Chapter 7

            Chapter 7 of the Patterns for a Purpose textbook is entitled “Exemplification”. In my personal opinion, I found this chapter to be extremely useful due to the simple fact that I had never heard of “exemplification” in writing before. After reading through this section I learned that exemplification is simply using specific examples to clarify and give credibility to a more general statement. Authors can use their own life experiences for derivation of this statement or they can use something called a hypothetical example. This example is created, not based on first-hand experience, but on plausible observations or knowledge that they may already have.

            From the viewpoint of a student, this division of the textbook is very helpful and rather comprehensive. It goes into great detail on what exemplification truly is, how to use it effectively and how to organize details in an orderly, successful manner. Throughout the chapter there are several examples of comprehensive essays and several questions following these pieces of writing. Answering these follow-up questions is a very helpful study technique and allows the reader to apply the information that they just read in order to gain experience with the topic before diving into their own writing.

By: Claire Reyburn 

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