Narrative essays: imagine that you are telling a story.

In a narrative essay, you are generally writing about a real-life experience that happened to you. It may sound easy and many students pick this essay type thinking it will be a snap; however, the narrative paper can be difficult to write. This is mostly because students are not used to having to write about themselves. If you choose a narrative essay, make sure you use all of your senses whenever possible. Talking about thoughts, feelings, sights, sounds, and so on will help to captivate your readers and make them feel like they are right there with you as they read about your experience.

Descriptive essays: pretend that you are painting a picture.

Very similar to the narrative essay, this essay paints a picture using the words you put down on paper. You can choose to write your description essay about a person, place, object, or event. Many students struggle with this paper, because even though you are describing something, you are not just writing the paper for the sake of describing it. You need to find a deeper meaning or value and communicate that to the reader through your description. The best descriptive essays will make a single object or moment come alive in all of the wonderful details that is possesses.

Expository essays: just state the facts and/or explain.

This is the type of essay that is basically a research paper. You gather information and facts and then organize them in a logical manner so that you can show your findings to your reader. You start with an idea, then present the data and research findings, and finally draw a conclusion based on what you found out. It is important to remember that your own personal thoughts, feelings, and opinions generally do not belong in this sort of essay.