Types of Essays
Link to original source:
https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/essay-types
1. Narrative Essays
Narrative essays tell stories from your life or the lives of others.
They’re told just like fictional short stories, with all the story
elements characters, a setting, a compelling plot, a climax, and
a resolution.
Narrative essays use the third-person perspective (it happened
to someone else) or the first-person perspective (it happened to
the writer). Narrative essays should be entertaining and
engaging to read, so choose a narrative writing topic that
speaks to you.
Narrative Essay Example
Structure
When writing a narrative
essay, a possible structure
could include:
• Introduction - Hint at what you or the character learned
• Body - Tell the story from beginning to end, finishing in an
exciting or compelling climax in the last body paragraph
• Conclusion - Reflect on what you or the character learned
from the experience in the story
2. Argumentative Essays
Argumentative essays (also called argument essays) investigate
topics fairly and thoroughly to present the writer’s argument to the
reader. The writer makes a claim and argues why evidence and
logic support that claim in a well-structured essay.
Strong argumentative essays use rhetorical devices to strengthen
their arguments, and they address the opposing argument (known as
a counterclaim) as well. When choosing an argumentative essay topic,
select an issue that you care about (or a topic you’d like to learn more
about), and begin researching your position with reliable sources.
Argumentative Essay Structure
Example
You can structure an
argumentative essay like this:
• Introduction - Introduce the topic and your claim in a thesis statement
• Body - Support your position with evidence (and bring up
counterclaims)
• Conclusion - Restate your claim and summarize how you proved it
3. Expository Essays
Expository essays use research and critical thinking to
explain more about a topic. Newspaper articles are a type
of expository essay — they provide information to the reader
in a concise, factual way. Writing expository essays requires
a straightforward outline, evidence-based conclusions, and a
strong thesis statement.
Though expository writing reveals information, it’s not the
same as technical writing. Expository essays “expose” the
truth about a selected topic, not just the information about it.
Expository Essay Structure
Example
Most expository essays follow a
structure similar to this:
• Introduction - Introduce the topic and hint at a deeper truth
• Body - Explain more about the topic with evidence; expose the
truth and/or implications of the topic in a final body paragraph
• Conclusion - Summarize the information and its larger meaning
4. Descriptive Essays
Like narrative essays, descriptive essays use narration to set a scene
for the reader. But unlike narrative essays, descriptive essays don’t
tell a story from beginning to end. If a painting could be an essay, it
would be a descriptive essay — a written experience that you can
almost see.
Descriptive essays use lots of sensory details to describe the way
something looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels. Well-written
descriptive essays also use similes, metaphors, hyperboles, or other
types of figurative language to pull their readers into the experience.
Descriptive Essay Structure Example
When writing a descriptive essay,
you can follow this outline:
• Introduction - Introduce the topic you’re going to describe with an
engaging, sensory hook sentence
• Body - Describe the topic with rich sensory detail and figurative
language
• Conclusion - Summarize your essay and conclude with a memorable
descriptive sentence
5. Persuasive Essays
Persuasive essay writers try to convince their readers to agree
with them. You’ll find examples of persuasive writing in both essays
and speeches when a speaker, writer, or politician wants the
audience on their side.
When you write a persuasive essay, you use similar strategies as
you would in an argumentative essay. But persuasive essays use
personal anecdotes (stories about yourself or others) and
emotional appeals rather than the logic and evidence you’ll find in
an argumentative essay. They also include a call to action at the
end that inspires their audience to act.
Persuasive Essay Structure Example
You can structure your
persuasive essay in a similar
way as your argumentative
essay, with a few key
differences.
• Introduction - Use an emotional evocative hook to get the reader
interested in your position right away
• Body - Use personal anecdotes, dramatic language, and emotional
appeals to get the reader on your side
• Conclusion - Finish with a call to action for your reader — what should
they do now?
6. Informative
Essays
Like expository essays, informative essays (also called
informational essays) inform their readers about a topic. But the
main purpose of an informative essay is to educate the audience
rather than to expose them to the truth.
Informative essays require lots of evidence and strong research.
Be sure to choose an informative essay topic that interests you,
since you’re going to learn a lot about it during the course of your
writing.
Informative Essay Structure
Example
Outline your informative essay
structure in a straightforward, nononsense way.
• Introduction - Introduce the topic with a strong hook (such as an
interesting fact or statistic)
• Body - Explain more about the topic with evidence
• Conclusion - Restate your thesis and conclude with a general
statement about the topic
7. Personal Narrative
Essays
Personal narrative essays (also called personal narratives) are a form of
narrative writing in which the writer explores how an experience
affected or shaped them. They focus on a single event or theme in
one’s life, and unlike narrative essays, personal narratives are always
true (and always autobiographical).
College entrance essays are a type of personal narrative in which a
college applicant considers how an event or person in their past helped
them to become the person they are today. Another type of personal
narrative is a memoir — a longer narrative about one’s own life.
Personal Narrative Structure Example
It’s tempting to write a personal
narrative in an unstructured way,
but having a solid structure is the
key to writing a compelling
personal narrative.
• Introduction - Set the scene, both in setting and tone (Where are we? When
does it take place?)
• Body - Tell the story with rich detail, beginning to end, culminating in a
meaningful climax
• Conclusion - Reflect on the experience and reveal how it shaped or changed
you
8. Reflective Essays
Reflective essays explore an idea, concept, or observation
from a writer’s point of view. They may include humor or
emotional writing, but they should reveal a lot about the writer
themselves (and about the reader).
Both reflective writing and personal narratives are forms of
creative writing. But while reflective essays are personal, they
don’t need to be written in a narrative format or tell a story.
Think about a well-written journal entry — it probably doesn’t tell
a story from start to finish, but explores the way something
made the writer feel.
Reflective Essay Structure Example
Depending on your topic, reflective
essays can be quite structured or more
loosely organized. Generally, you can
follow a standard format.
• Introduction - Introduce the topic with detail and a thesis statement
• Body - Reflect on the topic (also including detail)
• Conclusion - Restate the thesis statement in a conclusion about the
topic
9. Synthesis Essays
Synthesis essays gather opinions, evidence, and proposals from
various sources and present it to the reader as one document. They’re
similar to argumentative essays (in that they present a claim) and
informative essays (in that they present information), but the goal of a
synthesis essay is first and foremost to compile a body of evidence.
That evidence may support the writer’s claim, or it may cause them to
reexamine their thoughts about the topic. Either way, synthesis essays
include a wealth of sources (all of which must be properly cited, of
course).
Synthesis Essay Structure Example
You can structure your synthesis essay like
an expository essay.
• Introduction - Hook the reader with a strong first sentence, then state your position in
a thesis statement
• Body - Support your thesis with the wealth of evidence you have gathered from
different sources
• Conclusion - Restate your thesis and summarize how you’ve supported your position
10. Definition Essays
Definition essays define a term or idea. These terms could be
vocabulary words, technical terms, abstract concepts, historical
words, or any other idea that a writer wants to define for the reader.
It seems like that may only get you a sentence or two, but a wellwritten definition essay does a lot more than look up word
meanings. They can be expository when pointing out little-known
facts or implications of the term, reflective when referring to
important concepts, and even argumentative if the writer has a
stance to defend.
Definition Essay Structure Example
Definition essays have
straightforward outlines that
make it easy for the reader to
understand your meaning.
• Introduction - State the word or concept you’re defining in the first
sentence, and provide a general definition in the thesis
• Body - Elaborate on the thesis statement with support, alternate
definitions, and implications of the word or concept
• Conclusion - Restate the definition along with the ways you elaborated on
it
11. Analytical Essays
Analytical essays analyze a topic with strong detail and critical
thinking. Also known as critical analysis essays, they use a balanced
approach to thoroughly analyze something, whether it’s a passage in a
piece of writing (known as literary analysis or rhetorical analysis), a an
element from a scientific discovery, or an important historical event.
Like reflective writing, analytical writing is very detailed and focused on
a single topic. While that topic may have larger implications in the
essay (and it should), each sentence should connect back to the core of
the analytical essay.
Analytical Essay Structure Example
Analytical essays should follow
a strict outline that doesn’t
detract from its thesis statement.
• Introduction - Introduce the topic and refer to the levels of analysis you’ve
done on it
• Body - Start with your lowest level of analysis and build up to the highest
level (preferably in your last body paragraph), tying everything back to the
thesis
• Conclusion - Restate your thesis and levels of analysis
12. Compare and Contrast
Essays
Compare and contrast essays are analytical essays that examine how two subjects
are similar and different. These subjects can be two characters, two historical events,
two concepts — any two topics that have similarities (compare) and differences
(contrast). Compare and contrast essays often use expository writing to present the
information in a thoughtful way.
When writing a compare and contrast essay, structure can be just as important as the
essay’s thesis statement. Structuring your compare and contrast essay can highlight
the ways your topics resemble and differ from each other. Thanks to the many compare
and contrast essay topics available, you’ll never run out of things to compare (or
contrast).
Compare and Contrast Example
Compare and contrast essays rely on a
tight structure to analyze topics — but that
structure may differ, depending on your
topics.
• Introduction - Introduce the topic you’re comparing; find a creative and engaging
way to state that they are similar but different in your thesis statement
• Body - Either analyze each characteristic in a body paragraph (Characteristic 1 of
Topic 1 is different from Characteristic 1 of Topic 2), or analyze one entire topic
before comparing and contrasting it with the second entire topic (Here are
Characteristics 1, 2, and 3 of Topic 1; now, here are Characteristics 1, 2, and 3 of
Topic 2)
• Conclusion - Restate your thesis and summarize your points
Characteristic-by-Characteristic
Analysis:
• In this approach, you dedicate each body paragraph to analyzing one
specific characteristic or aspect of the topics being compared. For example,
you might have one paragraph comparing the appearance of Topic 1 with
Topic 2, another paragraph comparing their functionality, and so on. Within
each paragraph, you discuss how that particular characteristic differs or is
similar between the two topics.
Whole Topic Analysis:
Alternatively, you can choose to analyze one entire topic before moving on to
the next. This means that you would first discuss all the characteristics of
Topic 1 in one or more paragraphs, and then follow it up with a separate
discussion of all the characteristics of Topic 2. This approach allows for a
more in-depth exploration of each topic before comparing and contrasting
them directly.
13. Cause and Effect
Essays
Cause and effect essays, another type of analytical essay, use
structure to show the relationship between an event and its
consequences. These essays often explore historical events or plot
points in a story, though cause and effect topics can vary by subject.
Depending on how you write your cause and effect essay, you can use
expository writing to explain how one thing led to another, or you can
argue a little-known element of the cause and effect relationship (such
as a surprising event, or a seemingly unrelated consequence).
Cause and Effect Essay Structure
Example
Like compare and contrast essays, the
structure of cause and effect essays
depend on the topic you’re writing about
and how you want to analyze it.
• Introduction - Introduce the topic and make your claim about how the event caused
the effects in your thesis statement
• Body - Discuss the event in a paragraph before you discuss the effect, then defend
your claim about how they’re related (or, you can spend the entire body section
defending the claim, if that’s more reasonable for your topic)
• Conclusion - Restate the thesis and assert how you’ve proven your claim about the
relationship between the cause and effect
14. Evaluation Essays
Evaluation essays use a measured, unbiased approach to evaluating a
work, topic, product, or another subject. With sound evidence and
reasoning, evaluation essays present the writer’s opinion about the
subject. Movie reviews, book reviews, and sports columns are all types of
evaluation essays.
Though evaluation essays do thoroughly analyze their subject (think of the
detail included in a movie review), they go beyond analysis. You would
write an evaluation essay to present an educated and considered
viewpoint, which should influence the reader when making up their own
mind.
Evaluation Essay Structure Example
Your opinion is the claim in an
evaluation essay, and just like
any other claim, you need to
defend it.
• Introduction - Introduce what you’re evaluating and state your evaluation
in the thesis statement
• Body - Give an overview of what you’re evaluating (such as a
summary), then defend your opinion with criteria, reasons, and evidence
• Conclusion - Restate your opinion and final impressions
15. Process Essays
Process essays are a type of informational essay that explains how to do
something (its process). They include a short introduction and conclusion,
but the focus of the essay is on its steps and guiding the reader
through the process.
Consider the process section of a recipe or instruction manual. A wellwritten process essay uses technical language to be as clear as possible,
refrains from making an argument or claim, and only uses detail when
being more specific.
Process Essay Structure Example
Process essays are some of the
easiest to structure, since they go
from beginning to end (much like
narrative essays).
• Introduction - Introduce the topic and state your purpose in writing the essay
• Body - Write out the steps you need to take to complete the process (each
paragraph can be one step, complete with tips and materials needed)
• Conclusion - Restate your purpose and what you’ve just taught your reader