Let's move on to one last type of essay, which is often written in high school, but also at university: the essay. According to Duden, the word can be masculine or neuter.
What kind of essays do you write at university?
Essays are written especially at university.
By the way, this is the Duden definition for this type of essay: "Treatise that deals with a literary or scientific question in a concise and demanding form."
The little word "challenging" says it all, writing an essay can be a real challenge! However, it is not necessarily supposed to be. Just visit writingpapersucks.com, and read some articles like the recently published unemployedprofessors.com review. Once you’re finished, you will be ready to place an order and relieve yourself of headaches.
Why? Well, unlike other forms of essays, there are no very clear rules about the structure and the content, it is rather a kind of thought experiment that you should let your readers participate in.
This means that you should think about a certain topic and present a new point of view. And if possible, you should do it on a high level and in an appealing language!
That is not so easy, but with the necessary exercises, you can learn that too. It is important that you read up well on the respective topic for your work. Podcasts and discussions (e.g. talk shows) can also help you to get to know different points of view and to form your own opinion on the topic.
If you are free to choose the topic, it is advisable to choose something from current events that has a general meaning (e.g. the climate strikes). Then you will have a good starting point for the introduction (why are you interested in the topic, why is it relevant?) and it will be easier for you to find material that will help you prepare.
By the way: An essay is usually not longer than 4-12 pages.
However, the most important thing is that your essay has a common thread. Yes, it is a thought experiment, but that doesn't mean that you write down randomly whatever comes to your mind. You should first think about what your position is, and then share with your readers how you came to that conclusion.
This sounds hard, but it's also fun because you get to present your own opinion in an eloquent way. And that, in turn, is something you'll need a lot later in life!
Hopefully, in this article, we were able to give you a good overview of what types of essays can be written in English, and what you need to keep in mind in each case. For more information on the different types of essays, please refer to the sub-articles on the respective topic.
Related resources:
Why is scientific writing important?
How to write an essay about gender?
For those who are just learning what academic writing is and how to master it