The Basics of Essay Writing
Teaches You to Write Your Best Essay

Argumentative Essay

The argumentative essay calls for you to present evidence for your argument. By hoping to convince the reader of your stance on the argument, you’ll need to provide research and a strong thesis (main point).

Expository Essay

Furthering your understanding of the basics of essay writing, we come to the expository essay. This type of essay focuses on how well you balanced your view of the topic. Of course this points to how well you know your topic and how well you can get it across to your reader.

Narrative Essay

The narrative essay requires you to tell a story about a personal experience or an imaginative one. One of the main distinctions between this type of essay and the others is its strong emphasis on creativity. Although heavy emphasis is not placed on the introduction and conclusion, there still should be one. The personal statement is much like the narrative.

Descriptive Essay

The descriptive essay is focused on describing a person or object. It can be narrative in a way but is more focused on the description. It can be quite loosely structured, though it should usually begin by introducing the object of your description and end by drawing an overall picture of it. The important thing is to use careful word choices and figurative language to create an original description of your object. (Caulfield)

From the hump of the camel where I was perched, I watched the Nile a few yards away. It was restless. The wind blew the waves into a frenzy. The sails on the feluccas flapped wildly. I was afraid they would be in tatters before the boats could dock.

Also, I was afraid of the camel. He rose far off the ground; he was huge. Suppose he didn’t want me on his back. He could easily toss me to the ground. I only agreed to the camel ride since it was my birthday and friends suggested it would be a memorable experience.

The camel loped along unbothered by the wind. He was chewing something. I learned later that his name was Malik, and that he and other camels regurgitated food like cows. Malik moved his head to watch the water. The Nile was still agitated, sloshing against boats, pilings, and cement embankments along the shore.

I gazed up. Although it was well before sunset, the sun was hard to find behind the dark brooding clouds. When Malik suddenly stumbled, I gasped and instinctively clasped a locket that I wore around my neck. When nothing bad happened, I relaxed. But it wasn’t long before Malik swung his head around in my direction and tried to blow in my face.

My stomach heaved. “Why did Malik do that?” I asked the teenager who had been leading the camel by a rope.

“I think he’s telling you that he likes you, madam,” he said with a grin.

Whether that were true or not, I began to relax. And by the time we reached the stables, the wind had calmed, and the sun had muscled its way through the clouds. Malik kneeled so I could dismount. He pitched me far forward, and it seemed as though I were about to fly over his head. Yet, I was not alarmed. By then I knew Malik was a gentleman.