[Edition 1, Volume 1]
FOUR TYPES OF ESSAY: EXPOSITORY,
PERSUASIVE, ANALYTICAL, ARGUMENTATIVE
For our academic writing purposes we will focus on four types of essay.
1) The expository essay
What is it?
This is a writers explanation of a short theme, idea or issue.
The key here is that you are explaining an issue, theme or idea to your intended audience. Your reaction to a work of literature
could be in the form of an expository essay, for example if you decide to simply explain your personal response to a work. The
expository essay can also be used to give a personal response to a world event, political debate, football game, work of art
and so on.
What are its most important qualities?
You want to get and, of course, keep your readers attention. So, you should:
Have a well defined thesis. Start with a thesis statement/research question/statement of intent. Make sure you
answer your question or do what you say you set out to do. Do not wander from your topic.
Provide evidence to back up what you are saying. Support your arguments with facts and reasoning. Do not simply
list facts, incorporate these as examples supporting your position, but at the same time make your point as succinctly
as possible.
The essay should be concise. Make your point and conclude your essay. Dont make the mistake of believing that
repetition and over-stating your case will score points with your readers.
2) The persuasive essay
What is it?
This is the type of essay where you try to convince the reader to adopt your position on an issue or point of view.
Here your rationale, your argument, is most important. You are presenting an opinion and trying to persuade readers, you want
to win readers over to your point of view.
What are its most important qualities?
Have a definite point of view.
Maintain the readers interest.
Use sound reasoning.
Use solid evidence.
Be aware of your intended audience. How can you win them over?
Research your topic so your evidence is convincing.
Dont get so sentimental or so passionate that you lose the reader, as Irish poet W. B. Yeats put it:
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity
Your purpose is to convince someone else so dont overdo your language and dont bore the reader. And dont keep
repeating your points!
Remember the rules of the good paragraph. One single topic per paragraph, and natural progression from one to the
next.
End with a strong conclusion.
3) The analytical essay
What is it?
In this type of essay you analyze, examine and interpret such things as an event, book, poem, play or other work of art.
What are its most important qualities?
Your analytical essay should have an:
Introduction and presentation of argument
The introductory paragraph is used to tell the reader what text or texts you will be discussing. Every literary work
raises at least one major issue. In your introduction you will also define the idea or issue of the text that you wish to
examine in your analysis. This is sometimes called the thesis or research question. It is important that you narrow the
focus of your essay.
Analysis of the text (the longest part of the essay)
The issue you have chosen to analyze is connected to your argument. After stating the problem, present your
argument. When you start analyzing the text, pay attention to the stylistic devices (the hows of the text) the author
uses to convey some specific meaning. You must decide if the author accomplishes his goal of conveying his ideas to
the reader. Do not forget to support your assumptions with examples and reasonable judgment.
Personal response
Your personal response will show a deeper understanding of the text and by forming a personal meaning about the
text you will get more out of it. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you only have to have a positive response to
a text. If a writer is trying to convince you of something but fails to do so, in your opinion, your critical personal
response can be very enlightening. The key word here is critical. Base any objections on the text and use evidence
from the text. Personal response should be in evidence throughout the essay, not tacked on at the end.
Conclusion (related to the analysis and the argument)
Your conclusion should explain the relation between the analyzed text and the presented argument.
Tips for writing analytical essays:
Be well organized. Plan what you want to write before you start. It is a good idea to know exactly what your
conclusion is going to be before you start to write. When you know where you are going, you tend to get there in a
well organized way with logical progression.
Analytical essays normally use the present tense. When talking about a text, write about it in the present tense.
Be objective: avoid using the first person too much. For example, instead of saying I think Louisa is imaginative
because, try: It appears that Louisa has a vivid imagination, because.
Do not use slang or colloquial language (the language of informal speech).
Do not use contractions.
Avoid using etc. This is an expression that is generally used by writers who have nothing more to say.
Create an original title, do not use the title of the text.
Analysis does not mean retelling the story. Many students fall into the trap of telling the reader what is happening in
the text instead of analyzing it. Analysis aims to explain how the writer makes us see what he or she wants us to see,
the effect of the writing techniques, the texts themes and your personal response to these.
4) The argumentative essay
What is it?
This is the type of essay where you prove that your opinion, theory or hypothesis about an issue is correct or more truthful
than those of others. In short, it is very similar to the persuasive essay (see above), but the difference is that you are arguing
for your opinion as opposed to others, rather than directly trying to persuade someone to adopt your point of view.
What are its most important qualities?
The argument should be focused
The argument should be a clear statement (a question cannot be an argument)
It should be a topic that you can support with solid evidence
The argumentative essay should be based on pros and cons (see below)
Structure your approach well (see below)
Use good transition words/phrases (see below)
Be aware of your intended audience. How can you win them over?
Research your topic so your evidence is convincing.
[THE QUOTE IS BOLD AND
DISTINCTIVE. THE GALLERIES
INCLUDE ITEMS THAT ARE
Dont overdo your language and dont bore the reader. And dont
keep repeating your points!
Remember the rules of the good paragraph. One single topic per
paragraph, and natural progression from one to the next.
End with a strong conclusion.
DESIGNED TO COORDINATE
WITH THE OVERALL LOOK OF
YOUR DOCUMENT]
Tips for writing argumentative essays:
1) Make a list of the pros and cons in your plan before you start writing.
Choose the most important that support your argument (the pros) and the
most important to refute (the cons) and focus on them.
2) The argumentative essay has three approaches. Choose the one that
you find most effective for your argument. Do you find it better to sell your argument first and then present the counter
arguments and refute them? Or do you prefer to save the best for last?
Approach 1:
Thesis statement (main argument):
Pro idea 1
Pro idea 2
Con(s) + Refutation(s): these are the opinions of others that you disagree with. You must clearly specify these
opinions if you are to refute them convincingly.
Conclusion
Approach 2:
Thesis statement:
Con(s) + Refutation(s)
Pro idea 1
Pro idea 2
Conclusion
Approach 3
Thesis statement:
Con idea 1 and the your refutation
Con idea 2 and the your refutation
Con idea 3 and the your refutation
Conclusion
3) Use good transition words when moving between arguments and most importantly when moving from pros to cons and
vice versa. For example:
While I have shown that.... other may say
Opponents of this idea claim / maintain that
Those who disagree claim that
While some people may disagree with this idea...
When you want to refute or counter the cons you may start with:
However,
Nonetheless,
but
On the other hand,
This claim notwithstanding
If you want to mark your total disagreement:
After seeing this evidence, it is impossible to agree with what they say
Their argument is irrelevant
Contrary to what they might think ...
These are just a few suggestions. You can, of course, come up with many good transitions of your own.
4) Use facts, statistics, quotes and examples to convince your readers of your argument
Story Subtitle or summary
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lists, cover pages, and other
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insert tables, headers, footers,
you create pictures, charts, or
Theme elements on the Page
lists, cover pages, and other
diagrams, they also coordinate
Layout tab. To change the looks
document building blocks. When
with your current document
available in the Quick Style
you create pictures, charts, or
look.
gallery, use the Change Current
diagrams, they also coordinate
Quick Style Set command. Both
with your current document
the Themes gallery and the
look.
You can easily change the
formatting of selected text in
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STORY TITLE
Story Subtitle or summary
the Quick Styles gallery on the
available in the Quick Style
galleries include items that are
On the Insert tab, the
Home tab. You can also format
gallery, use the Change Current
designed to coordinate with the
text directly by using the other
Quick Style Set command. Both
overall look of your document.
controls on the Home tab. Most
the Themes gallery and the
You can use these galleries to
controls offer a choice of using
Quick Styles gallery provide
insert tables, headers, footers,
the look from the current theme
reset commands so that you
lists, cover pages, and other
or using a format that you
can always restore the look of
document building blocks.
specify directly.
your document to the original
You can easily change the
To change the overall look of
formatting of selected text in
your document, choose new
the document text by choosing
Theme elements on the Page
a look for the selected text from
Layout tab. To change the looks
contained in your current
template.
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