what do you mean by expository (poem)?

Question

explanation of expository (poem)

Answer 1

here is an article I wrote and posted on my group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AustraliaTheWorldWordsmiths/

The seeming interchangable nature of some words can blur their
meanings in the minds of readers and writers. Some pairs of words have similar meanings and may be commonly used to replace one another. Even some dictionaries may use one of the words in a pair to define the other.

It is common place for 'explication' and 'exposition' to be used to
express the same idea, but are they really two ways of saying the
same thing? It is important as writers to understand whether the
descriptive passage we have written is an explication or an
exposition.

explication:
The act of opening, unfolding, or explaining; explanation;
exposition; interpretation.

exposition:
The act of exposing or laying open; a setting out or displaying to
public view.

Consider these paragraphs.

paragraph (a)
Hundred-year-old bricks tumbled in dusty heaps amid the sound of jackhammers and sledgehammers. Wrought iron filigree fell in rusty heaps, staring up at the sun. Sheets of corrugated iron bent in contorted shapes piled high by the fence awaited their final journey to the tip.

paragraph (b)
At the worksite where the building was being torn down to make way for the new TAFE College, one-hundred-year-old clay-baked bricks tumbled down from the walls in dusty heaps amid the sound of the vibrating jackhammers and the heavy sledgehammers used by the workmen. Wrought iron filigree panels that used to decorate the verandahs and the windows of the building fell in rusty heaps on the ground, staring up at the hot sun. Sheets of corrugated iron from the roof had been torn off and were bent in contorted shapes and piled high by the safety fence surrounding the worksite. They awaited their final journey to the rubbish tip.

Paragraph (a) above is an exposition. It lays open the image of the building being torn down. It does not go on to explain. It is
the 'not explaining' which makes this paragraph an exposition. It
simply exposes the image, opens it up for the reader to interpret.

Paragraph (b) above is an explication. It explains everything. It
leaves little if anything to the imagination of the reader.

It is the work of the writer to expose, or open up the images. Kind
of like drawing an outline and filling in some details but allowing
the reader to colour the picture themselves.

A writer who explains the images and fills in the back story behind
the image takes the fun out of reading. They leave nothing to the
readers imagination and quite frankly explications become tiresome and boring.

'Implication' and 'inference' are also often interchanged. However
they have very different meanings. One easy way to remember the difference is "Writers Imply and Readers Infer."

Implication is a tool used in the process of sending a message.
Inference is a tool used in decoding a message.

implication:
1) The act of implicating or the condition of being implicated.
2) The act of implying or the condition of being implied.
3) Something that is implied, especially:
a) An indirect indication; a suggestion.
b) An implied meaning; implicit significance.
c) An inference.

inference:
The act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises
known or assumed to be true.
The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

Consider this paragraph.

paragraph (c)
James stared down at his feet. The black and white leather encasing his toes came to a neat point two inches beyond where his big toe stopped. He smiled.

What logical conclusion have you drawn about James by reading
paragraph (c)?

If part of your life experience is that of the Rock 'n' Roll era
with slicked back hair and pointy shoes you may have concluded that James is a rock 'n' roll dancer.

If part of your life experience is that of enjoying watching clowns
or being a clown with big pointy shoes then perhaps you have
concluded that James is a clown.

If part of your life experience is that of being or spending time
with transvestites or transexuals you may have concluded that James is a transsexual or transvestite.

Of course, being a thinking and questioning human being you will not have completed your conclusion but you will have begun to conclude.

What you have done as a reader of the above paragraph is to infer who James is via your interpretation of the image. As the writer of the above mentioned paragraph I have implied an interpretation of who James is or might be.

Kind Regards

Cheryl