essay writing tips

An observation essay is usually written after the writer has observed the given circumstance or situation. The actual “observation” part of the essay could be anything from watch how a squirrel acts around people to notice how people act on an elevator to a principal observing how a teacher teaches. But in any case, your job as of a writer of an observation essay is to relate their experience and their findings to your reader.

A term paper is essentially a very large research paper that includes a wide variety of sources and is usually the culminating work of a class in an institution of higher education. It could even be something as large as a senior thesis in order to graduate from a university. With a task this large, it is absolutely essential that you begin planning well in advance.

The idea behind a research paper is for the writer to propose a new discovery and trying to persuade the reader that it is a valid discovery. It is more than just repeating the discoveries of others, but rather the writer will use the research of others to come up with a new idea.

A reaction essay is an essay that is written in response to something else. The initial topic that the writer is responding to could be anything from a speech that was heard to another essay to the latest breaking news event. A reaction essay is designed to state the writer’s position in respect to someone else’s opinion or happening in the world. This will often include a summary, but it is important to use that summary as a backdrop and not the bulk of the essay.

Although the term "critical" is most often used in a negative sense, a critical essay does not necessarily need to have a negative tone. A critical essay is simply the writer's reaction to another reading. As the writer, you will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the reading as well as the information that it presents. This can end up framing the reading in either a positive or negative light.

A critical essay must start out with the writer restating the main idea of the reading or readings. It is a good idea to do this with each work that will be included in the overall analysis. After quickly summarizing the main points of the reading, the next step is to break down and evaluate the reading or readings. One level of assessment is to analyze the factual information that the author presents in the reading. This can take many forms but usually reliability and relevance are examined. The logical flow of the author's presentation of the material must also be taken into consideration when looking at the reading critically. Another level of analysis that the writer needs to take into consideration is whether or not there are opposing viewpoints than those that are presented in the reading. This takes careful analysis and presentation on the part of the writer. It also requires the writer to take an educated stand and present evidence to back up claims. It is important to keep personal feelings out of this critical analysis and focus on simple facts and logical conclusions. Another approach to writing a critical essay is research work that has already been done about the reading that the writer is analyzing. This is a great way to lend credibility to the claims and opinions that the writer is already trying to establish. The key to a successful critical essay is to stay focused on the facts and organization of the essay. The backbone of the critical essay is the making of claims and backing them up with credible evidence from the text. It is important for the writer to ensure that all information that is presented about the reading is relevant and flows in a logical manner.

A persuasive essay is very similar to an argumentative essay in that information is presented to attempt to persuade the reader that a certain point of view is more legitimate than another. Another element of a persuasive essay will try to convince the reader to take a certain action or to modify a behavior they are already performing. Usually, the success of a persuasive essay is based on many things. First is the information presented that is in support of the author’s point. If a reader can sense that the writer is less than very well informed on the topic, credibility will be lost. Another aspect of convincing the reader to buy into the writer’s point of view is quality of writing. Although this may seem obvious, it is critical to building effective momentum toward a powerful argument.