Types of Essays
In today’s highly competitive and ever-changing world it is
extremely important to acquire the ability to explain your point of view, your contention as well as the gist of
the topic you are familiar with. Whether you intend to become a teacher or have chosen other career path, it is
imperative, even indispensable for many careers to develop good communicative skills. During your study at the
University you might be assigned with several types of written assignments that help you to develop and enhance
communication skills. I would like in this article to focus on two of them, expository essay and persuasive essay.
In spite of the fact that the structure, style and some other elements of these writing projects are similar, there
are some notable differences between them.
Expository Essay
The main purpose of expository essay is to teach you to develop
communication skills by learning how to acquaint your reader or listener with the knowledge that you possess.
Depending on the subject you are assigned with, your expository essay should include factual information which
should be backed by reliable, trustworthy and up-to date evidence. It might be advisable to write in the third
person in this type of the written assignment. Try to avoid using of such words as “I”, “we” or “our “as much as
possible. In this way your expository essay would fit more to the standards of the educational institution set for
this type of the essay. Also, remember as this is a factual essay you should avoid explaining your point of view or
contention on particular subject, as in this case your attitude must be defended. The essay, where your contention
is stated and defended is named “persuasive essay”, I will deal with it later. Let us examine how the expository
essay should be composed. First you must state your thesis. One should bear in mind that it must not be too broad
as the length of expository essay is usually short. Your sentences should be written in easy to read, logical and
coherent style. All facts should be backed up by evidence. One should restate the thesis in the last final
paragraph of the essay. If you follow these simple rules you will be able to compose the expository essay that
meets the requirements set by your tutor.
Persuasive Essay
In contrast to expository essay, persuasive essay should not
only provide your reader with your contention, it should back it up so the reader understands why your point of
view is better than the contentions of your opponents. Whereas the main purpose of expository essay is to explain
the facts of view, the aim of persuasive essay is not only to explain your point of view, but to convince the
reader that your point of view is right. The plan of your persuasive essay might be similar to expository one;
however, it is advisable to include in the body of your assignments several important elements. First, one should
consider strong and weak point of your argument and the contention of your opponents. Second, your contention in
this type of the essay should be backed by the up-to date and trustworthy evidence in order to convince e your
reader that information provided by you is reliable. In this way it would be easy for you to learn how to persuade
even the most sceptical persons.
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