in theory than in any more practical respect.

 

=Definition=, the primary expository method, is a statement of precise

limits.[15] Obviously, here the greatest care must be exercised that the terms

of definition should not themselves demand too much definition; that the

language should be concise and clear; and that the definition should neither

exclude nor include too much. The following is a simple example:

 

To expound is to set forth the nature, the significance, the characteristics,

and the bearing of an idea or a group of ideas.

 

--ARLO BATES, _Talks on Writing English_.

 

=Contrast and Antithesis= are often used effectively to amplify definition, as

in this sentence, which immediately follows the above-cited definition:

 

Exposition therefore differs from Description in that it deals directly with the

meaning or intent of its subject instead of with its appearance.

 

This antithesis forms an expansion of the definition, and as such it might have

been still further extended. In fact, this is a frequent practise in public

speech, where the minds of the hearers often ask for reiteration and expanded

statement to help them grasp a subject in its several aspects. This is the very

heart of exposition--to amplify and clarify all the terms by which a matter is

defined.