Help with essays - Types of Essays
This is not necessarily the only list of essay types. Often some of these essays can be disguised under different names. Look through the list and see which description seems closes to the essay you have been assigned.
The Demonstrative Essay
The Persuasive Essay
The Review
The Research Essay
The Response Essay
The Science Lab Report
This is an essay typically assigned in the early stages of an essay writing course such as are taught in our colleges and universities. The point is to demonstrate that you can tell about something in some kind of readable manner. I was once asked to write on how to tie my shoes. You still need a thesis, at least as some kind of theme to hold the various steps together. Use simple sentences. Be methodical, start at the beginning and take it step by step. More...
This is really the basic form of essay that the Research Essay and the Response Essay are built upon. Although you'll probably only write one of these for your writing course, this is actually a useful writing form compared to the previous type which is only useful for training technical writers. In the persuasive essay you must win your readers over to your point of view by presenting arguments backed up with facts and by analyzing and refuting opposing arguments. More...
A review is just your opinion, but it is your informed opinion. You need to establish a standard against which the work is judged. Your thesis is how well the work stands against that standard and you go ahead and present arguments to prove your thesis. More...
This is the typical social sciences essay where you take your thesis and go to the library and dig up facts to prove your thesis. The purpose is to show you can have at least one good idea and then that you are able to do some research on it. You need to develop your thesis early in the process so you can direct your research toward uncovering facts which may support your thesis. More...
This is a common essay in the English department. You are assigned to do a "close reading" of a work. This means you must explain the work in the essay. This is not a review, so it's not about whether you liked it or disliked it. It's to show the professor that you understand how the work communicates the author's message. More...
There are many formats of basic reports. Your hypothesis is the idea which your experiment is testing. Usually you present your hypothesis, then your methods, then your materials, then your observations or data and finally your discussion. The important part is your discussion. Sometimes a separate brief conclusion is a separate section from the discussion. Unlike a research essay, your discussion is based on facts which you observed as part of your data. You can also bring in outside sources in your discussion. More...