Explanation has many purposes and definitions. Here are a few important ones:
- Explanations are a story about an idea or a problem. Giving explanations is to give more detail for your listener to understand your idea, problem, or argument.
- Explanation is giving a reason why something happened or why it is true.
- The goal of explanation is to help people understand why something is true.
Pack and Unpack
A lot of times we pack our ideas, problems, arguments and even feelings.
A: How are you?
B: I'm not well.
A: Please explain. (Why?)
Your feelings, ideas, etc. need to be unpacked or opened with explanations or the "why" so they may be understood by your listeners.
B: I'm not well because I feel very hot and I haven't eaten anything today.
An explanation works similar to a reason.
Example
An old proverb says, "The early bird gets the worm."
This is a packed sentence; the meaning isn't clear to the listener or reader, so it needs to be unpacked or explained.
"The proverb, the early bird gets the worm, refers to the idea that worms come out of the dirt early in the morning, so if the bird wants to get a worm it has to wake up early to get one, but if that bird oversleeps and wakes up late, all the worms have already been eaten or have gone back into the dirt. The late bird misses out and the early bird gets the reward. This is similar to people waking up early to get a head start on the day and catch business opportunities, etc. rather than the late starter who misses out on those opportunities."
Some explanations can be long while others can be short. It all depends on how we explain and the thing we are explaining.
Still confused?
Think of packing and unpacking like a suitcase. You pack all of your items tightly and zip it up. All we see is the suitcase. What's inside? Once we unpack we see that in the suitcase are your shirts, trousers, underwear, socks, towel, toothbrush, shampoo, camera and a book. Each has a purpose for being packed and unpacked can give us clues to where you're going; cold or hot climate; why you're going; business or leisure; and sometimes how long; lots of clothes or just a few.
Explaining is like looking into that suitcase to understand the details of the trip. When you make an opinion or state a fact you need to open it's case so the listener can understand the details of it's contents.
Example
Scary stories are important to developing the human condition. They inform us of the dangers that we can encounter, ways to prepare us for those dangers and protect ourselves and loved ones from those dangers. Without them we would be vulnerable to those dangers.
Here I have stated my opinion: Scary stories are important to developing the human condition.
And my explanation of that opinion (why I feel that way): They inform us of the dangers that we can encounter, ways to prepare us for those dangers and protect ourselves and loved ones from those dangers. Without them we would be vulnerable to those dangers.
Later we will talk about agreeing and disagreeing with opinions and explanations, but for now focus on how an explanation supports the opinion.
Do you have a question, comment, opinion or explanation? Please send us mail, comment below or reach out on social media. You can find us on twitter: @chromaticeng, facebook or google+.
Speak Bravely!
Homework
Send us an explanation of the following:
The early bird gets the work but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Your explanation can be as long or short as you want. You can write your explanation or record your voice (mp3 format preferred) and we will feature them on our blog!
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