Five Types of Essays

An essay refers to a piece of writing that aims to inform, explain, or argue a particular stand from a particular point of view. There are five basic types of essays: descriptive, narrative compare and contrast, persuasive, and argumentative.

The first type of essay is the descriptive essay. A descriptive essay refers to an essay that describes the subject. For example, if an author is writing about a certain place, he or she describes that place in great detail. The author paints the picture through writing.

A narrative essay, as its name suggests, narrates. Sometimes, a narrative essay follows a chronological order of events. But usually, a narrative essay simply follows an order in which a story is developed from a series of experiences and reflections.

A compare and contrast essay is about comparing and contrasting two or more things. The author can either compare two ideas before contrasting them, or contrast two or more ideas before comparing them. Be sure to structure this kind of paper very clearly and introduce each element that you will be comparing and contrasting one at a time.

Persuasive essays aim to persuade the readers. The author tries to convince the readers to agree with his or her opinions and ideas. Persuasive essays are characterized by arguments and substantial details, and by reasonable claims and stands.

An argumentative essay commonly tackles controversial subjects. A controversial topic has two or more sides. The author takes on a stand and writes his or her opinions, arguments and claims in a well-structured essay. An argumentative essay is characterized by reasoning and rhetoric.