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Essay Types Notes

The document discusses the key differences between formal and informal essays. It notes that informal essays are usually in first person and draw from the author's personal experiences, while formal essays use third person and are more objective. Informal essays tend to be more subjective in tone, while formal essays maintain a more removed tone. The structure of informal essays can be more loose, while formal essays follow a rigid structure focused on developing a clear thesis. The purpose of informal essays is generally entertainment or gentle reflection, while formal essays aim to provoke thought or action. The document then outlines the four main types of essays as expository, narrative, argumentative, and persuasive.

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Lesley D Brown
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102 views

Essay Types Notes

The document discusses the key differences between formal and informal essays. It notes that informal essays are usually in first person and draw from the author's personal experiences, while formal essays use third person and are more objective. Informal essays tend to be more subjective in tone, while formal essays maintain a more removed tone. The structure of informal essays can be more loose, while formal essays follow a rigid structure focused on developing a clear thesis. The purpose of informal essays is generally entertainment or gentle reflection, while formal essays aim to provoke thought or action. The document then outlines the four main types of essays as expository, narrative, argumentative, and persuasive.

Uploaded by

Lesley D Brown
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Formal and Informal Essays

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. Characteristics Informal Essay Formal Essay
Usually first person, directly Usually uses third person
(Ljithor’s Viewpoint addresses the reader

Frequently drawn from life of the — More commonly drawn from shared
Subject/Content writer and everyday events historical events, or literature, or
Sources of Evidence other forms of knowledge
Frequently more personal and Tends to be removed from the
subjective; may be ironic, amusing, subject and appears objective; tends
Tone thoughtful, angry or serious to hold emotions in check and
expresses concerns though strong
arguments
Appears to be more loosely Follows a fairly rigid structure that
structured focuses on the development of one
Structure clear argument at a time, to support a
clearly stated thesis
May appear anywhere in the essay; Usually stated explicitly and generally
Location of Thesis may not be explicitly stated located in the first or second
paragraph.
A number of stylistic devices widely A number of stylistic devices widely
used to engage the reader; used to engage the reader;
Style vocabulary tends to be drawn from vocabulary tends to be more
everyday usage academic and may contain unfamiliar
words
Entertainment / gentle reflection Provokes thought and sometimes
(JurPose action

The Four Types of Essays

Whether they are formal or informal, essays can be divided into four basic types, depending on the writer’s purpose: to
explain, to recount a story, to argue for a position, or to persuade.

1. The expository essay describes or explains a topic. For example, an essay entitled “The Care and Maintenance
of a Bicycle” or “How to Tame a Dragon” would be an expository essay.

2. The narrative essay (recounting) uses a single, well-told story as the basis for drawing a conclusion, or making a
statement of opinion: “My Most Exciting Bicycle Adventure” or “Adventures in Training Dragons”.

3. The argumentative essay presents a reasoned series of arguments in support of a position and can either be a
literary or a research essay. “Is Lady Macbeth to Blame for Macbeth’s Downfall?” would be an example of the
literary essay, while “The Influence of Norse Mythology in Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings” would be an example of a
research essay.

4. The persuasive essay combines reasoned arguments with the emotion required to persuade the reader to take

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action. They may also include extensive research. “Save the Ozone: Leave Your Cars at Home” would be a
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