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• The four main types of essay | Quick guide with examples

The Four Main Types of Essay | Quick Guide with Examples

Published on September 4, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An essay is a focused piece of writing designed to inform or persuade. There are many different types of essay, but they are often defined in four categories: argumentative, expository, narrative, and descriptive essays.

Argumentative and expository essays are focused on conveying information and making clear points, while narrative and descriptive essays are about exercising creativity and writing in an interesting way. At university level, argumentative essays are the most common type. 

In high school and college, you will also often have to write textual analysis essays, which test your skills in close reading and interpretation.

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Table of contents

Argumentative essays, expository essays, narrative essays, descriptive essays, textual analysis essays, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about types of essays.

An argumentative essay presents an extended, evidence-based argument. It requires a strong thesis statement —a clearly defined stance on your topic. Your aim is to convince the reader of your thesis using evidence (such as quotations ) and analysis.

Argumentative essays test your ability to research and present your own position on a topic. This is the most common type of essay at college level—most papers you write will involve some kind of argumentation.

The essay is divided into an introduction, body, and conclusion:

• The introduction provides your topic and thesis statement
• The body presents your evidence and arguments
• The conclusion summarizes your argument and emphasizes its importance

The example below is a paragraph from the body of an argumentative essay about the effects of the internet on education. Mouse over it to learn more.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

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An expository essay provides a clear, focused explanation of a topic. It doesn’t require an original argument, just a balanced and well-organized view of the topic.

Expository essays test your familiarity with a topic and your ability to organize and convey information. They are commonly assigned at high school or in exam questions at college level.

The introduction of an expository essay states your topic and provides some general background, the body presents the details, and the conclusion summarizes the information presented.

A typical body paragraph from an expository essay about the invention of the printing press is shown below. Mouse over it to learn more.

The invention of the printing press in 1440 changed this situation dramatically. Johannes Gutenberg, who had worked as a goldsmith, used his knowledge of metals in the design of the press. He made his type from an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony, whose durability allowed for the reliable production of high-quality books. This new technology allowed texts to be reproduced and disseminated on a much larger scale than was previously possible. The Gutenberg Bible appeared in the 1450s, and a large number of printing presses sprang up across the continent in the following decades. Gutenberg’s invention rapidly transformed cultural production in Europe; among other things, it would lead to the Protestant Reformation.

A narrative essay is one that tells a story. This is usually a story about a personal experience you had, but it may also be an imaginative exploration of something you have not experienced.

Narrative essays test your ability to build up a narrative in an engaging, well-structured way. They are much more personal and creative than other kinds of academic writing . Writing a personal statement for an application requires the same skills as a narrative essay.

A narrative essay isn’t strictly divided into introduction, body, and conclusion, but it should still begin by setting up the narrative and finish by expressing the point of the story—what you learned from your experience, or why it made an impression on you.

Mouse over the example below, a short narrative essay responding to the prompt “Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself,” to explore its structure.

Since elementary school, I have always favored subjects like science and math over the humanities. My instinct was always to think of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right answer, I thought, why bother? But recently I had an experience that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was skeptical. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve—I really had no idea. I imagined something pretty abstract: long, stilted conversations pondering the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite different.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones—“but you can call me Rob”—was far from the white-haired, buttoned-up old man I had half-expected. And rather than pulling us into pedantic arguments about obscure philosophical points, Rob engaged us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own choices. To talk ethics, we looked at dilemmas we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most interesting ones.

The experience has taught me to look at things a little more “philosophically”—and not just because it was a philosophy class! I learned that if I let go of my preconceptions, I can actually get a lot out of subjects I was previously dismissive of. The class taught me—in more ways than one—to look at things with an open mind.

A descriptive essay provides a detailed sensory description of something. Like narrative essays, they allow you to be more creative than most academic writing, but they are more tightly focused than narrative essays. You might describe a specific place or object, rather than telling a whole story.

Descriptive essays test your ability to use language creatively, making striking word choices to convey a memorable picture of what you’re describing.

A descriptive essay can be quite loosely structured, though it should usually begin by introducing the object of your description and end by drawing an overall picture of it. The important thing is to use careful word choices and figurative language to create an original description of your object.

Mouse over the example below, a response to the prompt “Describe a place you love to spend time in,” to learn more about descriptive essays.

On Sunday afternoons I like to spend my time in the garden behind my house. The garden is narrow but long, a corridor of green extending from the back of the house, and I sit on a lawn chair at the far end to read and relax. I am in my small peaceful paradise: the shade of the tree, the feel of the grass on my feet, the gentle activity of the fish in the pond beside me.

My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above. From his perch he can watch over his little kingdom and keep an eye on the neighbours. He does this until the barking of next door’s dog scares him from his post and he bolts for the cat flap to govern from the safety of the kitchen.

With that, I am left alone with the fish, whose whole world is the pond by my feet. The fish explore the pond every day as if for the first time, prodding and inspecting every stone. I sometimes feel the same about sitting here in the garden; I know the place better than anyone, but whenever I return I still feel compelled to pay attention to all its details and novelties—a new bird perched in the tree, the growth of the grass, and the movement of the insects it shelters…

Sitting out in the garden, I feel serene. I feel at home. And yet I always feel there is more to discover. The bounds of my garden may be small, but there is a whole world contained within it, and it is one I will never get tired of inhabiting.

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Though every essay type tests your writing skills, some essays also test your ability to read carefully and critically. In a textual analysis essay, you don’t just present information on a topic, but closely analyze a text to explain how it achieves certain effects.

Rhetorical analysis

A rhetorical analysis looks at a persuasive text (e.g. a speech, an essay, a political cartoon) in terms of the rhetorical devices it uses, and evaluates their effectiveness.

The goal is not to state whether you agree with the author’s argument but to look at how they have constructed it.

The introduction of a rhetorical analysis presents the text, some background information, and your thesis statement; the body comprises the analysis itself; and the conclusion wraps up your analysis of the text, emphasizing its relevance to broader concerns.

The example below is from a rhetorical analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech . Mouse over it to learn more.

King’s speech is infused with prophetic language throughout. Even before the famous “dream” part of the speech, King’s language consistently strikes a prophetic tone. He refers to the Lincoln Memorial as a “hallowed spot” and speaks of rising “from the dark and desolate valley of segregation” to “make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” The assumption of this prophetic voice constitutes the text’s strongest ethical appeal; after linking himself with political figures like Lincoln and the Founding Fathers, King’s ethos adopts a distinctly religious tone, recalling Biblical prophets and preachers of change from across history. This adds significant force to his words; standing before an audience of hundreds of thousands, he states not just what the future should be, but what it will be: “The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.” This warning is almost apocalyptic in tone, though it concludes with the positive image of the “bright day of justice.” The power of King’s rhetoric thus stems not only from the pathos of his vision of a brighter future, but from the ethos of the prophetic voice he adopts in expressing this vision.

Literary analysis

A literary analysis essay presents a close reading of a work of literature—e.g. a poem or novel—to explore the choices made by the author and how they help to convey the text’s theme. It is not simply a book report or a review, but an in-depth interpretation of the text.

Literary analysis looks at things like setting, characters, themes, and figurative language. The goal is to closely analyze what the author conveys and how.

The introduction of a literary analysis essay presents the text and background, and provides your thesis statement; the body consists of close readings of the text with quotations and analysis in support of your argument; and the conclusion emphasizes what your approach tells us about the text.

Mouse over the example below, the introduction to a literary analysis essay on Frankenstein , to learn more.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific advancement unrestrained by ethical considerations. In this reading, protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a stable representation of the callous ambition of modern science throughout the novel. This essay, however, argues that far from providing a stable image of the character, Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as. This essay begins by exploring the positive portrayal of Frankenstein in the first volume, then moves on to the creature’s perception of him, and finally discusses the third volume’s narrative shift toward viewing Frankenstein as the creature views him.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

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At high school and in composition classes at university, you’ll often be told to write a specific type of essay , but you might also just be given prompts.

Look for keywords in these prompts that suggest a certain approach: The word “explain” suggests you should write an expository essay , while the word “describe” implies a descriptive essay . An argumentative essay might be prompted with the word “assess” or “argue.”

The vast majority of essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Almost all academic writing involves building up an argument, though other types of essay might be assigned in composition classes.

Essays can present arguments about all kinds of different topics. For example:

• In a literary analysis essay, you might make an argument for a specific interpretation of a text
• In a history essay, you might present an argument for the importance of a particular event
• In a politics essay, you might argue for the validity of a certain political theory

An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

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How To Use The Grammarly Essay Check: Step-by-Step Guide

Discover how to use the Grammarly essay check step-by-step in our complete guide

Grammarly is a useful grammar checker for editing essays and other documents. It can spot and fix more grammatical errors, punctuation errors, and other writing mistakes than a basic grammar or spell checker. I’ve used it for years on various types of essays and articles. 

In this step-by-step tutorial, I explain how to use the Grammarly essay check. This short guide is based on our extensive tutorial explaining how Grammarly works . 

We tested dozens of grammar checkers, and Grammarly is the best tool on the market today. It'll help you write and edit your work much faster. Grammarly provides a powerful AI writing assistant and plagiarism checker.

Here Is The Step-by-Step Guide On How To Use The Grammarly Essay Check

Step 1: create an account on grammarly, step 2: upload your essay, step 3: set your essay goals and preferences, step 4: let grammarly analyze your essay, step 5: review grammarly’s suggestions, step 6: accept or ignore grammarly’s suggestions, step 7: use grammarly’s citation tool, step 8: edit your essay, step 9: run a plagiarism check, step 10: download or export your corrected essay.

You can check an essay using a free account or Grammarly Premium. Sign up with your best email. Next, install the Grammarly plugin for your Chrome, Firefox, or Safari browsers. Then, download the desktop app for Mac or Windows. You can also use the web app to check essays. 

If you use Google Docs for your essay, Grammarly offers an extension you can use to grammar and spell-check academic essays in real-time. However, the web app provides the most features. 

By using a premium account, you can use additional essay checker features like a plagiarism checker and a citation tool. If you’d like to try it, claim a Grammarly coupon .

You can upload your essay by copying and pasting your text into the editor or using the “Upload” feature to select your file from your computer. You can also use the floating Grammarly icon on your desktop (Mac and Windows) or access the browser plugin.

Many essayists write in Microsoft Word and check for issues directly in that app. However, to check an essay, it’s easier to copy and paste or upload to the Grammarly web app as it provides access to more reports, specifically a plagiarism checker. You might also be wondering, can essay titles be questions .

After uploading your essay, adjust Grammarly to check an essay rather than an article or blog post. You can also access this setting via the writing goals tab. An essayist will select “Academic” as the Domain and “Essay’ as the type. Then, pick your preferred style guide: APA, MLA, Chicago, or Other.

This selection helps Grammarly provide targeted feedback based on your specific type of writing. For example, if you’re writing an academic paper with the default style guide, Grammarly provides feedback on citations and formatting according to APA standards. 

An essayist should also set their English language preferences, i.e., American English, British English, Canadian English, etc. You can also use the preferences section to adjust suggestions related to the comma and punctuation errors. Check out these essays about writing essays .

Let Grammarly analyze your essay. This process takes a few seconds or minutes, depending on the length of the essay. If the essay is more than five thousand words long, it’s faster and easier to check individual sections. When completer, open the overall score tab to access word count and readability metrics.

Once the essay analysis is complete, Grammarly provides a list of suggested corrections and improvements to your essay. These suggestions include:

• Typos, spelling and grammar mistakes: underlined in red, considered these critical typos and other fixes. 
• Clarity: underlined in blue, use these to improve the readability of an essay.
• Engagement and word choice suggestions: underlined in green, use these to copyedit and improve sentence structure.
• Other style improvements: Optional.

Additionally, if you’re using a Grammarly premium account, you can access the plagiarism checker to ensure your writing is original. Bear in mind it scans against articles available online rather than gated content, PDFs, or books. It’s also not available in the free tool. For more, read our guide to the best plagiarism checkers.

Choose to accept or ignore each suggestion. When accepting a suggestion, click on the green “Correct” button next to the suggestion. 

If you’re unsure why a suggestion was made, you can click on the information icon to learn more. It should provide contextual examples. Remember, these are recommendations, not directions. It’s up to you, the essayist, to decide on them based on your preferred style guide and audience. 

If you’re using a Grammarly premium account, you’ll have access to Grammarly’s citations tool. This tool can help you generate accurate citations for your sources, ensuring that your essay is formatted correctly and adheres to academic standards. It’s in beta. 

The browser extension citation manager works best in Chrome on certain websites like Wikipedia, periodicals, and online journals. However, if it doesn’t work or appear, use the manual Grammarly citation generator . 

After reviewing and accepting any necessary suggestions, make the required changes to your essay. Do this directly in the editor or copy and paste the corrected text into your original document. 

At this stage, recheck the readability report. After reviewing Grammarly’s suggestions, this score should increase. If not, consider making wider copy and structural edits. Then, repeat the previous steps. Ideally, aim for a score above 60.

Grammarly can check an essay for instances of accidental plagiarism. It only takes a few seconds to run. However, remember that the plagiarism checker only scans against content freely available online rather than in gated journals and books. For deeper checks, consider using TurnItIn.

Once you’re satisfied with any changes, download or export your corrected essay. By using Grammarly essay checker to proofread your English essay, you’ll have a well-crafted and professional-looking document. Bear in mind, an online proofreading tool like Grammarly is powerful. but it’s important for an essayist to complete a final proofread, ideally with pen and paper.

It’s possible to check an essay on iOS or Android keyboard using the above steps and the associated app. However, unless an essayist only checks for basic grammar and spelling issues, the process is somewhat clunkier and more time-consuming. We recommend using the web app on a desktop where possible. 

So, if you’re writing lots of essays, opt for a Grammarly premium discount .

What Is Grammarly, and Is It Cheating?

What is Grammarly? We take a deep dive into this online writing resource. How does it help students, and is it ok to use this tool?

Key Takeaways

• What is Grammarly? It’s a web-based automated writing assistant that results in writing improvements. Grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes are corrected, but the writer/author still has the responsibility of ensuring their works’ substance.
• Both students and educators can use the grammar checker to improve their respective writing style. While it may seem like cheating, it isn’t because material modifications aren’t automatically made to the document being checked. The writer/author doesn’t become lazy just by using the writing assistant.
• Grammarly isn’t just for academic writing either! Even professional writers including business writing professionals use Grammarly for emails, press releases, and other official documents.

Grammarly is an automated writing assistant, an online resource designed to help students spot and correct errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. In the simplest terms, Grammarly is a web-based editing application that helps students improve the quality of their writing.

And boy do they need it. I should know. For a decade, I made a living helping students cheat. I worked for an array of contract cheating websites, where students would pay writers like me to complete their book reports, research projects, creative writing assignments, admission essays, thesis statements, and even doctoral dissertations.

So believe me when I tell you that students at every single level, and with every kind of professional ambition, struggle to write grammatically competent sentences. Grammarly aims to help. But does it help? And more importantly, does it help too much? In other words, is using Grammarly cheating?

If you squint your eyes, Grammarly might look a little bit like the shady custom paper writing sites where I once earned my living. Like Grammarly, most paper writing companies describe their services as editorial assistance. But this claim is a thin veil for what paper writing companies actually sell-which is the opportunity to outsource your academic responsibilities wholesale to a hired gun.

By contrast, Grammarly’s offer of editorial assistance seems to be genuine. In fact, there’s a good reason that Grammarly looks, on the surface, like many of the illicit services where you can buy tailor-made papers. It’s because both services address the same need. That is, both custom paper writing services and web-based editing assistance programs recognize that far too many students don’t know how to write.

Students at every level of education struggle with grammar, diction, and punctuation” – AcademicInfluence.com TWEET POST

Students at every level of education—from high school English students to doctoral candidates trudging through dissertations—struggle with grammar, diction, and punctuation. They struggle to organize their ideas, cite their sources, or build a case around a cohesive argument. Writing is an educational requirement and yet, for too many students, it is a source of anxiety and dread. Grammarly can’t necessarily fix all of these issues for you, but it can help you write better, and unlike customer paper writing companies, it isn’t cheating.

Grammarly At a Glance

The popular grammar checker, available in both a free and paid version, is offered to students by numerous colleges and universities. This is the strongest proof that the Grammarly online editor is no longer considered cheating among educators and students.

Furthermore, educators can use the grammar checker to improve their students’ writing style and, thus, enable them to develop their communication skills. By combining their traditional feedback mechanisms with Grammarly’s automated feedback, their teaching strategies related to the improvements of the students’ writing skills become more effective.

How, you ask?

Grammatical mistakes become a thing of the past for students. The plagiarism checker, Grammarly’s review feature, is a virtual writing assistant that adheres to widely accepted grammar rules, also makes life easy in this respect!

Perhaps what makes this application even more appealing is that it can be integrated easily with the programs we constantly use, like email, texting, tweeting, and word processing.

How Teacher’s Feedback Complements Grammarly’s Automated Feedback

The ability to effectively communicate ideas, opinions, and answers in written form is an essential skill among college students. Effective writing skills are also vital for academic progress, professional development, and personal gain among undergraduate and graduate students.

For educators, the opportunity to provide constructive feedback on their students’ writing skills is a common practice, ostensibly to improve their writing style, too.

At its core, the teacher’s feedback aids in bridging the gap between what students know and what areas need improvement, from grammar mistakes to style mistakes. This is true whether in an English composition class or in a business management course, both of which demand effective writing skills.

But teachers deal with more than a few challenges in providing constructive feedback on their students’ writing skills! The process itself requires significant time and effort, and it’s made more complicated by contextual issues, large class sizes, and excessive workloads.

This is where the effective integration between traditional teacher feedback and automated feedback from Grammarly comes in. On one hand, Grammarly provides a wide range of writing tools that check language-related errors including the use of prepositions and determiners, issues related to wordiness and conciseness, and grammar. These types of errors are considered low-order mistakes that a thorough human-initiated editing can spot.

On the other hand, teacher feedback tends to cover high-order concerns that focus on content, substance, and organization of ideas. But, of course, teachers are also aware of the language-related errors that Grammarly detects and provides suggestions for immediate corrections. With the use of Grammarly, they can devote more time and effort to offering feedback on high-order concerns and, thus, make their feedback more effective and efficient.

Teachers are also more able to provide constructive criticism on content, give praise on the students’ written work, and ask for and provide relevant information. Students benefit from the use of Grammarly since surface errors can be detected and corrected immediately, thus, avoiding the scrutiny of teachers. There’s also the sense of greater acceptance of automated feedback among students, perhaps because it’s seen as less personal.

The result of the complementary relationship between teacher’s feedback and Grammarly’s automated feedback: More successful revisions and, thus, more cohesive and substantive written work among students!

How Teachers Can Use Grammarly to Improve Their Students’ Writing Skills

Teachers can use the writing tools on Grammarly for a wide range of purposes. Furthermore, it isn’t just neurotypical students who will benefit from these strategies—students with learning difficulties, special education students, and even advanced learners can improve their writing skills!

Further benefits of using Grammarly:

• “Grammarly Goals” set specific writing goals for each student
• Provides consistent, constructive and fast feedback to the students
• Shows each student their growth by pointing out the fewer mistakes they are making over time
• Explains the errors and their possible solutions
• Gives mini-lessons in content, substance, and organization

Teachers and students must work together to make the most of Grammarly cost and maximize this tool’s features. This way, it can truly serve its purpose for both parties!

Universities That Provide Grammarly Services to Their Students

The popularity of Grammarly Premium and Grammarly for Education versions among colleges and universities, as well as K-12 schools, continues to grow! Here are several examples of four-year institutions of higher education that provide Grammarly services to their faculty and staff members as well as current students.

• National Louis University
• Chapman University
• Liberty University
• University of Arizona Global Campus
• University of Utah Graduate School
• Walden University
• Iowa State University
• Lone Star College
• Marshall University
• Southern University of New Orleans

What Is Grammarly?

Grammarly is a free online writing assistant-though you can pay for an enhanced level of assistance (which we’ll get to in a minute). Grammarly is one of the leading entities in a writing enhancement software sector that includes competitors like ProWritingAid and Ginger .

The primary function of Grammarly is to help users identify grammatical errors, improper sentence structure, punctuation mistakes, and spelling typos in their writing. It can best be described as an editorial tool, one that can improve the user’s ability to produce grammatically correct writing.

How Does Grammarly Work?

Grammarly can be used either directly on the service’s website, or it can be added as a free extension to your browser. In either environment, you can write your document in real-time, or you can paste text that you’ve already written into the text editor for review. As you enter content into the text editor provided by the Grammarly extension—or directly on the Grammarly website—an automated editor will highlight spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. The editor will also offer explanations for why these errors have been flagged, and will consequently offer suggestions for how you can correct your mistakes.

Tools like Grammarly have potential value in improving time effectiveness for instructors and students.” – AcademicInfluence.com TWEET POST

These services are completely free of charge, and research suggests they have the potential to be quite valuable for students and instructors alike. According to a 2019 study in the Journal of Academic Language & Learning , Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tools like Grammarly have potential value in improving “time effectiveness” for instructors and students. The study finds “that students made more revisions if they used an AWE...[and that] these revisions were more likely to be surface-level revisions relating to form, suggesting that automated tools are more appropriate for grammar or spelling reviews than for higher level language issues.”

In other words, the free application can be very helpful in addressing the basic mechanics issues that students experience in their writing. For help with higher level language issues, you can pay Grammarly a monthly premium ($11.66 at the time of writing). This will give you access to a wide array of editorial services, including support in the following areas:

• Sounding fluent in English
• Communicating your ideas clearly
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Using more dynamic synonyms
• Refining tone and delivery
• Writing with concision

If you need even more personalized support, Grammarly also provides access to professional contract editing and proofreading services for paying customers. And perhaps it is this service offering that is likeliest to raise an eyebrow. Just how intensive are these editorial services? And to what extent do writing assistants—whether through an automated application or independently-contracted humans—undermine the creation of original work?

This is where educators may be given pause. We can all agree that improving the basic use of grammar and punctuation is a positive development, no matter how one comes by it. And adding a layer of editorial polish to the work can certainly make it a more digestible experience for the grader. But where is the line drawn between editorial polish and contract cheating. What’s the difference between Grammarly and, something like writemypaper4me.org, for instance?

Well, for one thing, there are no grammar errors on Grammarly’s homepage. But it goes deeper than that...

What’s The Difference Between Using Grammarly and Cheating?

The answer is actually readily found in a Grammarly’s origin story. The online tool has its roots in the anti-plagiarism business. According to The Stock Dork , “Ukrainian Co-founders Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, and Dmytro Lider started Grammarly in 2009. The development of Grammarly began with the co-founders’ 2004 plagiarism detection start-up called MyDropbox. This software was sold to universities in 2007 as a licensed product. This sale provided funding for the development of the browser extension we know today.”

This initial source of revenue makes Grammarly more akin to something like plagiarism detection leader turnitin.com, than to custom cheating services like writemypaper4me. And true to its roots, Grammarly’s suite of services works more like a helpful advisor standing over your shoulder than an outsourced laborer, delegated to do the work for you.

Grammarly is a utility that you can use to improve your writing, but it won't provide you with the substance at the heart of this writing. That's still your job.” – AcademicInfluence.com TWEET POST

At its heart, Grammarly is a utility that you can use to improve your writing, but it won’t provide you with the substance at the heart of this writing. That’s still your job. And that’s what separates Grammarly from the rather larger online market of cheating services. At most schools (unless expressly forbidden), editorial support is encouraged (or at least it should be).

The Office of Academic Integrity at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health offers a useful summation on editorial assistance, noting that it is indeed permissible to enlist the services of an editor for course and capstone work, “whether or not the editor receives any compensation in exchange for their work.”

Importantly, the Office of Academic Integrity specifies that “using an editor is only permissible if the editor provides stylistic and not substantive modifications to the course, capstone, or thesis related assignment.”

Stylistic modifications, says the Bloomberg School, include support with spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, referencing, and alternative phrasing. All of these editorial inputs are considered acceptable.

By contrast, substantive modifications , says Johns Hopkins, include writing new sentences which introduce new information, rewriting content to introduce new materials, adding or deleting references, or “any other modification that changes the meaning of what you’ve written in a material way.”

Grammarly will not conduct your research, produce your ideas, or build your arguments. And this matters a great deal.” – AcademicInfluence.com TWEET POST

Whether you simply use Grammarly’s free browser extension to spot-check typos, you pay for its premium service to spruce up your wordflow, or you go as far as commissioning the assistance of a professional proofer or editor, Grammarly will not conduct your research, produce your ideas, or build your arguments. And this matters a great deal.

That’s because, by contrast, these are exactly the types of substantive contributions that independently-contracted cheaters will make on behalf of their student customers. Contract paper writers conduct research, produce new ideas, craft arguments, and construct novel sentences to support these arguments. This is materially different from the stylistic services offered by Grammarly.

According to the Helpful Professor , a blog which, in the interest of full disclosure, offers its author a commission for link-throughs, assures that Grammarly won’t do any of the following:

• “Tell you what to write about to get higher grades.
• Give answers to your assignment questions.
• Get grammar right every time.
• Automatically make changes to your work.”

Again, outside of getting grammar the right every time, custom paper-writing companies literally do all of these things.

Should students use Grammarly?

According to Grammarly’s own research , internal surveys reveal that “75% of its users are afraid of being misunderstood.”

This is a powerful imperative driving people to its services. And it’s also the one thing that Grammarly users and contract cheating customers do have in common. They are both contending with a real and palpable fear. Language and writing deficiencies are rampant at every level of education, and at startling levels even in the upper reaches of the ivory tower.

There are many ways to manage this fear. Hiring a cheating service is certainly one way. But Grammarly presents a far more advisable way to manage the fear, and possibly even to vanquish it.

Should educators use Grammarly?

Put us solidly in the camp of those who advocate the use of Grammarly, not just for students, but for educators as well, especially those working in higher education. At this level of instruction, we’re guessing you haven’t the time, energy or inclination to police punctuation, correct spelling, and train in the basic rules of grammar. These are skills students should have learned on the way to the university.

Unfortunately, many don’t. So unless the goal of each and every class is to grade compositional ability, it’s clear that many students simply need this resource. In fact, there’s a compelling argument that instructors who decline to assist students in basic compositional matters should make Grammarly a mandatory part of the writing process, at least for students who demonstrate the need.

To return briefly to the business of contract cheating, it’s clear to anybody in this illicit sector that the client base is made up primarily of those who demonstrate such a need, whether because English is a second language, or because they simply lack the necessary academic tools to write. Whatever the reason, the reality is that colleges are not in the business of teaching students how to write. Writing is a building block skill. Students are supposed to have mastered this skill before reaching a level of education where deeper thinking is required. But in the absence both of this skill, and the academic assistance required to attain this skill, many students resort to contract cheating.

Automated writing assistance gives the student a chance to focus on the actual substance of an assignment...” – AcademicInfluence.com TWEET POST

By contrast, automated writing assistance gives the student a chance to focus on the actual substance of an assignment, instead of the implementation of rules which the student has already struggled to master for the better part of a 20-year education.

There is a case to be made that much deep thinking in college (and probably in the professional world) is prevented, or at least garbled, by the basic anxiety and distraction of writing incompetence. Grammarly seems like a fantastic way to offset that anxiety, and perhaps even make students more competent writers by simply exposing them to regular, continuous, and real-time feedback on their errors.

This underscores the core benefit of Grammarly to educators, insofar as it does a job that most college-level instructors either lack the time to do themselves or that they may even see as beneath their station as educators. In other words, unless you’re here to coach your students in their writing, be glad that Grammarly is there to do the job.

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Grammarly: A Detailed Overview and Review

Writing with good grammar is important in business. Bad grammar can not only change the meaning of a sentence and cause miscommunication, it can also reduce credibility. Many text editors and browsers have tools to help, but there are a lot of things they don’t look for. It’s easy to make mistakes that word processors don’t catch. One of the best tools to check your grammar is Grammarly.

Grammarly is an app for writers that suggests edits in real time for spelling, grammar, and writing style. It can even suggest edits based on types of writing, such as academic, business, technical, and creative writing. Grammarly is available for free in a limited edition or as a premium edition. I’m reviewing the free edition.

• 1 Four ways to Use Grammarly
• 2.1 Personalizing Grammarly
• 2.2 Personalizing Your Grammarly Dictionary
• 3.1 Grammarly Document Editor
• 4 Grammarly Online Dashboard Editor
• 5 Installing the Grammarly Apps
• 6 Grammarly for Microsoft Office
• 7 Grammarly for Windows
• 8 Grammarly Pricing
• 9 Ending Thoughts

Four ways to Use Grammarly

There are four ways to use Grammarly:

• Chrome Extension
• Online Dashboard
• Microsoft Office Extension
• Windows App

Let’s look at each method.

Installing the Grammarly Chrome Extension

Google Chrome can also check your spelling and make suggestions. This same tool works with any text editor that appears in the browser such as Facebook and MailChimp . It’s still very basic. Grammarly replaces that with its own tools (unless you disable Grammarly for a particular website).

To add the Chrome extension, in the upper right corner click the three vertical dots to open Chrome’s settings. Hover over More Tools and select Extensions.

Click the Hamburger menu in the upper left corner. At the bottom of that menu click Open Chrome Web Store.

Search for Grammarly. Click the blue button labeled Add to Chrome.

Clicking the image or title opens a modal that provides an overview with a video, reviews, and related extensions.

Clicking Add Extension opens one final modal asking for permission. Click Add Extension.

It will take a few seconds and then open a tab with a message and links for downloads. Here you can download it for Windows, Microsoft Office, and check an online document.

You’ll see the Grammarly logo in the upper right corner of your Chrome browser. Clicking the logo opens settings where you can disable the extension for the current website, show definitions and synonyms by double-clicking, choose your dialect of English, see the premium edition, create a new document, and go to your Grammarly dashboard.

Clicking My Grammarly opens a tab with a dashboard where you can upload documents and upgrade to the premium edition.

Personalizing Grammarly

When you click on Grammarly the first time it lets you set up your personalized options. The algorithms will adapt to suit your needs based on your choices.

Select the type of writing between school, work, or other projects, choose the dialect of English (American, British, Australian, or Canadian), your primary language (choose between English and non-English), and your grammar skill level (beginner, intermediate, and advanced).

Personalizing Your Grammarly Dictionary

Personalize your dictionary from your profile page in the dashboard. Add as many words as you want and Grammarly will no longer flag those words. This is helpful for writers in specialized fields and fiction writers that create their own unusual names.

Using the Grammarly Chrome Extension

The Grammarly icon, a G in a green circle, automatically appears on anything that Grammarly can check.

It underlines the text that it doesn’t like and the icon changes to show that there are errors. This example shows two issues. The logo has changed to a red circle with a number to indicate the number of issues.

Hovering over the text opens a box with suggestions. If I want one of the choices I just need to click on it. It indicates the type of error it is, which can help me improve my writing.

The change is automatically made when you click on one of the choices and it now indicates that I now only have one error.

Hovering on the circle opens it to show a few options. Click the red circle with arrows to open the document editor. The yellow circle shows the number of advanced corrections are available in the premium edition. The power button turns Grammarly off for this website.

Grammarly Document Editor

The document editor opens in a modal over your content where you can focus on your writing and see a few tools and options. Using this is optional.

Each of the tools on the left of the modal open on hover, identifying what they do. Here you can make selections of what to check. When you’re finished, click the back icon in the upper left corner or click anywhere outside of the modal.

Grammarly Online Dashboard Editor

You can also use the online editor to write or check your documents. Once you login to the Grammarly website you’ll see the dashboard. To create or edit your document in the Grammarly dashboard, click New or Upload on the document icon.

This opens the editor where you can type, paste, or upload your text. Clicking the logo in the upper corner opens a few tools to check your work.

Problems will be underlined. Clicking on an underlined word displays options (just like it does in the browser). Click to see more information and it opens an analysis with word options, a rank based on the goals you’ve set, insights, goals, number of alerts, number of premium alerts, a plagiarism tool (premium edition), and a human proofreader (premium).

Insights show stats about your text. It also shows vocabulary (shows the number of unique and rare words) and readability (shows word length, sentence length, and readability score ). These are helpful to improve your writing. I like the reading time and speaking time estimates.

Goals allow you to tell Grammarly about your intent, audience, style, emotion, and the domain (choose from general, academic, business, technical, creative, or casual).

Once you’re done making edits you can download, print, or copy your text to the clipboard to be used anywhere you want.

Your new document will now appear in the dashboard where you can edit, download, or delete it.

Installing the Grammarly Apps

In the Grammarly dashboard click Apps to download Grammarly for Office or Windows. Once they’re downloaded, run them the same as any app.

Grammarly for Microsoft Office

The Office app adds Grammarly to Word and/or Outlook. It adds new tools to the ribbon menu with contextual spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, style, and advanced features (which requires the premium edition).

When you click on the Grammarly icon the errors are highlighted in the text and issues are identified in detail on the right. I had no issues with general performance, but it can sometimes take a few seconds to check your document.

Grammarly for Windows

The Windows app looks and works the same as the online dashboard. It even connects to your account and brings in the documents from your dashboard. This is a great choice if you want to work offline.

Grammarly Pricing

Aside from the free plan, there are four premium plans:

• Monthly – $29.95 per month
• Quarterly – $19.98 per month
• Annual – $11.66 per month
• Grammarly Business – $10 per month per member

The free plan is great for basic checking such as email, social media, and even blogging. The premium editions are better suited to writing that requires the most professional level of quality possible. The free version does have some good tools, but if you need a premium plan then I recommend the Annual option. Even the Quarterly option is a big savings over the Monthly option.

For more information, visit Grammarly.com .

Ending Thoughts

I use several word processors including Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and WordPress’s built-in editor. Word and Google Docs have tools that underline misspelled and misused words. Google Chrome has those tools and applies them to most editors. Grammarly goes further than that.

Grammarly is an excellent tool for improving your writing quality. It’s easy to make writing mistakes that you don’t notice during the editing process and Grammarly highlights those, drawing attention to them.

Grammarly works great but it’s not perfect. It doesn’t always understand how words are used in web design and development, for instance. And I’m sure there are other industries that it doesn’t understand perfectly. This means there might be times when you disagree with its choices, but it’s still a valuable tool that’s worth using. It can be personalized, which helps a lot too.

I was pleased with the types of errors Grammarly highlighted. It shows misspelled words, repeated words, punctuation, missing words, case, tense, pronoun agreement, etc. Some of these issues require a premium edition to highlight and explain them though.

At the very least, I recommend using the free Chrome extension. It works in your browser, so it applies to anything typed within an editor such as WordPress, newsletters, social media, email, etc. It doesn’t work everywhere though. For example, it doesn’t support Google Drive. The best way to analyze the Google Docs text is to paste it into the Grammarly dashboard editor and then paste it back into Google Docs when you’re done.

Grammarly’s designed for anyone wanting to improve their writing, but shouldn’t be used in place of knowing good grammar. It can’t take the place of a professional editor but it does help by identifying a lot of problems that can easily be missed.

We want to hear from you. Have you tried Grammarly? Let us know what you think about it in the comments.

Featured Image via VectorKnight / shutterstock.com

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17 Comments

I love grammarly and use it when writing my blog posts. The only issue is that it does not work with google docs, which is a huge disappointment for me since most of my blog posts are first written on google docs before transferring to WordPress. That means that I always have to wait until the post is transferred into WordPress to use the browser grammarly plugin.

Highly recommend Grammarly.

Do you know if there is an add-in planned for Scrivener? I would love to have Grammarly in my Scrivener for Windows.

Hi Jenny. Not that I’m aware of. I’ve seen a lot of requests for it, so maybe they’ll consider it. I’m a Scrivener fan too. I use it for all of my fiction.

Easy to fix. Copy a bunch of text…pages of it if you can, and open Grammarly’s editing window. Paste the text and once corrections are made, copy and paste back into Scrivener! Easy

I use this program on my website. I also enjoy using it when I am writing essential content for my website. I have to warn that the mobile version is horrible. It does not thoroughly check the material as it should.

Love this tool. This is one of my top 5 recommended tools. It is one of the few tools that works nicely with Outlook. ( there is also an extension for FireFox and now Edge browsers)

I know Grammarly is better known, but I just purchased ProWritingAid because there was a special offer I couldn’t refuse, $80 for a lifetime subscription. But even at the regular price it’s cheaper than Grammarly and many reviews rate it higher. It’s worth looking into. BTW, the offer came from ByPeople which I somehow got on their mailing list.

Thanks Gary R That’s a great savings compared to what Grammarly costs! Why pay more for something that works just as good or better? Subscribed 🙂

Interesting and really useful article. I enjoy writing medical books but the only thing that takes me a long time is the editing process.

It’s a great tool, but don’t expect it to always be correct. There are instances where it will add unwanted code to the WordPress Visual Editor. I’ve had it do this on multiple occasions. Though it is a worth its weight in gold, even in the free version, it is not a silver bullet.

One of the most important things to know though is that it can inject unwanted codes into your visual editor while using it with WordPress. Sometimes there are words that it doesn’t know and it wants to change them even though it doesn’t need to and it will add a ton of tags based on the way that it highlights the text that it suggests you change. Be careful with it, because even though it is a great tool, it is not a silver bullet for proper writing when it comes to code.

Hey David, thanks for making us aware of this. I didn’t realize Grammarly injected this junk code into the page. I just checked my source for a page i’m working on and sure enough it’s there.

What can we do? Divi/Extra don’t have a built in spellchecker.

I create my pages offline like most people do, which means i can’t use Jetpack.

What alternative do we have?

I’m disappointed that the ET team haven’t improved the compatibility with Grammarly as it’s the most commonly used spell checker and has been for quite some time.

I use it, but Divi users need to beware. It leaves a horrendous amount of HTML formatting.

Doesn’t Jetpack have a similar functionality?

Grammarly is an essential tool for anyone who writes regularly.

The only trouble is, it doesn’t work very well with Extra/Divi!

Using the inline visual editor, if you correct spelling mistakes with Grammarly those corrections are not saved when you save the page!

Also, using the text module, when deleting text it can result in extra line spacing being added which you then have to go back in and fix.

I really wish ET would fix these issues or provide a spell checker of their own!

Yes, I have been using it for a while, more than a year now. It helps me to correct my mistakes and typos and yes it is a nice tool to have. I have made 1 typo in this post and correct it using Grammarly.

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• Tags: Academic Writing , Essay , Essay Writing

An essay is a highly versatile, non-fictional piece of writing aimed at persuading, informing, or entertaining the reader. It can serve multiple functions, such as taking a stance on topics, disproving widely believed myths, and sharing interesting anecdotes. 

There are various styles and types of essay writing that can be used to serve specific functions. In this article, we’ll take a detailed look at the four main types of essays, along with the combinations and derivations of these types. Let us understand what are the different types of essays.

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What are the four main types of essays?

There are four types of essays you can write depending on the message you want to convey. They include narrative essays, descriptive essays, argumentative essays, and expository essays.  

Narrative and descriptive essays aim to tell a story or describe an immersive experience with the help of sensory descriptors. Expository and argumentative essays aim to educate and inform the reader on a particular topic. 

There are many more types of essay that are a combination or derivation of these four essay types. Here are the four main types of essays. To help you better understand these essay types, we’ve also constructed relevant example essays. 

1. Narrative essay 

A narrative essay  is a type of writing that involves telling a story using either highly specific or open-ended prompts. It is a form of personal and creative nonfiction that tests your ability to build up your story in a well-structured format. The use of storytelling techniques such as similes, metaphors, alliteration, imagery, and dialogue is common in narrative essay writing.

It typically begins with the introduction of the settings and characters of the story. The body consists of the highlights of your life, often described with the help of vivid imagery. The conclusion includes reflections on the meaning or significance of the events, as well as any lessons learned or insights gained from experience.

A personal statement is one example of a narrative essay, where you tell a story about yourself in order to convince the reader of your suitability for a particular role or position.

Let’s understand the structure of a narrative essay better with the help of this example: 

My First Job as a Server

My first job as a server was a crash course in hard work, patience, and resilience. I was eager to work and earn my own money, but I had no idea what I had signed up for.

I soon discovered that this job was no walk in the park. I had to constantly be on my feet, multitasking and juggling multiple orders at once. But with the help of my manager and fellow servers, I was quickly able to learn the ropes.

One of the biggest challenges I faced was being patient with irate customers. Initially, their harsh words made me doubt my abilities. But, over time I developed a thick skin and became immune to their comments. 

These experiences taught me to be patient with myself as well as with others. I developed a sense of empathy, that I never would have otherwise and learned not to take things personally. Due to the fast-paced restaurant environment, I also learned how to multitask and manage my time efficiently.

Looking back, I can confidently say that these experiences shaped me into the person I am today.  These lessons have stayed with me throughout and continue to influence the way I approach challenges.

2. Descriptive essay

A descriptive essay aims to provide an immersive experience for the reader by using sensory descriptors. Unlike a narrative essay, which tells a story, a descriptive essay has a narrower scope and focuses on one particular subject or aspect of a story.

For example, a descriptive essay about a beach may describe the warmth of the sand underfoot, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, the salty smell of the ocean breeze, and the taste of saltwater on the lips. These sensory details bring the reader into the experience and allow them to imagine themselves in the setting.

One key tip for a descriptive essay is to choose your words carefully, using language that is both specific and evocative. By doing so, you can create a strong emotional connection between the reader and the subject of the essay. The goal is to make the reader feel as though they are a part of the setting, experiencing it firsthand.

Let’s understand this in more detail with the help of an example:

Cherry Blossoms in Japan

Japan’s cherry blossom season is a magical time of year when the country is covered in a sea of pink and white petals. The colors are striking and seem to change with the light and angle of the sun. 

The soft, delicate petals dance in the wind, filling the air with a sweet fragrance that can be smelled everywhere. The sound of the petals rustling and swaying in the breeze is soothing and calming. 

Families and friends gather beneath the trees, enjoying picnics and drinks, adding to the festive atmosphere. The taste of the cherry blossom is subtle but distinct, and many Japanese sweets and drinks are flavored with sakura. 

The essence of the cherry blossom is hope and renewal, reminding us of the fleeting nature of life and the importance of savoring each moment. It is a time when the entire country comes together to celebrate life’s beauty and the present moment. 

Witnessing the cherry blossom in Japan is a sensory feast that evokes feelings of joy, wonder, and gratitude. It is an unforgettable experience that should not be missed.

3. Argumentative essays

An argumentative essay is an extended argument that aims to persuade the reader to adopt a particular stance based on factual information and statistics. It is one of the most common forms of college essays.

The purpose of an argumentative essay is to present a well-reasoned and well-supported argument in favor of a particular position. You must provide relevant evidence, logical reasoning, and convincing arguments to support your stance. The goal is to convince the reader to accept your point of view.

To write an effective argumentative essay, you must conduct thorough research. This involves gathering reliable sources of information, analyzing it, and synthesizing it into a coherent argument. You should also consider counterarguments and address them in your essay to strengthen your position.

Let’s take a look at an example:

The Power of Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool for motivating individuals and increasing performance efficiency. It involves rewarding desired behavior, rather than punishing negative behavior. Research has shown that positive reinforcement can be highly effective in both school and workplace settings.

In a study conducted by the University of Melbourne, researchers found that students who received positive feedback from their teachers were more likely to be engaged and motivated. They were also more likely to participate in class and have better academic performance.

Similarly, in a corporate setting, positive reinforcement has been shown to improve employee morale and job satisfaction. A study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 89% showed high levels of motivation when their achievements were recognized and appreciated. Additionally, 86% of employees showed increased job satisfaction.

Positive feedback, also helps individuals think creatively and develop strong problem-solving skills. A study conducted by the University of Illinois involved participants engaging in a brainstorming task, where some were provided with positive feedback and others were not. The results showed that those who received positive feedback demonstrated significantly greater creativity and better problem-solving abilities than those who did not.

Positive reinforcement is proven to be powerful tool that should be implemented in both academic and corporate settings. It not only improves academic and workplace achievements but also promotes creativity and problem-solving skills. 

4. Expository essays

An expository essay is a common format used in school and college exams to assess your understanding of a specific topic. The purpose of an expository essay is to present and explore a topic thoroughly without taking any particular stance or expressing personal opinions.

An expository essay does not require an original argument and requires less research as compared to an argumentative essay. However, you should be able to cover a topic from all angles and provide factual information to support your argument. You should also be able to structure your essay in a well-organized, logical format, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.  

The term “expository essay” is an umbrella term used to describe several different types of essays. They include classification essays, definition essays, compare and contrast essays, and cause and effect essays.

The Legacy of Thomas Edison 

Thomas Edison was one of the most important inventors in history, credited with over 1,000 patents during his lifetime. He was born in Ohio in 1847 and grew up in Michigan, where he received very little formal education. Despite this, Edison showed a strong interest in science and technology from an early age and began conducting experiments in his spare time.

In his early career, Edison worked as a telegraph operator and began to develop his own inventions, including an improved stock ticker and a quadruplex telegraph system. In 1877, he invented the phonograph, a device that could record and play back sound. This invention helped establish Edison as a leading inventor and made him a household name.

One of Edison’s most famous inventions was the incandescent light bulb, which he developed in the late 1870s. This invention revolutionized the way people lived, allowing them to work and live comfortably even after sunset. Edison’s work on the light bulb led to the development of the electrical power grid, which helped bring electricity to homes and businesses across the country.

Throughout his career, Edison remained committed to the idea of practical invention, focusing on creating devices that would have a real impact on people’s lives. He famously said, “Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.”

Overall, Thomas Edison’s impact on the world of invention and innovation cannot be overstated. His inventions helped transform the world and set the stage for many of the technological advances that we enjoy today.

Other types of essays

Now that we’ve looked at the four main types of essays, let’s take a look at the combinations and derivations of these types.

These different types of essays include:  

1. Persuasive essays

These types of essays aim to convince the reader to adopt a particular viewpoint. They achieve this by using personal anecdotes and experiences, which are backed up by factual evidence. Although they share some similarities with argumentative essays, persuasive essays place greater emphasis on emotion and personal narratives, on top of providing factual evidence.

Persuasive essays follow three methods of persuasion: Ethos, pathos, and logos. These methods are utilized to effectively convince the reader to adopt a particular viewpoint. 

• Ethos involves establishing the writer’s strong moral character, creating a sense of trustworthiness and reliability with the reader. 
• Pathos aims to evoke an emotional response from the reader in order to sway them toward the writer’s viewpoint. 
• Logos relies on providing the reader with hard facts, statistics, and evidence to convince them to adopt the writer’s standpoint.

Here’s an example: 

Importance of Mental Health Days in Corporate Settings

Employees need mental health days for their overall wellbeing and productivity. According to the World Health Organization, one in four people globally are affected by mental health disorders, which can lead to absenteeism, presenteeism, and decreased productivity in the workplace.

Taking a mental health day can provide a necessary break from work-related stress and allow employees to focus on their mental well-being. It can help prevent burnout and reduce the risk of developing serious issues such as depression or anxiety. Employees who feel supported in taking mental health days are more likely to return to work feeling refreshed and recharged, leading to increased productivity and creativity.

Furthermore, promoting mental health days in the workplace can foster a culture of transparency and support. When employees feel comfortable discussing their concerns with their employers and colleagues, it creates a sense of trust and understanding. This can lead to a more positive work environment and a higher level of employee morale.

In conclusion, mental health days are not a luxury, but a necessity for maintaining employees’ mental health and wellbeing. Employers who recognize the importance of mental health days and actively promote them in the workplace can create a more productive, positive, and healthy work environment for their employees.

2. Critical essays

A critical essay is not necessarily an evaluative piece of writing, but rather a thoughtful and analytical approach to interpreting a work of art. Through this process, you can provide valuable insights that enhance the reader’s appreciation and understanding of a piece.

These types of essays are common projects assigned to students in school or college. They involve the analysis and interpretation of a text or a visual medium. It goes beyond criticism despite the negative connotation of the term “critical”. It analyzes themes, characters, plots, and other crucial aspects to gain a deeper insight into the message or purpose of a literary or visual piece.

The critical essay-writing process involves actively reading or observing a piece of art or literature and forming a central idea or thesis statement on the basis of these observations. The body paragraphs consist of topic sentences that bolster the thesis statement, along with pieces of evidence proving these statements. The conclusion consists of the summary of the most impactful parts of your essay along with a powerful concluding statement.

While writing a critical essay or literary analysis essay , it is crucial to inspect every little aspect of a piece. For example, when writing a critical essay on a poem, it is essential to analyze its structure, the specific use of language, and the various literary devices used by the poet. By examining these elements, you can effectively explain its intended message.

Take a look at an example: 

The Surreal Narrative of Virginia Woolf’s A Haunted House

Virginia Woolf’s A Haunted House is a surreal narrative that explores the interplay of light and shadow, the instability of time, and the haunting silence of an old house. The narrator’s state of mind is between sleep and wakefulness, which is reflected in the hazy lighting of the setting. The events of the night are narrated in the present tense, while the narrator’s waking hours are narrated in the past tense, heightening the sense of eeriness. The story takes place inside the narrator’s mind, bearing an imprint of their unconscious.

The provocation that “nothing really happens in A Haunted House” is inappropriate because it assumes there is one absolute reality in which events naturally unfold. In Woolf’s essay Modern Fiction , she reflects on the essential thing one looks for in fiction, which is often lost due to stagnant literary conventions like plot. Woolf rejects the realistic mode of storytelling to find a better form for the essential thing, which she creates out of the consciousness of her narrator.

One may argue that the narrator’s consciousness imagines the disembodied selves of old writers as the ghostly couple and gives form to “the light in the heart” when the ghosts bury it inside the house. The act of giving form to “the light in the heart” connects the new writer to the ghostly selves of old writers. These are the things that happen in the story.

In conclusion, the surreal narrative of A Haunted House is an exploration of the interplay of light and shadow, the instability of time, and the haunting silence of an old house. Through her rejection of stagnant literary conventions and the creation of a new reality shaped by the consciousness of her narrator, Woolf gives form to “the essential thing” in fiction.

3. Reflective essays

These essays provide an opportunity for you to share your personal insights, opinions, and reflections on an experience. They are highly creative and typically employ the first-person point of view. 

Through this form of writing, you can take the time to reflect on the meaning and significance of certain life events and their impact on you. It also allows you to share your key takeaways or lessons you’ve learned from these events. 

Here’s an example:

A Trip to My Home Country

My trip to Kenya, my home country, was an eye-opening experience that left a lasting impact on me. As a Kenyan-American, I had grown up hearing stories about my parents’ home country, but nothing prepared me for the reality of it. The vibrant colors, the delicious smells, and the welcoming people all contributed to a truly inspiring trip.

One of the most memorable moments was visiting a rural village and meeting a group of young girls who were determined to receive an education. Despite facing significant obstacles, such as the societal pressure to prioritize marriage over education, these girls were highly committed to their goals. It was truly inspiring to see their resilience and made me reflect on my own privileges and opportunities in life.

The trip also made me realize the importance of preserving one’s cultural heritage. As a Kenyan American who was born and raised in the United States, I had never fully appreciated the richness and diversity of Kenyan culture. However, being immersed in it made me realize the importance of keeping these traditions alive.

Overall, my trip to Kenya inspired me to be more appreciative of my cultural heritage, to work towards social justice and equality, and to never take my privileges for granted. It was a truly life-changing experience that will stay with me forever.

The next step to creating a perfect essay is thorough editing. You can either choose to edit it yourself or make things easier for yourself by consulting a professional essay editing service . Which you all the best in your essay-writing journey!

Keep reading with more resources from your loyal editors and proofreaders:

• How to Write an Essay Outline: 5 Examples & Free Template
• How to Start an Essay

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the four elements of an essay, what are the three stages of essay writing, which is the most common type of essay in colleges, how do i identify different types of essays.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, using grammarly for college essays.

So I'm writing my college essays and wondered if using Grammarly would be helpful to catch any errors or improve my writing. Has anyone tried this? Does it come across as over-edited or is it a good tool to use while drafting and revising?

Grammarly can be a helpful tool to catch basic errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling, especially during the initial drafting and revising stages of your college essays. It's important, though, not to rely solely on Grammarly, as it may sometimes miss context-specific nuances in your writing or even suggest changes that aren't correct.

To ensure your essays don't come across as over-edited, it's a good idea to develop a balanced approach to using Grammarly. First, work on refining your drafts on your own, focusing on clarity, flow, and coherence. Then, use Grammarly to catch any lingering errors. Finally, ask one or two trusted friends, family members, or teachers to review your essays for content and stylistic suggestions. These people know your voice and can help ensure that the essay remains authentic and engaging, even after running it through Grammarly.

Remember, the key to a strong college essay is showcasing your unique voice and experiences. Grammarly is a useful tool to polish your writing, but don't let it override your authentic voice in the process.

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

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Apple Intelligence vs Grammarly — AI powered text tool showdown

Apple Intelligence's Writing Tools [left], Grammarly logo [right]

It's fair to say that Apple Intelligence is a big jump for Apple, in many different ways. After living with Siri for years, users are being promised a seismic shift in how their hardware works, with more intelligent features than ever before.

The imaging capabilities have gathered the most attention so far, with Siri's upgrades a close second. However, there's a lot to be said about the text tools included as part of Apple Intelligence.

The average person will be familiar to in-app tools to help correct spelling, grammar issues, and maybe a little guidance on readability. By contrast, Apple Intelligence offers a lot more, including rewriting stretches of text.

All of this is a bid to improve the user's writing for others to read.

The features are not the only literacy aids available, as tools like Grammarly have offered similar promises to upgrade a user's writing. Grammarly similarly provides AI-powered tools to correct and improve how a user writes.

As Apple Intelligence's writing tools are available in developer betas, and months away from a public launch, it's worth looking at whether Apple is going to consume Grammarly's subscribers .

Apple Intelligence vs Grammarly - Basic Checks

Everyone is very familiar with the underlines that appear in text if you make a spelling or grammatical error. These usually appear in specific writing tools and can be the bane of writers.

These corrective notices aren't always useful, such as if the user accidentally types in a homophone. Traditional spellcheckers probably won't detect the wrong word choice if a user types "their" instead of "there," as they're both correctly spelled words.

That's where tools like Grammarly step in. Once installed and enabled, Grammarly can hint to a user that there are problems in a stretch of text, but does more than a typical spellcheck.

That includes detecting things like homophones and other writing confusions, and offering corrections in each case. When it comes to grammar, it will also provide its own take on what you're trying to write, all shown as pop-ups overlaying your text.

Apple Intelligence doesn't have this function directly. You're still going to have to rely on an app's built-in spellcheck if you want in-line indications of your mistakes.

However, where Apple Intelligence comes into play is if you highlight text and tap Writing Tools. This brings up the Apple Intelligence Writing Tools popup, which includes an option to Proofread.

Tapping Proofread then has Apple Intelligence analyze the text and display a corrected version in the pop-up. You don't get the option to see what exact mistakes you made, but it does correct them for you.

This text isn't automatically inserted into your document, but you do have options to copy, replace inline, or to share the corrected stretch with others.

Apple Intelligence vs Grammarly - Style and AI rewriting

Writing in a particular tone of voice can be hard. Not everyone can easily switch from a conversational style to something more formal.

Both Apple Intelligence and Grammarly offer ways to automatically alter the text to suit the tone you need.

Under Apple Intelligence Writing Tools, there are options to update the selected portion of text in friendly, professional, and concise ways. Much like proofreading this will bring the selected text into the popup and display a version in that particular style.

If you would rather maintain your current style but feel it could be done better, you could instead select Rewrite. Again, it will display new text based on what you have selected, which can be inserted in place.

For Grammarly, it does offer some generative tone changes. Clicking a little icon in macOS brings up an option for improving the text, identifying gaps in what you've written, and so forth.

However, you can also "Set your voice," referring to your tone. This is a lot more extensive than the few options of Apple Intelligence, but it does start with the fairly similar formality options of neutral, casual, or formal.

When it comes to tone, you can select three from a list of six options: personable, confident, empathetic, engaging, witty, and direct.

You can even include your profession, just in case there's profession-specific terminology or writing style to consider.

Apple Intelligence vs Grammarly - Generating text

If you had no idea where to start or a bad bout of writer's block, you could ask Grammarly to write something for you. You simply tell it what you want written and it will craft a block of text in your chosen style.

For example, asking for a thank you note offers a very usable stretch of text, with fill-in-the-blank sections included where necessary.

Apple Intelligence doesn't offer text generation directly. You can't tell it to create a block of text on a topic at all.

The nearest thing to it on the way is Smart Reply in Mail. When requested, Apple Intelligence will determine questions asked in an email and offer appropriate response options to the user.

It then uses these responses to create a quick reply to the email, which the user can then further adjust and send off.

As usual for any generated AI text, it is best practice to proofread it yourself before actively using it in a document.

Apple Intelligence vs Grammarly - Other assists

Apple Intelligence offers options to summarize stretches of text, to generate a list of key points, and even make a table if a bunch of data points is selected by the user.

Similarly, Grammarly does give other quick options, including shortening the text, adding more descriptions, simplifying text, and other tone tweaks.

Apple Intelligence vs Grammarly - Accessibility

As the name implies, Apple Intelligence is only available on Apple hardware. For the moment, that means the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, as well as Mac and iPad models with M-series Apple Silicon chips.

It's also a system-wide feature, so it will work with most apps, including third-party apps, that deal with text.

Grammarly, meanwhile, is available on Mac and Windows for desktop, iOS and Android on mobile. It also has add-ons for browsers, in case you don't want to install the full desktop versions.

When installed on the Mac desktop, you get the little icon in the corner of the window if you're typing in a text-based app. On mobile, you can use the Grammarly Editor app, as well as the keyboard to assist while writing in other apps.

Apple Intelligence vs Grammarly - Pricing

Apple Intelligence is free as part of the iOS 18, iPadOS 18 , and macOS Sequoia update, which will be released to the public this fall.

While there's no price associated with it directly for writing tools, you do need the hardware to use it. For example, if you're on an older non-Pro iPhone , you're going to have to upgrade.

Grammarly does offer a free edition of its service to consumers, but it is limited to more basic spelling and grammar checking. You can also be told the tone of your writing, but you cannot adjust it.

You can also use the generative text elements, but you can submit just 100 prompts per month.

There is a premium option , which costs $12 per month when billed annually or $30 per month when billed monthly. Under premium, you get full access to Grammarly's feature set, including adjusting your writing tone, rewriting full sentences, and monitoring for plagarism.

You also get more prompts at 1,000 per month.

A Business option is also available for $15 per member per month when billed annually, or $25 per month when billed monthly. This introduces centralized billing, style guides, brand tone adjustments, analytics, more prompts, and other things beneficial to working in teams.

Apple Intelligence vs Grammarly - Semi-Sherlocked

If all you heard was that Apple Intelligence offered AI tools to assist in writing text, you would expect the worst for Grammarly. At face value, it seems like a case of Grammarly being Sherlocked , when Apple introduces a free feature that replaces a third-party app.

It's fair to say that this isn't a Sherlocking case. At least, not entirely.

Apple Intelligence certainly does bring some much-needed tools to the table for Apple users. It will help people improve their writing, and maybe even boost grades for children.

But the initial offering isn't all-encompassing. You're not asking your iPhone to write a book report automatically for you, or at least to generate birthday greeting emails to friends and family.

Grammarly offers an awful lot more to users if they want a lot more finessing of their text. You're given a lot more flexibility in terms of tone adjustments.

Then there's the generative AI element that can write text for you. Apple doesn't offer this at all, though the Siri connection to ChatGPT could eventually do so.

And that's before you consider that Apple Intelligence is only available if you're on Apple Silicon on a Mac or iPad, or you have an iPhone 15 Pro or later. Grammarly is offered on far more, and on other platforms too.

Where Grammarly runs into a problem is cost. It's hard enough to compete with "free and built-in," but the subscription price could put off all but those who write for a living.

Apple's new writing tools have a massive audience, namely people who want occasional help to straighten up their paragraphs. Grammarly's audience is for people who need a lot more specialized assistance.

Grammarly's existence is still safe. It's not been Sherlocked, and it will be fine for the moment.

At least, until Apple expands the capabilities of its tools down the road.

17 Comments

The article says it’s will work with the M series chips but does this include an M1? I seem to recall reading somewhere that M1s could not handle Apple Intelligence. 

GadgetGuy3.0 said: The article says it’s will work with the M series chips but does this include an M1? I seem to recall reading somewhere that M1s could not handle Apple Intelligence.  It does include M1.

Other than sending out form letters, I really don’t get the appeal of having AI write for someone.

mikethemartian said: Other than sending out form letters, I really don’t get the appeal of having AI write for someone. Have you seen some of the article writing on websites out there that ISN'T bot generated?   There may be just as many people who hate writing an article or email as there are that don't like to make phone calls or talk in person.  Social anxiety to the max!

I was planning on trading in my 14 Pro for the 16 Pro, but if AI is going to take a long time to roll out, I’m thinking of just waiting for the 17 Pro when it will be fully embedded in the device.  Thoughts?

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Watch: Whale of New Hampshire slams into fishing boat, hurling men into the Atlantic

The men were thrown into the sea off odiorne point in rye, new hampshire after the humpback slammed into them. lucky for them, two teenagers were there to swiftly rescue the men..

A whale was mid-breach when it hit a small boat off New Hampshire, causing the vessel to capsize and hurl two fishermen overboard in a matter of seconds. 

Colin and Wyatt Yager, two teenage brothers from Maine on a neighboring vessel, took to social media Tuesday to share the footage, which has been reposted multiple times in the past few hours, according to reporting by Seacoastonline, part of the USA TODAY Network.

One video in particular has garnered over 4 million views and hundreds of comments since it was posted, with a caption that warns area residents to beware of a “pissed off whale” patrolling the waters of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

“Head on swivel if you’re out there,” the caption says. 

The teens "swiftly rescued" both fishermen after their boat capsized off Odiorne Point in Rye, New Hampshire, U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Diolanda Caballero told Seacoastonline.

Wyatt Yager wasn't initially worried about the whale, telling Seacoastonline that all of the boats stayed along the edge of the school of fish so the whale could feed. But it got a little too close to the vessel, causing it to tip over.

"I was just in shock. Everyone else had the same reaction and tried to get over to those people," he said. "It was like, 'Oh shoot,' and then, 'We’ve got to go help these people.' All the boats dropped what they were doing to go over to help them."

Neither the men thrown into the ocean, nor the whale, were injured, Caballero said.

USA TODAY has reached out to the Coast Guard for comment.

There is a pissed off whale patrolling the waters of Portsmouth NH today. Head on swivel if you’re out there pic.twitter.com/xQPIHs8ZjN — Ryan Whitney (@ryanwhitney6) July 23, 2024

'It's been an emotional day,' fisherman says

The Coast Guard caught wind of the capsized vessel Tuesday morning, which had been tipped over in Rye, a few miles northeast of Portsmouth, Seacoastonline reported. The teens were fishing for menhaden, also known as "pogies" a little after 7 a.m.

The whale crashed into Greg Paquette and Ryland Kenney's boat about an hour later after they spotted the aquatic mammal, immediately launching both men into "fight or flight mode" after they were thrown into the water, Seacoastonline reported.

“I heard a big crackle,” Kenney told the newspaper. "When that happened … the bow tipped up and I went to the left and as (the boat) was rolling over I kind of jumped off horizontally to avoid the whale and the boat.”

The last thing Paquette remembers seeing before being thrown into the water was the whale's head, which slammed down on the engine of the boat.

“Then I saw the whole stern become inundated with water and I thought, ‘Oh no. We’re going down. We’re going to sink now," Paquette told Seacoastonline. They managed to swim away from the swamped boat in a matter of seconds and became very tired after the initial "energy and adrenaline" wore off.

"It's been an emotional day," Paquette said.

The men stayed in the Yagers' boat for about 15 minutes, then the brothers dropped them off at a nearby friend's vessel before the Coast Guard arrived, according to Wyatt Yager. Paquette and Kenney were transported to Great Cove Boat Club in Eliot, Maine, after the breach, the two fishermen said.

Both men were in the water for less than two minutes before they were rescued, with 19-year-old Wyatt and 16-year-old Colin stepping in to help.  

"We’re glad they took such quick action," Paquette said. "They didn’t even think about it. We’re really grateful to both of them."

Internet reacts, exchanges memes

Mood pic.twitter.com/eCPubI7Efk — JunKnee Harris (@Jay_FnHarris) July 23, 2024

While the whale seemed to have made a pretty big splash, Colin Yager’s reaction to the “breach” has inadvertently caused the most attention. 

Multiple people have commented on Colin’s reaction, pointing out how quickly his instincts kicked in.

“Kid's like ‘I want to go home now,’" one user wrote. Another said, “That kid had the right idea lol turned around and was ready to book it.”

A user named Daisy Evans wrote that the “incredible scene” was the result of “unfortunate timing,” pointing to the way the whale was breaching under a school of baitfish next to the boat.

“You can actually see dozens of fish pouring out of its mouth as it impacts the boat. The whale was not attacking,” she wrote.