Types of essays
We are happy to read some essays in the next magazine or collection. Others – we skim and do not remember. Still others become literary monuments. And it’s not just the author’s talent. Much depends on what topic you are covering and to whom you are writing.
There are many types of essays. For instance, there are philosophical, creative, authentic, historical, artistic basic articles. As indicated by their structure, they are isolated into notes, letters, expressive miniatures, reviews. By the method of introduction – into descriptive and narrative, analytical and critical, essay illustrations, classifications and others.
How about we start with the least difficult method of introduction.
Description Essays
In such an essay, we describe an object. It can be a flower, any product, a person or an animal, the work of an artist or a film – in short, anything. In the description, it is important not just to convey the main characteristics of the object – appearance, smell, texture, but to reflect your feelings. There is no place for criticism and analysis in the essay description, but subjectivity is still present – in the very signs that you paid attention to, in the wording, in the emotional coloring.
A process description can be added to a subtype. In some ways, it is associated with a narrative: you describe any actions in chronological order, but there is no place for conflict in the text.
Narrative Essays
Action, action and only action! Narrative is a chronological presentation of events from the first or third person. It can be a short biography or a story about some important event. The main components of such an essay are the opening, the climax and the denouement. Accordingly, there must be a conflict.
Definition Essays
The essay definition has one goal – to reveal a particular concept. To do this, you can use elements of storytelling, descriptions, illustrations, analytics.
Classification Essays
The text you are reading can hardly be called an essay classification. We take a concept, isolate a principle, create a classification. Thus, we take the topic deeper.
Comparison Essays
In classification, you dismember a concept. In comparison, you take another, related concept, draw parallels, look for similarities and differences.
Illustration Essay
Everything is simple here: your goal is to prove a statement. To do this, you select and provide examples. It is important that these examples really prove your words.
Argumentation Essays
If in the illustration you give examples, then in the essay argumentation – facts that support your statement. It is important to structure these facts logically. In contrast to the illustration, here the author is pushing a rational link, not emotions.
Causal Analysis Essay
Cause → effect. Your essay can be built on this. You no longer just bring facts, but analyze and build them into a logical chain.
As you can see, the text can have different structures and different purposes. The choice in favor of this or that genre or method of presentation depends on the goals. By becoming familiar with the different ways and genres, you can already figure out how to write an essay correctly in your case.
