Exposition as Question Forms
Every paragraph of expository (explanatory) writing is composed of sets of claims controlled by the topic sentence. The topic sentence itself is a claim--an alleged truth statement--that announces the main idea(s) to be developed in the paragraph.

Every claim can be interpreted as an "answer" to one of the critical questions--who? what? where? when? why? and how? Here's an example: In her essay, "A Question of Degree," Blanche Blank argues that "this process is destroying our universities." Since the verb, "is destroying" is an action verb, it anticipates a "what" question; in this case, "What is the process doing?" The answer: "The process is destroying our universities."

How to Use Questions for Studying and Learning
Follow these steps:

• Convert each topic sentence into its implied question.
• Then identify the questions being developed within the paragraph.
• Make a list of the questions.
• Try to answer the questions without having to look back at the paragraph at first.
• Return to the paragraph to see if you can find the answer(s) to the questions you have developed.
• Revise your list of questions if necessary. (The list of questions becomes a study guide for reviewing the content of each paragraph.)

Go to Exercise 7

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