example

Definition:

A method of paragraph or essay development through which a writer clarifies, explains, or justifies a point through narrative or informative details. See also:

• Sample Example Paragraphs: Junk Food Junkie and Confessions of a Slob
• 40 Essay Topics: Examples
• Examples in "Under the Influence"
• Developing a Topic Sentence With Examples in "London"
• Examples in Drabble's "The Missing Piece"
• Fable
• "Slang in America," by Whitman
• Examples in E.B. White's "Progress and Change"
• Examples in Pat Conroy's "Confessions of an Ex-Catholic"
• Logos

Etymology:

From the Latin, "to take out"

Examples and Observations:

• "I cannot overemphasize the importance of good grammar. What a crock. I could easily overemphasize the importance of good grammar. For example, I could say: 'Bad grammar is the leading cause of slow, painful death in North America,' or 'Without good grammar, the United States would have lost World War II.'"
  (Dave Barry, "An Utterly Absurd Look at Grammar")



• "Aristotle divides examples into factual and fictitious, the former relying on historical experience and the latter invented to support the argument. . . . Holding together the categories of example . . . are two major ideas: first, that concrete experience, especially when it is familiar to an audience, is highly significant; and, second, that things (both material objects and events) repeat themselves."
  (John D. Lyons, "Exemplum," in Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, Oxford Univ. Press, 2001)



• "Freddie Krueger--the mutilated child molester in the Nightmare on Elm Street slasher series--is a perfect example of this correlation between evil and physical deformity. Not only does he have razor-extended fingernails (an update on Captain Hook) but the layers of scar tissue on his face show us just how evil he really is."
  (Fred Pelka, "Hating the Sick: Health Chauvinism and Its Cure," in The Humanist, 1994)

Pronunciation: ig-ZAM-pull

Also Known As: exemplum, illustration