Guides & Tips on Writing

Essay Types

An essay is a brief prose composition in which the writer expresses his/her opinion about a limited subject. Below you can find information on different types of essay along with samples.

Persuasive Essay
Expository Essay
Informal Essay
Research Essay
Literary Essay
Argumentative Essay
Critical Essay
Narrative Essay
Comparison / Contrast Essay
Cause / Effect Essay
Evaluation Essay
Classification Essay
Descriptive Essay
Definition Essay
Exemplification / Illustration Essay
Personal Essay
Admission Essay
Scholarship Essay
Exploratory Essay
The Five-Paragraph Essay
Literature Essay

Citation Styles

Ask each of your teachers which style they want you to use. If they have no preference, you can use any or follow these guidelines:

MLA: literature, arts, and humanities.

APA: psychology, education, and other social sciences

AMA: medicine, health, and biological sciences.

Turabian: designed for college students to use with all subjects.

Chicago: used with all subjects in the real world by books, magazines, newspapers, and other non-scholarly publications.

Writing Tips

An essay can have many purposes, but the basic structure is the same no matter what. You may be writing an essay to argue for a particular point of view or to explain the steps necessary to complete a task.

Either way, your essay will have the same basic format.

If you follow a few simple steps, you will find that the essay almost writes itself. You will be responsible only for supplying ideas, which are the important part of the essay anyway.

Decide on your topic
Prepare an outline or diagram of your ideas
Write your thesis statement
Write the body
Write the introduction and conclusion
Add the finishing touches