Types of Essays

Notes from Motive for Writing

by Robert Keith Miller

Overview of Essay Types

Classical

Miller

Popular Modern

Forensic

Understand
experience

Descriptive

Ceremonial

Report information

Narrative

Deliberative

Interpret information

Expository

Evaluate something

Argumentative

Analyze images
Move others
Persuade others
Amuse others
Experiment with form
Understand reading

Classical Speech Types

Forensic: courtroom speeches to
evaluate evidence and determine
guilt or innocence
Ceremonial: Speeches for special
occasions, such as funerals,
weddings, and opening ceremonies.
Focus on praising a person or
remembering purpose
Deliberative: Debate in the
legislature on what law to make or

Popular Modern Essay Types

Descriptive: describe something in detail
Narrative: tell a story and draw lessons
from it
Expository: Explain and interpret
information. Give a simple thesis
Argumentative: Stronger thesis and
argument. Use facts and logical arguments
to support claim; refute opposition
Other: Definition; cause-and-effect; compare
and contrast, division and classification

Outline of Millers
Classification
Rhetorical situation
Writing to:
understand experience
report information
interpret information
evaluate something
analyze images
move others
persuade others
amuse others
experiment with form
understand reading

Rhetorical Situation

Author
Audience
Purpose
Topic
Context

Emphasis varies by writing sample

Writing to Understand
Experience

Autobiographical
Author-centered
Reflective/instructive
Tremendous lessons in simple things
Dont embarrass yourself or the reader

Helpful questions:
What happened?
What is the meaning of this?
How do I or others see it?
What did or should change?

Writing to Report
Information
Objective: share information from one
mind to another
A thesis optional
(Yet a plan thesis helpful)

H Paul Grices rules:

Quantity
Quality
Relevance
Manner

Writing to Interpret
Information
Knowing versus understanding
Ways to interpret information
Analyze
Classify
Cause-and-effect
Define
Paraphrase

Adapt to audiencehelp them

understand

Writing to Evaluate
Something
To evaluate:
Think critically
Lead to better understanding or action
Determine nature and value of subject
Define criteria, anticipate opposition,
draw conclusions
Establish your credibility (ethos)
Yet focus on subject

 Planning an evaluation
Divide subject into key elements
What information do you have about
each section? What more do you need?
Which elements would readers want to
learn about?
Choose which elements to write about
depending on what information you can
access and reader interest

 Define your criteria for evaluation

What standards will you use?
Will your readers accept these criteria?
Make the criteria clear and credible

 Organizing an evaluation
Classical

Present your subject (opening)

State your criteria (statement of fact)
Make your judgment (plan or outline)
Give reasons (affirmative)
Refute opposition (refutation)
Conclude

Other
Cause and effect
Compare and contrast

Writing to Analyze Images

Know criteria
Describe image: context and details
Explore symbolism, purpose,
meaning, and methods
Organization:
Introduction: overview, context
Body: elements and meaning
Conclusion: summary and significance

Writing to Move Others

Main focus on pathos
Goal: to invigorate audience to pursue
objective
Ceremonial speeches and persuasive
speeches that focus mainly on emotion
Style
Understandable language
Repetition and parallelism
Connect with audience

 Tips for writing to move others:

Choose a suitable topic
One that has emotional power
One that you care about

Include appropriate details

Avoid a direct, detailed thesis
Stories are usually more powerful than
statistics

Keep it short, simple, and direct

Avoid tangents
Avoid saying too much

Writing to Persuade Others

Deliberative: call to take action
Examples: advertisements to
scholarly papers
Use ethos, pathos, and logos
Cicero: For men decide far more
problems by hate, or love, or lust, or
rage, or sorrow, or joy, or hope, or fear,
or illusion, or some other inward
emotion, than by reality, or authority, or
any legal standard, or judicial precedent,
or statue

 Logos/Logic
Inductive: from facts to conclusions
Deductive: from principles to conclusions
Substantive (from Stephen Toulmin)

Claim based on data

Warrant shows logical link
Backing: evidence for truth of warrant
Qualifiers: limit or hedge claim or warrant

Beware of fallacies
Ad hominem, appeal to false authority,
begging the question, hasty generalization,
post hoc, egro propter hoc, slippery slope

 Organization of persuasive essay

Classical
Introduction
Background
Exposition: interpret background; define key
terms
Proposition: thesis
Proof
Refutation of opposing arguments
Conclusion

 Rogerian Argument (Carl Rogers)

State the nature of the problem
Summarize what opponents have
argued
Recognize those elements of the
oppositions arguments that have merit
Summarize your own position
Proof
Conclude with proposal that appeals to
both sides

 Responding to opposition
Give other side; then refute
Cede arguments you cannot refute
Find a common shared value
Identify cause with a thing your
audience values

Writing to Amuse

Aim for laugh with instead of at

Parody/imitate
Ironies
Persona of the narrator: first-person, agreeable
Comedy characters often have a defect: some
defect or ugliness which is not painful or
destructive (Aristotle)
Double message: take me seriously, but dont
take me seriously
Humor can be a way to make a serious point

Writing to Experiment with

Form
Creative writing is not only for fiction
May use in essays:
Dialog
Montage: collection of separate but
related scenes; the point is often implicit
Collage: things usually not associated
are placed together; the whole is more
than the parts

Writing to Understand Reading

Writing helps us understand readings
Forms:
Summary
Evaluate: strengths and weaknesses
Explicate: explain all or part
Analyze: structure, parts, interrelation,
symbols, meaning, setting, language,
characters, methods, ideas, truth

 Writing
Journal
Reread text
Ask questions
Define thesis; gather evidence

Revise
Do you meet audience needs?
What language and style did you use?
Did you use quotes and summaries properly?
Keep literary present tense
Give full names of author at first mention; last names
thereafter

Summary of Essay Types

Classical

Miller

Popular Modern

Forensic

Understand
experience

Descriptive

Ceremonial

Report information

Narrative

Deliberative

Interpret information

Expository

Evaluate something

Argumentative

Analyze images
Move others
Persuade others
Amuse others
Experiment with form
Understand reading

References
Notes from:
Miller, Robert Keith. 2003. Motives for Writing. 4th ed. New
York: McGraw-Hill.
Classical speech types:
Keith, William M. and Christian O. Lundberg. 2008. The
Essential Guide to Rhetoric. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.
Popular modern essay types:
Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2012. Essay Writing.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/1/
Roane State Community College Online Writing Lab. 2012.
Types of Papers and Student Samples.
http://www.roanestate.edu/owl/Types.html