Type of essays
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument — but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a paper , an article , a pamphlet , and a short story. Essays have traditionally been sub-classified as formal and informal. Formal essays are characterized by "serious purpose, dignity, logical organization, length," whereas the informal essay is characterized by "the personal element self-revelation, individual tastes and experiences, confidential manner , humor, graceful style, rambling structure, unconventionality or novelty of theme," etc. Essays are commonly used as literary criticism , political manifestos , learned arguments , observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. Almost all modern essays are written in prose , but works in verse have been dubbed essays e.
10 Different Types of Essays
What is it? This is the type of essay where you prove that your opinion, theory or hypothesis about an issue is correct or more truthful than those of others. In short, it is very similar to the persuasive essay see above , but the difference is that you are arguing for your opinion as opposed to others, rather than directly trying to persuade someone to adopt your point of view.
Tips for writing argumentative essays: 1 Make a list of the pros and cons in your plan before you start writing. Choose the most important that support your argument the pros and the most important to refute the cons and focus on them.
Choose the one that you find most effective for your argument. Or do you prefer to save the best for last? For example:. These are just a few suggestions. You can, of course, come up with many good transitions of your own. We - the People. Digging Deeper. Writing Course. Teacher's Resources.
Four types of essay: expository, persuasive, analytical, argumentative. The key here is that you are explaining an issue, theme or idea to your intended audience. Your reaction to a work of literature could be in the form of an expository essay, for example if you decide to simply explain your personal response to a work.
The expository essay can also be used to give a personal response to a world event, political debate, football game, work of art and so on. What are its most important qualities? So, you should:. This is the type of essay where you try to convince the reader to adopt your position on an issue or point of view.
Here your rationale, your argument, is most important. You are presenting an opinion and trying to persuade readers, you want to win readers over to your point of view. In this type of essay you analyze, examine and interpret such things as an event, book, poem, play or other work of art. Your analytical essay should have an:. See More on expository essays. Sist oppdatert: So, you should: Have a well defined thesis.
Make sure you answer your question or do what you say you set out to do. Do not wander from your topic. Provide evidence to back up what you are saying. Support your arguments with facts and reasoning. Do not simply list facts, incorporate these as examples supporting your position, but at the same time make your point as succinctly as possible. The essay should be concise. Make your point and conclude your essay. Have a definite point of view. Use sound reasoning. Use solid evidence. Be aware of your intended audience.
How can you win them over? Research your topic so your evidence is convincing. Remember the rules of the good paragraph. One single topic per paragraph, and natural progression from one to the next.
End with a strong conclusion. Every literary work raises at least one major issue. In your introduction you will also define the idea or issue of the text that you wish to examine in your analysis. This is sometimes called the thesis or research question. It is important that you narrow the focus of your essay. After stating the problem, present your argument. You must decide if the author accomplishes his goal of conveying his ideas to the reader.
Do not forget to support your assumptions with examples and reasonable judgment. Personal response Your personal response will show a deeper understanding of the text and by forming a personal meaning about the text you will get more out of it.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that you only have to have a positive response to a text. If a writer is trying to convince you of something but fails to do so, in your opinion, your critical personal response can be very enlightening.
The key word here is critical. Base any objections on the text and use evidence from the text. Personal response should be in evidence throughout the essay, not tacked on at the end.
Conclusion related to the analysis and the argument Your conclusion should explain the relation between the analyzed text and the presented argument. Tips for writing analytical essays: Be well organized. Plan what you want to write before you start. It is a good idea to know exactly what your conclusion is going to be before you start to write. When you know where you are going, you tend to get there in a well organized way with logical progression.
Analytical essays normally use the present tense. When talking about a text, write about it in the present tense. Do not use slang or colloquial language the language of informal speech. Do not use contractions. Create an original title, do not use the title of the text. Analysis does not mean retelling the story. Many students fall into the trap of telling the reader what is happening in the text instead of analyzing it.
You must clearly specify these opinions if you are to refute them convincingly. For example: While I have shown that When you want to refute or counter the cons you may start with: However, Nonetheless, but On the other hand, This claim notwithstanding If you want to mark your total disagreement: After seeing this evidence, it is impossible to agree with what they say Their argument is irrelevant Contrary to what they might think
Effectively writing different types of essays has become critical to academic success. Essay writing is a common school assignment, a part of standardized tests. Types of Essay. Definition Essay As the name suggests, a definition type of essay defines different things, ideas, and perceptions. Narrative Essay A.
To succeed at school, you need to be able to write different types of essays. Your teachers will seldom tell you exactly which type of essay you should be writing , so you need to be able to figure it out from the question you have been asked. There are various opinions on how to categorize essays and how many types of essay there are. The simplest interpretation says that there are only four types of essays:. Narrative essays 2.
They check different skills and knowledge.
A student may hate writing homework on particular subjects while writing specific types of essays might be fun. The main goal of each writing assignment is to meet the initial prompt. The article breaks the myth about numerous kinds of essays by offering the basic categorization of this writing assignment and corresponding examples.
The 4 Different Types of Essays
What is it? This is the type of essay where you prove that your opinion, theory or hypothesis about an issue is correct or more truthful than those of others. In short, it is very similar to the persuasive essay see above , but the difference is that you are arguing for your opinion as opposed to others, rather than directly trying to persuade someone to adopt your point of view. Tips for writing argumentative essays: 1 Make a list of the pros and cons in your plan before you start writing. Choose the most important that support your argument the pros and the most important to refute the cons and focus on them.
Essay Examples
To enable grammar checking plugins like Grammarly and Ginger, disable ours from the settings panel on the left. At some point in your life, you will be required to write an essay — whether for a school homework, college standardized tests or even for work-related purposes. There are several basic types of essays to choose from, the most common are expository, narrative, persuasive and analytical. Which one you choose really depends on your objectives. We'll explore each type in depth, and offer recommendations on the typical word counts for each essay type. Which of the 4 different essay types you should use depends largely on the assignment or desired outcome. An expository essay gives a brief explanation of an issue, idea or theme. Purdue OWL expands on this, offering some common requirements in step form: investigation of an idea, evaluation of evidence, a systematic and detailed explanation of the idea, and a clear and concise statement of an argument about the idea. Because brevity is required for this type of essay, the recommended length is around words. A no-frills approach to answering the question or addressing your thesis - factual evidence to support your claim or position.
The three types of essay most commonly assigned in school — the narrative essay, the persuasive essay, and the expository essay — conveniently correspond to those writing forms most frequently published online and in print.
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn more Got it! There are four main types of essays: narrative, descriptive, expository, and argumentative. Each has a unique purpose.
Essay Types
Below are outline templates for specific types of writing projects. Keep in mind these are just a starting point: there is always room for variation and creativity in how a subject is most effectively presented to a reader. This is perhaps the most common structure. Examples of this include questions which ask you to discuss , analyze , investigate , explore, or review. In an analytical structure you are required to break the topic into its different components and discuss these in separate paragraphs or sections, demonstrating balance where possible. Examples of this type of essay include questions which ask you to take a position on a topic, such as a particular decision or policy, and present arguments which support your position. An effective way to argue a point can be to present the opposing view first then counter this view with stronger evidence. Examples of this type of essay include assignments where you are given data such as a case study or scenario, a diagram, graphical information, or a picture and expected to interpret this information to demonstrate your application of knowledge when answering the task. Based on this data, you may be asked to do a range of things such as provide recommendations or solutions, develop a nursing care plan, a teaching plan, suggest legal advice, or plan a marketing strategy. Examples of this type of essay include compare , compare and contrast , or differentiate questions. Your assignment task may require you to make a recommendation about the suitability of the items you are comparing. These essay questions often require you to structure your answer in several parts. An example may be to ask you to investigate a problem and explore a range of solutions.
Four types of essay: expository, persuasive, analytical, argumentative
An essay is a short academic composition. Presently, essay is part of every degree program. Each subject has specific requirements for the essays to be written. Some subjects need longer essays, while others need shorter ones, such as a five-paragraph essay. In composition, the start is made from a five-paragraph essay. Based on the requirements, there are seventeen types of essays. Generally, a simple a five-paragraph has five paragraphs including an introduction , three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. An argumentative essay, however, has an additional paragraph which presents counter argument or opposing arguments in the same sequence. However, at the end of this paragraph, both the arguments are weighed in the favor of stronger arguments presented earlier in three body paragraphs.
