Conducting Research for a Purpose

During the quarter you will be asked to write different kinds of essays. Your assignments may include:

• personal statements that require no outside research
• informative essays, in which your task is to inform, or educate, your reader on the facts of a topic
• argumentative essays, in which you take an informed stand on a topic and support your position with credible evidence that takes into consideration other perspectives
• persuasive essays, in which you take an informed stand on a topic and use credible evidence to appeal to a reader through logic, emotion, and ethics

Informative, cause and effect, argumentative, persuasive, and other forms of college essay require research and the use of reliable sources!

An Informative Essay

• Aims to educate and inform an audience rather than persuade
• Defines, explains, elaborates on, and supports a central theme
• May address debates and opinions on the topic, but does not take a stand on those debates 
• Uses strong sources to help establish your own reliability as a source of information.

A Persuasive or Argument Essay

The purpose of an argument essay is to take a strong and informed stand on a topic about which reasonable people may disagree.

A strong argument will reflect your own thoughtful research on the topic. It will:

• Present a fair and accurate discussion of the issue.
• Take a clear position.
• Be supported with credible evidence.
• Consider other possible points of view.

The purpose of a persuasive essay is to take a strong and informed stand on a topic and to convince a reader to think, feel, or act in a particular way on the topic.

• A strong persuasive essay will reflect the elements of a strong argument, and employ rhetoric and evidence that appeal to emotion and morals, as well as logic.