What are the seven different types of

academic essay?
There are many different essay types that you may be required to
write throughout your university education, and each type will
generally depend upon the task you’ve been set – which is often
indicated by the essay question. Of course, the type of essay
you’re required to write can depend on the level of education you
are in (secondary vs. tertiary) and the courses you are studying
(skills vs. content, or arts vs. sciences). The following seven essay
types are likely the most common types that you’ll find in academic
writing courses.

1. Cause and Effect Essays

The purpose of a cause and effect essay is usually to explain to

the reader the connection between an event or situation (the cause)
and the result that such an event or situation has created (the
effect). Such essay types may well include an evaluation of that
cause as well as the general implications or wider impact of those
effects – such as what would happen to a select group of people or
a particular country in those circumstance. Below is one
possible essay question:

2. Compare and Contrast Essays

The main purpose of a compare and contrast essay is to take two

or more concepts, events or ideas and compare them for
similarities or contrast them for differences. Such essays may cover
any kind of topic, although are usually determined by the subject
that the student is studying. One such compare and contrast essay
question might be:
3. Descriptive Essays

Descriptive essays are often described as being the essay

type which brings a topic ‘alive’ for the reader by describing that
topic in significant detail. The idea is that the writer explains a topic
in such a level of detail that the reader will be able to hear, see or
feel what’s being described. Such essays then will clearly draw on
the five human senses and may be more poetic or reflective in
nature (and perhaps therefore more restrictive in the types of essay
question possible):

4. Evaluative Essays

Evaluative essays are intended to help the writer present their

opinion through criteria and evidence. Although similar
to persuasive essays in that the writer will provide a stance on an
argument, the focus of an evaluative essay is instead that the writer
provides their overall opinion on a topic, a judgement of that opinion
(such as its strengths and weaknesses), criteria for arriving at that
conclusion, and evidence to support that particular viewpoint.
Such essay questions for this essay type are varied, but might
look somewhat similar to the following:

5. Persuasive Essays

Persuasive (or argumentative) essays tend to demonstrate that

there are two (or possibly more) opinions to any given topic and
provide evidence for both sides of the argument. Commonly, the
writer will take a stance in this essay type and provide more
evidence for one side of the debate than the other. Despite the
writer’s overall opinion, persuasive essays should always
include counter arguments to the writer’s argument so as to
remain objective, as would be necessary for the following question:

6. Problem-Solution Essays

The purpose of a problem-solution essay is so that a problem

(which may be the writer’s choice or at the discretion of the tutor)
may be identified and possible solutions determined for that issue.
This essay type usually involves also providing an evaluation of
those solutions (such as their strengths, weaknesses and viability)
as well as evidence to support them. One such problem-
solution essay question might be similar to the following:

7. Process Essays

The final, and perhaps easiest, type of common academic essay is

the process essay, the purpose of which is to explain to the reader
how something happens or how to replicate a process themselves.
Also known as a ‘how-to’ essay, this essay type involves the writer
explaining a particular process either through defining it, by
showing the particular processes in a step-by-step manner, or by
describing in detail how something works. Such essay
questions for this type might be as follows:
Please note that although listed separately here, it is possible that
an essay could have aspects of more than one of these seven
essay types. Having an understanding of these types will therefore
help you to utilise them and hopefully improve your writing. If you’d
like to check comprehension of these concepts as explained in
Chapters 1 to 3, consider downloading our beginner-, intermediate–
and advanced-level worksheets for this topic.

Referencing
Related Sources
To reference this reader:

Academic Marker (2022) Essays. Available at:

https://academicmarker.com/academic-guidance/assignments/essays/ (Accessed:
Date Month Year).