WHAT IS AN ESSAY?
• An essay is piece of writing on a particular subject. It can also be
referred to as composition or continuous writing.
Types of Essay
• Narrative essay
• Descriptive essay
• Argumentative essay
• Expository essay
Technicalities of writing a good
essay
• 1. Write the title or topic.
• 2. Identify points about the concept or idea and write them in a jotter.
• 3. Organise the points in a jotter.
• 4. Write a suitable introduction for the topic of the essay in one paragraph.
• 5. Introduce and develop each earlier identified point or idea in the essay.
• 6. There should be at least three points in your essay (discussed in three
paragraphs); apart from the introductory and concluding paragraphs.
• 7. Discuss one point per paragraph.
• 8. Use conjunctive (connecting) adverbs to introduce paragraphs when necessary.
• 9. Write a suitable conclusion for the essay in one paragraph.
Unacceptable words and expressions in formal writing
• An essay is regarded as formal writing, hence some informal words and
expressions are unacceptable in it. They include:
• Contractions such as can’t, won’t, etc.
• Abbreviations
• Slangs
• Colloquial words (guy, babe, etc. ) or other words used in informal conversation.
• Vernacular (if they are necessary, enclose them in quotation marks or italicise
them, e.g., ‘eba’ or eba)
• Phrases or incomplete sentence (that is, dependent clauses)
Criteria for Assessment of an
Essay
• Content – ability to interpret the topic and write according to the point and
not out of point (10 marks)
• Organisation- proper arrangement of writing, ideas, paragraphs, address (in
the case of letter writing), and so on (10 marks)
• Expression – use of appropriate choice of words or vocabulary for specific
type of essay; construction of well-formed sentences (20 marks)
• Mechanical Accuracy – avoidance of spelling errors, grammatical errors,
punctuation errors and so on (10 marks)
• Low score in one category can necessitate or influence low score in another
category.
Narrative Essay
This is an essay in which a story is told or an event is narrated in the form of a story. The
vocabulary of a narrative essay is usually not too high sounding.
• In a narrative essay, events are narrated in the order of occurrence.
• In most cases, it is a story about a personal experience.
• It has a personal and creative touch.
• Structure of a Narrative Essay
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Beginning of the story
• 3. Middle events
• 4. End of the story
Descriptive Essay
• This is an essay in which an object, a human being, animal, an event, etc. is
described.
• In writing a descriptive essay, two methods are suggested:
• In one method, the phenomenon to be described is first presented in a broader
picture and then a more detailed but organised description follows.
• In another method, the description begins with tiny details and gradually builds
into a description of the broader aspects of the phenomenon described.
• Thus, the description in a descriptive essay must be organised and systematic and
not just random.
Argumentative Essay
• This is an essay in which someone or a writer takes a stance or position
concerning an issue (usually a controversial one) and gives convincing points to
validate that position.
• In an argumentative essay, the speaker or writer makes a thesis statement and
then proceeds to present facts that support the statement.
• Known or popular facts, statistics, and so on, usually help to make an
argumentative essay robust.
Types of Argumentative Essay
• 1. Analysis – it is a critique of someone else’s work or argument.
• 2. Personal opinion –it is borne of personal ideas and opinions.
• 3. Discursive- it consists of alternate paragraphs in which each of the separate
arguments are presented.
• 4. Argumentative –here, the separate opinions are discussed in each paragraph or
separate paragraphs or at the beginning and the end of the end of the essay
respectively.
Expository Essay
• In an expository essay, the writer investigates a specific subject. This is an essay
in which ‘new’ information is presented or discussed in a narrative or descriptive
form. This type of essay could be in narrative, descriptive or even argument form.
What makes it different is that it presents information assumed to be new or at
least relatively new.
• Types of Expository Essays
• 1. Procedure or ‘How-To’ essay
• 2. Descriptive or Definition essay
• 3. Cause-and-effect essay
• 4. Problem/Solution essay
• 5. Compare-and-contrast essay
Article
• An article is an essay that is written in form of an exposition. In writing an article,
the writer is expected to express his or her view concerning a phenomenon.
• The writer is expected to end the article by writing his or her name and
designation, e.g:
Mrs Bolarinwa Adetutu
Vice Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Essay Model (Introduction)
• Write an article suitable for publication in your university’s website on the
topic: My First Day in Augustine University.
• A model title and introduction:
MY FIRST DAY IN AUGUSTINE UNIVERSITY
• Gaining admission into a university in Nigeria is considered a great feat by
most Nigerians. Just a few months after my secondary school education, I
was able to achieve this feat by the grace of God. I am now a student of
the prestigious Catholic institution: Augustine University. I vividly
remember my experience the first day I resumed schooling as a student of
the university.
Essay Model contd. (Conclusion)
• There is no gainsaying that ‘first impression lasts long’ as regards my
first day experience in Augustine University. Having spent almost one
year as a student in this university, I am greatly inspired by the great
level of organisation and well-coordinated activities aimed at a
comprehensive development of students in the university. I strongly
believe that I will be a university graduate that is very useful to the
national and international community.
