The essay is a literary genre in which the author deals freely with a subject, expressing his opinion based on a structure of approach, development and conclusion.
What is an essay? In this quick guide we will discuss what an essay should contain and what are the characteristics that are required of its structure and each of its parts, with examples to understand how to write a correct essay:
- what is an essay
- What should an essay contain?
- What is the structure of the literary essay
- How to structure a written essay with examples
The essay is one of the literary genres that allows the author the most freedom. It is true that it presents a rigid structure in three parts, but it is one of the most open vehicles of written expression that exists.
Characteristics of a trial
Essays are a type of personal texts, but aimed at the general public. They are brief but they deal with one or several ideas regarding a subject in depth, although always from a unique perspective: that of the author. They are rigorous in the data they collect, but subjective in that they express opinions. All this makes them a type of text that is pleasant to read, but with great intellectual complexity.
- They are subjective: they express the opinions, ideas, criticisms or feelings of the author.
- They are aimed at the general public: they are entertaining and they are written so that everyone can understand them, within a context.
- They are brief, although they do not have a marked extension.
- They are based on verifiable data, although the interpretations made of them are subjective.
- They have a very marked 3-part structure, although otherwise they are completely free.
Types of essays
Depending on the tone of the essay, its purpose and the matter it deals with, it can be considered that a writing in which the author develops his ideas without being an expert on the subject, is a literary, scientific, critical, descriptive, descriptive essay, opinion, argumentative, philosophical, economic:
- Literary essay : it is the best known. Its objective is to pour substantiated opinions on a literary work.
- Scientific test : it is the most specific. It answers a question of a scientific nature, follows a closed structure, and is very rigorous.
- Philosophical essay : it is the most reflective. His subjects are philosophy, ethics, morality, religion.
- Descriptive essay : it is the most thorough. It can be a type of scientific, literary or philosophical essay, in which the author exposes all the information that exists on a subject to explain its evolution. It is used to analyze phenomena, case studies, historical developments.
- Critical essay : it is the most personal. It serves to argue, through specific facts, the author’s opinion (with a positive or negative criticism in this regard) about an event, a topic, a situation.
All types of essays have in common that in them the author uses argumentative lines based on facts, from which he justifies the ideas expressed through the essay.
What to put in an essay introduction
The introduction of an essay supposes the presentation of the topic to be dealt with, the approach that is going to be given and the lines of argument that are going to be followed.
What to put in the development of an essay
The development of an essay is the most complex (and long) part. In it, the author carries out an in-depth analysis of the subject, developing each of the argument lines presented in the introduction, and generating a main idea for each of them. To do so, he must use reliable sources that provide objective data.
Use of objective sources
The development must be easy to read and understand, as well as being enjoyable for the reader: with clear and well-expressed ideas, with a coherent tone for all the arguments.
The conclusion of an essay contains the synthesis of the author’s main idea, the one he wants to emphasize over the rest of those expressed.
The organizational structure essay
The organizational structure essay is one of the most widespread resources when designing a company from scratch. It consists of starting from the organization of its structure to meet its objectives. The essay structure is used, in three parts, for the process.