Exploratory essays are question-driven rather than argument-driven, so you will not be trying to prove an argument in this essay and you will not have a thesis! Your paper will still have a motivation—perhaps a recent event, a personal experience, a recurring thought or question, or a scholar’s argument—but you will not argue for an answer or solution. The point is to ask a question and to explore as many aspects of that question as possible. That might not result in a final answer or solution, but it will deepen the reader’s understanding of whatever topic/question you engage. This kind of essay, which incorporates both research and personal experiences, offers new opportunities. You can think of this as countering the “single story” idea because you’re offering new and different stories and thoughts, which means you can explain your personal motivation for exploring the topic or asking the question. You can use the first person “I” and incorporate personal anecdotes, provided they’re relevant and lend insight to the question/topic you’re exploring. The trick to successful exploratory essays is making the personal universal. An example of this style of essay is Sabine Heinlein’s essay “The Cruelty of Kindness.” Heinlein’s motivation comes from her own experience with her adopted cat, which leads to bigger questions about animal shelters. Adam Gopnik’s “Bumping into Mr. Ravioli” is motivated by his daughter’s imaginary friend, which leads to bigger questions about whether we’re all too busy and need to slow down our lives. Exploratory essays offer more freedom than argument-driven essays because you can explore different lines of thought without worrying about whether they support your thesis. However, an exploratory essay is NOT a free-write or stream-of-consciousness essay. An exploratory essay requires planning, and it needs to be carefully organized, just like other essays. One way to understand the structure of the exploratory essay is to think of it as the story of your search for insights/answers to your question. Think of this assignment as an opportunity to be creative, to take risks, and to set aside some of the constraints we often associate with academic writing. The tone and voice of an exploratory essay are subjective, whereas the tone and voice of expository essay tend to be objective. Above all, your essay should represent your genuine concerns, questions, feelings and ideas—not some notion of a “right answer.” Assignment: Write a paper of ~2,500 words in which you ask, analyze, and explore a genuine question you have about the world. You could ask questions such as, “What are the ethical implications of ‘no-harm’ animal shelters?” You could ask why systems that work around the world, such as single-payer health care or free college education, haven’t taken hold in the U.S. You could leverage the current situation and ask, “how will the use of technology to mediate almost all interactions affect society?” The question can be anything, as long as you don’t already know (or think you know) the answer. The question should be of genuine interest to you, but also relevant to people in general. Try to avoid yes/no questions, and instead ask “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” and “how” questions. Remember, your goal here is NOT to prove a point—it’s to raise relevant questions and insights that you will explore via research and analysis, which means you’ll be exploring all sides of whatever question you’re asking: good and bad, pros and cons, multiple/competing theories, multiple/competing answers, etc. Being open-minded is key—you don’t know what you’re going to find when you start digging, which is precisely why you’re writing this essay!
