Question

How to Write an Essay (3 types)

Answer 1

there are three main types of essay:

the narrative essay (tells a story)
the persuasive essay (makes an argument)
and the expository essay (gives information about a topic)

Answer 2

I will be giving techniques for each type. Some techniques are geared towards one type, and others can apply to all types of essays.

Answer 3

\(\tt The~Narrative~Essay\):

The main purpose of this essay is to describe an event or experience. It can be your own (like a journal entry) or someone else's (like a newspaper article).

Your first step is to pick your topic. If the topic is assigned to you, make sure you read the prompt carefully, and answer all parts of the question thoroughly. If it is your choice, try to pick a memory or event that evokes strong memories . The more emotionally invested you are, the easier it will be to write.

Try to pick an event that is unusual. There are some cliché topics, like family/pet death, mission/volunteer trips, winning sports tournaments/games, etc. that you should try to avoid unless you can offer a unique twist or perspective.

You should be able to show how this experience \(\bf changed~you~as~a~person\). If you just describe what happens without explaining how it influenced you, it lacks the "so what" factor that distinguishes a good narrative.

Now, let's move on to the actual writing process!

Answer 4

\(\tt The~Writing~Process\):
1. Prewriting
2. Drafting
3. Revision
4. Editing
5. Publishing

Answer 5

For pre-writing, I would suggest making an outline of your story. Organize the events in chronological order. It doesn't have to be in complete sentences; after all, your reader won't see it. For example, this might be a rough outline for a "how I spent my summer vacation" essay:

1. Parents announced that we were going on vacation to the mountains.
2. I didn't want to go, I hate cold weather, wanted to go to the beach instead, etc.
3. Miserable car ride, took forever
4. Finally got to the lodge, didn't like the place, bad wifi
5. Got bored and decided to look out the window
6. Saw someone snowboarding outside, doing cool tricks
7. Wanted to learn how
8. Parents signed me up for lessons
9. Was bad, but still had fun
10. Talk about how, even though you weren't that fond of the place, you still had good experience

Answer 6

During your pre-writing process, you should do any necessary research that will make your topic understandable and enjoyable and for your audience. For example, if you are writing about a visit to the museum, you may want to brush up on some interesting exhibits that they had. This will help jog your memory AND build some interesting images in your head.

Answer 7

Next step is drafting, which is putting your bullet points into paragraph form. Traditionally, an essay is structured like this:

Title
Hook, leads into
Thesis

Topic Sentence 1, Body Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence 2, Body Paragraph 2
Topic Sentence 3, Body Paragraph 3

Loose restatement of thesis
Conclusion

However, I find that good narrative essays can be a little more flexible about this structure.

Answer 8

It's ok if it sounds a bit dry and clunky at this point. During the revision process, we will work on making the essay smoother and more interesting by editing sentence structure and word choice. Your main goals should be:

1. Making transitions between paragraphs smooth. Teachers recommend using transition words like "afterwards," "finally," or "therefore," but too many of these can make your writing feel juvenile. It's more important to make the ideas themselves fit together naturally.
2. Getting rid of unnecessary words or sentences. For example, "actual facts," "equal to one another," and "free gift" can be shortened to "facts," "equal," and "gift." Omit minor details that aren't super important. For the mountain vacation example, your reader probably doesn't need to know about the lodge check-in process unless something unusual happened.
3. Weaving a narrative with a theme. For the vacation example, a theme could be "Keep an open mind, and you will learn new things." Your audience won't remember all the events, but they will walk away with some sort of message or theme.
4. Making a strong introduction and conclusion (this can be the hardest part, and probably the most deserving of its own tutorial). The "funnel method" is a good technique. You start off with a broad hook that can appeal to a lot of people. Then, you get more specific and lead into your thesis statement. For narrative essays, you should focus on the "so what" of your essay. "It could hardly have known that the banal, Frosty Pines ski resort would be the setting for one of my most exhilarating experiences," is an example.
5. Showing, not telling. Don't say "the car ride was long and boring." Say, "My sibling and I had exhausted our usual car games: we found all the letters of the alphabet, located 20 out of state license plates, and brought 99 bottles of beer down from the wall, and the sun (still) hadn't set."

Answer 9

The next step is editing. For this part I would highly recommend having another person check for spelling, capitalization, and syntax errors. It's easy to miss your own mistakes since you've been spending so much time reading your own writing. Your brain automatically "corrects" misspellings.

If you don't have another person available, try taking a long break, then read your essay out loud. If you can't speak, re-read your essay slowly.

Finally, publishing! Usually this is just a matter of handing your paper in. If your teacher wants you to publish your essay online or in a newspaper, follow submission guidelines.

That's it for the narrative essay, on to the next part!

Answer 10

\(\tt The~Persuasive~Essay\):

The main purpose of this essay is to convince your audience that your argument is the most valid one. For example, "Pennies are impractical as currency and should not be made anymore." Again, if your topic is assigned, read the prompt carefully and answer all parts of the question. If not, select a topic that you are passionate about.

If you are having trouble deciding where you fall on an issue, make a pro/con chart:

For example

Pros of Pennies:
1. symbolic
2. used in charitable donations (penny drives)
3. prices increase if we abolish the pennies (rounding)

Cons of Pennies:
1. costs more to make than they're worth
2. hard to use (many machines don't accept them, takes too much time to count, etc)
3. almost worthless (nobody will stop to pick up pennies on the ground)

Answer 11

For persuasive essays, a good outline will save you lots of time.

Title
Hook, leads into
Thesis

Argument 1, Body Paragraph 1
Argument 2, Body Paragraph 2
Argument 3, Body Paragraph 3
Address counterarguments

Loose restatement of thesis
Conclusion

Answer 12

A good thesis statement is especially important in the persuasive essay. It should state the main points of your argument: the what, why, and how. "Pennies should be abolished because they are expensive to make, easy to lose, and impractical to use as currency." If you notice, I used parallel structure to unify my 3 main arguments.

Answer 13

Addressing opposing arguments is vital. It makes your argument stronger and shows that you can think critically. For the penny example, I could address the argument "abolishing the penny will lead to a decrease in charitable donations" by talking about data from other countries that have abolished the penny, and how it didn't decrease donations there.

Answer 14

Many authors use the reverse funnel method for their concluding paragraph. Start with a specific recap of your thesis (do not copy-paste word for word!) and start to generalize about some of the merits of your argument as they apply to the "big picture". The conclusion should be a "mic drop" moment that encapsulates the spirit of your argument. You can use humor to make the last sentence more memorable.

Example: "The penny is a useless form of currency that causes more problems than it solves. Isn't it time to make some change?"

Answer 15

The Revision and Editing Process are similar to what was done for the narrative essay. Your writing should be clear, and your language should be interesting. Again, consider letting another person read your writing sample to check for errors. Also ask them if they found your argument convincing or not, or if something needs to be explained in more detail.

Answer 16

\(\tt The~Expository~Essay\):

This is perhaps the most straightforward essay. The purpose is to give information about a topic. +

Once more, if your teacher assigns you a topic, read all parts of the topic carefully. If not, try to pick a topic that interests you, so you'll be less likely to get bored during the research process.

Picking a topic can be difficult. If it's too broad, you will have too much to write. If it's too specific, you will have a hard time finding sources.

Example:

Dogs (too broad)
Dog Breeds (still too broad)
History of Dog Breeding (better)
History of Dog Breeding for shows/performance (even better!)

Answer 17

Next step is to do your research! If you have access to a library, ask your librarian or use the catalog to locate good books on your topic. They might have a section for younger readers if some of the adult material is too difficult to understand.

Newspapers, journals, magazines, encyclopedias, and documentaries can be good sources of material. The internet can also be a good source, but be warned! There are lots of unreliable sources that are not backed up by facts/research.

Make sure to write down the source, publisher, author, publishing date, etc. because you will probably need to do citations later.

Answer 18

There are two types of sources: primary and secondary.

Primary = firsthand evidence or account from someone directly involved in whatever you are researching

Secondary = secondhand account from someone who used a primary source to create a new piece of work

Note: A primary source is NOT always more reliable than a secondary source. Primary sources can still be inaccurate or biased

Answer 19

Google Scholar/Google Books a great sites to find primary sources and peer-reviewed research about your topic. EBSCO and JSTOR are good, too.

.gov websites are reliable websites that will NEVER have ads

Answer 20

Think about how you will organize your essay. For our history of dog breeding example, chronological order makes the most sense. Cause-and-effect can be a good format, too.

Prepare your main points as topic sentences and use the body paragraphs to back up and elaborate upon your main points. Do in-text citations if the sentence contains an idea that is not your own.

Answer 21

The revision and editing processes are straightforward. Make sure your paragraphs flow naturally, and vary your sentence structure to keep things interesting. Try not to put TOO many details - after all, the purpose is just to give your audience an overview of what your topic is about. If your essay is very good, they might be inspired to learn more about it themselves.

Answer 22

The final step is to do your citations/bibliography. Make sure to follow your teacher's instructions for formatting. There are different formats (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.)

Works Cited = only list the sources you used
Bibliography = list everything you looked at, even if you didn't use it

Answer 23

\(\tt A~Note~About~Plagiarism\):

Don't. Seriously, there are online plagiarism checkers like TurnItIn. If you are caught you will probably get a 0 on the assignment, with no opportunity to make it up. Failure to cite sources correctly is a form of plagiarism. If you are using an author's exact words, you must include quotation marks. Even if you rephrase something, you must cite the source. Writing an essay for somebody else is also plagiarism and you will both lose credit for the assignment. Colleges DO look at honor code violations, and have rescinded admissions for bad behavior.

TLDR: Don't.

Answer 24

That's my tutorial! Feel free to ask me for advice or proofreading. (No I will not write your essay for you.)