{"id":521,"date":"2019-11-20T23:42:16","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T04:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openbooks.macewan.ca\/navigatingsocialscience\/?post_type=chapter&p=521"},"modified":"2019-12-09T18:58:48","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T23:58:48","slug":"types-of-essays","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/openbooks.macewan.ca\/navigatingsocialscience\/chapter\/types-of-essays\/","title":{"raw":"3.2 Types of Essays","rendered":"3.2 Types of Essays"},"content":{"raw":"

Academic writing can be just as varied as other forms of prose. The following briefly describes the most common types of essays undergraduate students are asked to write, as well as the purpose that each serves.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Note that introductory courses in the social sciences frequently require students to write an argumentative essay or two over the course of a term, while upper-level courses may require students to complete more substantial research essays, often detailing their own original research. Much of this, however, depends on the program and how an instructor has developed the course.<\/div>\r\n

Explanatory or Expository Essays<\/h3>\r\n

These are intended to inform the reader about a specific topic or issue. They should usually provide as unbiased an account as possible, without taking a position. Think of this as being almost like a detailed encyclopedia entry. Though some university students may be required to write expository essays, most university-level essays will require students to formulate and argue a thesis, or position.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Book Reports or Precis<\/h3>\r\n

The function of a book report or precis is to summarize a book\u2019s main purpose and ideas and perhaps comment on who the book might be of interest to or how it will relate to a specific research topic. In some cases, students may need to critically examine the work as well, commenting on how well it achieved its aims. Again, this type of writing is less common in university-level courses with the exception of perhaps some introductory courses, or if a precis or book report is assigned, it is often intended to be one component of a larger research project that will eventually call for a more scholarly research paper to be written.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Critical Reviews<\/h3>\r\n

These include some summary of a source, but they go a step further and critique or evaluate the source using certain criteria, such as the author's methodology, use of evidence, or potential for bias.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Literature Reviews<\/h3>\r\n

Literature reviews summarize many sources at once, providing an overview of some of the key sources related to a topic, including which scholars\u2019 works appear to be most influential within the field, how our understanding of the topic has changed over time or what themes are prevalent in the literature, what conclusions can be drawn from the body of literature, and what questions remain unanswered by it. Literature reviews may be written on their own, or they may be one component of a research paper, used to establish context for the research by helping to explain what gaps the researcher intends to address or why they chose a particular methodology over another.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Research Reports<\/h3>\r\n

As discussed in more detail in Chapter 7<\/a>, research reports report the findings and significance of an author\u2019s own primary research. They typically include a literature review to help establish what is already known about the topic and how this research will help fill a knowledge gap in the field, and then they provide the reader with information about the methodology used, the variables accounted for and the limitations of the study. They then report findings from the study and discusses the significance of these findings and directions for future research. The function is to detail as clearly as possible the research process and findings so that a reader can determine whether the results are reliable, how the findings help to answer the research question and add to our knowledge of the subject, and what questions might remain that further research can help to answer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Argumentative Essays<\/h3>\r\n

These are essays where the researcher a stance on an issue (i.e., presents a thesis) and provides supporting evidence to argue that thesis. In this case, the function of the essay is to present a compelling argument or viewpoint that is clearly articulated, easy for the reader to follow, and uses sound reasoning and fair representation of research sources. That said, argumentative essays can be dangerously misleading in their apparent simplicity, with many undergraduate students underestimating the complexity of some of these features that make up a good academic argument.<\/p>\r\n

Here are a few things to keep in mind about argumentative essays: <\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n