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Essays are one of the most common and fundamental forms of academic writing. Writing an essay is about presenting cohesive content full of ideas, information, arguments, analysis, and explanations, all wrapped in an engaging narrative. All essays aim to inform & impress the audience, but the manner or approach differs for different essay types.
In this article, we will look at the formats of some of the most common essay types across high school & college. You will learn everything about the essay structure & the writing process, along with many handy tips.
Let’s start right away.
Narrative essays recount a story or inform readers about some subject. You will have to craft an engaging narrative through which you will have to relay ideas and information. Take on the role of a storyteller and recount an engaging tale about a person, place, phenomenon, scene, situation, etc., in detail.
In narrative essays, the emphasis is on showing rather than telling. You will generally write in the first person and in a mildly informal manner to help readers visualise & grasp the essay’s essence better.
If you are about to embark on a narrative essay writing journey, here’s a quick rundown of the writing format.
For narrative essays, the thesis statement relays the writer’s chief viewpoint on the subject. Set the tone and atmosphere of your write-up using the thesis statement.
The intro provides vital background information, relays the essay’s purpose, and provides a roadmap for the discussion in the body.
This is the meat of the essay.
The conclusion wraps things up.
Narrative essays can be really fun to work on. Follow the above format to craft exceptional narrative essays.
Now, let’s move on to the next essay format, descriptive essays.
As the name suggests, these essays present vivid and mesmerising written descriptions of people, places, objects, events, experiences, emotions, situations, etc. Descriptive essays provide a lot of creative freedom. Writers have a lot of leeway in presenting striking descriptions filled with substantial sensory details.
So, what’s the format for writing a distinctive descriptive piece? Here are some handy pointers.
Once you are ready to write free, answer the following questions.
Expand and train your vocabulary as part of your narrative essay preparation procedures.
Most descriptive essays work with the generic five-paragraph essay structure. The introduction hooks & informs, while the thesis statement sets the tone and atmosphere for the audience. The body is where the descriptions are fleshed out, while the conclusion keeps readers thinking about the vivid descriptions., long after they are done reading the piece.
Use a hook to grab the audience’s attention instantly.
Present elaborate and vivid descriptions through the body paragraphs.
The conclusion wraps things up. Lay down your final thoughts and highlight the most striking aspects of your essay writing help here.
Let’s move on to the next essay type – the scholarship essay writing format.
Scholarship essays have the tough task of impressing ab evaluating committee. The stakes here are much higher. Your essay must tick all the right boxes to convince the committee that you deserve a scholarship.
Scholarship essays generally require writers to recount the most striking moments & accomplishments of their career. They may also ask one to discuss their career choices and why they deserve the scholarship. No matter the topic, these essays must be written carefully. You have to bring your A-game and articulate your thoughts, views, perspectives, experiences, etc., in the best way possible.
Here are some formatting and writing tips to help craft the perfect scholarship essay.
You will have to follow the specific instructions laid down by the scholarship organisation. However, if there are no explicit guidelines, follow the generic formatting rules for drafting official scholarship essays.
The basic formatting guidelines for university scholarship essays are as follows.
You won’t make a good impression with unorthodox formatting. Don’t experiment with fonts, font sizes, or font colours if you want that scholarship.
Scholarship essay outlines and structure is much different than any other essay type. Their unique purpose and the cruciality of their content require a clearer and more engaging structure.
Here’s a sample essay outline that shows the structure and the organisation of information.
Talk about why you chose a particular major.
Make it clear why you need the scholarship. Provide tangible and believable reasons. Articulate them in a way to make the best impression on the committee.
Don’t try to present a story about your life or any extraneous information.
Don’t conclude too long.
Refrain from being too wordy or extravagant. Please keep it simple and precise. Focus and highlight your strengths.
Now, it is time we looked at the next essay type.
Persuasion is an exceptional skill. Not everyone can be a successful persuader, and that’s why persuasive writing is so challenging. Below is the outline of a persuasive essay followed by universities all over and some effective tips.
You can follow the generic five-paragraph essay structure. The introduction starts by hooking the audience, laying down background information, clarifying the purpose, and highlighting the most potent persuasion points.
Elaborate on the first argument and use effective persuasive techniques to convince your readers.
The single-minded goal of a persuasive essay should be to show that only your arguments & perspectives are sensible & correct.
Restate the thesis statement and summarise key aspects of your arguments differently. Add a closing statement and tie it with the essay question & thesis statement.
Tips and Instructions
Now that we are done with persuasive essays let’s move on to the next essay type.
Like persuasive essays, argumentative essays are all about presenting arguments and claims. However, unlike their persuasive counterparts, you do not need to concern yourself with coercing and convincing readers.
The main objective of argumentative essays is present an argument with logical explanations & concrete examples and via an emphatic narrative. The writer aims to get readers to acknowledge their perspective through these things.
Here’s a look at the format of an argumentative essay.
If the topic is complicated & extensive, add one to two paragraphs after the intro to elaborate further on the background. Use this as a foundation for your argument. Explain key terms, key explanations, and summarising major works on the subject.
Anticipate potential objections & opposing objectives and address them here.
The Summary Paragraph
Reiterate the main arguments and why they are valid. Point out the most +-authoritative examples and explanations. Restate your claim.
The ‘So What’ Paragraph
Wrap up by illustrating how you analysed the subject critically. The conclusion of any argumentative essay must showcase a deeper understanding of the subject. Show how all the research and analysis enhance your ideas & understanding.
Use your primary argument and the strongest analytical points to leave a long-lasting impression. Highlight the broader inference that you have developed.
Now, it is time to move on to the next essay type.
As evident from the name, critical and in-depth analysis is the primary objective of these essays. You will have to dissect and dig deep into the subject of analysis. To do that, you will have to engage your critical thinking and analytical skills & carry out an unbiased, objective study of the subject.
There are no specialities associated with the structural outline of an analytical essay. It is the level of research and analysis that differs substantially.
Here are some pointers for the analytical essay format.
Analytical essay formats and writing processes can be quite challenging. Seek assistance from the experts of MyAssignmenthelp.com if you think you are struggling.
Now, let’s move on to the next essay type.
Expository essays will task you with investigating and expanding upon an idea. You will have to dig deep into an ideal, uncover underlying concepts, evaluate evidence & real-life phenomenon, compare & contrast, etc.
You can follow the generic five-paragraph structure. Develop a clear outline to determine the number of paragraphs.
Here are key things that keep an expository essay together.
Next up, we look into the format of reflective essays.
Reflective essays, too, follow the classic five-paragraph essay format. However, their nature is more akin to critical analysis or review papers. True reflection does more than describe; it goes deeper and uncovers causes & implications. It looks into the WHYs, HOWs, and WHATs.
That’s why we often employ interdisciplinary reflective models for in-depth reflection. Develop a flexible outline for your essay using the information you gather from the reflective models. Two of the most common reflective models of analysis are à
Gibbs Reflective Cycle
Description: Describe the subject.
Feelings: Think about how it made you feel.
Evaluation: Evaluate the impact.
Analysis:Analyse why you felt like that. What sense did you make of the situation? Look into all internal and external factors.
Conclusion: What general and specific conclusions did you draw?
Action: What will you do next?
4Rs model of Reflective Thinking
Report about the issue and incident. Lay down your primary observations, express your initial opinion, and present the questions that cropped up in your mind.
Relate and draw connections. Use your knowledge and skills to investigate.
Establish the reasoning behind the event through careful analysis. Highlight key factors and details and show how they are important in understanding the issue.
Refer to relevant and authoritative sources & theories to support your explanations and observations. Do remember to address different perspectives.
Bring together your entire reflection and reframe/reconstruct the context of the issue in light of your reflections. How would you do things differently? Are there other options that you can address? Does theory support your ideas?
Connect with our essay-writing experts today if you need more help with reflection essay formats.
We wrap up this write-up with a look at the compare & contrast essay format.
Need to submit an APA and/or MLA format essay? Looking for some quick tips on the Chicago essay format? Read on for handy insights.
And that finally brings us to the end of this essay format guide & compilation. I hope it comes in handy for anyone looking for some quick & accurate reference. Contact our experts today if you need any further with essay formatting or writing.
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There’s no specific length or range of length. It varies as per the type and topic of the essay as well as the designated word count.
Proper formatting is essential if you want your essays to make the right impression. Formatting makes it easy for the audience to follow your content and grasp the message/arguments/explanations/descriptions that you are trying to put forth.
Use the information in this guide and go through essay format templates & examples.
Essay formats define the outline, organisation, and essay development process. The MLA format lays down certain guidelines for formatting the structural components of your essay. It also defines the rules for citing different information sources.
MLA style formatting is a set of rules for formatting written content such as essays and assignments. It defines font style & size, word spacing, margins, punctuations, bullet points, titles, headings, & sub-heading, etc.
Go through this guide minutely to know the ins & outs of formatting different essay types. If you still need help, connect with the experts of MyAssignmenthelp.com today.
Write book titles in italics or underline them.
You can if you format your essay using the Chicago style. The Chicago referencing rules require adding in-text citations as footnotes.
The purpose of any essay is to present well-written content that fulfils a specific purpose. You may present an argument, narrate an event, provide detailed descriptions, or persuade readers about your views. No matter what, be sure about the purpose of your writing.