Exemplification

Examples are one of the most effective means of developing a piece of writing.  They provide concrete evidence for general or more abstract statements made by a writer.  These are often specific happenings or occurrences of a phenomenon the writer is commenting upon, individual cases that support the writer’s point, or specific facts or situations that illustrate the writer’s meaning.  

For the Sunlight Foundation piece above, one might select examples of the types of clients that the Foundation serves, giving real-world information about what the organization does and how it does it:

[Example]     A perfect example of a typical Sunlight Foundation client is Marvin Withers, who began receiving services from Sunlight when his Multiple Sclerosis (MS) entered an acute phase in 2007.   For four years, Sunlight has helped Mr. Withers, who has great difficulty walking and remembering things, keep his home clean and safe.  “Sunlight really helps me out,” says Withers, who turned 82 last month, “In my youth I always liked things nice and clean, but now I just can’t do it. They really make my life better.”

Colleen Queenish of Rockland Heights is another type of Sunlight client.  Paralyzed from the neck down in a car accident, Ms. Queenish has her small apartment cleaned by Sunlight once a month.  “The nurses who help me are great, but I shouldn’t expect them to clean the house.  Sunlight has been a godsend.  My mom is my only family, and she needs a break from time to time from cleaning up this place.” 

 As in any other type of writing project, considering the purpose of your writing and its audience is key in your selection of the examples you choose to use in developing your piece.   Think of examples as the specific evidence that makes your point clear to your audience, supporting and illustrating your thesis.  Are you outlining possible outcomes of a course of action?  Showing that someone or something has done good (or bad) things?  Describing the features of a piece of technology?  Reviewing the highlights of an essay or film?  Discussing a condition or situation that you want achieved, sustained, or changed? 

A resume, for example contains a list of examples of the worker’s education, experiences, responsibilities, and accomplishments:  the specific elements under each heading offer support and development for the job-seeker’s application for a particular job. 

Advertisement and other public writing often makes its point through the technique of exemplification (i.e., providing examples).    Car advertisements often provide information about the safety features on the vehicle—airbags, anti-lock brakes, side-impact reinforcements, even collision sensors.  Each of these features is an example of the things that the car-maker includes to make the vehicle more safe (and thus more attractive to a given audience).  When the same car commercial shows one feature in action—like a car avoiding a collision because of its anti-lock brakes, it is further developing the example through description. 

Good arguments of all kinds employ examples.   In advocating for health insurance reform, for example, a writer might use some specific examples—in the form of real people’s stories of dealing with health insurers—to show how inefficient or unfair the existing system is.  Similarly, one might argue the other side of that argument by showing examples of governmental regulation that hinder or make the system less effective.   Or, one might use examples showing the benefits (or costs!) of another system, like France’s—one might talk about how a French mother  used her mandated six months of maternity leave, or tell the story of a retired worker who had his cancer surgery paid for by the national health insurance system.   Conversely, one could also show examples / tell the stories of people who suffered negative consequences—illnesses that got worse because of long waits for government doctors, or patients who were denied care due to bureaucratic red tape.  

Consider, for example, (see?), a piece of writing on the pervasiveness of the use of smartphones by young people.  What kind of examples might a writer choose to develop the following topic sentences?

Exercise: Exemplification

Smartphones like the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy provide many functions crucial to the lifestyles of young people today.  

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3: 

Smartphones, however, have some serious drawbacks that anyone considering one should know about. 

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3: 

What types of examples would be relevant and important for an essay on one of our three topics?

1. The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
2. Rosa Parks, Civil Rights activist
3. Sexual harassment in the workplace.

As practice, write a descriptive paragraph on some element of one of these three subjects: