The Academic Essay

1. What is an argumentative essay?
2. Why are essays so important?
3. What is the structure of an essay?
4. Are there different kinds of academic essays for different situations?
5. What different types of essay are there?

What is an argumentative essay?

When you argue with someone, you are able to make your points one after another, hear the other person’s views and then give more ideas and examples until you both agree. An argumentative essay details one side of an argument on paper.  You present a problem in the form of a statement or a question and think of solutions and examples. You organize these ideas into a clear structure so others can follow your thoughts.

Why are essays so important?

Essays are natural and convincing ways to argue. Magazine articles, letters to the editor, television documentaries, even television commercials and advertisements often use a simple essay structure. If you learn how to write a better essay, you will also become a better reader of essays. It can help you become more thoughtful and critical.

What is the structure of an essay?

Essays usually include an introduction that states the problem, followed by a body of examples and explanations and finally a conclusion that summarises your point of view and suggests some kind of action, general observation or prediction. In the Writing Machine we look at a simple five section structure essay.

Are there different kinds of academic essays for different situations?

Yes, there are many different kinds. The main difference is whether you use your own ideas exclusively, or whether you draw on the work of others. In an examination, you probably don’t have reference books with you, so you write an essay with examples from common knowledge or experience. In a research essay, you look through journals and books for ideas to support your arguments or collect new information through questionnaires and observation.  Other differences are to do with the type of arguments you make. 

What different types of essay are there?

In this resource we will not cover all the different kinds of essays, but for your reference, some other kinds of essays are:

Descriptive - telling what you (or others) know about a subject.
Explanatory - pointing out logical relationships.
Analytic - sub-dividing a topic into component parts.
Definitional - examining different interpretations of problematic terms.
Comparative - comparing different items e.g. pointing out similarities and differences.
Evaluative - assessing the relative merits of different items.
Argumentative - considering two sides of an argument in order to justify support for one.

It is also important that you understand that the function performed by the essay is not exclusive; there will be times when a single essay might perform multiple functions.