Essays, Essays, Essays

School teaches us many different kinds of writing media like poetry or story writing. That’s because each medium has its own function, and each function calls for a different style. There are various types of essays out there to suit different purposes.

The following are the four basic essay types based on their purpose.

Argumentative Essays

These essays attempt to win the audience over to agree with the writer’s opinion. They may be told in either first or third person, and often compare and contrast ideas. The major details, or points in debate lingo, are the writer’s opinions that explain their stance. These points are backed by facts and proof.

Argumentative essays are like debates written down. They’re not static speeches as they tend to give example counterarguments or rebuttals against their own case in order to further supply more information to win the audience over.

Example of a counterargument in a persuasive essay:

“Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are good, especially in our society today. Although they tend to not be as nutritious as non-genetically modified food, GMOs solve food scarcity and provide affordable meals for thousands of families who can’t afford organic groceries.”

“True, video games may simulate violence and show graphic visuals, especially in popular modern games. However, research shows that video game players don’t become violent because of games. Rather, the virtual and imaginary violence helps them lower stress and anger, which is much healthier than actually going outside and beating someone up.”

Argumentative vs Persuasive Essays

While argumentative essays rely on facts, statistics, and other concrete bases; persuasive essays, on the other hand, are made up of the writer’s emotions, opinions, and personal ideas. If argumentative essays are debates, persuasive essays are extemporaneous speeches. They don’t need research to fly, but they rely on the author’s passions and turns of phrase to win the crowd. These are usually written in the first person.

Example Articles:

• Global Warming is Already Here; Denying it is Unforgivable ー Washington Post

• Cyberbullying in Japan: Will the Country Ever Find a Solution to this Ongoing Abuse? ー Tokyo Weekender

Expository Essays

Dealing only with facts and nothing but the facts, expository essays aim to describe and inform. They are written in the third person and do not include arguments or tactics of persuasion. They are mostly written in events where writers aim to investigate a topic, compare and contrast different things, analyze a particular phenomenon, or anything to that effect.

A very good example of expository writing is, in fact, hard news articles. They talk about only the facts of an event, and present information with the aim to inform. They may show two sides of an event, but they do not use these as arguments to further a belief. Another type of expository writing you may have encountered as a student are academic papers, like Science Papers, PASS, case studies, etc.

Example Articles:

• Effects of Global Warming ー National Geographic

• Cyberbullying is on the rise among middle and high school students, report finds ー ABC News

Descriptive Essays

With the aim of planting an image in the reader’s mind, descriptive essays provide readers with descriptions and information that relates to a person, event, or object. This essay is written in order for the readers to feel something rather than to be simply informed.

For more abstract essays, writers may choose to use sensory details (i.e., five senses) to describe something as well as literary figurative language to flesh out the writing. Descriptive essays are meant to leave a sensory impression.

Where could you have seen descriptive essays? We see them a lot in English quizzes where we’re given a passage about a historic event, unique landmark, or famous person.

Example Articles:

• How Indigenous People Are Experiencing Climate Change in the Amazon, ーMongabay

• Bullying Has An Impact That Last Years. I know - I’m a Victim ー The Guardian

Narrative Essays

As stated in the name, narrative essays are stories. They are short stories in essay form to prove a point or make a statement. They can be told in first or third person, and follow the aspects of a short story: a limited cast of characters, focus on one theme/topic, linear timeline of events, use of quotations, and application of figurative language.

An example of narrative essays is college application essays, where they ask a prompt and expect you to answer it. Most of the time, college application essays are looking for a personal story that would give them an impression on your personality while you answer the prompt.

As said in the chapter on parts of an article, formatting is important in order to create a cohesive and understandable reading experience for your audience.

This doesn’t mean all essays have to strictly follow this format. You can't really provide statistical evidence in a personal essay, can you? Either way, it’s a good idea to keep the functions of the different parts of an essay in mind in order to make a clearly-written piece.

Introduction

Includes the: Hook, Thesis Statement, and Transition

A good introduction hooks the reader using its first few sentences while hinting at the topic of the essay. Usually, people choose to throw a quote or anecdote as a hook. Anything goes as long as it reels the readers in and gives them interest in what you have to say.

Following that, the thesis statement reveals the purpose of the essay. It gives the writer’s claim and a summary of the points that will be spoken about in the essay. These points are evidence or arguments that support the writer’s claim. As taught in school, points will be stated in the essay in the order they are introduced in the thesis statement. To further understand the thesis statement, you can check the chapter dedicated to it.

Finally, the transition is meant to cleanly segue into the body of the essay, and smoothly transports the reader into its meat.

Body

Includes the: Arguments and Points, Supporting Details, Examples, and Evidence

The body holds the meat of the writer’s argument, and it must continue the order set in the introduction. It includes the main arguments of the essay, supporting evidence, and the writer’s analysis and/or explanation.

In debate, the first speaker must state the group’s best and strongest points. The same holds true in essays. In essays, it’s best to state the best argument, evidence, or example in the first paragraph of the body. The second paragraph will talk about a weaker point, and the third the weakest.

Conclusion

Includes the: Thesis Restatement, Summary of Points, Conclusion