At least once in a lifetime, we all come across an essay: we read it in a literature class or even write it ourselves. This genre is quite flexible, so it can be adjusted for various purposes and used both in journalism (as a long-read format) and in an educational environment (as a short form of scientific text). We understand what the essence of this many-sided genre is and how to work in it.
What is an essay?
An essay is a literary genre in the form of which prose texts in a short form are created, usually taking up no more than five pages (but exceptions do occur). In the text, the author sets out their vision of some situation or issue, as a rule, relevant and topical. The author can express their opinion in free form; the essay does not imply a rigid composition, and the use of colloquial speech and even appeal to readers is welcome.
In terms of form, the essay is perceived as a light genre, it does not have many words and complex phrases, but at the same time, such a text can touch on deep and acute topics. This puts the essay genre between a journalistic article and a philosophical (or scientific) treatise. Unfortunately, not all students know how to express their opinion on acute topics – that’s why they start searching something like “pay someone to write your essay”. They receive paper samples that show them what arguments on this or that opinion to present and what to write on acute topics.
Essay history
The essay became an independent genre in the Renaissance thanks to the work of the French writer and philosopher Michel de Montaigne. In his collection “On Experience” or “Les Essais,” he reinforced his vision of the genre by comparing the writing of text close to colloquial speech with the natural process of thinking.
According to Montaigne, the essay genre allows a person to freely think about everything, to talk about “high” in a simple, everyday language. The very name of the genre is translated from the French essai as “an attempt, a test” and, according to scientists, goes back to the Latin exagium – “weighing” or “balance.”
The essay genre has evolved as the texts have become more accessible to the general public. This was facilitated first by the development of printing and its gradual reduction in price, and in recent decades, the Internet has become the engine of the genre, where everyone could leave their opinion and vision, whether it was a 2-sentence post or a 2-page reflection. In its natural habitat, close to journalism, an essay is still a dynamic form of text in which the author can express their subjective point of view and comment on events and trends, but this flexible genre has also penetrated into the field of education, and here it has undergone some changes.
How to write an argumentative essay
Today, many people encounter the essay format during studying and at the end of school: this genre is actively used in exams, and while studying at universities, students write such works all the time. In an essay, the author not only expresses their opinion on any topic but also argues it, gives examples, and refers to authoritative sources.
There is a “win-win” scheme for an academic essay; it is recommended for both the exams and other formats. The text is built from three large blocks:
Introduction
Since the essay is a journalistic genre, no matter how deep the text is, it should be of interest first of all. It depends on the introduction whether the reader wants to get acquainted with the essay further. In this part of the text, you need to describe in plain language what you will talk about on the next five pages: what event struck you so much that you wanted to write about it? Most importantly, immediately describe your point of view and key position regarding the main topic of the text.
For example, if you are writing an essay about how cats rule the world, you could talk about how your cat makes you wake up to work every morning to buy it shrimp and trout food in the evening. You can also mention if your text claims to be scientific; if so, mention in support of your words how you conducted your research, whether you communicated with experts, and what methods you used.
Main part
This is the largest and most voluminous part of the essay. In it, you give your key theses, examples, and arguments. Here you can link to other authors or your own research, quote, or tell funny stories from life. To prevent the text from turning into an idle wandering between stand-up and writing to a mysterious stranger, start with key points. For an academic essay, you need 2-3 of them, you can have more if you are a student, but if you are writing for yourself, then you can not limit yourself to some numbers. The main thing is to keep the logic of the story.
Going back to the cat essay example, you can make two statements to support your main point. For example, cats cannot be trained and generally do not perceive people as owners. Here, as an argument, research from the field of zoology will help you. Then you can give a second thesis, such as mentioning how many people spent half their salary on an emotionally distant furry roommate who, despite all the toys and treats, shamelessly tore up the sofa and ate half of the houseplants.
Conclusion
In this part, you briefly recall what your main idea was and how the body of the essay confirms it. After that, you can mention what other problems or points of contention have opened up to you in the process of writing an essay. For example, should cat people be at war with dog people, or why do some cats treat their owners with loyalty and some — like servants? Show that the topic you are considering is viable and can be relevant, especially if you are not writing about cats.
Follow our advice to write your argumentative essay effortlessly.
About the Author/s
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.
