Writing an essay is no joke. A lot of students face difficulty in writing essays. Not many students know how to write an essay. But before getting to our point of interest, let us know the meaning of the essay. Do you know the word ‘essay’ is derived from the Latin word “exagium,” which means presenting one’s case? So essay refers to a short piece of writing representing one’s side of argument, experiences, or stories. Essays are a personalized document that is either formal or informal. Formal essays deal with serious topics and are generally academic.
Various Types of Essays
Before writing an essay, you need to identify the type of essay you want to write. The kind of essay will depend upon what the writer wants to convey to its reader.
Let us know about the four types of essays used in English:
Narrative Essays
It is a kind of essay used when the narrator is narrating an incident or a story through the essay. So these are written in the first person. Students generally don’t know the right way on how to write an essay of this kind. The aim of the writer should be to involve the reader in them as they were right there when the incident was happening. So keep it as real as possible.
Descriptive Essays
In the descriptive essay, the writer will describe a place, an object, or an event. One clever way on how to write an essay is to evoke the sense of the reader. Do not only rely on sight but also involve the sense of touch, smell, sound, etc. A descriptive essay, when is described well, will make the reader feel the emotions—the same as when the writer was feeling during that time.
Expository Essays
Expository essays require a writer to have real and extensive knowledge about the subject. There’s no scope for a writer’s emotions in an expository essay. The writer should know about how to write an essay because it is completely based on facts and statistics, and examples.
Persuasive Essays
The whole purpose of this essay is to get the reader to your side of the argument. A persuasive essay not only convinces present the facts but also aims to attempt to convince the reader of the writer’s viewpoint. Both sides of the argument have to be presented in persuasive essays.
Essay Writing Format – Outline Structure
Now let me first tell you there is no rigid format on how to write an essay. Since it is a creative process, it cannot be confined to boundaries. However, there is a basic structure that needs to be taken care of while writing an essay. So let us look at the structure of essay writing.
Introduction
As the name suggests, this is the first paragraph of the introduction. Some writing skills can help you here. Make sure to be creative in the introductory paragraph. You can start with the quote or any proverb, or you can even start with a definition. Make sure you keep the reader hooked.
Body
The body is the main crux of your essay. The most important content of the essay would be here. Since there is a lot of information in the body, it is necessary to organize your content and thoughts. It need not consists of one paragraph and can extend up to two or even three paragraphs. The best manner would be to go into chronological order.
Conclusion
The conclusion of an essay is as important as an introductory paragraph. It reflects the whole purpose of the essay and sums up the story or an argument. You can finish off your piece by providing some moral. Make sure you provide your essay with a conclusion instead of leaving hanging threads.
Tips on How to Write an Essay
Many students find the task of writing an essay overwhelming, be it a scholarship essay, a class, or even a contest. There are some of the steps that students can consider, which will help break the task into manageable parts. Following this process will make the job easy to draft a successful essay.
Decide the topic
If you are already given the topic, decide the paper you want to produce. Do you want to convey the general overview of the subject or a specific analysis?
If you have not been assigned the topic, then you have to do some research topic. But it gives an opportunity that you can choose the issue that is interesting to you.
Prepare a general outline
There’s a lot of information that you need to present in limited words and time period. Before knowing how to write an essay, it is essential to organize your thoughts. Use either a flow chart or a diagram to jot down what topics you need to cover in your essay.
Make a thesis statement
Now that you know how to write an essay topic, you need to create a thesis statement. It includes two parts. The first part states the theme of the essay, and the second part consists of the point of the essay. Your thesis reflects the position of your essay.
Body, introduction, and conclusion
As you have seen, these three shape the essay writing process. Make sure you make it relevant and provide examples. The introduction and conclusion should engage the readers.
Add the finishing touches
If you think your work is done after the conclusion, then you are wrong. Its time to review your essay and pay attention to the small details. Check for the grammatical mistakes and whether your essay makes sense.
Following all these points would help you in knowing how to write an essay effectively. Make sure you read the whole article to know everything about essay writing. Congratulations in advance! You’ll become a great essay writer.