ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS Argumentative essays are written to persuade the reader that the writer's point of view is correct. To effectively argue his/her position, the writer has to corroborate their ideas with solid evidence and facts. Argumentative essay takes into account the possible counter-arguments and objections and effectively refutes them. Any argumentative essay, therefore must represent a balance between the pros and cons, the writers arguments and the opposition arguments. An effective argumentative essay features not only effective argumentation of ideas but also effective refutation of possible counter-arguments. The greatest weakness of argumentative essays is the writer's tendency to negate counter-arguments and other opinions on the topic. Writers should objectively analyze the topic and their own ideas. They should respect the opinions of other researchers and writers, and use their skills, linguistic ability, evidence and facts to argue effectively. A successful argumentative paper has the following structure:
Introduction of the chosen topic. General discussion of the topic. Thesis statement.
Body paragraphs 1-3. Arguments, evidence and facts that uphold the writer's opinion. Discussion of these arguments, evidence and facts.
Body paragraph 4. Transitional paragraph. Introduction of counter-arguments and opposing points of view.
Body paragraphs 5-6. Rebuttal #1 of counter-arguments. One should always use external sources rather than solely personal opinion. Every opinion in the rebuttal should be referenced and supported by a quote. The quotes are also explained in these paragraphs.
Body paragraph 6. Rebuttal #2 of counter-arguments.
Body paragraph 7. Rebuttal #X of counter-arguments.
Summary paragraph. The primary points and thesis statement are reviewed and summarized. It is also recommended to place various recommendations, proposals in this paragraph of an argumentative essay.
To write a good, professionally-looking argumentative paper, it is necessary to possess knowledge on the subject and to research and analyze not only the pros but also the cons on the topic. The homework for writing argumentative essays is to prepare for the written debate where the writer should predict, know and refute counter-arguments. Then, they should argue a different position and provide enough evidence to uphold it and persuade the reader. Before writing an argumentative essay, the writer should evaluate his/her knowledge of various topics and choose only those topics which they know what to write about. Furthermore, the writer needs to keep in mind that not all topics can be effectively argued and successfully used in argumentative essays. The most popular topics for argumentative essays are those that clearly have different groups of supporters and opponents. There are supporter and opponents of abortion, supporter and opponents of euthanasia and supporters and opponents of drug legalization. Many students might be prompted to write about these topics, yet once they start, they already have a disadvantage. It is virtually impossible to impress a professor who has already read thousands of essays on abortion, euthanasia, drug legalization or gun control. One should also consider the background of the audience for whom the argumentative essay is written. If the chosen topic and writer's opinion differ widely from the generally accepted human beliefs, the professor might as well give a suboptimal grade for it.
CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAYS Writing a Cause and Effect Essay is a more challenging endeavor than writing descriptive or narrative essays since this type of essay requires an advanced writing ability. The writer must clearly present the factual material and that differentiates cause and effect essay from narrative or descriptive essays. It is necessary for the writer to have profound research skills as cause and effect essays require the use of external sources rather than personal opinion. The essay should be written using the third person and never use the personal opinon in the body of the text. One should avoid using narrative writing style as it will point out writer's weaknesses and will not meticulously present their points of view. The writer should strive to convince the reader to accept the given cause-and-effect framework through accepting external references, evidence, facts and sources. Cause and effect essays start with the presentation of a certain phenomenon, topic or trend. The writer should use professional writing style succinctly write on the chosen topic focusing on the topic's background. Depending on the topic of a Cause and Effect Essay it might be required for the writer to prove the existence of a certain topic before even mentioning it in the cause and effect essay. The body of a cause and effect essay is all about building cause-and-effect relationships and providing supportive arguments and evidence. To make a professionally-looking essay, the writer should anticipate the reader's questions and possible objections to the writer's ideas. They should also provide exhaustively persuasive arguments to ascertain that the reader of a cause and effect essay accepts these arguments. Cause and effect essays demand the use of professional writing style and consistency thorough consistency. It is necessary to present the material in a way that would be accepted by the targe audience. Absolutist and imposing expressions should be avoided. Since cause and effect essays require the use of quotations and references to uphold the writer's stance, the writer should avoid "common knowledge" materials and personal opinions. Cause and Effect Essay must be smoothly-flowing and properly referenced. It should be up-to-the-point, succinct and clear. Uncertainty and vagueness should be minimized. The writing style should remain professional, straight-forward and competent while the writer might add some humor to make the essay interesting to read.
CLASSIFICATION ESSAY WRITING Classification Essays are written to place subjects or objects into various categories based upon some common factors supported by examples. Every classification essay starts with the identification of categories and factors related to these categories. For instance if it is necessary classify Custom Writing, one can place it into categories: business writing, college writing, high school writing, personal writing, etc. If it is necessary to classify universities one can classify them as foreign or American, public or private. The universities can be classified based on the language used in teaching, subject, degrees, number of students, location, formal regalia, etc. Classification Essays have the following structure: introduction, thesis statement, body and conclusion. The thesis statement of a classification essay should describe the topic and identify classification categories. A sample thesis statement can be something like this: "The Armed Forces of the United States comprise the US Army, the US Navy, and the US Air Force". The writer should ascertain that the thesis statement of a classification essay presents all categories that will be discussed in the body of a classification essay. No critical classification should be missed. Thus if one writes a classification essay about cars one should mention sports cars, sedans, vans, trucks, SUVs or anything else one chooses to use as a classification category. The writer of a Classification Essay should use logic and consistency throughout the essay. Each category should be supported with examples, while the most important category requires the most examples and elaboration. To write a successful classification essay, one should efficiently organize the studied topic into categories, adhere to the single classification principle used consistently throughout the essay, and use enough examples and logical support.
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST ESSAYS Comparison and Contrast Essays are those that focus on the similarities and differences between certain related or unrelated objects, subjects, themes or categories. This type of essays assesses the student's ability to exercise judgment and note different sides of the issue, the pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages. Comparison and contrast essay writers know how to make better choices by assessing various alternatives and objectively comparing the options. Please refer use this essay writing tutorial to learn how to write comparison and contrast essays. Comparison and contrast essays have several parts such as the introduction, the comparison part, the contrast part and the conclusion. The comparison part of the comparison/contrast essay focuses on effective presentation of the similarities, while the contrast part focuses on effective presentation of differences/contrasts between two subjects. In order to choose a topic for comparison and contrast essays, the writer should keep in mind that the number of similarities and differences between two themes, object or subjects is limited only by his/her imagination. Therefore, Comparison and Contrast Essay can be about absolutely any topic comparing and contrasting anything. Certainly, in university settings one typically compares related themes or subjects. Comparison and contrast essays require the writer to do their homework in order to present as many facts and observations as possible. It is better to start with a brainstorming technique to generate similarities and differences between two analyzed subjects. The results should be placed in a table to obtain something like this (Please note that the table below compares a high school to a university): High School
University
Free of charge
Costs money
Prepares students for the university
Prepares students for employment and future career.
Provides a broad range of subjects to study
Focuses only on specialized subjects related to a degree.
Involves parents (PTA meetings)
Is the proper responsibility of students.
Is obligatory for all people in the USA
Is a free choice of qualified students
Ages from 16 to 20
Ages from 19 up to 99.
The table like the one above can be developed for both similarities and differences and can have has as many fields as possible. The information from the table allows the writer to create the thesis statement and a punch line to catch the attention of the reader. A sample thesis statement for High School/University comparison can be the following: "Even though high school is free, the amount of knowledge obtained in a university and a level of motivation of university students is greater than in high school". Comparison and contrast essay starts with a brief description of both subjects and culminates in a thesis statement presented at the end of the introductory paragraph. After the first paragraph, comparison and contrast essays develop in one of the two ways:
Divide the compared/contrasted subjects and speak about each of them in a separate paragraph.
Present similarities and differences sequentially in paragraphs one after another.
Both structures are permitted for Comparison/Contrast Essays, yet it is the writer's choice to select the optimal structure to assure confusion-free reading and understanding by the target audience. Regardless of the subjects used in the essay, the writer should make the essay interesting and easy to read. The conclusion of a comparison and contrast essay summarizes the correlation between the two objects used in the essay and restates the thesis statement and the major points.
CONTROVERSIAL ESSAYS A Controversial essay is an essay that addresses some hot, contentious and debatable issue whether or contemporary or not. Controversial essays, therefore, resemble argumentative essays because they both argue for or against a certain topic. A controversial essay is defined as an essay that argues only on a high-charged, provocative topic. At the same time, a controversial essay can take possess elements of an expository essay, i.e. the one that informs the readers or the audience about a certain controversial subject.
* Essay format:
Many students have a hard time writing controversial essays because these essays require students to deal with strong, taboo and cynical topics and as a result students may fail to see both side of the topic and therefore, fail to build their arguments and position properly. In this way, they will become personally involved in the topic or issue and as a result fail to incorporate the points from the other side. Many students may be scared of becoming the object of mockery, harassment and criticism if they take a side that goes against the conventional viewpoint. The hardest thing about writing controversial papers is to remain absolutely impartial during writing.
* Essay structure:
To create a successful controversial essay it is necessary to remain open to different sides of the issue and to remember that nothing is absolute. All opinions count, more or less, as long as they are supported with facts, reason and expert opinions. The writer’s success depends heavily on the writer’s ability to assert one’s opinion on the topic and support it with logic, expert opinion and sometimes appeals to emotion no matter what. One should not be afraid of offending the other side, and those opposing the topic. At the same time the writer needs to know all the facts and evidence that the opposing side uses to back up their claims and points of view in order to successfully refute those in the paper. It is by anticipating what the other party has to say, the writer can tailor the arguments to effectively refuse the opposition and back up one’s own stance.
Controversial essays are always about strong and emotionally-charged issues, such as racism, gay marriage, killings, politics, discrimination, limits of the freedom of speech, and money. These hot issues are frequently seen in political and social debates, so by keeping up with the modern trends, a student may easily pick the right topic. What makes these issues controversial is that frequently people support the extreme viewpoints, i.e. being on the different sides of the spectrum. A controversial essay, therefore, should never strive to find some centrist position that would accommodate the distinct points of view and to appease the opposing sides. It should stick with one of such extreme positions and debate it successfully. It takes courage, it takes guts.
Controversial essays, therefore always impose one point of view onto the others (readers) as outlined clearly in the thesis statement. The introductory paragraph and the thesis statement, thus, should be a door-in-the-face to the readers, making them open their mouths with the amazement and awe and continue reading it. Strong language is usually a part of a successful controversial essay, therefore one may use it without fear. Presenting a thesis statement in a strong language is what makes the issue more pressing and urgent and your position hot.
* Controversial essay writing tips *
A controversial essay, therefore, is one of the essays that is located on the very extreme of the argumentative-type essay scale. Without strong language and without strong adherence to a certain position concerning a pressing hot issue, it may become but an argumentative essay. Still what makes a controversial essay so powerful is not a writer’s rage but rather an ability to effectively structure the arguments, disarm and defeat the opposition and capitalize on its weaknesses. Every point of view should be supported with multiple examples, while the whole essay should never sound like a rant or a complaint. This type of essay should use sophisticated academic tone and be based on the logic and expert opinions colored with a strong language to win the debate and knock out the opposing side.
DEFINITION ESSAYS Definition Essay Writing is about defining objects, ideas or topics. The writing style of a definition essay is similar to that of narrative or description essays in which the writer meticulously discloses peculiarities and attributes of the topic or idea one by one. The purpose of a definition essay is to give the readers a better understanding of the topic or idea. A definition essay should provide a more exhaustive definition than a typical dictionary would provide. In order to write a good definition essay, the writer has to show profound understanding of the topic and apply professional style of writing. The writer should utilize external sources to reference the materials used in a definition essay. Dictionaries, encyclopedias as well as various articles, books and supplementary readings can be avoided in preparing a definition essay. The use of other sources must be properly referenced in accordance with the chosen citation style. In a Definition Essay it is recommended to paraphrase the existing material and use quotations from reputable sources. The Writer should remain aware of different meanings that certain words and term possess and masterfully use them in the writing process. The essay outline should be used to organize the writer's thoughts and assure succinct and professional writing. All unnecessary, jaded phrases and meaningless statements such as "I am going to speak about" or "it is clearly understood" should be avoided. A successful definition essay should be short, easy to understand, and interesting to read.
DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS A Descriptive Essay is a paper that describes some object, topic, phenomenon or event. Descriptive essays represent the description process put in succinct writing and comprise the introduction, the body and the conclusion.
A descriptive process involves the selection of an object of description, its objective assessment and further presentation in writing. To better describe an object or a topic, the writer might need to compare the described object to other objects that the reader might know. The writer should use expressive language, comparisons and contrasts, description of personal perceptions of the object based on (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory senses) human senses. The primary aim of a descriptive essay is to find and discuss the unique qualities of the object under assessment. These qualities, then need to be presented in a comprehensive and vivid manner to the reader without perverting the orginal meaning that the writer possesses.
The writer should always remember that regardless of the topic, object or phenomenon the writer chooses as a topic for a descriptive essay, the human subjectivity factor will constantly interfere with an objective description. Because humans are not perfect, each writer will observe the same topic, phenomenon or object differently. Each writer will place different degree of importance on different qualities and thus will present only his or her descriptive point of view. To reduce the influence of subjectivity, the writer should always start with describing objective factors like color, size, weight, and shape. Only after the writer runs out of subjective factors, she/he should use personal opinion as to smell, semi-hues, prettiness or ugliness.
A Descriptive Essay should always be interesting to read, so the writer should take into account the audience preferences. For instance, when describing a car to the technical crew, the writer should concentrate on the technical qualities of a car. When describing the same car to the designers, the writer might want to concentrate more on the car shape, the colors, elegance and ergonomics. When describing the same car to the customers, one would probably want to speak briefly about the technical and design characteristics, and concentrate more on the durability, gas consumption, price and extra features like hi-fi stereo, airbags or cup-holders. Technically, there are limitless ways to describe a single topic, object or phenomenon, yet due to a word limit that descriptive essays possess, the writer has to ration words and use descriptions that would be viewed as useful and interesting by the audience / readers.
The introductory paragraph of a descriptive essay includes a brief description of an object or phenomemon and presents some general features and the thesis statement. The body paragraph of a descriptive essay includes a detailed description of the features briefly mentioned in the introduction and capitalize on those that will keep the reader's attention to the maximum. The conclusion of a descriptive essay will summarize the stated information and restate the thesis statement presented in the introduction section.
EXPLORATORY ESSAYS One of the most interesting peculiarities of Exploratory Essays is that the writer does not know the end of the essay and does not use authoritative statements to establish some conclusion. The writers do not have to let their personal feelings or opinions interfere with the development of the essay. On the other hand, they should establish a proper framework for a research to take place and stir up an inquisitive part of reader's mind. Exploratory Essay writing is meant to allow everyone to learn more, not to propagate some ideas.
The purpose of an Exploratory Essay is to create an inquiry rather than a meticulous presentation of facts. While an inquiry essay requires the writer to present arguments one after another, the exploratory essay requires writers to look at different solutions and arguments possible. Some of the most important elements of a successful exploratory essay are presented below:
Exploratory essays concentrate on questions rather than on a thesis statement.
Introspective strategy for writing exploratory essays focuses on immediate processes.
Retrospective strategy for writing exploratory essays concentrates on artistic presenation of facts.
Exploratory essays record the writer's research and thinking about the research. These essays address content-related and rhetorical/open-ended questions regarding the solutions to chosen problems presented in the essay.
The writer should assess the strengths and weaknesses of possible solutions and briefly note those in the essay.
Exploratory Essays usually are dialectical in their nature since they contribute to synthesis of contraries and are not focused on the end result (conclusion) but rather on the learning process.
PERSUASIVE ESSAYS Persuasive essay writing relies on sound arguments and reason to promulgate a certain idea. Persuasive essays convince the reader that the presented idea is legitimate and correct. Persuasive essays besides promoting some ideas also call for some action, or strive to change the reader's point of view. Most students ask a question, "How do I write persuasive essay?" because they want to know how this particular type of essay needs to be written to obtain the highest grade in college. Persuasive essays are are different from other types of essays because their purpose is to alter the current state of mind of the readers and make them agree with the arguments of the writer. A good writer must bear in mind the fact that without logical arguments, evidence, facts and appeal to reader's mind as well as soul it is impossible to write a persuasive essay. The writer should appeal to logic, emotion and authority and should provide logical evidence and appropriate examples in the essay to persuade a reader. It is necessary to demonstrate a strong stance and to remain loyal to it throughout the essay upholding it with necessary evidence and facts. The evidence should be persuasive and convincing and the writer has to do much preliminary research to create a truly persuasive essay. The tone of this type of essay essay should be professional and somewhat authoritative, expressing the writer's competence, knowledge, experience and preparations. The use of statistical evidence is highly encouraged for its simple and powerful arguments. The writer has to be aware of proper use of statistical figures, data and information which when presented properly, will not overwhelm or distract the reader with superfluities. Also, in addition to using formal logic throughout the essay, the writer should periodically use appeals to emotions in order to turn the readers' emotions in the desirable direction and to better persuade them.
REFLECTION ESSAYS Reflection essays are always assigned in colleges and universities to asses students' opinions, ways of thinking, cognitive and abstract abilities. Many students ask their professors how to write a reflection essay, so we provide this essay writing tutorial that provides reflection essay tips and recommendations. Also we provide custom writing services, so students can order a reflection essay to be prepared by professional writers. Reflection essays express the writer's personal opinion on some selected piece of writing, event, or life experience. Reflection essays demonstrate the writer's attitude towards a selection topic, event or experience. The writers should use their senses, mind and logic to write an effective reflection essay that captivates readers and makes them want to read the paper attentively till the very last word. This is an example of a reflection essay! Reflection essays should not be focused purely on discussions and debates, yet rather on the exploration of new ideas, thoughts and opinions. Since a reflection essay is mostly subjective it should not use authoritative tone and should not force the readers to believe something. On the contrary, a reflection essay is a playground for effective presentation of ideas and subjective experiences of the writer. For instance, personal failures make an effective topic for reflection essays as they allow the writer to ponder over these failures, express feelings, and make subjective conclusions. Reflection essays allow writers to grow. Failure to enter college, failure to win a race, or failure to seduce a member of the opposite sex make the writer think about the true meaning of things, their importance and influence on his daily life. The writer can think about what benefits the failures provide and what can be done to avoid these failures in the future and to get the most from the status quo. The topic of a reflection essay should be interesting to the reader and to the writer. A successful reflection essay should raise questions in the minds of readers as well as stir up emotions and desires to ponder on things discussed in the essay. The writer should split one major idea into topics or subtopics to assure coherent, smooth and interesting writing. Transition paragraphs of the reflection essay should separate topics and subtopics not to confuse the reader and explore all the ideas that the writer wants to present in the essay. A successful reflection essay will get the reader involved in the writer's ideas, emotions, and experiences. Thus, it will use vivid writing style, various linguistic tools and careful audience analysis to engage the reader as much as possible.
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS
Argumentative essays are written to persuade the reader that the writer's point of view is correct. To effectively argue his/her position, the writer has to corroborate their ideas with solid evidence and facts. Argumentative essay takes into account the possible counter-arguments and objections and effectively refutes them. Any argumentative essay, therefore must represent a balance between the pros and cons, the writers arguments and the opposition arguments. An effective argumentative essay features not only effective argumentation of ideas but also effective refutation of possible counter-arguments.
The greatest weakness of argumentative essays is the writer's tendency to negate counter-arguments and other opinions on the topic. Writers should objectively analyze the topic and their own ideas. They should respect the opinions of other researchers and writers, and use their skills, linguistic ability, evidence and facts to argue effectively.
A successful argumentative paper has the following structure:
To write a good, professionally-looking argumentative paper, it is necessary to possess knowledge on the subject and to research and analyze not only the pros but also the cons on the topic. The homework for writing argumentative essays is to prepare for the written debate where the writer should predict, know and refute counter-arguments. Then, they should argue a different position and provide enough evidence to uphold it and persuade the reader.
Before writing an argumentative essay, the writer should evaluate his/her knowledge of various topics and choose only those topics which they know what to write about. Furthermore, the writer needs to keep in mind that not all topics can be effectively argued and successfully used in argumentative essays.
The most popular topics for argumentative essays are those that clearly have different groups of supporters and opponents. There are supporter and opponents of abortion, supporter and opponents of euthanasia and supporters and opponents of drug legalization. Many students might be prompted to write about these topics, yet once they start, they already have a disadvantage. It is virtually impossible to impress a professor who has already read thousands of essays on abortion, euthanasia, drug legalization or gun control. One should also consider the background of the audience for whom the argumentative essay is written. If the chosen topic and writer's opinion differ widely from the generally accepted human beliefs, the professor might as well give a suboptimal grade for it.
CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAYS
Writing a Cause and Effect Essay is a more challenging endeavor than writing descriptive or narrative essays since this type of essay requires an advanced writing ability. The writer must clearly present the factual material and that differentiates cause and effect essay from narrative or descriptive essays. It is necessary for the writer to have profound research skills as cause and effect essays require the use of external sources rather than personal opinion. The essay should be written using the third person and never use the personal opinon in the body of the text. One should avoid using narrative writing style as it will point out writer's weaknesses and will not meticulously present their points of view. The writer should strive to convince the reader to accept the given cause-and-effect framework through accepting external references, evidence, facts and sources.
Cause and effect essays start with the presentation of a certain phenomenon, topic or trend. The writer should use professional writing style succinctly write on the chosen topic focusing on the topic's background. Depending on the topic of a Cause and Effect Essay it might be required for the writer to prove the existence of a certain topic before even mentioning it in the cause and effect essay.
The body of a cause and effect essay is all about building cause-and-effect relationships and providing supportive arguments and evidence. To make a professionally-looking essay, the writer should anticipate the reader's questions and possible objections to the writer's ideas. They should also provide exhaustively persuasive arguments to ascertain that the reader of a cause and effect essay accepts these arguments.
Cause and effect essays demand the use of professional writing style and consistency thorough consistency. It is necessary to present the material in a way that would be accepted by the targe audience. Absolutist and imposing expressions should be avoided. Since cause and effect essays require the use of quotations and references to uphold the writer's stance, the writer should avoid "common knowledge" materials and personal opinions. Cause and Effect Essay must be smoothly-flowing and properly referenced. It should be up-to-the-point, succinct and clear. Uncertainty and vagueness should be minimized. The writing style should remain professional, straight-forward and competent while the writer might add some humor to make the essay interesting to read.
CLASSIFICATION ESSAY WRITING
Classification Essays are written to place subjects or objects into various categories based upon some common factors supported by examples. Every classification essay starts with the identification of categories and factors related to these categories. For instance if it is necessary classify Custom Writing, one can place it into categories: business writing, college writing, high school writing, personal writing, etc. If it is necessary to classify universities one can classify them as foreign or American, public or private. The universities can be classified based on the language used in teaching, subject, degrees, number of students, location, formal regalia, etc.
Classification Essays have the following structure: introduction, thesis statement, body and conclusion. The thesis statement of a classification essay should describe the topic and identify classification categories. A sample thesis statement can be something like this: "The Armed Forces of the United States comprise the US Army, the US Navy, and the US Air Force". The writer should ascertain that the thesis statement of a classification essay presents all categories that will be discussed in the body of a classification essay. No critical classification should be missed. Thus if one writes a classification essay about cars one should mention sports cars, sedans, vans, trucks, SUVs or anything else one chooses to use as a classification category.
The writer of a Classification Essay should use logic and consistency throughout the essay. Each category should be supported with examples, while the most important category requires the most examples and elaboration. To write a successful classification essay, one should efficiently organize the studied topic into categories, adhere to the single classification principle used consistently throughout the essay, and use enough examples and logical support.
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST ESSAYS
Comparison and Contrast Essays are those that focus on the similarities and differences between certain related or unrelated objects, subjects, themes or categories. This type of essays assesses the student's ability to exercise judgment and note different sides of the issue, the pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages. Comparison and contrast essay writers know how to make better choices by assessing various alternatives and objectively comparing the options. Please refer use this essay writing tutorial to learn how to write comparison and contrast essays.
Comparison and contrast essays have several parts such as the introduction, the comparison part, the contrast part and the conclusion. The comparison part of the comparison/contrast essay focuses on effective presentation of the similarities, while the contrast part focuses on effective presentation of differences/contrasts between two subjects.
In order to choose a topic for comparison and contrast essays, the writer should keep in mind that the number of similarities and differences between two themes, object or subjects is limited only by his/her imagination. Therefore, Comparison and Contrast Essay can be about absolutely any topic comparing and contrasting anything. Certainly, in university settings one typically compares related themes or subjects.
Comparison and contrast essays require the writer to do their homework in order to present as many facts and observations as possible. It is better to start with a brainstorming technique to generate similarities and differences between two analyzed subjects. The results should be placed in a table to obtain something like this (Please note that the table below compares a high school to a university):
High School
Comparison and contrast essay starts with a brief description of both subjects and culminates in a thesis statement presented at the end of the introductory paragraph. After the first paragraph, comparison and contrast essays develop in one of the two ways:
- Divide the compared/contrasted subjects and speak about each of them in a separate paragraph.
- Present similarities and differences sequentially in paragraphs one after another.
Both structures are permitted for Comparison/Contrast Essays, yet it is the writer's choice to select the optimal structure to assure confusion-free reading and understanding by the target audience. Regardless of the subjects used in the essay, the writer should make the essay interesting and easy to read.The conclusion of a comparison and contrast essay summarizes the correlation between the two objects used in the essay and restates the thesis statement and the major points.
CONTROVERSIAL ESSAYS
A Controversial essay is an essay that addresses some hot, contentious and debatable issue whether or contemporary or not. Controversial essays, therefore, resemble argumentative essays because they both argue for or against a certain topic. A controversial essay is defined as an essay that argues only on a high-charged, provocative topic. At the same time, a controversial essay can take possess elements of an expository essay, i.e. the one that informs the readers or the audience about a certain controversial subject.
* Essay format:
Many students have a hard time writing controversial essays because these essays require students to deal with strong, taboo and cynical topics and as a result students may fail to see both side of the topic and therefore, fail to build their arguments and position properly. In this way, they will become personally involved in the topic or issue and as a result fail to incorporate the points from the other side. Many students may be scared of becoming the object of mockery, harassment and criticism if they take a side that goes against the conventional viewpoint. The hardest thing about writing controversial papers is to remain absolutely impartial during writing.
* Essay structure:
To create a successful controversial essay it is necessary to remain open to different sides of the issue and to remember that nothing is absolute. All opinions count, more or less, as long as they are supported with facts, reason and expert opinions. The writer’s success depends heavily on the writer’s ability to assert one’s opinion on the topic and support it with logic, expert opinion and sometimes appeals to emotion no matter what. One should not be afraid of offending the other side, and those opposing the topic. At the same time the writer needs to know all the facts and evidence that the opposing side uses to back up their claims and points of view in order to successfully refute those in the paper. It is by anticipating what the other party has to say, the writer can tailor the arguments to effectively refuse the opposition and back up one’s own stance.
Controversial essays are always about strong and emotionally-charged issues, such as racism, gay marriage, killings, politics, discrimination, limits of the freedom of speech, and money. These hot issues are frequently seen in political and social debates, so by keeping up with the modern trends, a student may easily pick the right topic. What makes these issues controversial is that frequently people support the extreme viewpoints, i.e. being on the different sides of the spectrum. A controversial essay, therefore, should never strive to find some centrist position that would accommodate the distinct points of view and to appease the opposing sides. It should stick with one of such extreme positions and debate it successfully. It takes courage, it takes guts.
Controversial essays, therefore always impose one point of view onto the others (readers) as outlined clearly in the thesis statement. The introductory paragraph and the thesis statement, thus, should be a door-in-the-face to the readers, making them open their mouths with the amazement and awe and continue reading it. Strong language is usually a part of a successful controversial essay, therefore one may use it without fear. Presenting a thesis statement in a strong language is what makes the issue more pressing and urgent and your position hot.
* Controversial essay writing tips *
A controversial essay, therefore, is one of the essays that is located on the very extreme of the argumentative-type essay scale. Without strong language and without strong adherence to a certain position concerning a pressing hot issue, it may become but an argumentative essay. Still what makes a controversial essay so powerful is not a writer’s rage but rather an ability to effectively structure the arguments, disarm and defeat the opposition and capitalize on its weaknesses. Every point of view should be supported with multiple examples, while the whole essay should never sound like a rant or a complaint. This type of essay should use sophisticated academic tone and be based on the logic and expert opinions colored with a strong language to win the debate and knock out the opposing side.
DEFINITION ESSAYS
Definition Essay Writing is about defining objects, ideas or topics. The writing style of a definition essay is similar to that of narrative or description essays in which the writer meticulously discloses peculiarities and attributes of the topic or idea one by one. The purpose of a definition essay is to give the readers a better understanding of the topic or idea. A definition essay should provide a more exhaustive definition than a typical dictionary would provide.
In order to write a good definition essay, the writer has to show profound understanding of the topic and apply professional style of writing. The writer should utilize external sources to reference the materials used in a definition essay. Dictionaries, encyclopedias as well as various articles, books and supplementary readings can be avoided in preparing a definition essay. The use of other sources must be properly referenced in accordance with the chosen citation style.
In a Definition Essay it is recommended to paraphrase the existing material and use quotations from reputable sources. The Writer should remain aware of different meanings that certain words and term possess and masterfully use them in the writing process. The essay outline should be used to organize the writer's thoughts and assure succinct and professional writing. All unnecessary, jaded phrases and meaningless statements such as "I am going to speak about" or "it is clearly understood" should be avoided. A successful definition essay should be short, easy to understand, and interesting to read.
DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS
A Descriptive Essay is a paper that describes some object, topic, phenomenon or event. Descriptive essays represent the description process put in succinct writing and comprise the introduction, the body and the conclusion.
A descriptive process involves the selection of an object of description, its objective assessment and further presentation in writing. To better describe an object or a topic, the writer might need to compare the described object to other objects that the reader might know. The writer should use expressive language, comparisons and contrasts, description of personal perceptions of the object based on (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory senses) human senses. The primary aim of a descriptive essay is to find and discuss the unique qualities of the object under assessment. These qualities, then need to be presented in a comprehensive and vivid manner to the reader without perverting the orginal meaning that the writer possesses.
The writer should always remember that regardless of the topic, object or phenomenon the writer chooses as a topic for a descriptive essay, the human subjectivity factor will constantly interfere with an objective description. Because humans are not perfect, each writer will observe the same topic, phenomenon or object differently. Each writer will place different degree of importance on different qualities and thus will present only his or her descriptive point of view. To reduce the influence of subjectivity, the writer should always start with describing objective factors like color, size, weight, and shape. Only after the writer runs out of subjective factors, she/he should use personal opinion as to smell, semi-hues, prettiness or ugliness.
A Descriptive Essay should always be interesting to read, so the writer should take into account the audience preferences. For instance, when describing a car to the technical crew, the writer should concentrate on the technical qualities of a car. When describing the same car to the designers, the writer might want to concentrate more on the car shape, the colors, elegance and ergonomics. When describing the same car to the customers, one would probably want to speak briefly about the technical and design characteristics, and concentrate more on the durability, gas consumption, price and extra features like hi-fi stereo, airbags or cup-holders. Technically, there are limitless ways to describe a single topic, object or phenomenon, yet due to a word limit that descriptive essays possess, the writer has to ration words and use descriptions that would be viewed as useful and interesting by the audience / readers.
The introductory paragraph of a descriptive essay includes a brief description of an object or phenomemon and presents some general features and the thesis statement. The body paragraph of a descriptive essay includes a detailed description of the features briefly mentioned in the introduction and capitalize on those that will keep the reader's attention to the maximum. The conclusion of a descriptive essay will summarize the stated information and restate the thesis statement presented in the introduction section.
EXPLORATORY ESSAYS
One of the most interesting peculiarities of Exploratory Essays is that the writer does not know the end of the essay and does not use authoritative statements to establish some conclusion. The writers do not have to let their personal feelings or opinions interfere with the development of the essay. On the other hand, they should establish a proper framework for a research to take place and stir up an inquisitive part of reader's mind. Exploratory Essay writing is meant to allow everyone to learn more, not to propagate some ideas.
The purpose of an Exploratory Essay is to create an inquiry rather than a meticulous presentation of facts. While an inquiry essay requires the writer to present arguments one after another, the exploratory essay requires writers to look at different solutions and arguments possible. Some of the most important elements of a successful exploratory essay are presented below:
Exploratory Essays usually are dialectical in their nature since they contribute to synthesis of contraries and are not focused on the end result (conclusion) but rather on the learning process.
PERSUASIVE ESSAYS
Persuasive essay writing relies on sound arguments and reason to promulgate a certain idea. Persuasive essays convince the reader that the presented idea is legitimate and correct. Persuasive essays besides promoting some ideas also call for some action, or strive to change the reader's point of view. Most students ask a question, "How do I write persuasive essay?" because they want to know how this particular type of essay needs to be written to obtain the highest grade in college. Persuasive essays are are different from other types of essays because their purpose is to alter the current state of mind of the readers and make them agree with the arguments of the writer.
A good writer must bear in mind the fact that without logical arguments, evidence, facts and appeal to reader's mind as well as soul it is impossible to write a persuasive essay. The writer should appeal to logic, emotion and authority and should provide logical evidence and appropriate examples in the essay to persuade a reader. It is necessary to demonstrate a strong stance and to remain loyal to it throughout the essay upholding it with necessary evidence and facts.
The evidence should be persuasive and convincing and the writer has to do much preliminary research to create a truly persuasive essay. The tone of this type of essay essay should be professional and somewhat authoritative, expressing the writer's competence, knowledge, experience and preparations. The use of statistical evidence is highly encouraged for its simple and powerful arguments. The writer has to be aware of proper use of statistical figures, data and information which when presented properly, will not overwhelm or distract the reader with superfluities. Also, in addition to using formal logic throughout the essay, the writer should periodically use appeals to emotions in order to turn the readers' emotions in the desirable direction and to better persuade them.
REFLECTION ESSAYS
Reflection essays are always assigned in colleges and universities to asses students' opinions, ways of thinking, cognitive and abstract abilities. Many students ask their professors how to write a reflection essay, so we provide this essay writing tutorial that provides reflection essay tips and recommendations. Also we provide custom writing services, so students can order a reflection essay to be prepared by professional writers.
Reflection essays express the writer's personal opinion on some selected piece of writing, event, or life experience. Reflection essays demonstrate the writer's attitude towards a selection topic, event or experience. The writers should use their senses, mind and logic to write an effective reflection essay that captivates readers and makes them want to read the paper attentively till the very last word. This is an example of a reflection essay! Reflection essays should not be focused purely on discussions and debates, yet rather on the exploration of new ideas, thoughts and opinions. Since a reflection essay is mostly subjective it should not use authoritative tone and should not force the readers to believe something. On the contrary, a reflection essay is a playground for effective presentation of ideas and subjective experiences of the writer. For instance, personal failures make an effective topic for reflection essays as they allow the writer to ponder over these failures, express feelings, and make subjective conclusions. Reflection essays allow writers to grow. Failure to enter college, failure to win a race, or failure to seduce a member of the opposite sex make the writer think about the true meaning of things, their importance and influence on his daily life. The writer can think about what benefits the failures provide and what can be done to avoid these failures in the future and to get the most from the status quo.
The topic of a reflection essay should be interesting to the reader and to the writer. A successful reflection essay should raise questions in the minds of readers as well as stir up emotions and desires to ponder on things discussed in the essay. The writer should split one major idea into topics or subtopics to assure coherent, smooth and interesting writing. Transition paragraphs of the reflection essay should separate topics and subtopics not to confuse the reader and explore all the ideas that the writer wants to present in the essay.
A successful reflection essay will get the reader involved in the writer's ideas, emotions, and experiences. Thus, it will use vivid writing style, various linguistic tools and careful audience analysis to engage the reader as much as possible.