Excellent Examples of Informative Writing

Curtain Walls and Murder Holes, by Lydia

[Notice the transitions that Lydia uses to move from one topic to the next. Her paragraph flows like the Tigris River on a cool spring day...]

The castle’s second line of defense was the curtain wall. It is called a ‘curtain’ wall because it covers everything inside. The inside of the wall is made of rough rocks, while the outside is made of large, bulky stones ...

After the curtain walls, came the gatehouse - the entranceway to a castle. The gatehouse was the most accessible part of a castle amid a siege. In a gatehouse are many booby traps in case enemies wanted to get into the castle through there. One of these booby traps is called an arrow loop. They are carved out sections of wall, so that archers could shoot in two directions from the same area ...

Another kind of booby trap is the infamous murder holes. These are large holes in the roof on the outside of the castle, attached to a walkway on top so that people up there could move around. They dumped burning coals, boiling water, stones, sometimes even a dead cat from the holes onto the attackers below ...

The Problem with Doors, by James

[Notice the way that James writes sentences that are both concise and incredibly clear. In addition, he establishes his own, authentic writer's voice]

Gatehouses were the weakest part of a castle in a weak castle, and the strongest part of a castle in a strong castle. The purpose of a gatehouse was to control people going in and out of the castle in times of peace.

The problem is that a doorway in makes for an easy attack spot in times of war. So builders countered that. In the gatehouse they put traps everywhere.

A Panoramic View, by Olivia

[Olivia excels at word choice. Notice the broad range of descriptive words that she uses to paint an intriguing picture of medieval construction techniques.]

The technology of constructing a castle on a cliff, manmade slope, or any other incline gave the defenders an advantage against attackers because they had higher ground and a better panoramic view of the surrounding land.

Castles walls, another significant defense feature, evolved many times over the years. While they were originally built with wood, people soon learned that these types of castles caught on fire too easily, so they began building them with stone. Castle walls also evolved into thicker and more durable versions of their former selves. The later versions of castle walls consisted of many layers.