An essay is a short paper with a personal point of view of the author, who does not position his or her opinion as the only true one. The essay is written in free form. The aim of the work is to express your attitude to a particular topic (an event, a literary work, a trend, a situation). The essay often becomes part of the tasks in the exam. You are also asked to write it when applying to universities for “creative” and humanitarian professions, and it is not uncommon for essays to be written during employment. How to write a creative essay?
Types of essays
Essays can be divided according to the following criteria:
- subjective (personal) – reveals a certain side of the author’s personality.
- objective – refers to some idea or subject of description.
In content:
- spiritual-religious;
- philosophical;
- fiction-publicistic;
- literary-critical;
- fiction;
- historical.
By style:
- analytical;
- descriptive;
- critical;
- narrative;
- reflective, and so on.
Characteristics of an essay
The essay has its own attributes by which it can be distinguished from other genres:
- a very specific and sometimes narrow topic, prompting reflection;
- the author speaks only about his thoughts and impressions, without claiming to be exhaustive;
- the colloquial style of narration allows using slang, jargon, foreign words without translation, neologisms, and even non-literary vocabulary in an essay. The latter depends on the context and the place where the essay is published;
- despite the apparent emotionality, the author supports his/her point of view with facts and evidence.
How to choose a topic for an essay
It is important to understand where you are writing the essay. If for a teacher, you will most likely be offered a ready-made list of topics to choose from. Take a topic that you know well and that is interesting to you personally. Writing is easier when you really have your own opinion on an issue and you write not just for a grade, but because it’s interesting to think about. If the essay is written for admission to university or for employment, it is important to reflect in the work your personality, to show your best side – write about your knowledge, skills and experience, about your plans for the future. Since at work it will be evaluated exactly the qualities of the author, suitable for a particular company.
How to write a creative nonfiction essay: essay structure
The structure of an essay is standard – introduction, main part, conclusion. The purpose of the introductory part is to outline the problem, to interest the reader in it. The aim of the main part is to reveal the topic, express your opinion, and give arguments. The purpose of the conclusion – to remind the problem, to summarize, to give the reader food for thought.
Checklist for a good essay
- Own the topic. You can argue freely and interestingly only about what you really know. So before you write on an unfamiliar topic – study it, including interesting little-known details and nuances that may attract attention.
- Define your message. When you know the subject, you must decide, what do you want to tell the world about it? What is your attitude to it?
- Consider the structure. Will you talk about the most important things first, and then the secondary things, or vice versa? The structure helps you to arrange your thoughts in a logical sequence. This is especially important in essays, since many people “drown” in free form and emotionality.
- Keep in mind brevity. Despite the abundance of information and thoughts you want to express, do not overload the text. Do not use more than 2 arguments to prove your points. Describe the problem briefly. Use short sentences.
- Do not be ashamed of your thoughts. Use only your own thoughts and reasoning in the essay, even if you want to appropriate someone else’s more “intelligent” opinion. The essay is your reflection, your thoughts and reasoning.
The main purpose of an essay
The purpose is called the ability to think creatively, to develop the skill of writing your thoughts. In the essay a person proves a point of view in an argumentative way, correctly forms the structure of the presentation of the material, delivers the essence of the problem, if there are options for its solution. The text is filled with examples on the topic and draws conclusions for the sake of which it is composed.
Conclusion
An essay is a useful form of presenting a point of view, because it develops the skill of writing, the ability to build a logical argumentation, to highlight cause-and-effect connections, to analyze and draw conclusions. To make sure you get exactly an essay, read our article carefully. The essay has a short form, free style of presentation, clear argumentation of theses. Think about how to integrate sources into an essay and how to accomplish other tasks that will come up in front of you. If you have difficulties and can’t finish your work, you should use essay writing usa services.