An essay format refers to a set of guidelines that decides how the elements of your paper should be arranged. The format guidelines cover the essay structure, title, citations, and the basic outline of the essay.
Hopefully, this short guide helps you in understanding the various elements of a well-formatted paper. Follow the above guidelines for crafting good essays that are coherent and easy to read throughout.
Many institutions require a standard format that a paper of any kind must follow such as MLA, APA, and Chicago. The purpose of each format is to present the information in a more structured way.
In each body paragraph, write a topic sentence at the start and provide main arguments to support the thesis.
What is Essay Format?
Here is a free MLA format example to help you better understand what to include in this specific format style.
Writing a paper in MLA format can be a challenging task if you don’t know the basic guidelines to follow.
APA stands for American Psychological Association and is mostly used in scientific papers. Many behavioral and social science students make use of the APA format to structure their papers.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific advancement unrestrained by ethical considerations. In this reading, protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a stable representation of the callous ambition of modern science throughout the novel. This essay, however, argues that far from providing a stable image of the character, Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as. This essay begins by exploring the positive portrayal of Frankenstein in the first volume, then moves on to the creature’s perception of him, and finally discusses the third volume’s narrative shift toward viewing Frankenstein as the creature views him.
The example below is a paragraph from the body of an argumentative essay about the effects of the internet on education. Mouse over it to learn more.
Essays can present arguments about all kinds of different topics. For example:
- In a literary analysis essay, you might make an argument for a specific interpretation of a text
- In a history essay, you might present an argument for the importance of a particular event
- In a politics essay, you might argue for the validity of a certain political theory
Rhetorical analysis
My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above. From his perch he can watch over his little kingdom and keep an eye on the neighbours. He does this until the barking of next door’s dog scares him from his post and he bolts for the cat flap to govern from the safety of the kitchen.
The example below is from a rhetorical analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Mouse over it to learn more.
With that, I am left alone with the fish, whose whole world is the pond by my feet. The fish explore the pond every day as if for the first time, prodding and inspecting every stone. I sometimes feel the same about sitting here in the garden
An essay is a focused piece of writing designed to inform or persuade. There are many different types of essay, but they are often defined in four categories: argumentative, expository, narrative, and descriptive essays.
If you are writing a how-to article for example, you will be able to understand what types of elements to ensure your piece of work includes. If you’re writing a descriptive poem, knowing what type of language to use can help convey your message for abstract concepts.
This type of writing has the goal to describe something and bring into your reader’s imaginations
Books and articles that explain how to do something are also very popular examples of expository writing. Cookbooks are very popular, as they explain to others the tips, techniques, and recipes on how to cook something. How-to books for hobbies and crafts are also a good example of this type of writing.
A classic piece of writing which serves as an example of persuasive writing is Thomas Paine’s book Common Sense, which was written in the Colonial times of the American Revolutionary War, urging citizens that separating from England was of utmost importance.
Understanding Writing Styles Can Help You Be a Better Writer
- Fiction Novels
- Memoirs & Biographies
- Screenplays
- Epic Poems
- Sagas
- Myths, Legends, and Fables
- Historical accounts
- Essays which talk about a lesson learned or valuable insight from an experience
Most pieces using only a descriptive writing style are not very long. It is uncommon for a fictional novel to be 100% fully descriptive without getting into our next writing style, which is narrative writing.
- Editorial & Opinion pieces in Newspapers and Magazines
- Essays on a specific belief or “hot button” topic
- Letters written to request an action or file a complaint
- Advertisements
- Copywriting
- Company Brochures
- Business Proposals
- Political speeches
This style also includes poetry. If you browse through some of our poetry writing prompts, you will see there is a lot of attention put on using details to create a scene or feeling in writing a poem!
You can quickly tell that this passage from the novel The Great Gatsby is an example of narrative writing because it has the two key traits: characters and a plot. The group is discussing eating and drinking while trying to decide what to do for the rest of the day.
However, there are actually just four main types of writing styles, and together they cover practically all the writing you see, from textbooks to novels, to billboards and more. Whether you’re studying writing styles for class or trying to develop your own writing style and looking for information, we’ve got you covered.
In this guide, we explain the four styles of writing, provide examples for each one, go over the one thing you need to know to identify writing style, and give tips to help you develop your own unique style of writing.
Writers who use the narrative style are telling a story with a plot and characters. It’s the most common writing style for fiction, although nonfiction can also be narrative writing as long as its focus is on characters, what they do, and what happens to them.
Common Places You’d See Narrative Writing
As in this example, narrative writing often has extended dialogue scenes since the dialogue is used to move the plot along and give readers greater insight into the characters.
Writers use the expository style when they are trying to explain a concept. Expository writing is fact-based and doesn’t include the author’s opinions or background. It’s basically giving facts from the writer to the reader.
“The 1995/1996 reintroduction of gray wolves (Canis lupus) into Yellowstone National Park after a 70 year absence has allowed for studies of tri-trophic cascades involving wolves, elk (Cervus elaphus), and plant species such as aspen (Populus tremuloides), cottonwoods (Populus spp.), and willows (Salix spp.). To investigate the status of this cascade, in September of 2010 we repeated an earlier survey of aspen and measured browsing and heights of young aspen in 97 stands along four streams in the Lamar River catchment of the park’s northern winter range. We found that browsing on the five tallest young aspen in each stand decreased from 100% of all measured leaders in 1998 to means of Writing a research paper for school but not sure what to write about? Our guide to research paper topics has over 100 topics in ten categories so you can be sure to find the perfect topic for you.
“We had luncheon in the dining-room, darkened too against the heat, and drank down nervous gayety with the cold ale. ‘What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon?’ cried Daisy, ‘and the day after that, and the next thirty years?’ ‘Don’t be morbid,’ Jordan said. ‘Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.’ ‘But it’s so hot,’ insisted Daisy, on the verge of tears, ‘and everything’s so confused. Let’s all go to town!’ -The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The example below is from a rhetorical analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Mouse over it to learn more.
An argumentative essay presents an extended, evidence-based argument. It requires a strong thesis statement—a clearly defined stance on your topic. Your aim is to convince the reader of your thesis using evidence (such as quotations) and analysis.
The example below is a paragraph from the body of an argumentative essay about the effects of the internet on education. Mouse over it to learn more.
Mouse over the example below, a response to the prompt “Describe a place you love to spend time in,” to learn more about descriptive essays.
Textual analysis essays
Sitting out in the garden, I feel serene. I feel at home. And yet I always feel there is more to discover. The bounds of my garden may be small, but there is a whole world contained within it, and it is one I will never get tired of inhabiting.
King’s speech is infused with prophetic language throughout. Even before the famous “dream” part of the speech, King’s language consistently strikes a prophetic tone. He refers to the Lincoln Memorial as a “hallowed spot” and speaks of rising “from the dark and desolate valley of segregation” to “make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” The assumption of this prophetic voice constitutes the text’s strongest ethical appeal
The introduction of a rhetorical analysis presents the text, some background information, and your thesis statement
A rhetorical analysis looks at a persuasive text (e.g. a speech, an essay, a political cartoon) in terms of the rhetorical devices it uses, and evaluates their effectiveness.