An essay is a short piece of writing that discusses, describes or analyses a topic. It can discuss a subject directly or indirectly, seriously or humorously. It can describe personal opinions, or just report information. An essay can be written from any perspective, but are most commonly written in the first person (I), or third person (subjects that can be substituted with the he, she, it, or they pronouns).
There are many different kinds of essays. The following are some of the most common ones:
Descriptive Essays:
A descriptive essay is exactly what it sounds like. In this type of essay, you will be asked to describe something. This type of essay allows for much more artistic freedom as the main idea is to create an image in the reader’s mind.
While there is no exact format for this essay, there are some guidelines you should consider following as they will help you write a better descriptive essay.
Brainstorm before you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. If your topic involves describing your dream last night, you’ll want to start jotting down specific details about it. For example, if you dreamed about your family you’ll want to write down who in your family.
Write down descriptive words in relation to the details that you will likely use in your essay. Again, you’re going to want to paint a picture in your reader’s mind so writing a sentence that says, “My cousin was in my dream” is not going to give your reader any kind of image. However, if you describe your cousin in more detail – using hair colour, eye colour, or even skin tone – will give your reader a better image.
Don’t forget that you have more than just the sense of sight. If you were describing a day at the beach, you would want to include more than what you saw. Include things you smelled, what you touched, sounds you heard, and things you tasted.
Emotions and feelings play a key role in description too. However, it’s important that you