Writing an essay is easy and doesn’t take up much time once you have all your information, however, understanding the different types of essays and how to write each of them is crucial to write a perfect essay. In this article we will cover the four types of essays, the basic elements of each, and some tips on how to outline and properly plan your essay.
Types of Essays
Argumentative Essay
Argumentative essays are the most common type of essays in university and college. Argumentative essays are used to express an opinion or point of view on a specific subject based on thorough research and evidence. The structure of argumentative essays is as follows: introduction, where you start by introducing the topic briefly and providing some information or background on it in one paragraph, then the body, where you dive into your opinion in addition to your evidence and argumentative points to back up your judgement, and lastly is your conclusion, where you summarize everything you mentioned in your body and close your essay upon.
Expository Essay
Expository essays are mainly popular in high school assignments and university exams, as their main purpose is to test your knowledge on a specific topic. They strictly require facts and evidence and do not include any opinions or judgements whatsoever. They follow the same structure as that of argumentative essays; introduction, body, and conclusion.
Narrative Essay
Narrative essays are used to tell a story, they aren’t as strict as expository or argumentative essays, they are a rather creative type of essays. They present a different, capturing point of view of either an imaginative story, or a personal story. An example of a narrative essay writing prompt would be “What small things have you seen and taken note of today?” or “How do you feel your ethnicity defines you?”. Narrative essays do not have to strictly follow a guideline such as expository and argumentative essays, but they do have to be well structured and written to sound logical and well planned.
Descriptive Essay
Descriptive essays are similar to narrative essays, except more specific. Descriptive essays are much more creative and focus on topics that are way more sentimental and sensory to you. Instead of telling a whole story, they focus more on a specific part of a story or a specific object, and allow you to unleash your creativity into writing about it. An example of a descriptive essay writing prompt would be “Describe a person that inspires you” or “Talk about an object you think is your ‘lucky charm’”. Descriptive essays are loosely structured and do not need to follow the same “introduction, body, conclusion” guideline.
Content
If you are writing an argumentative or an expository essay, then you need to start out with an introduction, then dive into your body, and lastly, include a very strong conclusion to end your essay. Your introduction should only be one paragraph long where you give a brief background about the topic and state some facts that are relevant to the argument or facts that you are going to state in your body, and end your paragraph with a sentence that links to the beginning of the first sentence in your body, to ensure the flow of your essay.
After you write your introduction, start your body. Your body should be 3 to 4 paragraphs long, or however long your professor has stated, although if you are writing about a broad topic it can be longer. Each paragraph in your body should be tackling a specific point or argument in your topic and should be strictly formal and factual.
Lastly, your conclusion. Your conclusion should only be a paragraph long, similar to your introduction. It should be a brief summary of everything you mentioned in your body, and should conclude your opinion in case of an argumentative essay. It should state the most important points and wrap up the main point of your essay.
Tips
Before starting your essay, make sure you deeply research your topic. Write down all the important information and facts surrounding your topic that you will add in your essay. Write down any important dates and what they are associated with, make sure to write them down in chronological order to not get confused once you start writing.
Plan your essay. After you write down all your information, start forming an outline to plan how you are going to write your essay. Think of how you are going to write your body, what points you should mention first and try to make a mental image of how your essay will come together. This will also help you notice if there is any information that you are missing or anything that you need to research more about.
Start with your body. It is easier to delve into your body because you are writing down information you already know and understand, so you will get to writing right away. However, if you start with an introduction, you might find yourself with a writer's block not knowing how to start, which is why we recommend you start with your body and leave your introduction to last.
Start each paragraph in your body with a topic statement. As previously agreed, each paragraph in your body should tackle a specific topic, so when opening each paragraph, start with the point you are going to dive into in this paragraph.
Make sure to get your information from reliable websites. You need to make sure all your facts are correct and credible, which is why it is important to use information from reputable websites and sources.
Do not plagiarize. Make sure to write your essay in your own words, or at least paraphrase the sentences in case of facts that you can’t quite write in your own words. Professors usually allow a small percentage of plagiarism, if so, make sure you don’t exceed this percentage. You can check your plagiarism percentage here: https://www.grammarly.com/plagiarism-checker?q=plagiarism&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=11903460924&utm_content=487967678638&utm_term=plagiarism%20checker&matchtype=e&placement=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0oCDBhCPARIsAII3C_G1b1c4wTyj0EwZM6yjg93zGNojCFGBIL_vaqxiO3wW63DnLv2sA1kaAsO9EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
How to Write the Perfect Essay!
How to Write the Perfect Essay!
There are a couple of aspects to consider when writing different types of essays, click here to know the different types of essays and how to perfect them.
Writing an essay is easy and doesn’t take up much time once you have all your information, however, understanding the different types of essays and how to write each of them is crucial to write a perfect essay. In this article we will cover the four types of essays, the basic elements of each, and some tips on how to outline and properly plan your essay. Types of EssaysArgumentative EssayArgumentative essays are the most common type of essays in university and college. Argumentative essays are used to express an opinion or point of view on a specific subject based on thorough research and evidence. The structure of argumentative essays is as follows: introduction, where you start by introducing the topic briefly and providing some information or background on it in one paragraph, then the body, where you dive into your opinion in addition to your evidence and argumentative points to back up your judgement, and lastly is your conclusion, where you summarize everything you mentioned in your body and close your essay upon. Expository Essay Expository essays are mainly popular in high school assignments and university exams, as their main purpose is to test your knowledge on a specific topic. They strictly require facts and evidence and do not include any opinions or judgements whatsoever. They follow the same structure as that of argumentative essays; introduction, body, and conclusion. Narrative EssayNarrative essays are used to tell a story, they aren’t as strict as expository or argumentative essays, they are a rather creative type of essays. They present a different, capturing point of view of either an imaginative story, or a personal story. An example of a narrative essay writing prompt would be “What small things have you seen and taken note of today?” or “How do you feel your ethnicity defines you?”. Narrative essays do not have to strictly follow a guideline such as expository and argumentative essays, but they do have to be well structured and written to sound logical and well planned. Descriptive EssayDescriptive essays are similar to narrative essays, except more specific. Descriptive essays are much more creative and focus on topics that are way more sentimental and sensory to you. Instead of telling a whole story, they focus more on a specific part of a story or a specific object, and allow you to unleash your creativity into writing about it. An example of a descriptive essay writing prompt would be “Describe a person that inspires you” or “Talk about an object you think is your ‘lucky charm’”. Descriptive essays are loosely structured and do not need to follow the same “introduction, body, conclusion” guideline. ContentIf you are writing an argumentative or an expository essay, then you need to start out with an introduction, then dive into your body, and lastly, include a very strong conclusion to end your essay. Your introduction should only be one paragraph long where you give a brief background about the topic and state some facts that are relevant to the argument or facts that you are going to state in your body, and end your paragraph with a sentence that links to the beginning of the first sentence in your body, to ensure the flow of your essay. After you write your introduction, start your body. Your body should be 3 to 4 paragraphs long, or however long your professor has stated, although if you are writing about a broad topic it can be longer. Each paragraph in your body should be tackling a specific point or argument in your topic and should be strictly formal and factual. Lastly, your conclusion. Your conclusion should only be a paragraph long, similar to your introduction. It should be a brief summary of everything you mentioned in your body, and should conclude your opinion in case of an argumentative essay. It should state the most important points and wrap up the main point of your essay. TipsBefore starting your essay, make sure you deeply research your topic. Write down all the important information and facts surrounding your topic that you will add in your essay. Write down any important dates and what they are associated with, make sure to write them down in chronological order to not get confused once you start writing.Plan your essay. After you write down all your information, start forming an outline to plan how you are going to write your essay. Think of how you are going to write your body, what points you should mention first and try to make a mental image of how your essay will come together. This will also help you notice if there is any information that you are missing or anything that you need to research more about. Start with your body. It is easier to delve into your body because you are writing down information you already know and understand, so you will get to writing right away. However, if you start with an introduction, you might find yourself with a writer's block not knowing how to start, which is why we recommend you start with your body and leave your introduction to last. Start each paragraph in your body with a topic statement. As previously agreed, each paragraph in your body should tackle a specific topic, so when opening each paragraph, start with the point you are going to dive into in this paragraph. Make sure to get your information from reliable websites. You need to make sure all your facts are correct and credible, which is why it is important to use information from reputable websites and sources. Do not plagiarize. Make sure to write your essay in your own words, or at least paraphrase the sentences in case of facts that you can’t quite write in your own words. Professors usually allow a small percentage of plagiarism, if so, make sure you don’t exceed this percentage. You can check your plagiarism percentage here: https://www.grammarly.com/plagiarism-checker?q=plagiarism&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=11903460924&utm_content=487967678638&utm_term=plagiarism%20checker&matchtype=e&placement=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0oCDBhCPARIsAII3C_G1b1c4wTyj0EwZM6yjg93zGNojCFGBIL_vaqxiO3wW63DnLv2sA1kaAsO9EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
