A descriptive essay gives a vivid, detailed description of something—generally a place or object, but possibly something more abstract like an emotion. Descriptive essays, like narrative essays, are more creative than most academic writing.
Descriptive essays test your ability to use language in an original and creative way, to convey to the reader a memorable image of whatever you are describing. They are commonly assigned as writing exercises at high school and in composition classes.
A narrative essay tells a story. In most cases, this is a story about a personal experience you had. This means that narrative essays, along with descriptive essays, allow you to get personal and creative, unlike most academic writing.
Narrative essays test your ability to express your experiences in a creative and compelling way, and to follow an appropriate narrative structure. They are often assigned in high school or in composition classes at university. You can also use these techniques when writing a personal statement for an application.
An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement. The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.
Argumentative essays are by far the most common type of essay to write at university.
Published on July 14, 2020 by Jack Caulfield. Revised on July 31, 2020.
“Expository” means “intended to explain or describe something.” An expository essay provides a clear, focused explanation of a particular topic, process, or set of ideas. It doesn’t set out to prove a point, just to give a balanced view of its subject matter.
Expository essays are usually short assignments intended to test your composition skills or your understanding of a subject. They tend to involve less research and original arguments than argumentative essays.
Published on June 9, 2020 by Jack Caulfield. Revised on July 21, 2020.
Clear transitions are crucial to clear writing: They show the reader how different parts of your essay, paper, or thesis are connected. Transition sentences can be used to structure your text and link together paragraphs or sections.
Transition words and phrases, also called linking or connecting words, are used to link together different ideas in your text. They help the reader to follow your arguments by expressing the relationships between different sentences or parts of a sentence.
For clear writing, it’s essential to understand the meaning of transition words and use them correctly.
APA Style has specific guidelines for formatting tables and figures and referring to them in the text.
A table concisely presents information (usually numbers) in rows and columns. A figure is any other image or illustration you include in your text – anything from a bar chart to a photograph.
You can create tables and figures yourself or adapt them from other sources. In both cases the format is the same, but if they come from another source you must acknowledge this and include the source in your reference list.
Published on March 13, 2020 by Jack Caulfield. Revised on June 19, 2020.
Ethnography is a type of qualitative research that involves immersing yourself in a particular community or organization to observe their behavior and interactions up close. The word “ethnography” also refers to the written report of the research that the ethnographer produces afterwards.
Ethnography is a flexible research method that allows you to gain a deep understanding of a group’s shared culture, conventions, and social dynamics. However, it also involves some practical and ethical challenges.
Published on March 5, 2020 by Jack Caulfield. Revised on March 23, 2020.
APA Style provides various formatting guidelines for academic papers, but it does not have specific rules regarding the table of contents.
If you include a table of contents in an APA style paper or thesis, make sure it adheres to general APA format guidelines. You can automatically create the table of contents by applying APA heading styles in Word.
