Types of Essays

    Essays are something we are learning to write in 3rd grade.  We touched upon essay writing in second grade, but this is the year that we perfect it!  Therefore, this page is devoted to the different parts of an essay.  The Connecticut Mastery Tests have an essay portion.  It is important for students to master the skill of writing these types of essays.

1. The Narrative Essay

Narrative Essays are essays that tell a story.  Memoirs fall under the category of narrative essays.  They can be fiction or non-fiction based.

The website below will give you some tips for writing good narrative essays.

www.roanestate.edu/owl/Describe.html

2. The Persuasive Essay

Persuasive Essays are meant to do just what they sound like: persuade.  The writer researches a topic, picks a side, and writes about it.  A crucial aspect of the persuasive essay is the opposing viewpoint, however.  Persuasive essays depend on facts; therefore they are more non-fiction based.  If you visit the link below, you will find some questions to ask yourself that will help you in your research.  Then you can take a proper stance in your wriitng.

www.roanestate.edu/owl/Persuasive.html

Here is a great example of how a Persuasive Essay is broken down, courtesy of timeforkids.com.  It explains, in detail, what is included in a good persuasive essay.

www.timeforkids.com/files/homework_helper/aplus_papers/PersuasiveSampler.pdf

3. The Expository Essay

The Expository Essay can be described as a branch of the persuasive essay.  However, expository writing can take the form of a "How-to" do something, comparing two similar subjects or objects, or talking about a historical event or on future possibilities.