English
What you write is in the content, and how you write is in the strategy.
Essays are a composition written from a personal point of view.
Purpose and Voice
An author almost always has a reason for writing something—an effect he or she intends to have on the reader. Some of the most common purposes, and the types of written works associated with these purposes, are listed below.
Entertain by creating a story that elicits an emotional reaction of enjoyment in the reader. Examples include comedies, dramas, musicals, operas, and novels.
Persuade by attempting specifically to make a convincing argument for or against something in the hope that the reader may change his or her mind. Examples include persuasive essays, logical arguments, and editorials.
Inform by providing details, facts, figures, and other information required to give a reader a better understanding of a topic. Examples include documentaries, textbooks, articles, essays, monographs, and historical fiction.
Evaluate by targeting a particular object, concept, or artistic or written work for analysis with the goal of proving, disproving, clarifying, reviewing, or judging the relative merits of that target. Examples include review, analysis, response, rebuttal, literary criticism, and legal criticism.
Think about your purpose for writing (beyond fulfilling a class requirement!) as you choose topics and write your own essays.
Voice is an author's use of language that allows a reader to see the author's personality. Elements of voice include tone, diction, sentence variety, sentence structure, and transitions. Keep them in mind as you write your own essays.
Tone. The tone of a piece of writing reflects the writer's feelings. For example, the tone could be serious, humorous, playful, ironic, sarcastic, or objective. A writer's tone depends on the audience. A college application essay might require a different tone than an editorial letter.
Diction. Diction is an author's choice of words. A writer's
Essays are a composition written from a personal point of view.
Purpose and Voice
An author almost always has a reason for writing something—an effect he or she intends to have on the reader. Some of the most common purposes, and the types of written works associated with these purposes, are listed below.
Entertain by creating a story that elicits an emotional reaction of enjoyment in the reader. Examples include comedies, dramas, musicals, operas, and novels.
Persuade by attempting specifically to make a convincing argument for or against something in the hope that the reader may change his or her mind. Examples include persuasive essays, logical arguments, and editorials.
Inform by providing details, facts, figures, and other information required to give a reader a better understanding of a topic. Examples include documentaries, textbooks, articles, essays, monographs, and historical fiction.
Evaluate by targeting a particular object, concept, or artistic or written work for analysis with the goal of proving, disproving, clarifying, reviewing, or judging the relative merits of that target. Examples include review, analysis, response, rebuttal, literary criticism, and legal criticism.
Think about your purpose for writing (beyond fulfilling a class requirement!) as you choose topics and write your own essays.
Voice is an author's use of language that allows a reader to see the author's personality. Elements of voice include tone, diction, sentence variety, sentence structure, and transitions. Keep them in mind as you write your own essays.
Tone. The tone of a piece of writing reflects the writer's feelings. For example, the tone could be serious, humorous, playful, ironic, sarcastic, or objective. A writer's tone depends on the audience. A college application essay might require a different tone than an editorial letter.
Diction. Diction is an author's choice of words. A writer's