4 main types of essays

1. Types of Essays
Prof. Mara Luna
Intermediate English
UPR – Rio Piedras Campus

2. What is an Essay?
• An essay is a prose composition which presents a
writer’s perspective on a subject.
• Most essays attempt to discuss a topic, convince
the reader of a thesis, or simply communicate a
personal experience or belief. An essay can be
fairly brief or quite long.
• It is a versatile and flexible literary form.

3. What is an Essay?
• Unity and coherence are characteristics of well-
written essays.
• Any topic can be the subject of an essay.
• As it has been suggested, an essay is, indeed, a
very flexible literary form that enjoys the freedom
that other forms of literature do not have.

4. There are four types of
essays
• Narrative
• Descriptive
• Argumentative
• Expository

5. Narrative Essay
• Deals with the telling of a personal experience.
• Therefore, presenting time - whether in a single
personal event, a series of related events, or a
historical occurrence - is one key element of
narrative prose.
• Commonly, the events are presented in
chronological order. Nevertheless, the writer is free
to move around in time and organize the events
from present to past using the technique called a
flashback.

6. Narrative Essay
• A flashback provides a break in the straight
chronological order of narrating events. Its purpose
is to introduce material or information from the past.
The writer must connect each event in the time
span to other events that come before or after.
• Transition words of time serve as bridges to connect
the various moments in the narrative pattern. In the
narrative essay there must always be some purpose
for the telling of events, a purpose that goes
beyond the story itself.
• The narration of events is just a means to an end, a
way to support a central idea or thesis.

7. Descriptive Essay
• Uses sensory images to present a vivid picture of
someone or something.
• Descriptive writing relies on sensory images that
appeal to the sense of sight, sound, smell, touch,
and taste. Often these images are made more
effective by the use of figurative language.
• The author’s feelings about the subject are clearly
expressed in the controlling idea of the thesis
sentence.
• All details are carefully selected to convey the
author’s feeling through the creation of a dominant
impression of its subject.

8. Descriptive Essay
• To create that impression the author may use
descriptive language that is objective,
straightforward, precise, and factual. This kind of
language is called denotative and it makes use of
neutral dictionary meanings.
• If the description is subjective, the writer may use
connotative language, that is, language which
suggests or implies something beyond the dictionary
meaning.
• In brief, a word’s denotation is the specific
dictionary meaning of a word. Connotation,
however, refers to the suggestive quality of words,
the feeling(s) or impression(s) that a word may
awaken in the reader.

9. Descriptive Essay
• Descriptive writing must have an organizational
pattern that supports the dominant impression of
the subject.
• Details in descriptive essays are usually arranged
spatially (from top to bottom, left to right, near to
far, interior to exterior), but they can also be
arranged emphatically (more important to less
important, less striking to most striking).
• Details could also be organized according to the
sensory images they evoke.

10. Argumentative Essay
• Tries to convince the reader of some opinion or
persuade the reader to take action on an issue.
Argumentation makes an appeal to the reader’s
intellect.
• When a writer is trying to persuade, the writer will
also make a strong appeal to the reader’s
emotions. In this type of essay, the author takes a
stand by offering a judgment of value, an
interpretation of events, or a proposed course of
action and then providing reasons for readers to
agree with it.

11. Argumentative Essay
• The position of the writer is clearly stated. A good
thesis statement is crucial to the essay.
• This stated position is an idea that can be debated
or disputed, and towards which the writer must take
a definite side.
• The reader must know what the writer’s position is,
and must see that the central idea is supported with
convincing reasons.
• To support each minor proposition, a writer must
offer evidence such as statistics, facts, historical
events, news reports, interviews, personal
experience, and testimony from authorities.

12. Argumentative Essay
• In addition to presenting the argument logically
and convincingly, the writer must also recognize
and deal with opposing arguments.
• Since there has to be more than one side to any
debatable issue, the writer must acknowledge the
opposition.
• By effectively refuting rival propositions the writer
can make a more convincing argument.
• In short, an argumentative essay is ultimately as
strong as the logic that the writer brings to it.

13. Expository Essay
• Informs, explains or analyzes a topic.
• In this kind of essay, the thesis or controlling idea is
frequently referred to as a generalization (a
statement that mostly applies to a group of things,
ideas, or people).
• This generalization can be a value judgment, an
opinion, or a factual statement.
• Specific details help prove or support the
generalization or thesis.
• Factual details, examples, and illustrations are often
used as support.

14. Expository Essay
• The ideas in an expository essay are organized in a logical
manner. Order of importance and order of familiarity are
two of the most frequently used forms of logical
arrangement for expository essays.
• Although the paragraphs in expository essays can be
developed in many different ways, some of the most
common methods of paragraph development are:
o classification,
o comparison and contrast,
o analogy,
o examples and illustrations,
o process analysis,
o cause and effect,
o and definition.

15. Remember…
• However, it is important to keep in mind that most
essays are not pure specimens.
• For example, an expository essay may begin trying
to convince the reader that a particular point of
view or a particular brand of a technological
device is the best.
• Or the essay may begin with a very brief narrative.
• In like manner, an argumentative essay may
include some exposition.

16. Reference
ELEMENTS OF THE ESSAY
• Prepared by Prof. Lydia A. López-Ruiz, 2005
• Expanded by Prof. Brenda A. Camara & Prof.
Vanessa Irizarry, 2007
• Revised by Prof. Lydia A. López-Ruiz, 2011
• University of Puerto Rico – Rio Piedras Campus
• College of General Studies
• English Department