The first time I taught an essay writing class, one of my students raised her hand as I was talking.
“Excuse me,” she said. “But what does S. A. stand for?”
Like I always tell my students, there is no stupid question. But that question was surprising to me at the time!
Now I realize why people haven’t heard of essays: because they don’t see a need for them in their daily lives.
In reality, though, essays are not only fun and interesting to write, but they actually are useful little things.
What is an essay?
An essay is a piece of writing in which a writer explores one topic and argues for one opinion about the topic. The opinion has a fancy name, too: the thesis.
Another way to look at it is that an essay is a written-down thing that we do all the time in real life: we learn about something, we form an opinion about it, and we have discussions with other people in which we try to convince them that our opinion is right.
Scientists do that.
Politicians do that.
Car salespeople do that.
Video game designers do that.
So an essay is not something that’s separate from real life. It’s just something that many people do verbally instead of in writing.
What’s the point of writing an essay?
Writing down our ideas forces us to think them through. When we have to write our reasons for our opinions, we go through an important process:
- Which facts support my opinion?
- What don’t I know about this subject?
- What did I think I knew but was wrong about?
- Which facts do people who disagree with me use to support their opinions?
Writing an essay sometimes has the effect of making you change your mind! Sometimes it helps you understand something you didn’t understand before. Other times it helps you give words to ideas you had but couldn’t describe.
Try it: Write a short essay about something you’re passionate about. Argue your point. Find facts to support your opinion. Read the arguments of people who don’t agree with you.
It can actually be fun!