Types of Essays

Notes from Motive for Writing by Robert Keith Miller

Overview of Essay TypesClassical 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 policy to pursue

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 Miller’s 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• Don’t 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 Grice’s 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 audience—help 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 opposition’s

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 don’t 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 TypesClassical 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

ReferencesNotes 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