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WHAT IS AN
ESSAY?
1. An essay is...
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❖ a short literary composition on a

particular theme or subject, usually
in prose and generally analytic,
speculative, or interpretative.
(www.dictionary.com)
2. An essay is...
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❖ a piece of writing that is written to

convince someone of something or
to simply inform the reader about
a particular topic.
(www.evansville.edu/writingcenter)
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PARTS
OF
ESSAY
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A. Introduction
❖ 1. It must contain an
attention grabber for the
reader or at least make the
essay sound interesting.
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A. Introduction
❖ 2. It provides the reader
with a “road map” of the
essay in a logical order.
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A. Introduction
❖ 3. It presents a thesis
statement that states the
aim of the composition.
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B. Body
❖ 1. It relates the discussion
back to the thesis
statement.
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B. Body
❖ 2. It includes the evidence
and support of the paper in
addition to the author’s
ideas.
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B. Body
❖ 3. It ensures that
transition sentences are
present to create a good
flow to the essay.
 B. Body 12

❖ 4. It uses any of the following

methods of development: logical
order, chronological order, spatial
order, emphatic order (deductive or
inductive order), comparison and
contrast, cause-and-effect, etc.
A. Four Basic Types of Essay
1. Narrative Essay
2. Descriptive Essay
3. Persuasive Essay
4. Expository Essay
NARRATIVE ESSAY
A narrative essay tells a story about a
personal experience an individual had. It
uses all the story elements - beginning,
middle and ending, as well as plot,
characters, setting, and climax - bringing
them together to complete the story.
DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY
A descriptive essay describes
something - object, person, place,
experience, emotion, situation, etc. It
lets the writer to paint a picture in
words for the reader to imagine.
PERSUASIVE ESSAY
A persuasive essay attempts to get
the reader to agree with the writer’s
point of view by presenting arguments,
facts, and ideas in order to sway the
reader one way or the other.
EXPOSITORY ESSAY
An expository essay investigates and
expounds on an idea, evaluates evidence, and
sets forth a view concerning that idea in a
clear and concise manner. It tends to explain,
illustrate, clarify, or explicate something in a
way that it becomes clear for the readers.
B. Other Types of Essay
1. Research Essay
2. Admission/Application Essay
3. Scholarship Essay
4. Literary Essay
B. Other Types of Essay
5. Position Essay
6. Personal/Informal Essay
7. Process Essay
8. Comparison-and-Contrast Essay
B. Other Types of Essay
9. Reflection Essay
10. Exploratory Essay
11. Case Study
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SOME TIPS FOR IMPROVING

YOUR WRITING STYLE
1. Be direct in your writing.
2. Choose your words wisely.
3. Short sentences and paragraphs
are more powerful than long ones.
4. Always use the active voice.
 5. Review and edit your work.
6. Use a natural, conversational tone.
7. For stronger effects, use figures of
speech and figures of sounds.
8. Read famous authors for
benchmarking.
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SOME EFFECTIVE
WRITING TECHNIQUES