• Expository essay = reports information 
• answers the question "What is it?"

• Analytic essay = examines the implications of reported information 
• reports information and answers the questions 
• "How did (does) it happen?"
  "Why did (does) it happen?"

In an expository essay, you need only report information. It can be compared to visiting an art gallery and writing a description of a painting. In so doing, you would simply describe what you see on the canvas. If we extend this analogy, writing an analytic essay would be like going into the art gallery and writing a description of a painting, but this time, adding your thoughts about what emotions or ideas the painter wanted to convey through his picture. In this way, an analytic essay not only describes something, but also evaluates it, presenting possible reasons why the item or idea being examined came into being or gave rise to other events, objects or ideas.

Analytic essays often follow a cause and effect, "how-to," or compare and contrast pattern of idea development. You do not need to use one of these "thought patterns" in your essay, but I mention them here as possible approaches to this assignment. The bottom line is that your essay must present more than a description of something; it must also explain to your reader what you think about the thing you described and why you think this. 

I will offer two possible topics for this essay. 

• The first draft is due Tuesday, February 23, 2010
  
• The second and final draft is due on Tuesday, March 3, 2010
  

Your essay will be graded with a focus on content and organization of ideas; however, if the paper has excessive grammar and/or spelling errors, you will be asked to complete a correction sheet for the essay (due two weeks after the graded essay is returned to you).