Writing and Assignment Learning Journal: The Four Main Types of Essay

The first major essay we will work on together in class will be a narrative essay. The other three will include an expository essay, an analysis essay, and an argumentative essay.

These are four of the most common types of essays because telling stories, explaining, analyzing, and persuading are the most common ways we use writing to communicate with others inside school and beyond the classroom walls. Narrative essays are distinct from other forms of writing because they generally focus on a dramatic situation that the writer has personally encountered and wishes to share with someone else for a specific reason. Along the way, the writer must narrate in detail the elements of the story, including the setting (where and when the action took place), the characters (who did what to whom), and the action (what took place).

The writer must also provide the reader with sensual detail (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and other sensations) as well as the emotions, attitudes, and thoughts of the main characters, including the narrator. In other words, the writer is obligated to make the story come to life in as many ways as possible, so that the reader can see and understand what the writer experienced. Thus, for your first assignment, compose at least a three page narrative essay in response to one of the prompts below.

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Purpose: Tell about an event that helped you understand your cultural identity. Tell about an event that helped you learn how to value your parent(s) or a friend. Tell about an event in the last two or three weeks that caused you to change your preconceptions about college life.

Audience: A friend, a member of your family, an important person in your cultural community, or readers of the school newspaper. Your family, your friends, or the readers of the school newspaper. Your friends, family, seniors in high school who are planning to come to school, or readers of the school newspaper.

What conclusions would you want your audience to draw? What response would you want them to have to your story?

Narrative essays are similar to stories, except that the setting, characters, and events are true. Narrative essays are also similar to stories because they follow the same structure; that is, narrative essays have a chronological structure that:

1. begins with an introduction of the setting and the main characters,
2. moves from one event to the next,
3. includes a conflict or climactic moment,
4. and then reaches a resolution of the conflict.

Traditionally, a narrative plot or story line is represented as follows: Narrative Openings

Opening 1: Give reader detailed description of the scene where the first event in story takes place. The cool autumn breeze jostled the leaves in the maple high above the dew-covered lawn.

As I walked out into the yellow dawn light, a squirrel scampered across the sidewalk and wound himself up the maple. I bent to pick up the daily news, and he chattered his complaints at me. I must have interrupted his morning rounds. Suddenly, I heard the telephone ring from the house. Who could be calling so early?

Opening 2: Start in media res with dialogue. Let reader hear significant dialogue from significant encounter in story. Then begin the story. “I just can’t believe this is happening to me,” Dan said. He was obviously upset. His voice sounded hoarse and strained. “What do you want me to do? I could drive over and be there in a couple of hours,” I offered. “Yes, why don’t I drive over. It won’t take me long. ” “Well, uh. I don’t know. ”

Then there was a long silence at his end of the line. I tried to imagine what he was feeling, but I couldn’t. I hadn’t seen him or talked to him in three years. “Dan? ” “Yeah, come on. I think I’ll need your help. How soon can you be here? ” “Two hours. I’m on my way. I’ll leave here now. ” I guess it wasn’t so odd that he called me. We were the closest friends not that long ago.

Opening 3: Start in media res with description of scene. Give reader detailed description of the scene of significant event, briefly hint at event, and then begin the story. The traffic was snarled, and the air thickened with brown blowing dust and gray exhaust.

The blinding sun sunk just ahead, and I dropped my visor so that I could focus on the string of red brake lights in front of me. Stop and go, stop and go. Somewhere in the distance, twisted metal, broken glass, and snapped necks stalled this three-lane, rush hour torture. I was late to meet Dan and wondered if he was feeling snarled, twisted, broken, snapped, stalled, and tortured as well.

Opening 4: Relate your specific story to a familiar story. Unfortunately, we’re all too familiar with the trouble men have with women and women with men. Boy meets girl. Boy woos girl. Boy gets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy calls best friend. Same with girls. Girl meets boy. Girl woos boy.

And so forth. TV sitcoms are filled with such stuff. First attractions, eventual breakups, and best friends consoling one another. Seems like we would have learned how to get out of this mess by now. But no.

The second major essay we will work on together in class will be an expository essay. The first was a narrative essay, and the next two will include an analysis essay and an argumentative essay. These are four of the most common types of essays because telling stories, explaining, analyzing, and persuading are the most common ways we use writing to communicate with others inside the University and beyond.

Expository essays are distinct from other forms of writing because they generally focus on explaining a concept or process through definition, analysis, classification, or comparison/contrast. In other words, expository essays are intended to clarify a concept or process through explanation.

Thus, for your second assignment, compose a three-page, typed expository essay in response to one of the prompts below.

1. Purpose: Think about a process or procedure that you know very well and perform successfully. Perhaps you are an expert in this process and could teach it in detail to someone you know. Explain this process so that someone else could perform it following your instructions. Audience: Someone who would benefit from learning this process.
2. Purpose: Taking a humorous approach, explain in a how to successfully fail at something. For example, you might describe the procedures for failing at friendship, or at studying, or at writing a college essay, or at being a dorm roommate, or being a teammate, or being a son or daughter. There may be other “procedures” you wish to explain. Audience: Readers of the school newspaper.
3. Purpose: Describe someone you know who has helped you understand how to be successful in some aspect of your life. Who is this person and what have they taught you? Audience: Readers of the school newspaper.
4. Purpose: How would you define the characteristics of “a successful person”? In other words, complete this sentence: “I believe a successful person demonstrates the qualities of …….. ” Also provide examples that clarify your definition. How do these examples fit the characteristics in your definition? Audience: Readers of the school newspaper.
5. Purpose: Contrast two definitions of success. In our culture, many definitions for success compete for our attention. What do you take to be the best definition? Why is this the best? What do you take to be a flawed definition for success? Why is it flawed? Audience: Readers of the school newspaper. Organizational Strategies for Expository Essays In expository essays, writers bring clarity and detail to procedures and concepts.

They usually begin by introducing a general process or idea. They then proceed paragraph by paragraph by providing specific examples and evidence to help their readers better understand the steps or qualities of these procedures and concepts. Identify the process, your expertise, and why audience would benefit from learning this process. General claim about concept, and your specific definition

The third major essay we will work on together in class will be an analysis essay. The first essay was a narrative essay, the second was an expository essay, and the fourth essay will be an argumentative essay.

These are four of the most common types of essays because telling stories, explaining, analyzing, and persuading are the most common ways we use writing to communicate with others inside the University and beyond. Analysis essays are distinct from other forms of writing because they generally focus on explaining the relationships between the whole and its parts.

In the case of analysis, the writer of the essay explains how another author uses his or her craft to promote his or her larger purpose, whether it be a story, political speech, editorial, or advertisement. Instead of telling a story (as in a narrative) or explaining a process that the writer already knows (as in an expository essay), the writer in the case of an analysis focuses on examining something new.

In other words, instead of focusing on knowledge “inside” the writer, the writer must focus on knowledge “outside” or beyond the writer’s previous experiences. Thus, for your third assignment, compose a four-page, typed essay in response to one of the two prompts below.

1. Purpose: Analyze Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha by providing your reader a brief biographical description of Hesse, summarizing the main action of the novel, detailing some of the main topics of the novel, describing Hesse’s use of literary form, and concluding with a discussion of what kind of reader(s) might best appreciate the novel. Audience: Someone who has not read the novel and would find value in it.
2. Purpose: Select and analyze two stories by Frances Khirallah Noble by providing your reader a brief biographical description of Noble, summarizing the main action of the stories, detailing some of the main topics of the stories, describing Nobel’s use of literary form, and concluding with a discussion of what kind of reader(s) might best appreciate the stories. Audience: Someone who has not read the stories and would find value in them.

In either case, you should provide evidence from the novel or stories to support your analysis. See information on quoting and citing sources in the mini-lesson packet.

Recommended Organizational Strategy for Analysis Essay:

1. Introduction: a creative introduction that draws reader’s attention
2. Brief biography of author
3. Summary of main action
4. Main topics
5. Literary form
6. Conclusion: remarks on what kind of reader(s) might best appreciate novel or stories

The fourth and final major essay we will work on together in class will be an argumentative or persuasive essay. The first essay was a narrative essay, the second was an expository essay, and the third essay was an analysis essay. These are four of the most common types of essays because telling stories, explaining, analyzing, and persuading are the most common ways we use writing to communicate with others inside the University and beyond.

Argumentative or persuasive essays are distinct from other forms of writing because writers generally focus on an issue or problem that they share with their readers and attempt to provide a specific point-of-view or solution. We might also think of this kind of essay as a problem-solving essay. Thus, for your fourth assignment, compose a three-page, typed essay in response to the prompt below.

Purpose: Select a specific problem related to your experience at Saint Xavier this year. This problem may have to do with student life, housing, registration, parking, scheduling of classes, course offerings, school activities, sporting events, or student resources like the library or computer labs, but it must be a problem that you know other students have encountered as well.

Audience: Compose an editorial for the student newspaper or a letter to the President of the University in which you describe the problem in detail and offer a specific solution.

Recommended Organizational Strategy for Persuasive Essay:

1. Introduction: discussion of values and concerns University already promotes
2. Description of problem and who it affects
3. Real and possible consequences of problem
4. Possible solutions to problem
5. Best solution to problem and why it’s best
6. Conclusion: discussion of how best solution supports values and concerns

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