In the academic field, writing a paper is as challenging as climbing a mountain. However, one of the things that most people fail to pay enough attention to is the detailed categorisation of content. Especially in the UK higher education environment, it has become a necessity to have excellent dissertation skills. The form and structure of an essay varies from subject to subject and speciality to speciality.
★Descriptive Essay
▲Descriptive Essay
This is an easy-to-understand essay format that is often used in the classroom.
▲Purpose
The purpose is to create empathy through in-depth portrayal of people, places, things or ideas.
▲Key features
Sets and highlights the tone of the essay and the specific scope of the description.
Make good use of adjectives to enhance descriptive power.
▲organisation pattern
Determine the main idea and focus of the article, and then establish a specific way of presenting it.
▲Point of view
Adopt an objective third-party tone.
★Compare& Contrast Essay
▲Compare&Contrast Essay
It focuses on the differences between objects and the idea of the obvious.
▲Purpose
To reveal a larger perspective by comparing and contrasting ideas in the text.
▲Key features
Observe and distinguish commonalities and individuality between objects in detail.
Perspective on 2-4 major components.
▲organisation pattern
Follow detailed paragraphs to form a theme and keep the paper clear, either in chunks (i.e., discussing the importance of each element in a theme at one time and then going deeper into the next theme) or point by point (starting at the first point and ending at the last point for each theme).
Point of view
Third-person narrative point of view.
★Analytical Essay
▲Analytical Essay
Focuses on capturing and paying attention to every tiny detail of the essay.
▲Purpose
The purpose of an analytical essay is to capture and focus on every little detail of the essay.
▲key features
Identify the core meaning of the text, not the summary conclusion, but explain and analyse its relevance.
▲organisation pattern
Establishes the theme and focus of the text, supported by 3 or more points of analysis and numerous examples of evidence in the text.
Appropriate citations are required.
▲Point of view
Take a natural, objective, third-person approach.
★Narrative Essay
▲Narrative Essay
This is an essay that tells a story brilliantly.
▲Purpose
To stimulate the reader’s interest with vivid descriptions.
▲Key Features
Use vivid, distinctive writing that establishes the main character and ignores unnecessary details.
▲organisation pattern
A fascinating beginning to open the curtain, break the unusual chronological order of the story, and the end of the derivation as a starting point, so that the value orientation of the article is clearly visible.
▲Point of view
Try to adopt an immersive first-person perspective, led by personal experience.
★Argumentative/Persuasive Essay
Argumentative/Persuasive Essay
The main task of this type of essay is to influence the teacher/reader’s opinion.
▲Purpose
To lead the teacher/reader to think about the ideas in the essay.
▲Key featuresKey features
Take a firm stand on controversial issues, show the diversity of the topic, and cite reliable research to substantiate the thesis.
▲Organisation pattern
Articulate a position, set up at least two supporting statements, list strong evidence, and add appropriate citations (may be subject to assignment requirements).
▲Point of view
Practice objective, truthful third-party exposition.
