"Essays" redirects here. For other uses, see Essays (disambiguation).

The word essay derives from the French infinitive

essayer, "to try" or "to attempt".

An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition of an essay is vague, overlapping with those of an article and a short story. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been dubbed essays (e.g. Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man). While brevity usually defines an essay, voluminous works like John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Thomas Malthus's An Essay on the Principle of Population are counterexamples. In some countries (e.g., in the United States), essays have become a major part of formal education. Secondary students are taught structured essay formats to improve their writing skills, and admission essays are often used by universities in selecting applicants and, in the humanities and social sciences, as a way of assessing the performance of students during final exams. The concept of an "essay" has been extended to other mediums beyond writing. A film essay is a movie that often incorporates documentary film making styles and which focuses more on the evolution of a theme or an idea. A photographic essay is an attempt to cover a topic with a linked series of photographs; it may or may not have an accompanying text or captions.

Forms and styles

This section describes the different forms and styles of essay writing. These forms and styles are used by a range of authors, including university students and professional essayists.

Cause and effect

The defining features of a "cause and effect" essay are causal chains that connect from a cause to an effect, careful language, and chronological or emphatic order. A writer using this rhetorical method must consider the subject, determine the purpose, consider the audience, think critically about different causes or consequences, consider a thesis statement, arrange the parts, consider the language, and decide on a conclusion.[6]

Classification and division

Classification is the categorization of objects into a larger whole while division is the breaking of a larger whole into smaller parts.[7]

Compare and contrast

Compare and contrast essays are characterized by a basis for comparison, points of comparison, and analogies. It is grouped by object (chunking) or by point (sequential). Comparison highlights the similarities between two or more similar objects while contrasting highlights the differences between two or more objects. When writing a compare/contrast essay, writers need to determine their purpose, consider their audience, consider the basis and points of comparison, consider their

thesis statement, arrange and develop the comparison, and reach a conclusion. Compare and contrast is arranged emphatically.[8]

Descriptive
Descriptive writing is characterized by sensory details, which appeal to the physical senses, and details that appeal to a readers emotional, physical, or intellectual sensibilities. Determining the purpose, considering the audience, creating a dominant impression, using descriptive language, and organizing the description are the rhetorical choices to be considered when using a description. A description is usually arranged spatially but can also be chronological or emphatic. The focus of a description is the scene. Description uses tools such as denotative language, connotative language, figurative language, metaphor, and simile to arrive at a dominant impression.[9] One university essay guide states that "descriptive writing says what happened or what another author has discussed; it provides an account of the topic".[10]

Dialectic
In the dialectic form of essay, which is commonly used in Philosophy, the writer makes a thesis and argument, then objects to their own argument (with a counterargument), but then counters the counterargument with a final and novel argument. This form benefits from being more openminded while countering a possible flaw that some may present.[11]

Exemplification
An exemplification essay is characterized by a generalization and relevant, representative, and believable examples including anecdotes. Writers need to consider their subject, determine their purpose, consider their audience, decide on specific examples, and arrange all the parts together when writing an exemplification essay.[12]

History (thesis)
A history essay, sometimes referred to as a thesis essay, will describe an argument or claim about one or more historical events and will support that claim with evidence, arguments and references. The text makes it clear to the reader why the argument or claim is as such.[13]

Narrative
A narrative uses tools such as flashbacks, flash-forwards, and transitions that often build to a climax. The focus of a narrative is the plot. When creating a narrative, authors must determine their purpose, consider their audience, establish their point of view, use dialogue, and organize the narrative. A narrative is usually arranged chronologically.[14]

Critical
A critical essay is an argumentative piece of writing, aimed at presenting objective analysis of the subject matter, narrowed down to a single topic. The main idea of all the criticism is to

provide an opinion either of positive or negative implication. As such, a critical essay requires research and analysis, strong internal logic and sharp structure. Each argument should be supported with sufficient evidence, relevant to the point
THE ESSAY Important Elements in The Essay There are three main areas you need to consider when writing an essay. You need to evaluate your (1) focus, (2) content and (3) organization. While each of the three has its own vitality, the trinity is inseparable. First, your essay must have a purpose, which has clearly defined and effectively communicated. This is the focus of your essay. Your essay must fulfill the requirements for the purpose it is trying to accomplish. In addition, your work must be well balanced; you should neither do too much in the essay, nor mark your goals too limited and inconsequential. Also, the needs, interests and expectations of your readers should be considered and met. Besides focus, content is an essential part if your essay. Considering your controlling purpose, you ought to discover whether there is adequate support and whether your essay development fulfills the commitment started or implied by the controlling purpose. What supporting details or evidence you have provided and how adequate they are is equally important. All your details, evidence, or counter arguments should not only relate clearly to your controlling purpose, but should have the purpose of strengthening the essay. Both the focus and content are strengthened and enhanced by the organization of the essay, which must follow an overall organization strategy. You may want to test the effectiveness of such strategy by outlining or summarizing your essay. The organization of your essay must follow logically the commitment established by your controlling purpose. You must insure that your readers will be able to follow the organization and easily make sense of it. Furthermore, you should ask yourself whether or not your introduction and your conclusion could more effectively open and close your essay. After all of the above has been observed; now you ought to consider such things as grammar, spelling, word choice, sentence structure and mechanics. Despite its importance, grammar is often ignored in the writing classes. It is the student's responsibility to acquire the grammatical skills necessary to succeed in a writing class. Evaluating focus, content & organization: Focus: 1- What do I hope to accomplish in this essay? How clearly have I defined my controlling purpose? How have I communicated this controlling purpose? 2- is my essay appropriate? If it is an academic essay, how does it fulfill the requirements of the assignment? 3- Have I tried to do too much in the essay? Or are my goals too limited and inconsequent? 4- does my essay considers the needs, interests, and expectations of my readers? How does the essay respond to them? Content: 1- how does my essay develop or support my controlling purpose? How does it fulfill the commitment stated or implied by the controlling purpose? 2- what supporting details or evidence have I provided for my most important generalizations? Are these supporting details and evidence adequate? Do they relate clearly to my controlling purpose each other? 3- what details, evidence, or counter arguments might strengthen my essay?

4- have I included any materials that are irrelevant to my controlling purpose? Organization: 1- what organization strategy my essay follows? 2- Have I tested the effectiveness of this strategy by summarizing my essay? 3- to what extent does the organization of my essay flow logically from the commitment established by my controlling purpose? 4- will my organization make sense to my readers and be easy for them to follow? 5- to what extent does my essay follow the general conventions appropriate for this kind of writing? 6- could my introduction and conclusion be more effectively open and close my essay? After all the above, now consider such things as grammar, spelling, word choice, sentence structure, etc.