Types of Essays: Response, Formal, Casebook, Research
Dr. Bachman
The man in the funny Viking hat (Dr. Bachman) taught me everything I know about writing essays (he called them themes). He gave me the apple so that I could share it with you. I teach in honor of him.
In this class, you will be asked to write a variety of types of essays. Here are some helpful links.
1. Response Papers [The shortest and most informal type. Sometimes it is okay to use personal pronouns in a response paper, and sometimes no citations are needed, (but sometimes they are), just follow the directions given. These should still be focused and organized when written for a college course.]:
http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-write-a-response-paper-a94524
http://www.sonoma.edu/users/v/vazquez/ResponsePaper.html
http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/reaction.html
2. Formal Essays [The most common type of essay in a college class. Requires strict adherence to format, but is less involved than a research paper. Citations are necessary and usually come just from the text/readings (or art, film, etc.) that you are writing about-- no outside research besides that is necessary.]
http://www.apurnell.com/wilreadings/Elements.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_5104375_write-formal-essay.html
3. Research Paper [The most lengthy type of essay. Requires a significant number of secondary (outside), academic sources in order to back up your ideas/points/thesis. You must balance that research with your own treatment of the subject.]
http://www.esc.edu/esconline/across_esc/writerscomplex.nsf/0/ddbc866bc537f67e85256a460066ab2d?opendocument
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/01/
4. Casebook: [In English 1301 (and now in English 1302), your textbook contained "casebooks". These are basically just a compilation of a few articles on a specific "hot" issue that show you different sides to the issue. In the casebook essay, you will be asked to read about a particular issue, then to survey (or summarize) the different viewpoints about that issue. You will then use those articles as a stepping stone to clarify your own stance on that issue. These are fairly short (2-3 pages) and easy to write since they are so formulaic: You are summarizing articles, using quotes from the articles, then developing your own opinion on the issue.