Richard
Brinsley Sheridan, an Irish satirist, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner
of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane had said, “Never say more than is necessary.” This statement is very much apt for writing an essay.
What is an Essay?
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-an-essay-p2-1856929
Referring to the above site, Essays have been defined as “Brief, nonfiction compositions that describe, clarify, argue, or analyse a subject.”
Writing an Essay
From Primary classes of the schools to the admissions in prestigious Management Schools to the Research levels, Essays are required to be written in one form or the other. While the
Primary Schools may ask their students to write essays on such mundane subjects
as A Cow or Rainy day or First Day in the School; the topics go on becoming
complicated as the students ascend the ladder of their academics.
In general, writing an essay may be taken as a cumbersome task but it is really not so. The students just need to follow some easy tips given here to make it really easy for them.
Types of Essay
However, before we take up the nuances of writing essays, let us explore the types of essays. Mainly, these are categorized as follows:
1. 1. Simple Essay- It is the most common type of essay and normally, written by the
primary school students. They are required to write proper sentences about the given
topic. The purpose is to develop their language and knowledge of the subject.
2. Narrative or Descriptive Essay- As the word suggests, this essay narrates or
describes a story, incident, journey, anecdote or some event. It is a test of
the writer’s imagination and, in case of real story, capability of description.
A good narrative essay will use plenty of adjectives and adverbs. It has to be
full of in-depth details and the reader should be able to form a proper idea
about the topic of the essay after reading it. In case of a narrative involving
some characters, these should be properly developed. The three components of an
essay, namely, Beginning, Body and Conclusion should be nicely built up.
3. Argumentative Essay- These essays are required to be written at the
senior levels. Here, an opinion, theory, statement, or a hypothesis is given
that needs to be supported by the facts, information and arguments. Therefore,
the first requirement of the writers is to familiarise themselves with the
topic. It has to be followed by deep research. Sometimes, arguments need to be
given and proved against the topic as well by quoting well-supported
argumentative reasons. The entire purpose behind these essays is to truly
convince the readers with the writers’ points of view in such a way that the
readers can truly relate to it. However, there should be a logical sequence of
the arguments laid therein for and against the topic. The conclusion should be
firmly drawn balancing both the points of view.
4. Persuasive Essay- These are similar to Argumentative Essay but
have a softer tone. In these types of essays, the writer uses emotions and
moral values in support of his argument instead of facts and information.
However, here also the writer needs to do a good research about the topic and
have a definite point of view. It has to be written with the particular type of
reader in mind. The strongest points should be expressed first in the essay.
Each paragraph should be built around one point. The conclusion should be
clearly drawn.
5. Analytical Essay- These types of Essays analyse an event, poem,
play, book or cinema. It need not narrate its story but express the writer’s
point of view about it. This can be positive or negative but has to be simple
and well explained. After a brief introduction, analysis has to be given in the
main body. It has to be followed by a well drawn-out conclusion.
6. Expository Essay- These essays generally need to be written at
the research level. The topic may involve literature, an article, some idea, process,
or the events. It must explain the writer’s perspective about the topic. It has
to entail time-taking research about it. The writer needs to cite all the
sources of research, may it be some book or website or any write-up. Conclusion
should be in agreement with the topic. It is its most important part because
this clearly explains the writer’s point of view about the topic in totality.
7. Comparison and contrast Essay- This essay compares two similar but
different things. The writer needs to clearly bring up their similarities and
differences separately. Sequential arrangement of various facts is most
important. The conclusion has to be explanatory considering both the
similarities and the contrast.
8. Cause and effect Essay- Every cause has an effect. This type of essay
builds a logical relationship between the two. Generally these topics come from
Ecology and Politics. The writer needs to be well-prepared with the topic with
various causes and their effect. A brief outline of different causes of a
particular happening and their effects need to be prepared beforehand. In the
essays, either the causes are listed and then effects are brought out
separately or each cause may have its effect written together.
9. Process Essay- This essay describes the procedure of something. It answers the question-“How to”. In these types of essays, after a brief introduction of the topic, step-by-step procedure is explained. The description should be lucid. These steps should be in the chronological order and not in any haphazard manner. It is advisable to write these essays in the second person.
10. Reflective Essay- This essay takes personal experience of the writer and is shared with the readers. It is very important to explain it in an interesting manner. It should include all the details of before and after the event/ incident as also the lesson learnt or the inference drawn from it.
This is first of the two-part article series about the essay writing. The writer hopes that you are going to like it.
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