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Types of Essays: How to Identify and Write Each One


AuthorAsena Çakmak
Date2025-02-26
Reading Time6 Minutes

Essays are one of the most important aspects of academic writing. Whether you want to showcase your academic expertise or plan to join your dream college, you must know how to write an effective essay. However, the process is easier said than done.

You need to educate the readers about a specific topic. Thus, your essay has to be super personalized. In this article, we will discuss different types of essays. We will share some tips on how to write and identify the most accurate structure possible. We will also show you how Eskritor – an AI content writer tool – can help you write a brilliant essay effectively.

What Are The Main Types of Essays?

There are mainly 4 types of essays. When you know them properly, it will prove beneficial in identifying essay structures. Not to mention, you can also use tones and words more accurately.

  1. Descriptive Essays: A descriptive essay uses sensory details to help readers visualize a subject.
  2. Narrative Essays: A narrative essay tells a personal story using various elements to engage with readers.
  3. Expository Essays: An expository essay provides a clear topic explanation through examples and evidence.
  4. Persuasive Essays: A persuasive essay convinces readers of your viewpoint using logical arguments.

1. Descriptive Essays

Coming first is the descriptive essay writing guide, where you will use proper language to describe a place or event using the five senses. The primary goal of descriptive essays is to create a vivid picture in the minds of the readers. Unlike other writing types, the sensory details within a descriptive essay will help the readers feel an emotional connection. Thus, your readers will visualize the subject.

Example: On weekends, I like to go to the beach. The gentle waves touch my feet and I feel that warm salty water. The slightly warm sunlight and the sound of waves crashing into shore were like music to my ear. The sea from the beach may look small. But there is a whole different civilization underneath it. I will give anything just to experience it once.

2. Narrative Essays

As the name suggests, narrative essays are where you will write a story. This type of academic essay writing usually focuses on personal experiences. You have to pay attention to the introduction and character development part. Some other narrative essay tips include a time, a place, a plot, and a theme. You also need to be aware of a conflict, dialogue, and point of view.

Example: I always used to spend money unnecessarily. But recently, I became jobless. My credit card debt piled up and I had no way of paying the money back. However, after 3 months, I got another high-paying job and paid all the credit card debt. This experience taught me the importance of saving money and spending rationally.

3. Expository Essays

The expository essays showcase a clear explanation of the topic. You need to have proper topic knowledge to organize and convey the information. You also need to include facts and examples to back up your claims. Your expository essay should start with a strong thesis statement and structured academic essay formats. You need to maintain a neutral tone without any emotional language.

Expository Writing Example: After introducing renewable energy, things changed quite a lot worldwide. IEA stated that solar power generated more electricity than hydropower in 2024. That is not surprising, given the benefits of renewable energy. For starters, there will be little to no carbon emissions, leading to less polluted air. Renewable energy is also more affordable than fossil fuels due to stable market conditions.

4. Persuasive Essays

In Persuasive essay writing, you need to convince the readers of your personal opinion on a specific subject. Persuasive essays need logical arguments with an emotional appeal to persuade the audience to your viewpoint. You also need to include solid evidence to strengthen your claim.

Example: School students suffer from hopelessness. To address this, schools should implement a four-day school week to improve student performance. The current five-day school week results in severe burnout. However, students will face less stress and burnout with a four-day week.

How to Identify the Structure of Each Essay Type

You need to know how to identify the structures of different types of essays. This will not only help you understand the essay but also allow you to write with confidence.

  1. Descriptive Essay Structure: A descriptive essay uses sensory details to create vivid imagery.
  2. Narrative Essay Structure: A narrative essay tells a story, either fiction or nonfiction.
  3. Expository Essay Structure: Expository writing explains a specific idea or subject with a neutral tone.
  4. Persuasive Essay Structure: Persuasive essay writing showcases your opinion using logical arguments.

1. Descriptive Essay Structure

Descriptive essay structures are where you will create a vivid image of what you describe in your essay.

2. Narrative Essay Structure

A narrative essay must tell a plot or story. You can use either fiction or nonfiction for your essay. Some important characteristics of a narrative essay include plot, character, setting, conflict, and point of view.

3. Expository Essay Structure

Expository writing usually explains a specific idea or subject. You will neither include your opinion nor tell a story. Your voice has to be neutral while providing information or facts about the topic.

4. Persuasive Essay Structure

Persuasive essay writing is where you will convince the readers of your opinion. You need to use reason and logical arguments. This way, you can show your idea is more legitimate than the other.

How Eskritor Simplifies Essay Writing

Writing an essay from scratch is quite challenging. However, AI can help you write an essay easily. In fact, as per Salesforce, 75% of users plan to use generative AI to automate work-related tasks. Introducing Eskritor, an AI content writer that uses modern artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to generate texts. Here is how Eskritor can help you write different types of essays.

  1. Generate Essay Drafts with AI: Eskritor generates various essay drafts to simplify the writing process.
  2. Refine and Edit Content: Eskritor also offers powerful content editing features to refine your essay.
  3. Overcome Writer's Block: Eskritor generates fresh article ideas based on your topic and keywords.
  4. Improve Essay Flow and Structure: Eskritor organizes paragraphs and creates engaging introductions and conclusions.
  5. Save Time and Effort: Eskritor can streamline the writing process to save time and effort.

Content writer interface with AI credit counter
AI writing tool with input form for persuasive essays targeting C-suite execs.

1. Generate Essay Drafts with AI

As mentioned above, the AI article writer will help you generate any essay draft you want. Even if you do not know how to write descriptive essays for academic writing, Eskritor will help you. Apart from that, this platform can also write narrative, expository, and persuasive essays. Just mention what type of essay you want, and the AI will handle everything.

You can also mention details like tone, theme, target audience, dialogue, plot, etc. Moreover, you can also choose the language and essay length. To ensure your essay sounds relevant, Eskritor asks you the tone of voice you want it to follow. You can then choose any tone, and voila – your essay is ready.

Rich text editor with formatting options
Pro text editor with persuasive essay guide, word count, and formatting tools.

2. Refine and Edit Content

Another excellent feature of Eskritor is its content editing and refining. The AI will ensure your content is free from grammatical and spelling mistakes. This platform provides a dedicated space for grammar and spelling fixes. Just paste your content to get a more refined output. You can also make your text shorter or longer at your convenience.

If you need any summarization for your essays, just click the Summarize option, paste your text, and you will get your results. Additionally, you can organize and improve texts to boost overall readability. Thanks to this platform, you can remove redundant sentences and convert passive sentences to active ones.

Article topic generator with keyword input
AI article idea generator with topic input and primary keyword selection.

3. Overcome Writers' Block

Every writer is afraid of writer's block. And truth be told, overcoming writer's block is harder. Just staring at your laptop screen with nothing in mind to write is a nightmare. Fortunately, Eskritor can help you overcome writer’s block. It is particularly helpful if you are looking for fresh article ideas.

The AI will ask you for the article topic and primary keywords to provide relevant blog ideas. The thesis statement generator and outline generator will get you started. However, ensure you also include your personal opinion to make your essays more personalized. This strategy will help you stand out from the crowd.

Descriptive essay result preview
Generated essay preview on descriptive writing for C-suite execs, plus rating system.

4. Improve Essay Flow and Structure

Maintaining a proper flow is as important as writing a catchy introduction. You do not want your essay to sound too boring to read. Instead, you want the audience to read your essay without skipping any vital part. The best way to capture the audience's attention is by writing an engaging essay.

Eskritor can make your paragraphs more organized for the readers. Moreover, Eskritor will help you create engaging introductions and conclusions. In the case of an introduction, this platform will ask you to paste the article. The format is the same for the conclusion generator.

5. Save Time and Effort

Eskritor is designed to save you time and effort. Instead of spending hours brainstorming content ideas, this platform will help you do it instantly. Once you have an idea, you can easily get started with the rest of the essay. Also, you do not need to waste time editing and proofreading your essays. Just paste your content; this AI content writing platform will check everything.

Tips for Writing Effective Essays

Writing different types of essays should not be a difficult task. Here are some excellent essay-writing tips to help you write a brilliant essay with minimal editing:

  1. Plan Before You Write: Having a clear plan helps save time and ensures you stay focused.
  2. Focus on Clarity and Precision: Write clearly and directly, avoiding filler, jargon, and complex vocabulary.
  3. Support Arguments with Evidence: Include evidence-based facts in your writing.
  4. Use Sensory Details with Evidence: Descriptive essays must feature sensory details relevant to the subject.
  5. Revise and Edit: Always proofread your essay multiple times to rectify mistakes.

Plan Before You Write

Having a proper plan will help you save time when it comes to brainstorming and writing the essay. You will have a clear direction and not write anything random.

Focus on Clarity and Precision

Whatever you write, you must write it directly without any filler or jargon. Do not use complicated and confusing vocabulary and sentences. Instead, your writing pattern should be simple.

Support Arguments with Evidence

Like scientific reports, try to include as many evidence-based facts as possible. Additionally, when backing your facts, make sure you use trusted sources.

Use Sensory Details for Descriptive Essays

Make sure you always include sensory details for descriptive essays. This means you are showing how something looks, along with its touch, smell, sound, taste, etc.

Revise and Edit

Never overlook the importance of revising and editing. There will always be some mistakes. Proofread your essay to correct those mistakes, especially when writing persuasive essays. Many people use AI to generate, edit, and revise content. A 2024 study by Statista revealed that 42% of people use AI tools to generate content.

Conclusion: Master Essay Writing with the Right Tools

Understanding the different types of essays explained in this article will benefit you. You will have a more precise strategy and know the necessary essay-writing techniques. And if you do need assistance, Eskritor has your back. From essay creation and editing to brainstorming ideas, Eskritor can simplify the entire process. Try Eskritor today.

Frequently Asked Questions

In a discursive essay, you will discuss the topic without fluff to educate the readers. You do not need to convince them of anything. Meanwhile, the argumentative essay is where you will argue with solid ground. You will provide facts and evidence to convince the readers.

A thesis statement showcases the topic you are discussing in your essay. It will come at the end of the introduction part. It is primarily used to create interest so that readers can continue reading the essay.

Here are a few excellent sample expository writing topics: The importance of technology in modern education, the impact of climate change, the benefits of regular exercising, and why relocation can affect the mental health of a child.

The pivot sentences will not appear at the beginning of the essay. In fact, you need to use such sentences in the middle. It will indicate that you are addressing a counterargument in your essay. Using a platform like Eskritor will ensure you are using pivot sentences perfectly.