ESSAY

Essay
-An essay is an extended piece of writing that
presents and supports a thesis or proposition. The
word ‘essay’ derives from the Latin word
‘exagium’, meaning the presentation of a case.

-When you write an essay you are making a

case for the validity of a particular point of view,
analysis, interpretation, or set of facts or
procedures.
Types of Essay
The type of essay will depend on what the writer
wants to convey to his reader. There are broadly
four types of essays.

• Narrative Essay (Telling a story)

-This is when the writer is narrating an
incident or story through the essay. So these
are in the first person. The aim when writing
narrative essays is to involve the reader in them
as if they were right there when it was
happening.
"Looking back on a childhood filled with events
and memories, I find it rather difficult to pick one
that leaves me with the fabled "warm and fuzzy
feelings." As the daughter of an Air Force major, I
had the pleasure of traveling across America in
many moving trips. I have visited the monstrous
trees of the Sequoia National Forest, stood on the
edge of the Grand Canyon and have jumped on
the beds at Caesar's Palace in Lake Tahoe."
• Descriptive Essays (painting a picture)
- the writer will describe a place, an object,
an event or maybe even a memory. But it is not
just plainly describing things. The writer must
paint a picture through his words.
For example, if you were describing a rose, you
might want to detail:
• their origin
• their appearance
• their color
• their fragrance
"Like his twisted feathers, his many scars, the
reliable old owl chose the gnarled, weather-
beaten, but solid branch often - it being a
companion to the wise alone with the night and
the last branch to creak in the heaviest wind. He
often came to survey the fields and the clouds
before his hunt, to listen to the steady sound of
the stream passing through reeds under the
bridge, while combing his feathers for the
unwanteds - whatever they might be."
• Expository Essays (just the facts)
-a writer presents a balanced study of a topic. To
write such an essay, the writer must have real and
extensive knowledge about the subject. There is no scope
for the writer’s feelings or emotions in an expository
essay. It is completely based on facts, statistics, examples
etc.
When writing an expository essay, the text needs to:
• Be concise and easy to understand
• Offer different views on a subject
• Report on a situation or event
• Explain something that may be difficult to understand
"Did you know that 7 out of 10 students have
cheated at least once in the past year? Did you
know that 50 percent of those students have
cheated more than twice? These shocking
statistics are from a survey of 9,000 U.S. high
school students. Incredibly, teachers may even be
encouraging their students to cheat! Last year at
a school in Detroit, teachers allegedly provided
their students with answers to statewide standard
tests.”
• Persuasive Essays (convince me)
- In an argumentative essay, the writer is trying to
convince the reader of something. He or she will
demonstrate the validity or falsity of a topic. The writer’s
position will be backed up with evidence, including
statistics or the opinion of experts.
(To write an argumentative essay, it’s important to
research and back up what you say in the text. )
"Gun control has been a controversial issue for years. A
vast majority of citizens believe that if gun control is strictly
enforced, it would quickly reduce the threat of crime. Many
innocent people feel they have the right to bear arms for
protection, or even for the pleasure of hunting. These
people are penalized for protecting their lives, or even for
enjoying a common, innocent sport. To enforce gun control
throughout the nation means violating a person's
Constitutional rights. Although some people feel that the
issue of gun control will limit crime, the issue should not
exist due to the fact that guns are necessary for self
defense against crime, and enforcing gun control is
violating a citizen's second amendment right to bear arms."
Parts of an Essay
1. The Introduction
-a beginning paragraph that sets tone and apth for the
entire paper you are going to present to your reader. A good
introduction to essay catches attention and makes your
reader engaged right from the very start. It contains two
parts:

General Statements – a few sentences about your subject

that catch the attention of the reader.
Thesis Statement – one sentence that tells your reader the
main points of your topic and states the overall ”plan” of your
essay.
The following are the guidelines for writing the
introduction of the essay. It must contain an attention-
getter sentence or statement.
• The introduction must sound interesting to capture the
attention of the reader.
• You can quote a statement about a topic or something
related to the whole point of your essay.
• The intro must move from general to specific.
• At the end, there must be a thesis statement that gives
an insight to the author’s evidence.
IN WRITING AN ESSAY INTRODUCTION YOU ALWAYS
NEED TO REMEMBER THESE THINGS.
• Grab the attention of your reader. Start with something
interesting and unique. Get a fact or question that
makes your reader engaged and interested in reading
this particular paper.
• Always stick to the formal language and tone. Academic
writing is very strict to everything about the paper
format. Essay introduction is not an exception. Consider
informal style only if it is required or allowed by your
tutor.
• Keep your essay introduction example conscious.
Suggest your paragraph being brief and striking but
leaving some space for imagination. Do not use lots of
2. The Body
The body must include the following:
• The evidence and supporting details of the expository
essay in addition to the author’s ideas.
• A topic or sentences that link the discussion back to the
thesis statement.
• The logical ordering of the ideas. The chronological of time,
ideas, and evidence.
• A set of transition statements or sentences to create a good
flow of the essay.
• Sufficient examples, evidence, data, and information that
must be relevant to the particular topic of the essay.
3. The Conclusion
-is the last part of the essay, and should:
• Emphasize on the major takeaways of the essay.
• Wrap up and summarize the essay, as well as the
arguments, ideas, and points.
• Restate the main arguments in a simplified and clear
manner that must be understood by the reader.
• Guarantee that the reader is left with something to think
about, especially the main point of your essay.
The Elements of an Essay
• Thesis statement. It is the main proposition of an
essay. The thesis statement must be arguable that
differentiates it from a fact and must be in a persuasive
writing style.

• Problem or question. The problem statements or the

important issue of the essay that must be defined and
described in the essay.
• Analysis & reflection. In which the writer turns the
evidence into an arguable statement that provides the
reader how the evidence supports, develops, or
explained the essay’s thesis statement.

• Structure. The work that the writer does to organize the

idea, the series of sub-topics and sections through
which it is explained and developed.
• Motive. The reason for writing the essay.

• Evidence. The facts and data or information that

supports the whole essay and prove the main point of
the essay.