Essay is a shorter piece of writing that requires the student to demonstrate various skills such as close reading, analysis, persuasion, conciseness, clarity etc. Essays should leave no room for the wandering thoughts or derivations from the given topic. In order to mitigate the discomfort associated with essay writing it is important to distinguish between the four traditional genres of essays: exposition, description, narration and argument.
Expository essay is designed to explain a topic. Such essays direct and explain how to accomplish definite tasks. Expository writings investigate, evaluate evidences, expound on an idea and make arguments concerning that idea. This can be accomplished through comparison and contrast, definition, example, analysis of cause and effect, etc.
Descriptive essay is intended to describe an object, a person, a place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. Description is painting an image that is vividly moving into the mind of the reader. A successful descriptive essay should make the reader clearly form an impression of the thing, event or experience described in the essay.
A Narrative essay is a vivid story depicted in a way that the audience learns a lesson or gains an insight. Narrative essays may sound anecdotal, experiential, and even personal, allowing the writer to express oneself in a creative and moving way. A narrative essay comprises of several important parts:
- A setting, where the story starts or takes place. It is important to describe the physical appearance of such setting with the help of descriptive words or even metaphors and imagery.
- Characters, depicted and taking part in the story. Such characters should be described in detail, including their features, speech, behavior and how one contradicts with the other.
- A climax, which is a major event in the story. It is important to prepare the reader for the climax gradually and bring it at the end. This will keep the reader glued to the final word.
– Sensory words, that appeal to all five senses of the reader.
An Argumentative essay requires the writer to collect, generate, and evaluate evidence and establish a position on the topic in a concise manner. Argumentative assignments may require empirical research (conducting interviews, surveys, observations, or experiments). Argumentative essays are intended to convince, persuade and make the readers accept the writer’s way of thinking.
