At the end of the lesson, you will understand the different types of essay questions. You will also understand how to structure an essay for each type of essay question.
In the following lesson, you will learn the types of essay questions you will encounter in your time at university and how to answer them, including the ones below. Before watching the video, think about how you would answer the following types of essay questions. You can find the PowerPoint shown in the video here. Consider how you’d answer the following types of essay questions, and then make corrections to your answers as you watch:
To begin with, listing paragraphs are among the simplest and most straightforward types of paragraphs. As the verb suggests you have to list at least three points about the topic, each point in a separate paragraph.
Let’s move on to descriptive paragraphs. Here, you are asked to give a detailed description of something, usually a place, person, event or emotion. Although it is easy to generate ideas for a descriptive paragraph, the challenge lies in the fact that the language needs to be both creative and memorable, in order to leave a lasting impression on the reader, and help them visualize what the writer describes. In this sense, good command of the language is a must for this type of paragraph.
Comparison and contrast is another common type of paragraph. Such paragraphs may ask you to either compare, contrast or both. Remember that when you compare you focus on the similarities between two things whereas when you contrast you focus on the differences. The title may also ask you to present both similarities and differences in a balanced way, which means that both comparisons and contrasts have to be of equal length and gravity in your text.
Discussion paragraphs are also common in the context of academic writing and they ask you to present two sides of an argument. They are usually part of a for and against or pros and cons essay and the standard structure of such texts requires you to first present your for and against or pros and cons arguments and conclude by stating your personal opinion.
Moving on, in agree and disagree paragraphs you have to present your personal opinion about an issue based on well supported logical arguments. When working with this type of paragraph, you need to start by clearly stating whether you agree or disagree with the issue and proceed to listing reasons that support your view. This is usually one of the more challenging essays for students as it requires good knowledge of the topic and strong, well supported arguments.
In definition paragraphs, the writer is asked to provide information about a term. This is one of the most challenging types of academic paragraphs as it requires familiarity with the term but also the ability to “personalize” the term, in other words to be able to connect the term to your personal experience so that it doesn’t simply look like a long and boring dictionary entry.
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Match the following types of essays to their definitions.
Compare and Contrast Essay
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Descriptive Essay
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Agree or Disagree
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Discussion Essay
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What type of essay is the following paragraph from Scribbr introducing?
One challenge teachers face is identifying and assisting students who are struggling without disrupting the rest of the class. In a traditional classroom environment, the teacher can easily identify when a student is struggling based on their demeanor in class or simply by regularly checking on students during exercises. They can then offer assistance quietly during the exercise or discuss it further after class. Meanwhile, in a Zoom-based class, the lack of physical presence makes it more difficult to pay attention to individual students’ responses and notice frustrations, and there is less flexibility to speak with students privately to offer assistance. In this case, therefore, the traditional classroom environment holds the advantage, although it appears likely that aiding students in a virtual classroom environment will become easier as the technology, and teachers’ familiarity with it, improves.
This is an example of an introduction to a and essay.