Definitions[edit]

John Locke's 1690 An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.

An essay has been defined in a variety of ways. One definition is a "prose compo
sition with a focused subject of discussion" or a "long, systematic discourse".[
2] It is difficult to define the genre into which essays fall. Aldous Huxley, a
leading essayist, gives guidance on the subject.[3] He notes that "the essay is
a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything", and adds
that "by tradition, almost by definition, the essay is a short piece". Furthermo
re, Huxley argues that "essays belong to a literary species whose extreme variab
ility can be studied most effectively within a three-poled frame of reference".
These three poles (or worlds in which the essay may exist) are:
The personal and the autobiographical: The essayists that feel most comfortable
in this pole "write fragments of reflective autobiography and look at the world
through the keyhole of anecdote and description".
The objective, the factual, and the concrete-particular: The essayists that writ
e from this pole "do not speak directly of themselves, but turn their attention
outward to some literary or scientific or political theme. Their art consists on
setting forth, passing judgement upon, and drawing general conclusions from the
relevant data".
The abstract-universal: In this pole "we find those essayists who do their work
in the world of high abstractions", who are never personal and who seldom mentio
n the particular facts of experience.
Huxley adds that the most satisfying essays "...make the best not of one, not of
two, but of all the three worlds in which it is possible for the essay to exist
."
The word essay derives from the French infinitive essayer, "to try" or "to attem
pt". In English essay first meant "a trial" or "an attempt", and this is still a
n alternative meaning. The Frenchman Michel de Montaigne (1533 1592) was the first
author to describe his work as essays; he used the term to characterize these a
s "attempts" to put his thoughts into writing, and his essays grew out of his co
mmonplacing.[4] Inspired in particular by the works of Plutarch, a translation o
f whose uvres Morales (Moral works) into French had just been published by Jacque
s Amyot, Montaigne began to compose his essays in 1572; the first edition, entit
led Essais, was published in two volumes in 1580. For the rest of his life he co
ntinued revising previously published essays and composing new ones. Francis Bac
on's essays, published in book form in 1597, 1612, and 1625, were the first work
s in English that described themselves as essays. Ben Jonson first used the word
essayist in English in 1609, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
History[edit]
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Europe[edit]
English essayists included Robert Burton (1577 1641) and Sir Thomas Browne (1605 168
2). In France, Michel de Montaigne's three volume Essais in the mid 1500s contai
n over 100 examples widely regarded as the predecessor of the modern essay. In I
taly, Baldassare Castiglione wrote about courtly manners in his essay Il libro d
el cortegiano. In the 17th century, the Jesuit Baltasar Gracin wrote about the th
eme of wisdom.[5] During the Age of Enlightenment, essays were a favored tool of
polemicists who aimed at convincing readers of their position; they also featur
ed heavily in the rise of periodical literature, as seen in the works of Joseph
Addison, Richard Steele and Samuel Johnson. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Edmu
nd Burke and Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote essays for the general public. The ea
rly 19th century in particular saw a proliferation of great essayists in English

William Hazlitt, Charles Lamb, Leigh Hunt and Thomas de Quincey all penned nume
rous essays on diverse subjects. In the 20th century, a number of essayists trie
d to explain the new movements in art and culture by using essays (e.g., T.S. El
iot). Whereas some essayists used essays for strident political themes, Robert L
ouis Stevenson and Willa Cather wrote lighter essays. Virginia Woolf, Edmund Wil
son, and Charles du Bos wrote literary criticism essays.[5]
Japan[edit]
Main article: Zuihitsu
As with the novel, essays existed in Japan several centuries before they develop
ed in Europe with a genre of essays known as zuihitsu
loosely connected essays a
nd fragmented ideas. Zuihitsu have existed since almost the beginnings of Japane
se literature. Many of the most noted early works of Japanese literature are in
this genre. Notable examples include The Pillow Book (c. 1000), by court lady Se
i Shonagon, and Tsurezuregusa (1330), by particularly renowned Japanese Buddhist
monk Yoshida Kenko. Kenko described his short writings similarly to Montaigne,
referring to them as "nonsensical thoughts" written in "idle hours". Another not
eworthy difference from Europe is that women have traditionally written in Japan
, though the more formal, Chinese-influenced writings of male writers were more
prized at the time.
As an educational tool[edit]
University students, like these students doing research at a university library,
are often assigned essays as a way to get them to analyse what they have read.
Main article: Free response
In countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, essays have become a
major part of a formal education in the form of free response questions. Second
ary students in these countries are taught structured essay formats to improve t
heir writing skills, and essays are often used by universities in these countrie
s in selecting applicants (see admissions essay). In both secondary and tertiary
education, essays are used to judge the mastery and comprehension of material.
Students are asked to explain, comment on, or assess a topic of study in the for
m of an essay. In some courses, university students must complete one or more es
says over several weeks or months. In addition, in fields such as the humanities
and social sciences,[citation needed] mid-term and end of term examinations oft
en require students to write a short essay in two or three hours.
In these countries, so-called academic essays, also be called papers, are usuall
y more formal than literary ones.[citation needed] They may still allow the pres
entation of the writer's own views, but this is done in a logical and factual ma
nner, with the use of the first person often discouraged. Longer academic essays
(often with a word limit of between 2,000 and 5,000 words)[citation needed] are
often more discursive. They sometimes begin with a short summary analysis of wh
at has previously been written on a topic, which is often called a literature re
view.[citation needed]
Longer essays may also contain an introductory page that defines words and phras
es of the essay's topic. Most academic institutions[citation needed] require tha
t all substantial facts, quotations, and other porting material in an essay be r
eferenced in a bibliography or works cited page at the end of the text. This sch
olarly convention helps others (whether teachers or fellow scholars) to understa
nd the basis of facts and quotations the author uses to support the essay's argu
ment, and helps readers evaluate to what extent the argument is supported by evi
dence, and to evaluate the quality of that evidence. The academic essay tests th
e student's ability to present their thoughts in an organized way and is designe
d to test their intellectual capabilities.
One essay guide of a US university makes the distinction between research papers
and discussion papers. The guide states that a "research paper is intended to u

ncover a wide variety of sources on a given topic". As such, research papers "te
nd to be longer and more inclusive in their scope and with the amount of informa
tion they deal with." While discussion papers "also include research, ...they te
nd to be shorter and more selective in their approach...and more analytical and
critical". Whereas a research paper would typically quote "a wide variety of sou
rces", a discussion paper aims to integrate the material in a broader fashion.[6
]
One of the challenges facing US universities is that in some cases, students may
submit essays purchased from an essay mill (or "paper mill") as their own work.
An "essay mill" is a ghostwriting service that sells pre-written essays to univ
ersity and college students. Since plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty o
r academic fraud, universities and colleges may investigate papers they suspect
are from an essay mill by using Internet plagiarism detection software, which co
mpares essays against a database of known mill essays and by orally testing stud
ents on the contents of their papers.[citation needed]
Forms and styles[edit]
This section describes the different forms and styles of essay writing. These fo
rms and styles are used by an array of authors, including university students an
d professional essayists.
Cause and effect[edit]
The defining features of a "cause and effect" essay are causal chains that conne
ct from a cause to an effect, careful language, and chronological or emphatic or
der. A writer using this rhetorical method must consider the subject, determine
the purpose, consider the audience, think critically about different causes or c
onsequences, consider a thesis statement, arrange the parts, consider the langua
ge, and decide on a conclusion.[7]
Classification and division[edit]
Classification is the categorization of objects into a larger whole while divisi
on is the breaking of a larger whole into smaller parts.[8]
Compare and contrast[edit]
Compare and contrast essays are characterized by a basis for comparison, points
of comparison, and analogies. It is grouped by object (chunking) or by point (se
quential). Comparison highlights the similarities between two or more similar ob
jects while contrasting highlights the differences between two or more objects.
When writing a compare/contrast essay, writers need to determine their purpose,
consider their audience, consider the basis and points of comparison, consider t
heir thesis statement, arrange and develop the comparison, and reach a conclusio
n. Compare and contrast is arranged emphatically.[9]
Descriptive[edit]
Descriptive writing is characterized by sensory details, which appeal to the phy
sical senses, and details that appeal to a reader's emotional, physical, or inte
llectual sensibilities. Determining the purpose, considering the audience, creat
ing a dominant impression, using descriptive language, and organizing the descri
ption are the rhetorical choices to consider when using a description. A descrip
tion is usually arranged spatially but can also be chronological or emphatic. Th
e focus of a description is the scene. Description uses tools such as denotative
language, connotative language, figurative language, metaphor, and simile to ar
rive at a dominant impression.[10] One university essay guide states that "descr
iptive writing says what happened or what another author has discussed; it provi
des an account of the topic".[11] Lyric essays are an important form of descript
ive essays.
Dialectic[edit]
In the dialectic form of essay, which is commonly used in philosophy, the writer

makes a thesis and argument, then objects to their own argument (with a counter
argument), but then counters the counterargument with a final and novel argument
. This form benefits from presenting a broader perspective while countering a po
ssible flaw that some may present. This type is sometimes called an ethics paper
.[12]
Exemplification[edit]
An exemplification essay is characterized by a generalization and relevant, repr
esentative, and believable examples including anecdotes. Writers need to conside
r their subject, determine their purpose, consider their audience, decide on spe
cific examples, and arrange all the parts together when writing an exemplificati
on essay.[13]
Malthus' Essay on the Principle of Population
Familiar[edit]
An essayist writes a familiar essay if speaking to a single reader, writing abou
t both themselves, and about particular subjects. Anne Fadiman notes that "the g
enre's heyday was the early nineteenth century," and that its greatest exponent
was Charles Lamb.[14] She also suggests that while critical essays have more bra
in than heart, and personal essays have more heart than brain, familiar essays h
ave equal measures of both.[15]
History (thesis)[edit]
A history essay, sometimes referred to as a thesis essay, describes an argument
or claim about one or more historical events and supports that claim with eviden
ce, arguments, and references. The text makes it clear to the reader why the arg
ument or claim is as such.[16]
Narrative[edit]