How to write an essay correctly? Features of the genre

The literary narrative genre is perhaps one of the most common today. We all wrote at school essays and exposition. Today Often students and students are invited to write an essay. What is this genre in literature, when it first appeared, what are its distinctive features? Finally, how to write an essay correctly? This is what will be discussed in this article.

In order to better understand the topic, it is necessary to trace the development of the genre. Before writing an essay, you need not only to master the rules of his work, but also to know what distinguishes him from other works. And also to understand how and when it appeared in the literature.

Characteristic

The very word "essay" is translated as "experience" or "sketch". Such literary works differ, as a rule, by a small volume (from 10 to 20 pages), although examples are known when the size of the composition reached 50 pages. In the content the author reveals his own, strictly individual attitude to the topic, touched upon in the narrative.

Essays - the literary genre of prose writing. Characterized by a maximum approximation to spoken language, emphasizing the author's position, his own experience and reasoning, which may radically differ from the generally accepted understanding of the problem. Perhaps, in no other work the narrative is not so paradoxical. However, it is the essay that distinguishes the amazing integrity of the author's idea, which is difficult to preserve in more voluminous texts.

History of appearance

The "father" of this trend is the Frenchman M. Montaigne. In Russian literature, works that correspond to the definition of "essays" can be found among the works of Dostoevsky. Some experts argue that the first works of this type can also be found in Biblical works and moral arguments of Marcus Aurelius, but the genre was completely formed and blossomed in the 16th century. Montaigne's work can be called a vivid example or even an instruction to how to write an essay correctly. In his works the talented Frenchman masterfully performed his own "experiments", thanks to which he tried to understand himself in this world and this world as a whole through the prism of his own attitude and knowledge. Montaigne demonstrates how bright the narrative can be. He easily deviates from the main line of the narrative, abundantly uses metaphors and associations, which turns his works into splendid and understandable works of the common people.

At the end of the XVI century the essay was carried away by the Englishman F. Bacon. His works were somewhat different from the works of Montaigne. The narrative was less extensive, distinguished by clarity, clarity, and focused on one main idea. At the beginning of the XVII century Milton preferred passionate appeals in his works, which were to awaken in the reader the desire to change the existing system, to begin a stormy reformatory activity. His essays were more of a bearer of an idea than an emotional narrative on a particular topic. Very deep in content were the works of Dalton. He dedicated them to specific ideas, which he stated in a serious language. It is Dalton who is considered the "parent" of a critical essay.

At the dawn of the 17th century, the idea of how to write an essay correctly changed somewhat. These works Became less serious and shorter. It is then that there is such a variety as a periodically appearing essay. Its author consider the Englishman Addison, who regularly posted small works in the newspaper. In fact, they were the prototype of a newspaper column. The development of the printing industry and the increase in the number of periodicals have turned the essay into one of the most popular genres.

Modern works of this literary direction differ in mood and manner of narration, they can be philosophical, thoughtful or light and humorous, naive, as if written by "scribbler-inept".

Structure of the work

Today, there are a number of requirements for how to write essays correctly. One of the main is the structure of the work. It should contain such parts as the title page, the introduction, the main part and the conclusion. As you can see, the content is subject to rules that can be presented to any narrative text. At the same time, the use of various arguments, value judgments, and extensive use of metaphors and allegories are welcomed. The task of the essay is to help the reader to know about the author's own attitude, to understand the logic of his judgments, to evaluate the wealth of the writer's personal experience.