Essay is a small prosaic discussion with a free composition. It expresses individual impression and considerations on a specific issue or a socially significant problem. Essay writing is a significant segment of the student’s education. It is impossible to withdraw writing papers as professors use them to evaluate one’s knowledge.
The student’s essay is an independent written work on the topic proposed by the lecturer. Its purpose is to develop the skills of creative thinking. The main function of the essay is the formation of students’ sociological imagination. This ability allows correlating the knowledge you got through the learning process with the events taking place in the world. It is necessary for a student to have an ability to see a substantial sense.
Composing an essay is greatly helpful because it enables the author to discover how to formulate thoughts definitely and precisely, to use the main categories of analysis, to emphasize cause-effect connections, to illustrate concepts with appropriate models and to master the scientific style of speech.
Main Essay Types?
Depending on the specifics of the discipline, the type and form of an essay can significantly differentiate. In some cases, this may be:
- The summarizing of the present analytical data on the problem being studied
- An analysis of materials from the media with the usage of the models being studied
- A detailed analysis of the proposed problem with detailed opinions, the selection and detailed analysis of examples illustrating the problem, etc.
In order to get better grades and enhance the writing experience, it is important to understand every kind of essay.
- Descriptive essay
In this type of essays, we describe an object. It can be a place, product, person or an animal, book, or a film. In the report, it is necessary not only to pass the main description of the object – appearance, smell, texture. It is also important to reflect your feelings about this thing or person. You subjectively describe some actions in sequential order, but there is no conflict and criticism in the text.
- Definition essay
Essay definition needs to reveal a particular concept. For this, you can use elements of narration, descriptions, illustrations, and analytics.
- Compare and contrast essay
In the classification, you dismember the concept. In comparison, you take related concept, point parallels, and look for similarities and differences. The papers demand a clear and dominant tone. Depending on the case, a humorous expression can also be suitable. Writing this essay, you may use synonyms and metaphors.
- Cause and effect essay
Cause and effect can build your essay. It is important to not only bring the facts, but also analyze and build them into a logical chain. The main goal of a cause and effect essay is to show your capacity to connect causes and their consequences basing on the logical manner. The main difference with the compare contrast essay is that the writer does not analyze comparisons, but assesses the causes of things, concepts, and actions. Introduction of this essay type sets the tone and gets the audience’s attention. Cause-effect essay paragraphs have no limit. One problem needs one paragraph. The conclusion sums fundamental causes and effects.
- Narrative essay
Action, action and action only! Narration is the presentation or description of events in chronological order step by step from the first or third person. This may be a brief biography, and a short story about some interesting event. The main components of this essay are the plot, the climax and the denouement. Accordingly, there must be a conflict. Introduction of the narrative essay describes the importance of the question. Body paragraphs introduce the background of some event, personas. Telling a story, an author should use several figures of speech. It is anaphora, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, etc.
- Expository essay
Everything is simple! In expository essay writing, your goal is to prove a statement. For this, you select and give examples. It is necessary that these models really prove your words. An author carries out thorough analysis to approach the topic from various angles, investigates received data, and comprises an essay. The paper begins with a brief introductory overview of the problem. Each body paragraph explains a specific point within a dispense subject. Expository papers are based on facts only. This type of work is formed without adding words and phrases that aren’t required.
- Argumentative essay
In the argumentation essay, you must give facts that confirm your statement. It is important to build these facts in logical sequence. Here the author puts pressure on the rational link, not emotions. The main methods are metaphor, personification, simile etc. The essay needs a formal, academic writing style. It discusses a particular problem. The papers start with an introduction, have the developing (the body), consist of debunking opponent’s thoughts and conclusion.
- Critical essay
To begin with, the critique implies an analysis, in which both negative and positive aspects of the phenomenon are identified. A critical essay is this type of essay in which it is necessary to analyze and evaluate definite scientific work (dissertation, article, report) or a work of art.
Students can be given the task to write a critical essay in order to learn how write and develop critical thinking. During the writing process, they will learn to identify contradictions in their work, to find errors, inaccuracies, to see the strengths and weaknesses of the work, and to verify the authenticity of certain arguments.
- Persuasive essay
A persuasive essay should convince the reader to accept the idea or to agree with the opinion. The goal is to show the professor that your viewpoint is reasonable. A persuasive essay should be written in a style that captures and holds the reader’s attention, and your opinion should be supported by strong arguments and details. The essay consists of the introduction, body paragraphs and a short conclusion with benefits and call-to-action to the audience.
Which Type to Choose
The choice of essay type relies on the given topic and it is sometimes indicated in the assignment. As you can notice, the papers can have various structure and different aims. In fact, you can distinguish a lot of different essay types, but this post covers the most popular ones, so the choice is quite wide. For example, if you choose an argumentative essay, then your work will be reduced to ensuring readers in something with strong arguments or encouraging them to perform an action.
Each essay should be unique in its structure and content, to be interesting to the reader. The decision regarding the particular genre or type of presentation depends on your goals. Acquainted with all the styles and genres, you can now learn how to compose an essay in your case. Nevertheless, if you still cannot choose – read our blog, and you will learn how to write all these types.
