There Are Four Basic Types of Essays

1) Narrative Essay

A narrative essay is basically the telling of a story. This is a story that must have a point to it, a reason or a purpose; do not leave the reader wondering what happened or why you are relaying the story. You might be telling the "story," for example, of something funny that occurred on the night of your graduation or twenty-first birthday party was your most memorable one. The telling of this story can be either retold objectively, like a recounting of an historical event, in which case you would tell it from the third person point of view, or subjectively, as in a personal story, which would be told from the first person point of view. When writing a narrative, you should keep the events listed in order of occurrence to avoid confusion. You should also use lots of details to describe the setting and make your characters believable.  If you use dialog in the narrative, make sure that it makes sense and that is is punctuated correctly. This is the one occasion when it is appropriate to write in the past tense.    

2) Descriptive Essay

A descriptive essay is an essay that evokes a picture of a person or an item through its vivid use of descriptive words. It is used to inform or convince a reader of something, so before you begin writing, you must know the reason or purpose of your paper. A descriptive essay must use many, specific details. You should appeal to all the reader's senses--the senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. This will make the words come to life in the reader's mind. A descriptive essay should be written much like an artist would paint, with great attention to details and with words that will bring the work to life.

3) Persuasion or Argumentation Essay

An argumentation or persuasion essay is an attempt to convince your reader to agree with your point of view. An effective argumentation paper acknowledges and counters the opposing point of view with logic and respect at all times. You must always maintain a positive attitude and avoid trivial, irrelevant, or extravagant claims. There are several different formats for an argumentative paper, so be sure to check with your instructor about the format he/she prefers.

4) Expository Essay

An exposition essay is one in which the main purpose of the paper is to explain something or to inform the reader about something. It is basically considered to be factual writing. This can be done in a number of ways; therefore, it is important to completely understand the purpose of the paper before writing it. Below is a list of the different types of expository essays:

Exemplification Essay. The exemplification essay uses examples to illustrate or explain something. Examples work best in an essay that is written to support something, clarify something, or to promote interest in a certain subject. They work well if you want to persuade the reader.

Process Analysis Essay. The process analysis essay explains the steps needed to complete a procedure, process, or particular task. This is often referred to as a "how to" essay, in which you explain how something is done; for example, you might write about how to construct a birdhouse. In this essay, you must first identify materials or tools that are needed for the task, and then chronologically sequence the steps to be followed. You may also explain how something was done; for example, you might explain how you or someone you know trained to run a marathon. You must explain the steps so that anyone reading the paper can clearly understand the procedure.

Compare/Contrast Essay. A third type of exposition essay is the compare and/or contrast essay. The thesis statement of this paper is how you feel about the subjects, and the body explains how you arrived at this opinion. This essay may be written in two different patterns. The first pattern is point by point. In this format you compare the two subjects in each paragraph, using the points you are making about the subjects as the topic for each paragraph. You will have three body paragraphs, and both subjects will be mentioned in all three body paragraphs.

        Thesis: A Ford is much better than a Chevrolet.

        Point 1: Looks

                A. Ford

                B. Chevrolet

        Point 2: Durability

                A. Ford

                B. Chevrolet

        Point 3: Maintenance & Operating Costs

                A. Ford

                B. Chevrolet

        Conclusion

In the block method, you will have a total of only four paragraphs, and you will make all points about the first subject in the first body paragraph and all the points about the second subject in the second body paragraph.

    Thesis: A Ford is much better than a Chevrolet.

            Subject 1: Ford

                A. Looks

                B. Durability

                C. Maintenance and Operating Costs

        Subject 2: Chevrolet

                A. Looks

                B. Durability

                C. Maintenance and Operating Costs

    Conclusion

These two formats are used whether you compare the two subjects, contrast the two subjects, or compare and contrast the two subjects.

Definition Essay. In a definition essay, you give a clear and concise definition of the subject you are writing about, and then you develop the definition even further by giving examples. Use specific, vivid details to describe the subject and don't begin the paper by quoting Webster's Dictionary.

Classification Essay. In a classification essay, you will group items or subjects into categories to help the reader better understand them. Make sure that your categories are distinct and separate, and make sure there is no overlapping of categories. You should introduce the idea with a definite purpose for classifying the information. Provide enough details to make each category clearly recognizable and make your paper interesting.

Cause and Effect Essay. When you are writing about why something happened or may happen, you are writing about causes and effects (results). The paper could be formatted to show that one cause has several different effects, or that several different causes result in one effect. 

When you report the conditions that produce one result, you are writing about causes resulting in one effect:

        Cause: (car emissions)    Cause (factory smoke)    Effect (air pollution)

        Cause (aerosol cans)    Effect (hole in ozone)

When you talk about several results of one cause, you are writing about effects:

        Cause (air pollution)    Effect (change in weather patterns)    Effect (acid rain)

Whether you are writing about causes or effect, you need to learly show how one relates to another.

Remember that your instructor has a preferred format or method for writing each of these papers.  Be sure to always check with your instructor on assignment guidelines--use this only as an overview of all essay forms.