Expands Your Students’ Horizons

      Teachers are aware of the fact that each essay type requires a different writing style. These types need to be mastered by the students to get a high score. However, students usually are not aware of these differences, and this is where teachers step on to expand their students' horizons. In writing Task 2, they will be given a perspective, argument, or issue to address. The topics can range from immigration and technology to the environment. They may be required to express their agreement or disagreement with a viewpoint or argument, discuss two opposing perspectives, analyze the advantages or disadvantages of a subject, or explain a particular problem and propose a solution. Students must appropriately address each topic. In the following paragraphs, some famous essay types will be highlighted and explained, understanding the way these essays should be written empowers the student with the needed skills to deal with Task 2 requirements.

     Firstly, compare and contrast essays examine two subjects, emphasizing their shared characteristics as well as their distinctions. These essays usually include an introduction, paragraphs that elaborate on the similarities between the subjects, paragraphs that discuss their differences, and a conclusion. Compare and contrast essays are commonly assigned in academic environments.

     Secondly, argumentative essays have the objective of persuading readers to adopt a specific perspective based on the evidence provided by the writer. These essays rely on factual information rather than emotional appeals to convince the readers. Argumentative essays avoid the use of first- or second-person statements. Instead, they present a well- supported argument and may counter opposing viewpoints using objective information. Phrases such as "Research suggests" or "According to the scientific proof" can be utilized to present factual evidence that supports the argument.

     Thirdly, persuasive essays aim to persuade readers to adopt a particular opinion or position by employing both factual information and emotional appeals. These essays may utilize moral and emotional reasoning to establish a connection with the reader and support a specific argument or cause.

     Furthermore, cause-and-effect essays aim to elucidate the causes of specific events or situations and how they subsequently led to other events. Writers establish a clear connection between the two sets of occurrences and provide detailed explanations of the characteristics of the initial event that gave rise to the subsequent incidents. These essays belong to the category of expository writing, where they present factual information and refrain from expressing personal opinions.

    In addition, critical essays involve a comprehensive examination of a specific subject, such as paintings, books, movies, plays, or restaurants. They serve as a platform for offering critique. Many college courses, especially those in literature and humanities, assign critical essays to evaluate students' critical thinking skills and their ability to support their observations with evidence from the work being analyzed. These essays rely on factual information from the subject matter to validate the writer's perspective. For example, in a movie review, a writer could emphasize the use of monotonous dialogue and support this observation by referencing specific lines from the film.

    Finally, practicing these types and grasping the main idea of them will be very useful to the students. Task 2 might not come directly related to these kinds; however, these offer a shared base the students can build on. Make sure to provide them with samples, then let them practice more than once and identify the main features of each type. This will widen their horizons and make their writing process more smoothly.

References :

[1] J. Birt, “10 types of essays: Examples and purposes of each - indeed,” Indeed, https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/types-of-essays (accessed Oct. 13, 2023).