Essay Writing: Your Step By Step Guide

Essay Writing: Your Step By Step Guide

Essay writing may be the most common form of writing. Most of us have written an essay at some point in our lives and if you haven’t, here is your step by step guide to get you familiar with what you need to know.

Essay Writing

Nearly every student of the language English is taught to write an essay. Some find it very difficult whereas for some it’s relatively easy. Writing an essay in English can be a tough task especially if you’re new to the language. Hence, it is important that your grip on grammar itself should be good enough.

Learning English starts with a few concepts that one needs to master. If you have a good grip on subject-verb agreement and parts of a speech, then writing an essay shouldn’t be a problem. Today’s blog will look at aspects and the four main types of essays.

Essays generally can be categorized into four main types. The purpose of each essay is different however the structure more or less is similar. Let’s take a look at the first one, narrative essay:

Narrative Essay

A narrative essay just as the name suggests runs on a single narrative or a motif. A narrative always represents a thought or an idea and this should be expressed in your essay objectively. The central point or in other words the motif should revolve around a single narrative.

This narrative can be explained with events, incidents or occurrences that revolve around it. A narrative essay, in other words, is a type of essay that revolves around a bunch of incidents regarding characters. Often times, dialogues from the characters are also used in the essay. As mentioned above, a narrative essay has the following elements:

Theme or a Motif or a Central Point:
An essay that revolves around a singular theme or a motif is termed as a narrative essay. This essay has a thesis statement which shows the motif itself. This thesis statement further breaks down the essay in three pieces of evidence which are further elaborated through characters.

Characters:
Characters are necessary for a narrative essay. Important actions, incidents, and happenings are curtailed in a narrative essay. For learning English one needs to have a firm grip on characters.

Dialogues:
As mentioned before, the dialogues of characters are used in a narrative essay.

Persuasive Essay

The second type of essay is known as a persuasive essay, also known as a. Just as the name suggests, a persuasive is an essay that draws arguments through logic and reason which is why this type of essay also yields the name of an argumentative essay.

These arguments are then used to persuade the reader that the writers understanding of a particular concept is better than others. One important thing that needs to be mentioned here is the fact that arguments are needed to be backed by logic and reasoning and shouldn’t be biased.

A thesis statement sets the tone of your essay by propounding on what stance you’ve taken over a certain topic. Then elaborate details are needed to back your logic on a certain stance. Persuasive essays require a lot of research from scholarly sources as backing an argument requires objective reasoning.

Descriptive Essay

The third type of essay is a descriptive essay and just like descriptive writing, this form of essay requires the writer, usually the pupil to describe an experience, a place, a person, even an object, anything that will get the descriptive juices flowing. The best part of this form of essay writing is the freedom to be as imaginative as the writer wants to be, the goal is to pull the reader in, you want your reader to see exactly what you are describing so don’t be afraid to be vivid and use as much detail as you possibly can!

Some important things to keep in mind when writing a descriptive essay is one; take your time and know exactly what is being asked. Some instructors may give you a topic to write about, this may require you to brainstorm a little more than if you could choose your own topic. Whatever your topic, be sure to jot down a few ideas to get you started. This will only make the final product well thought out and clear to the reader which is another vital part to a descriptive essay… clarity.


You also want to make sure the reader feel, smell, and see everything you are describing so again, be vivid! Explain everything with as much detail as you possibly can. Don’t just saythe flower was beautiful” Instead, say, “The field of yellow sunflowers looked as warm as the rising sun and was as soft as new baby chicks as they gently blew in the cool breeze. They were beautiful to watch, and the sweetness coming off of them was even more pleasant to smell.”

In the second sentence, just for a moment, it felt like I was transported to a beautiful field of soft, sweet-smelling sunflowers. I could feel the cool breeze across my face and could also feel the warmth of the sun on my skin while in the first sentence, I could not even tell you what kind of flower was beautiful or why. Lastly, with descriptive essays, just have fun, this is the advantage of this type of essay writing.

Expository Essay

The fourth and final type of essay is an expository essay. In this type of essay, the main purpose is to explain something using facts, and since this type of essay uses facts and not personal events, this form of essay should be written in the third person (They, it, she) not first person (I, me).

Explanations of facts though, first need to be understood completely by the writer before it can be communicated effectively to the reader so, in this type of essay writing, it is very important to do your research on the topic to be explained. Some examples of where this type of essay would be used are in:

  • How to essays
  • Cause and effect essays
  • Contrast and Comparison essays
  • History essays
  • Social issue essays

Investigate! Be clear! Be concise! These are necessary requirements of writing an acceptable expository essay. It is your job as the writer to investigate your topic thoroughly, to be clear in your explanation and be concise in your summary of laying out all of the facts. If your essay is a how-to on how to change the oil in a car, I want the facts so that I do not damage my vehicle, and I want to know clearly and quickly how to complete the job.

“Only the facts!”

For writing an essay, learning English is an important aspect. One needs to have a firm grip on English grammar and that can only be achieved through learning English.