GC Discussions/Exams: Explaining generalities using specific examples

Explaining Generalities with Specific Examples 

Giving your reader a clear understanding of what you are writing about will help you explain your ideas more effectively to an audience, which is an extremely important communication skill in your studies and in today’s workplace.

In addition, current AI chatbot programs like Copilot, DeepSeek, ChatGPT often deliver generalities, or simply default to materials from Wikipedia or an encyclopedia. Effective use of those emerging tools will, in the foreseeable future, depend on your ability to supplement those materials with meaningful valid specific examples.

One of the goals of this course is to give you practice interpreting and explaining ideas to an audience (in this case your classmates, unless otherwise stated) through essay writing or your research project presentation. More specifically, you will be asked to interpret and synthesize information from class materials (readings, videos, and slide presentations) and explain what you have read and how it applies to a particular situation.  

When explaining what you have read and your interpretations of the materials, you will need to support any generalizations or vague statements by adding specific examples or details to support these generalizations.  Without using specific language or examples, writing can seem vague, unclear, or uninteresting and you may not be able to communicate what you intend. And in the "real world" especially, that can have consequences.

Using the Generalization and Example Writing Pattern

Fortunately, when generalizations are made, you can improve the clarity of your explanation simply by using a writing pattern called Generalization and Example Links to an external site.. This pattern follows a general statement by using specific examples to support the general statement. Often signal words or phrases follow the general statement, offering a transition between the general and specific statement. They clearly indicate that you are providing an example to support or illustrate one or more points of your general statement. These signal words/phrases, include:

    • for example
      • or e.g. (short for the Latin exempli gratia, meaning "for example"; although this is overused)
    • for instance,
    • to illustrate,
    • as an illustration,
    • such as,
    • as a case in point,
    • including,
    • including, but not limited to
    • namely
      • or viz (short for the Latin "videlicet," meaning "it is permitted to see" or "namely."), and
    • specifically.

Improving Generalized Language (Abstract, Vague, Empty Words)

Words that make generalizations are often called abstract, vague, or empty words and can also include abbreviations. These lack clarity or precision . . . in effect they often do not communicate anything.  To improve the clarity of your writing: 

    • Recognize abstract, vague, "filler", or empty words such as: good, bad, mindset, common sense, stuff, things, a lot, many, etc., really, quite, basically, pretty (as in "pretty complicated"), kind of, sort of, nice. . . .
    • Replace these words with more descriptive words. For example, when you describe something good, consider substituting the word good with more descriptive words such as: benefit, merit, value, advantageous, OR
    • Apply the generalized and explanation writing pattern: Simply explain to your audience why it is good.

Improving Generalizations of Broad Topics and Categories

General statements are often introduced by making a claim or by describing broad topics, categories, or groups of people or things. Some common examples of broad topics, categories, or groups of people or things that are referred to in global cultures might include: 

      • Immigrant women
      • economic factors, environmental factors, and social factors
      • traditional festivals and events
      • social customs

To improve the clarity of your writing, follow any generalizations of broad topics or categories with a specific example, as shown here:

Broad topic: The immigrant women

      • Supported with specific example: “. . . for example, the two Polish ladies, Anna and Kamala, from the film Extranjeras.” 

Broad topic: “Economic factors”, environmental factors, and “social factors"

      • Supported with specific example: “. . . for example, being forced to work for less than minimum wages with no health insurance.”

Broad topic: “Traditional festivals and events”

      • Supported with specific example: ". . . for example, the scene in the film Great Gatherings where the rival districts of Siena, Italy, battle for supremacy in a 700-year-old horse race."

More Examples Using the Generalization and Example Writing Pattern

Below are additional examples from global cultures essays where general statements referencing broad topics and categories need to be improved or supported with specific examples.

Example 1

Generalized statement: “The culinary aspect of European culture creates a sense of community and belonging. There are different aspects such as dinners, markets, and restaurants that help to show different cultural identities.”

Add specific examples: “Dinners”, “markets”, and “restaurants” are generalized categories that could be supported by specific examples, such as: 

        • Dinner example: An example of a specific example would be “The Duluth Twelve Apostles Orthodox Church group hosting its annual ‘Taste of Greece’ dinner’”. 

        • Market example: This would be a specific example, “Markets such as ‘Bill’s Imported Foods’ on Lake Street in Minneapolis, run by Bill and Sisi.” Or, "Read about it in Chapter 28 of Understanding Global Cultures, entitled 'The Nigerian Marketplace'".

        • Restaurant Example: Another specific example would be, “A Greek restaurant such as ‘Gardens of Salonica’ in Northeast Minneapolis, and ‘Cristos Greek Restaurant’ on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis”.

Example 2

Generalized Statement:  “In the film Extranjeras, the immigrant women benefited from the community that they moved into and the support systems that they moved into.”

Add a specific example:  “The Polish women living in Madrid (particularly in the quarters of Lavapiés and Alcalá), Anna and Kamila, who are featured in the 75-minute documentary Extranjeras, focus on motherhood in order to bring all women together. They also serve as the primary transmitters of their Polish language to the younger generation, thereby keeping their native culture and microcommunity alive.”

Example 3

Generalized Statement:  "The intersection of street food and social identity is also evident in the community-building aspect of food truck markets."

Add a specific example: "For example, Ty and Masami Smith's Native American food truck, sponsored by the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio, promotes their members' social identity and community building. The Smiths and their Center annually participate in Newark Ohio's food truck festival along with more than 30 other food trucks and trailers. (Columbus’ Native American Food Truck Shares Culture and Builds Community,Links to an external site. Links to an external site. Ohio Magazine (JULY/AUGUST 2024)."

Example 4

Generalized statement: “One tradition in a certain culture may come off really weird or wrong in the eyes of someone not a part of the culture.”


Add a specific example: “For example, the practice of human maternal placentophagy (postpartum consumption of a human placenta by the mother) may come off really weird or wrong in the eyes of someone not a part of the microculture in the U.S.A. that endorses the practice." Cf. <https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/30/i-ate-wifes-placenta-smoothie-taco-afterbirth Links to an external site.>.