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Essay Assignments Ranked: From the Most Daunting To the Easiest One

Writing assignments come in different shapes or forms in college. The majority of them are going to be in an essay form, but there are several types of them. Some are easier and others require much more work and dedication to complete.

Based on the students’ reviews and professional advice from essay writers writing service, this ranking was created. Here are the most common essay assignments ranked – from the most daunting to the easiest one.

Persuasive essay

This type is arguably the most daunting as it requires very strong analytical skills as well as knowledge of persuasive theory. The main goal is not only to find your perspective on the subject but persuade the readers or listeners in your point of view.

A writer needs to find the best arguments with strong supporting evidence. But they should be also given in a specific form. It means that the student needs to appeal to Logos, Pathos, and Ethos – the main means of persuasion in Classical Rhetoric.

It makes formulation arguments quite difficult as they need to appeal to logic, ethics, and emotion of the reader or listener. Overall, this type of essay is extremely hard for the majority of students and takes a lot of time to craft.

Argumentative essay

This type of writing is quite similar to the previous one. But it is a bit simpler as there is no need to apply all rhetorical means. In this paper, a writer needs to follow the standard outline to prove a point on a subject matter. So, the tips on writing a good essay will work okay.

The main difficulty here is to find the most powerful arguments with relevant evidence to support them. A writer also needs to present them correctly – starting with the most convincing points.

Finding objective argumentation is what makes it difficult for many students as it is important to understand both perspectives and the evidence of the contrary opinion. It takes a lot of research and analysis to complete.

Definition/expository essay

This paper is easier than the two previous ones, but still offers a lot of challenges to students. The main goal of a definition essay is to present a term, concept, or subject, and define it. It is not as common as the previous ones but still is worth mentioning.

The main pain point is to find a subject worth a paper and, of course, to present it in a coherent, logical, and consistent way. It demands deep knowledge of the topic and an understanding of its specifics. You might want to turn to an essay writing service with this one. After all, if you don’t know exactly what you are defining, all of the hard writing work will go to waste.

Critical essay

It is one of the medium-complexity papers, which can be quite difficult. It is often given on a specific literary work, like a novel or short story.

The main goal of a critical essay is to analyze the literary piece through one specific perspective. For example, you need to analyze the gender representation of the character in the novel and find the evidence that supports your theory on that.

It is not so hard to write as it is difficult in the preparation stage. One needs to read and often reread the literary work to find evidence, analyze it, make a conclusion, and present a case.

Rhetorical analysis/analytical essay

These two types are quite similar and have the same level of complexity. Rhetorical analysis is done to analyze the speech or rhetoric piece and deconstruct all the means used in it.

One needs to find all the rhetoric techniques the author uses, present them, and show how and why they work or not. The main goal of an analytical essay is similar but it often deals with a concept, particular topic, or book.

One needs to understand the subject of the paper from different perspectives; it is not the time to pick only one. And there should be supporting arguments and evidence. The main difficulty of both these types is that they require extensive research.

Compare and contrast essay

The main purpose of this paper is in the title. It is one of the easy ones as students need to compare two things and define what makes them different or similar.

Overall, it is quite simple to write and does not always require extensive research. Depending on the type of things one is to compare, it might be quite fast to write.

Cause and effect essay

This is another rather simple type of paper. The structure and purpose are very clear – to show the interconnections between specific actions and things.

But it can be more difficult, depending on the specific subject or topic of the paper. Generally, it is not very challenging for students and they can complete it quite fast.

Narrative essay

This is one of the simplest paper types one can get. Of course, if you are good at storytelling. The goal of this writing piece is to tell a story. It means that one can share something of a personal experience and perspective.

There is no need for any research usually but it is more creative in terms of writing. One can experiment with different styles and types of delivery to focus on a specific aspect. Overall, it is not very challenging at all.

Process essay

In such a paper, a student needs to describe a specific process in its details. In general, it is pretty understandable and does not cause many difficulties. But it depends on the process that is the subject of writing. One needs to break it down into steps and have a clear vision of how it is done.

Descriptive writing

It is the easiest one in our ranking for several reasons. First, the purpose is to describe something, a phenomenon, an object, or a person.

Overall, there is no need to do a lot of research. Secondly, there is no need to provide evidence or supportive arguments. And there is no need to get too creative with writing. It is all about clarity and comprehensive delivery.

In summary

These are ten the most common types of an essay a student can get as an assignment. Some of them are very simple and do not require a lot of research or analytical work. But the most daunting ones will take you days or even weeks to finish.

 

Staff Writer at CPO Magazine