locally just doesn’t make sense financially.

In addition, even two examples might not make a strong argument. For instance, as a big fan of the New York Mets, I might argue that they are the best team in the history of baseball, and, as evidence, I would point to their two World Championships. However, most New York Yankees fans would laugh at me and point out that my two examples are weak because those championships occurred in 1969 and 1986. Thus, the Mets have only won twice during their 46-year history, and their last championship occurred over 20 years ago.

Meanwhile, the Yankees have won seven times during that span. In fact, five additional teams – the Cardinals, the Athletics, the Dodgers, the Orioles, and the Reds – have won more than the Mets during that time, and four more teams have won twice, just like the Mets. Obviously my two examples do not make for a strong argument in this case.

Naturally, a third example could help my argument significantly. If the Mets win this year, then, I could soften my position a bit and convincingly point out that the Mets have been one of the seven best teams since the Mets began playing in 1962. So, as you write your example essays, try to have a minimum of three examples, and don’t go much beyond five or six examples. At that point, your readers should get the message.

What’s the proper order for your examples? When you put together an outline of your essay or write a first draft, you might just list your examples in a random order, most likely the order in which you thought of those examples. However, that random order might not be appropriate for the final draft, so you should give some thought to the order which is most effective. For instance, some writers like to start with their strongest argument and work down to their weakest argument. Other writers like to take the opposite approach – start weak and end strong for a more powerful conclusion. Either approach can work; the important point is to have a thoughtful organization of ideas rather than a random order. Also, you might want to consider a chronological order, offering examples in the order in which they occurred. Historians often use this approach. As an example, some financial analysts might theorize that the stock market performs better during the year after a Republican presidential candidate is elected. To support that argument, they could go back to 1980, and analyze the stock-market returns for the first year after each presidential election. Since the Republicans have won five of the last seven presidential elections, these analysts would be able to compare those five examples to the two examples available after Democratic victories.

What kinds of details should you include for each example? You’ve probably heard the following cliché: “Don’t compare apples and oranges.” That piece of wisdom applies to your example essay, as well. When you offer various examples to support your point, you should make sure that the details for each example are somewhat consistent. Thus, if you were writing about movies and you mentioned that one movie sold a certain amount of tickets and won a certain amount of Academy Awards, you should mention those same categories for the other examples. If a particular movie didn’t win any Academy Awards, you should at least acknowledge that fact before moving on to other significant details. In this way, your readers will feel as if they are receiving a consistent and objective analysis.

Speaking of movies, the author mentioned in the first paragraph chose the following: Star Wars, The Godfather, Jaws, The Deer Hunter, and Rocky. While I may not agree that these five movies are the best ever, I can at least respect the author’s argument because he backed it up with strong examples. Make sure that you also provide your readers with strong examples when you are using this particular technique to make a persuasive point.