WHAT IS AN ESSAY?
The word essay was gotten from a Latin ‘exagium’ which can be translated to mean “presenting one’s case”.
An essay is generally a piece of writing outlining the writer’s perspective or story. It is often considered synonymous with a story or an article.
TYPES OF ESSAYS
There are so many types of essays but we will be considering the four basic types which include descriptive, narrative, expository and persuasive/argumentative essays.
1. NARRATIVE ESSAYS: TELLING A STORY
In a narrative essay, the main aim of the writer is to tell a story. The writer creates different characters and tells the reader what happens to them. Narrative essays are written in conversational style and use the first person hence engaging the reader. “I” sentences give readers a feeling of being part of the story. A well-crafted narrative essay builds towards making a personal statement or drawing a conclusion.
2. DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS: PAINTING A PICTURE
Writing descriptive essays involves painting pictures with words, a writer can describe a person, place, object, feeling, event etc. Depending on the topic, he wrier can describe what something is or how something happened. Descriptive essays tries to communicate a deeper meaning through the use of sensory details, appealing to the reader’s emotion with a result that is highly evocative.
3. EXPOSITORY ESSAYS: STATING THE FACT
Expositor essays are informative in nature, the writer presents a balanced study of a topic. The writer explains a topic through the use of facts and true examples without any form of feelings or emotions. There are sub-types such as the comparison and contrast essays, the cause and effect essays and the “how to” or process essays.
4. PERSUASIVE OR ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS: CONVINCE ME
Here the purpose of the essay is to get the reader to your side of the argument. A persuasive essay is not just a presentation of facts like an expository essay but an attempt to convince the reader that the writer’s opinion is correct compared to that of others. The approach used is structured well. Good transition words/ phrases should be used when moving between arguments.
When refuting the cons, a writer can use words like, however, nevertheless, nonetheless, but, or on the other hand. When showing total disagreements use statements like “contrary to what they think” .The writer can either be funny or serious and can also use irony or sarcasm.
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