essay charge meaning

The Charge of the Light Brigade Summary & Analysis by Alfred Lord Tennyson

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” was written by the English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson in response to a battle during the Crimean War (1853-1855). In this battle, a British cavalry unit—the “Light Brigade”—was commanded to charge against a Russian artillery unit. The order was almost suicidal, and the brigade was decimated in the charge. “The Charge of the Light Brigade” celebrates the self-sacrifice and heroism of the cavalrymen, suggesting that bravery consists of doing one's duty even when it leads to almost certain death.

• Read the full text of “The Charge of the Light Brigade”

The Full Text of “The Charge of the Light Brigade”

1 Half a league, half a league,

2 Half a league onward,

3 All in the valley of Death

4    Rode the six hundred.

5 “Forward, the Light Brigade!

6 Charge for the guns!” he said.

7 Into the valley of Death

8    Rode the six hundred.

9 “Forward, the Light Brigade!”

10 Was there a man dismayed?

11 Not though the soldier knew

12    Someone had blundered.

13    Theirs not to make reply,

14    Theirs not to reason why,

15    Theirs but to do and die.

16    Into the valley of Death

17    Rode the six hundred.

18 Cannon to right of them,

19 Cannon to left of them,

20 Cannon in front of them

21    Volleyed and thundered;

22 Stormed at with shot and shell,

23 Boldly they rode and well,

24 Into the jaws of Death,

25 Into the mouth of hell

26    Rode the six hundred.

27 Flashed all their sabres bare,

28 Flashed as they turned in air

29 Sabring the gunners there,

30 Charging an army, while

31    All the world wondered.

32 Plunged in the battery-smoke

33 Right through the line they broke;

34 Cossack and Russian

35 Reeled from the sabre stroke

36    Shattered and sundered.

37 Then they rode back, but not

38    Not the six hundred.

39 Cannon to right of them,

40 Cannon to left of them,

41 Cannon behind them

42    Volleyed and thundered;

43 Stormed at with shot and shell,

44 While horse and hero fell.

45 They that had fought so well

46 Came through the jaws of Death,

47 Back from the mouth of hell,

48 All that was left of them,

49    Left of six hundred.

50 When can their glory fade?

51 O the wild charge they made!

52    All the world wondered.

53 Honour the charge they made!

54 Honour the Light Brigade,

55    Noble six hundred!

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Summary

“the charge of the light brigade” themes.

Bravery, Duty, and Sacrifice

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Charge of the Light Brigade”

Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death    Rode the six hundred.

“Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!” he said. Into the valley of Death    Rode the six hundred.

“Forward, the Light Brigade!” Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew    Someone had blundered.

Lines 13-17

   Theirs not to make reply,    Theirs not to reason why,    Theirs but to do and die.    Into the valley of Death    Rode the six hundred.

Lines 18-21

Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them    Volleyed and thundered;

Lines 22-26

Stormed at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of hell    Rode the six hundred.

Lines 27-31

Flashed all their sabres bare, Flashed as they turned in air Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army, while    All the world wondered.

Lines 31-36

   All the world wondered. Plunged in the battery-smoke Right through the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reeled from the sabre stroke    Shattered and sundered.

Lines 37-38

Then they rode back, but not    Not the six hundred.

Lines 39-42

Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them    Volleyed and thundered;

Lines 43-49

Stormed at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell. They that had fought so well Came through the jaws of Death, Back from the mouth of hell, All that was left of them,    Left of six hundred.

Lines 50-55

When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!    All the world wondered. Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade,    Noble six hundred!

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Symbols

Jaws of Death

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“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

End-stopped line.

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Alliteration

“the charge of the light brigade” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Light Brigade
• Battery-smoke
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Charge of the Light Brigade”

Rhyme scheme, “the charge of the light brigade” speaker, “the charge of the light brigade” setting, literary and historical context of “the charge of the light brigade”, more “the charge of the light brigade” resources, external resources.

Victorian England — A history of Victorian England from the British Library.

The Crimean War — A brief history of the Crimean War from Britain's National Archives.

The Poem Read Aloud — Colm O'Sullivan recites "The Charge of the Light Brigade"

Poem of the Week — A brief essay on "The Charge of the Light Brigade" from Carol Rumens at The Guardian.

New Light on the Light Brigade — A recent article from the Telegraph Newspaper on newly uncovered information about the history of the Light Brigade's fateful charge.

Tennyson's Life Story — A detailed biography of the author of "The Charge of the Light Brigade" from the Poetry Foundation. 

LitCharts on Other Poems by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Break, Break, Break

Crossing the Bar

Tears, Idle Tears

The Lady of Shalott

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Charge of the Light Brigade: Poem + Analysis

‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ is such a perfect, powerful poem – it’s full of strength and momentum, that captures the movement of horses as they charge forwards into battle.

The atmosphere is honourable, brave, and admirable. Yet, the context was that these soldiers were charging into a battle they had no hope of winning, charging to almost certain death on orders that had been given by someone higher up who ‘blundered’, made a mistake that cost hundreds of lives.

Tennyson acknowledges the mistake of the orders, without diminishing his respect for the soldiers that fought bravely against all odds in the face of cannons and certain death. In some ways, we could say that he turns a defeat into a victory, concluding that these soldiers are a testament to their nation’s character and that we should all honour and remember them and their noble sacrifice. It’s a complex poem, asking us to question our beliefs about war – are the soldiers stupid for following orders that didn’t make sense, or honourable because they fight with strength and conviction even when there’s almost no hope? Read the poem and decide for yourself.

This analysis is tailored towards GCSE / iGCSE, A Level and above (age 14+). It’s particularly useful for the following exam boards: AQA, CIE, OCR, WJEC, Edexcel, CCEA.

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Charge of the Light Brigade

I Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death    Rode the six hundred. “Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!” he said. Into the valley of Death    Rode the six hundred. II “Forward, the Light Brigade!” Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew    Someone had blundered.    Theirs not to make reply,    Theirs not to reason why,    Theirs but to do and die.    Into the valley of Death    Rode the six hundred. III Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them    Volleyed and thundered; Stormed at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of hell    Rode the six hundred. IV Flashed all their sabres bare, Flashed as they turned in air Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army, while    All the world wondered. Plunged in the battery-smoke Right through the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reeled from the sabre stroke    Shattered and sundered. Then they rode back, but not    Not the six hundred. V Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them    Volleyed and thundered; Stormed at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell. They that had fought so well Came through the jaws of Death, Back from the mouth of hell, All that was left of them,    Left of six hundred. VI When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!    All the world wondered. Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade,    Noble six hundred! Alfred Lord Tennyson

Check out what other poems we have analysed from the AQA Power and Conflict Poetry Anthology by clicking here .

VOCABULARY 

Charge – in this case, a noun meaning ‘the act of charging forward, such as on horseback in battle’  The Light Brigade – the British light cavalry force, soldiers on horseback who rode into battle using lances (long, sharp poles) and sabers (swords) for weapons. They were called ‘light’ because they wore almost no armour, as being light-weighted made them faster on the horses. (See context for more info)  League – in old-fashioned terms, a league is a way of measuring distance (one league = roughly 3 miles)  Dismayed – upset, saddened, disheartened  Blundered – made a mistake  Make reply – to answer back  To reason why – to think logically about the reasons why something happened  But – only  Volleyed – launched projectiles (in this case cannonballs)   Shot and shell – cannon balls (spherical projections) and exploding projectiles called ‘shells’ – both types of artillery are used to shoot at targets – either people, other weapons, or buildings – from a long-range Gunners – a member of the armed forces who shoots guns  Cossacks – EastSlavic people known for having a warrior culture, Cossacks live mostly in the lower parts of Russia and Ukraine Battery-smoke – a battery is a large number of guns grouped together, so battery-smoke is the cloud of smoke that these guns make when fired Reeled – staggering back violently

STORY/SUMMARY

(Stanza 1) The Light Brigade charge forward on their horses, all six hundred men riding closer and closer to the ‘jaws of Death’ as they are riding into a battle they cannot hope to win – a man, presumably a captain, shouts “Forward, the light brigade! Charge towards the enemy’s guns!”. 

(Stanza 2) The speaker asks, was anyone afraid or thinking of running away? No, even though the soldiers knew someone must have made a mistake with their orders as they were clearly no match for the cannons. It was not the soldiers’ place to answer back to the captain, nor was it their place to think about the reason behind the orders: They were just there to do what they were told, and die. So, they rode into the valley of Death.

(Stanza 3) They faced cannons and explosives all around: to the right, left, and in front of them, making huge thundering noises as they flew at the soldiers. Though they were stormed, they rode onwards bravely – into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of hell. 

(Stanza 4) The soldiers raised their sabres, which flashed in the light, they attacked the gunners and broke through the ranks of Cossacks and Russians, fighting them the whole time – plunging through the smoke of the cannons, striking them with their sabres. The whole world was stunned at their brave efforts. Then, they rode back again – but not the whole six hundred. 

(Stanza 5) They faced cannons and explosives all around: to the right, left, and in front of them, making huge thundering noises as they flew at the soldiers (a repetition of how it felt to charge into battle as they ride away). While this was happening, the horses and the heroes that rode them fell down dead. The soldiers that had fought so well, whatever was left of them, rode out of the jaws of Death, back from the mouth of hell. 

(Stanza 6) Is it possible for the heroism and glory of these men to ever fade? Oh, it was such a wild charge that they made that the whole world was impressed by their bravery. We should all honour the charge they made, and honour the Light Brigade. They were a noble group of six hundred. 

SPEAKER/VOICE

The speaker is an omniscient narrator who tells the story of the Light Brigade with respect and awe for the bravery that the men showed in the face of almost certain death. His tone is laudatory as he praises the soldiers and their strength, even their determination to follow orders and sacrifice their lives for their country. There are some conflicting feelings in the poem, however, as Tennyson acknowledges that ‘someone had blundered’ – definitely somebody higher up in the army had made the wrong decision to send such lightly armored men into battle with powerful cannons and guns, when they only had swords and lances. In Tennyson’s opinion, this only enhances the impressiveness of the charge that they made, and the fact that some of them survived is even more astounding – he asks all his readers as a nation to ‘honour’ these men and their extreme bravery. 

Anaphora of ‘Half a league’, which is repeated at the beginning of lines and clauses, creates a rhythm that sounds like the hooves of horses as they charge – it emphasises the unwavering determination and bravery of the soldiers, there was no doubt or hesitation in their minds as they followed orders to charge. 

Hypophora – “Was there a man dismayed? / Not though the soldier knew/ Someone had blundered.” – the use of rhetorical devices such as hypophora (answering a rhetorical question) create a sense of greatness and glory, as these are typically used in great persuasive speeches and political situations – they have the effect of persuading us that the soldiers died a noble death and that they should be honoured rather than dismissed or forgotten. Yet, we could say that there’s an underlying tentativeness to the line, that perhaps Tennyson is aware of the irony that these men gave their lives on false or erroneous orders, perhaps there is an implication underneath the sense of glory that something is also wrong with the structure of war, where the errors of a superior command can result in the deaths of many lives who are taught to just blindly follow orders without question. Being a poet laureate at the time (see the context for more info), Tennyson undoubtedly had to persuade his readers that this was ultimately an act of honour and bravery rather than stupidity, even though the orders made no sense and the battle was lost. 

Assonance – ‘onward’ / ‘blundered’ / ‘thundered’ – many of the lines half-rhyme with each other, creating a rhythm and momentum that propels the story forwards and also imitates the underlying sound of charging horses as they gallop and their hooves hit the ground.

Parallelism – ‘Cannon to left..right..in front of them’ – the repeated sections of the poems that describe the attack on the Light Brigade repeat the words ‘cannon’ with different prepositions to show how the soldiers were surrounded on all sides and overwhelmed by the attack. Furthermore,  the dynamic verbs ‘volleyed’ and ‘thundered’ emphasise the brute force of the attack and the comparative powerlessness of the British soldiers. 

Semantic field of praise – ‘honour’, ‘noble’, ‘glory’ – a range of abstract nouns and adjectives are used to emphasise the point that these men were brilliant, brave, daring, loyal to their country, and selflessly giving up their lives. 

STRUCTURE/FORM 

Narrative/ballad form – the poem has a narrative structure as it tells a story, the repetitive stanzas (six stanzas to represent the six hundred men that fought in battle). There is a slight irregularity to the meter and rhythm, however, perhaps to represent the chaos of battle. A ballad is a poem that uses short stanzas to tell a story, often with a regular or predictable meter and rhyme scheme in order to create a sense of familiarity. The rhyme scheme is also irregular here , however, which implies perhaps a feeling of uncertainty or difficulty underneath the regular forward motion of the charge – perhaps also juxtaposing the straight line of the soldiers’ charge forwards with the erratic and irregular cannons and shells that were fired at them as they rode. 

Triplet – ‘Theirs not to make reply, / Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die.’ – some of the lines contain rhyming couplets or even triplets – three lines that mirror each other through parallel rhythms and end rhymes. Here, the end rhymes ‘reply’, ‘why’ and ‘die’ emphasise the point that there were no options available to the soldiers – it was not their place to question or defy orders, death was the only possible choice for them in this instance as their honour and sense of duty to their country was far greater than how much they cared about their own lives. 

The poem is a narrative poem written in 1854 ; during the Victorian era when the British Empire had expanded across the world and many Victorians considered themselves to be at the height of civilization and more advanced than other cultures and societies. As a narrative poem, it tells the story of a battle in the Crimean War, a conflict between Russia and an alliance of Great Britain, France, Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire . On the 15th October 1854, the Light Brigade received a message to attack the Russian forces, and though they knew it was an impossible mission (with them only having swords to fight against the Russians’ guns), they attacked anyway – of the 666 men that rode into battle, 271 were injured, killed or captured – over 1/3 of the soldiers in total. The battle itself only lasted 20 minutes as the Light Brigade was so clearly going to lose against the guns and cannons – signs of industrialisation and development through the 1800s. The Crimean War was one of the first wars to use machinery and new technologies, so soldiers such as the Light Brigade had no idea what to expect when they rose into battle. 

The poem was written only six weeks after the event was publicized in British newspapers, meaning that it was still very fresh in people’s minds. 

Alfred Lord Tennyson was poet laureate at the time of writing – this means it was his job and duty to write as the official poet of Great Britain, to speak on the subject of the British Empire and create poems that portrayed the country in a positive light. For this reason, the poem is surprisingly positive in tone, when many poets are known to criticise war and the way in which the men giving orders is not the same as those dying, here Tennyson does not praise the captains but he does show his deepest respect and reverence for the brave soldiers who fought against all odds. 

Biblical allusion – ‘The valley of Death’/ ‘jaws of Death’ / ‘mouth of Hell’ – Victorians were all Christian and educated in the teachings of the Bible, so they would have been fully aware that the phrase ‘the valley of Death’ is a direct reference or allusion to Psalm 23 in the Book of Psalms: ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.’. The phrase metaphorically means that even though we experience darkness and death in life, we should not be afraid because God is always by our side as a protective and comforting presence. This perhaps suggests that Tennyson felt there was something godly or spiritual about the miraculous charge of the light brigade, the bravery of the soldiers, and the fact that some of them survived. He is certainly suggesting that these men died for an altruistic cause – not for themselves, but for their nation, 

War is sometimes necessary – particularly in previous eras (before the First and Second World Wars), there was a common belief that war was sometimes important or necessary, in order to fight to preserve or spread strong beliefs and cultures – in the case of the Crimean War, it started because of political reasons to do with the expansion of the Russian Empire and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. None of the largest countries involved directly attacked one another or wanted to fight; they were forced to because Russia needed Turkey (the Ottomans) to be tied to them, whereas Europeans needed Turkey to be free from Russian control for their own sake. 

Bravery in the face of defeat is a kind of victory in itself – we are told that ‘All the world wondered’ at the amazing bravery that was showed by the soldiers, Tennyson rules that in a sense the honour of the men is what will be remembered most, as it is stronger than the ‘blunder’ made by the captains when they sent the wrong orders and stronger even than the fact that they were defeated in battle. The poem tries to persuade us that soldiers who die for their country should always be honoured, no matter whether people agree with the cause because they believed in it and they gave their lives for it. 

There is also a suggestion that the Russian army was dishonourable in their use of machinery rather than people to fight the war, and so even though they won the battle the fact that they used cannons and attacked at long range is arguably cowardly as it implies they were not brave enough to fight man to man with the British soldiers. 

Finally, as Tennyson was a highly religious poet writing for a Christian Victorian audience, he also demonstrates the attitude that God favours those who are bold and selfless – this sense of heroism is in some ways classical – drawing on Ancient Greek and Roman traditions of the hero in its descriptions of the ‘wild charge’ of battle and the bravery of the ‘noble’ soldiers, it also blends this with biblical allusions and spiritual phrasing (‘valley of Death’ / ‘mouth of hell’) to imply that God was on the side of the Light Brigade and He approved of their efforts and will reward them justly in heaven, as well as the fact that they will be honoured and remembered on earth.

• Nationalism and Patriotism 
• Hierarchy and Power 
• Spirituality 
• Industrialisation  

ESSAY QUESTIONS 

Comparative essay: Compare how poets present war and death in ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ and one other poem of your choice from the anthology.  Compare the presentation of honour and fame in ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ with one other poem from the collection.  Compare the ways in which poets present attitudes to war in ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ and one other poem from your anthology.  Note: these kinds of essay questions are suitable for those studying a mixed collection of poetry, such as for the AQA GCSE Power and Conflict or CCEA GCSE exams. 

Tennyson essay:  Discuss the ways in which Tennyson presents the idea of national pride in his poetry, using ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’.  How far do you agree that Tennyson’s poetry is infused with spirituality? Refer to ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ and two other poems in your answer.  Examine the ways in which Tennyson portrays death and remembrance in ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ and two other poems of your choice.  Note: these kinds of essay questions are suitable for those studying a full collection of Tennyson’s poetry, such as for A Level Literature exams. 

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, getting college essay help: important do's and don’ts.

College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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How Much to Charge (Or Pay) For a 500 to 1500 Word Article

December 10, 2021 • DJ Team

One of the hardest things a freelance website content writer will do is to set their pricing. Ask too much, and you risk losing the work to other bidders. Ask too little, and you’ll be locked into a cycle of unprofitable work with that client.

Finding the right freelance writing rate is a delicate balance between the rate you want to earn and the market value of your work. It usually takes new writers a period of trial and error to find the right pricing.

How Much Do Content Writers Make?

Content marketing freelance rates vary depending on project size, time commitment, and whether you are charging by the hour or by the project. Your experience will also impact your content writing services pricing. Having an online portfolio of your work that represents experience for a variety of projects in different industries will make you more valuable to potential clients.

How Much to Charge for a Blog Post

Before you set your pricing, you need to understand your value. Ask yourself:

• How much experience do I have writing?
• Do I have expertise in a certain industry or niche?
• Am I providing any services in addition to writing? Some publishers may ask for SEO keyword research, content marketing strategy, image sourcing, or meta descriptions.
• What costs do I need to cover? Consider your home office, software, insurance, and self-employment taxes.

Let’s break down how much you could charge per word depending on your experience level and how you can calculate your hourly rate.

Hourly Rate For a Freelance Writer

Some freelance writers charge an hourly rate for their writing services. While this can protect you in the case of a project taking longer than anticipated or excessive edit requests, this model doesn’t allow freelancers to grow earnings as they get more efficient.

Once a freelance writer can estimate their time per project well and become more efficient over time, charging per word or per article is a better option.

Nevertheless, to calculate your hourly rate, follow this formula:

(Goal income + estimated freelance expenses) / billable hours you expect to work

For example, if you want to make $6,000 a month and work 125 billable hours a month with expenses of $250 each month, your hourly rate should be $50.

While you are first starting out, you may not be able to charge your ideal rate to find work and build up your connections and portfolio. Once you have a full schedule of work, however, you can ask for a raise or start to drop your lowest-paying clients in favor of higher-paying ones.

Per word rate

Freelance rates per word are a carryover from the journalism industry, where freelance article rates are determined by the number of words in the published article. How much should a writer charge per word?

Freelance rates can start as low as $0.05 per word for blogs or high-volume content sites, and range up to $1.50 or more per word or more for elite news sites or trade publications.

Calculate your per-word rate with this formula:

Be sure to research your target industry to learn what average rates are, and ask for a complete scope of work for each project to avoid surprise expectations.

Flat project rate

To simplify pricing for freelancers and clients, some freelancers use flat project rates. This model determines a flat rate for an article, usually with a predetermined length or scope of work.

What should I charge per article?

To know what to charge per article, you need to know the length and amount of research required. Below are a few guidelines for how to price your article content writing based on your expertise and industry.

Basic ($0.05-$0.20 per word)

Entry-level professionals or students building a portfolio, non-native English speakers. Clients may be nonprofits or small businesses.

Intermediate ($0.20-$0.70 per word)

Professionals with results to show and experience in the industry. Articles may include some research and interviews. Clients are more likely to be B2B or online publishers.

Expert ($0.70-$1.50+ per word)

Advanced professionals with expertise in a subject matter area. Articles may include extensive research and interviews. Clients may be an elite news site or businesses in tech, finance, or other niche specialty areas.

How much should I charge for a 500-word article?

All things considered, 500 words is a fairly short article length, appropriate for a short newsletter article or personal profile. A typical rate for this would be $75-$200, but it could range much lower or higher depending on the factors mentioned above.

How much should I charge for a 1,000-word article?

One thousand words is a typical length for a blog and are considered mid-length web content. For a 1,000-word article, a typical rate would be $200-$700, but it could range much lower or higher based on the factors mentioned above.

Now that you know your value, before pitching a potential client, consider the value of content writing to them. What goals will the content help them reach? Framing the conversation this way can help you propose higher rates because of the real impact that it brings to their organization.

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9.3: The Argumentative Essay

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• Lumen Learning

Learning Objectives

• Examine types of argumentative essays

Argumentative Essays

You may have heard it said that all writing is an argument of some kind. Even if you’re writing an informative essay, you still have the job of trying to convince your audience that the information is important. However, there are times you’ll be asked to write an essay that is specifically an argumentative piece.

An argumentative essay is one that makes a clear assertion or argument about some topic or issue. When you’re writing an argumentative essay, it’s important to remember that an academic argument is quite different from a regular, emotional argument. Note that sometimes students forget the academic aspect of an argumentative essay and write essays that are much too emotional for an academic audience. It’s important for you to choose a topic you feel passionately about (if you’re allowed to pick your topic), but you have to be sure you aren’t too emotionally attached to a topic. In an academic argument, you’ll have a lot more constraints you have to consider, and you’ll focus much more on logic and reasoning than emotions.

Argumentative essays are quite common in academic writing and are often an important part of writing in all disciplines. You may be asked to take a stand on a social issue in your introduction to writing course, but you could also be asked to take a stand on an issue related to health care in your nursing courses or make a case for solving a local environmental problem in your biology class. And, since argument is such a common essay assignment, it’s important to be aware of some basic elements of a good argumentative essay.

When your professor asks you to write an argumentative essay, you’ll often be given something specific to write about. For example, you may be asked to take a stand on an issue you have been discussing in class. Perhaps, in your education class, you would be asked to write about standardized testing in public schools. Or, in your literature class, you might be asked to argue the effects of protest literature on public policy in the United States.

However, there are times when you’ll be given a choice of topics. You might even be asked to write an argumentative essay on any topic related to your field of study or a topic you feel that is important personally.

Whatever the case, having some knowledge of some basic argumentative techniques or strategies will be helpful as you write. Below are some common types of arguments.

Causal Arguments

• In this type of argument, you argue that something has caused something else. For example, you might explore the causes of the decline of large mammals in the world’s ocean and make a case for your cause.

Evaluation Arguments

• In this type of argument, you make an argumentative evaluation of something as “good” or “bad,” but you need to establish the criteria for “good” or “bad.” For example, you might evaluate a children’s book for your education class, but you would need to establish clear criteria for your evaluation for your audience.

Proposal Arguments

• In this type of argument, you must propose a solution to a problem. First, you must establish a clear problem and then propose a specific solution to that problem. For example, you might argue for a proposal that would increase retention rates at your college.

Narrative Arguments

• In this type of argument, you make your case by telling a story with a clear point related to your argument. For example, you might write a narrative about your experiences with standardized testing in order to make a case for reform.

Rebuttal Arguments

• In a rebuttal argument, you build your case around refuting an idea or ideas that have come before. In other words, your starting point is to challenge the ideas of the past.

Definition Arguments

• In this type of argument, you use a definition as the starting point for making your case. For example, in a definition argument, you might argue that NCAA basketball players should be defined as professional players and, therefore, should be paid.

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/20277

Essay Examples

• Click here to read an argumentative essay on the consequences of fast fashion . Read it and look at the comments to recognize strategies and techniques the author uses to convey her ideas.
• In this example, you’ll see a sample argumentative paper from a psychology class submitted in APA format. Key parts of the argumentative structure have been noted for you in the sample.

Link to Learning

For more examples of types of argumentative essays, visit the Argumentative Purposes section of the Excelsior OWL .

Contributors and Attributions

• Argumentative Essay. Provided by : Excelsior OWL. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/rhetorical-styles/argumentative-essay/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Image of a man with a heart and a brain. Authored by : Mohamed Hassan. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : pixabay.com/illustrations/decision-brain-heart-mind-4083469/. License : Other . License Terms : pixabay.com/service/terms/#license

What an Essay Is and How to Write One

• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

Essays are brief, non-fiction compositions that describe, clarify, argue, or analyze a subject. Students might encounter essay assignments in any school subject and at any level of school, from a personal experience "vacation" essay in middle school to a complex analysis of a scientific process in graduate school. Components of an essay include an introduction , thesis statement , body, and conclusion.

Writing an Introduction

The beginning of an essay can seem daunting. Sometimes, writers can start their essay in the middle or at the end, rather than at the beginning, and work backward. The process depends on each individual and takes practice to figure out what works best for them. Regardless of where students start, it is recommended that the introduction begins with an attention grabber or an example that hooks the reader in within the very first sentence.

The introduction should accomplish a few written sentences that leads the reader into the main point or argument of the essay, also known as a thesis statement. Typically, the thesis statement is the very last sentence of an introduction, but this is not a rule set in stone, despite it wrapping things up nicely. Before moving on from the introduction, readers should have a good idea of what is to follow in the essay, and they should not be confused as to what the essay is about. Finally, the length of an introduction varies and can be anywhere from one to several paragraphs depending on the size of the essay as a whole.

Creating a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a sentence that states the main idea of the essay. The function of a thesis statement is to help manage the ideas within the essay. Different from a mere topic, the thesis statement is an argument, option, or judgment that the author of the essay makes about the topic of the essay.

A good thesis statement combines several ideas into just one or two sentences. It also includes the topic of the essay and makes clear what the author's position is in regard to the topic. Typically found at the beginning of a paper, the thesis statement is often placed in the introduction, toward the end of the first paragraph or so.

Developing a thesis statement means deciding on the point of view within the topic, and stating this argument clearly becomes part of the sentence which forms it. Writing a strong thesis statement should summarize the topic and bring clarity to the reader.

For informative essays, an informative thesis should be declared. In an argumentative or narrative essay, a persuasive thesis, or opinion, should be determined. For instance, the difference looks like this:

• Informative Thesis Example:  To create a great essay, the writer must form a solid introduction, thesis statement, body, and conclusion.
• Persuasive Thesis Example:  Essays surrounded around opinions and arguments are so much more fun than informative essays because they are more dynamic, fluid, and teach you a lot about the author.

Developing Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs of an essay include a group of sentences that relate to a specific topic or idea around the main point of the essay. It is important to write and organize two to three full body paragraphs to properly develop it.

Before writing, authors may choose to outline the two to three main arguments that will support their thesis statement. For each of those main ideas, there will be supporting points to drive them home. Elaborating on the ideas and supporting specific points will develop a full body paragraph. A good paragraph describes the main point, is full of meaning, and has crystal clear sentences that avoid universal statements.

Ending an Essay With a Conclusion

A conclusion is an end or finish of an essay. Often, the conclusion includes a judgment or decision that is reached through the reasoning described throughout the essay. The conclusion is an opportunity to wrap up the essay by reviewing the main points discussed that drives home the point or argument stated in the thesis statement.

The conclusion may also include a takeaway for the reader, such as a question or thought to take with them after reading. A good conclusion may also invoke a vivid image, include a quotation, or have a call to action for readers.

• How To Write an Essay
• The Ultimate Guide to the 5-Paragraph Essay
• An Introduction to Academic Writing
• Definition and Examples of Body Paragraphs in Composition
• How to Structure an Essay
• How to Help Your 4th Grader Write a Biography
• What Is Expository Writing?
• Write an Attention-Grabbing Opening Sentence for an Essay
• Definition and Examples of Analysis in Composition
• How to Write a Solid Thesis Statement
• Unity in Composition
• How to Write a Good Thesis Statement
• 6 Steps to Writing the Perfect Personal Essay
• An Essay Revision Checklist
• The Five Steps of Writing an Essay
• Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay

• Literary Terms
• Definition & Examples
• When & How to Write an Essay

I. What is an Essay?

An essay is a form of writing in paragraph form that uses informal language, although it can be written formally. Essays may be written in first-person point of view (I, ours, mine), but third-person (people, he, she) is preferable in most academic essays. Essays do not require research as most academic reports and papers do; however, they should cite any literary works that are used within the paper.

When thinking of essays, we normally think of the five-paragraph essay: Paragraph 1 is the introduction, paragraphs 2-4 are the body covering three main ideas, and paragraph 5 is the conclusion. Sixth and seventh graders may start out with three paragraph essays in order to learn the concepts. However, essays may be longer than five paragraphs. Essays are easier and quicker to read than books, so are a preferred way to express ideas and concepts when bringing them to public attention.

II. Examples of Essays

Many of our most famous Americans have written essays. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson wrote essays about being good citizens and concepts to build the new United States. In the pre-Civil War days of the 1800s, people such as:

• Ralph Waldo Emerson (an author) wrote essays on self-improvement
• Susan B. Anthony wrote on women’s right to vote
• Frederick Douglass wrote on the issue of African Americans’ future in the U.S.

Through each era of American history, well-known figures in areas such as politics, literature, the arts, business, etc., voiced their opinions through short and long essays.

The ultimate persuasive essay that most students learn about and read in social studies is the “Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. Other founding fathers edited and critiqued it, but he drafted the first version. He builds a strong argument by stating his premise (claim) then proceeds to give the evidence in a straightforward manner before coming to his logical conclusion.

III. Types of Essays

A. expository.

Essays written to explore and explain ideas are called expository essays (they expose truths). These will be more formal types of essays usually written in third person, to be more objective. There are many forms, each one having its own organizational pattern.  Cause/Effect essays explain the reason (cause) for something that happens after (effect). Definition essays define an idea or concept. Compare/ Contrast essays will look at two items and show how they are similar (compare) and different (contrast).

b. Persuasive

An argumentative paper presents an idea or concept with the intention of attempting to change a reader’s mind or actions . These may be written in second person, using “you” in order to speak to the reader. This is called a persuasive essay. There will be a premise (claim) followed by evidence to show why you should believe the claim.

c. Narrative

Narrative means story, so narrative essays will illustrate and describe an event of some kind to tell a story. Most times, they will be written in first person. The writer will use descriptive terms, and may have paragraphs that tell a beginning, middle, and end in place of the five paragraphs with introduction, body, and conclusion. However, if there is a lesson to be learned, a five-paragraph may be used to ensure the lesson is shown.

d. Descriptive

The goal of a descriptive essay is to vividly describe an event, item, place, memory, etc. This essay may be written in any point of view, depending on what’s being described. There is a lot of freedom of language in descriptive essays, which can include figurative language, as well.

IV. The Importance of Essays

Essays are an important piece of literature that can be used in a variety of situations. They’re a flexible type of writing, which makes them useful in many settings . History can be traced and understood through essays from theorists, leaders, artists of various arts, and regular citizens of countries throughout the world and time. For students, learning to write essays is also important because as they leave school and enter college and/or the work force, it is vital for them to be able to express themselves well.

V. Examples of Essays in Literature

Sir Francis Bacon was a leading philosopher who influenced the colonies in the 1600s. Many of America’s founding fathers also favored his philosophies toward government. Bacon wrote an essay titled “Of Nobility” in 1601 , in which he defines the concept of nobility in relation to people and government. The following is the introduction of his definition essay. Note the use of “we” for his point of view, which includes his readers while still sounding rather formal.

 “We will speak of nobility, first as a portion of an estate, then as a condition of particular persons. A monarchy, where there is no nobility at all, is ever a pure and absolute tyranny; as that of the Turks. For nobility attempers sovereignty, and draws the eyes of the people, somewhat aside from the line royal. But for democracies, they need it not; and they are commonly more quiet, and less subject to sedition, than where there are stirps of nobles. For men’s eyes are upon the business, and not upon the persons; or if upon the persons, it is for the business’ sake, as fittest, and not for flags and pedigree. We see the Switzers last well, notwithstanding their diversity of religion, and of cantons. For utility is their bond, and not respects. The united provinces of the Low Countries, in their government, excel; for where there is an equality, the consultations are more indifferent, and the payments and tributes, more cheerful. A great and potent nobility, addeth majesty to a monarch, but diminisheth power; and putteth life and spirit into the people, but presseth their fortune. It is well, when nobles are not too great for sovereignty nor for justice; and yet maintained in that height, as the insolency of inferiors may be broken upon them, before it come on too fast upon the majesty of kings. A numerous nobility causeth poverty, and inconvenience in a state; for it is a surcharge of expense; and besides, it being of necessity, that many of the nobility fall, in time, to be weak in fortune, it maketh a kind of disproportion, between honor and means.”

A popular modern day essayist is Barbara Kingsolver. Her book, “Small Wonders,” is full of essays describing her thoughts and experiences both at home and around the world. Her intention with her essays is to make her readers think about various social issues, mainly concerning the environment and how people treat each other. The link below is to an essay in which a child in an Iranian village she visited had disappeared. The boy was found three days later in a bear’s cave, alive and well, protected by a mother bear. She uses a narrative essay to tell her story.

VI. Examples of Essays in Pop Culture

Many rap songs are basically mini essays, expressing outrage and sorrow over social issues today, just as the 1960s had a lot of anti-war and peace songs that told stories and described social problems of that time. Any good song writer will pay attention to current events and express ideas in a creative way.

A well-known essay written in 1997 by Mary Schmich, a columnist with the Chicago Tribune, was made into a popular video on MTV by Baz Luhrmann. Schmich’s thesis is to wear sunscreen, but she adds strong advice with supporting details throughout the body of her essay, reverting to her thesis in the conclusion.

VII. Related Terms

Research paper.

Research papers follow the same basic format of an essay. They have an introductory paragraph, the body, and a conclusion. However, research papers have strict guidelines regarding a title page, header, sub-headers within the paper, citations throughout and in a bibliography page, the size and type of font, and margins. The purpose of a research paper is to explore an area by looking at previous research. Some research papers may include additional studies by the author, which would then be compared to previous research. The point of view is an objective third-person. No opinion is allowed. Any claims must be backed up with research.

VIII. Conclusion

Students dread hearing that they are going to write an essay, but essays are one of the easiest and most relaxed types of writing they will learn. Mastering the essay will make research papers much easier, since they have the same basic structure. Many historical events can be better understood through essays written by people involved in those times. The continuation of essays in today’s times will allow future historians to understand how our new world of technology and information impacted us.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Autobiography
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Juxtaposition
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
• Essay Guide
• Cite This Website

What is an Essay?

10 May, 2020

11 minutes read

Author:  Tomas White

Well, beyond a jumble of words usually around 2,000 words or so - what is an essay, exactly? Whether you’re taking English, sociology, history, biology, art, or a speech class, it’s likely you’ll have to write an essay or two. So how is an essay different than a research paper or a review? Let’s find out!

Defining the Term – What is an Essay?

The essay is a written piece that is designed to present an idea, propose an argument, express the emotion or initiate debate. It is a tool that is used to present writer’s ideas in a non-fictional way. Multiple applications of this type of writing go way beyond, providing political manifestos and art criticism as well as personal observations and reflections of the author.

An essay can be as short as 500 words, it can also be 5000 words or more.  However, most essays fall somewhere around 1000 to 3000 words ; this word range provides the writer enough space to thoroughly develop an argument and work to convince the reader of the author’s perspective regarding a particular issue.  The topics of essays are boundless: they can range from the best form of government to the benefits of eating peppermint leaves daily. As a professional provider of custom writing, our service has helped thousands of customers to turn in essays in various forms and disciplines.

Origins of the Essay

Over the course of more than six centuries essays were used to question assumptions, argue trivial opinions and to initiate global discussions. Let’s have a closer look into historical progress and various applications of this literary phenomenon to find out exactly what it is.

Today’s modern word “essay” can trace its roots back to the French “essayer” which translates closely to mean “to attempt” .  This is an apt name for this writing form because the essay’s ultimate purpose is to attempt to convince the audience of something.  An essay’s topic can range broadly and include everything from the best of Shakespeare’s plays to the joys of April.

The essay comes in many shapes and sizes; it can focus on a personal experience or a purely academic exploration of a topic.  Essays are classified as a subjective writing form because while they include expository elements, they can rely on personal narratives to support the writer’s viewpoint.  The essay genre includes a diverse array of academic writings ranging from literary criticism to meditations on the natural world.  Most typically, the essay exists as a shorter writing form; essays are rarely the length of a novel.  However, several historic examples, such as John Locke’s seminal work “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” just shows that a well-organized essay can be as long as a novel.

The Essay in Literature

The essay enjoys a long and renowned history in literature.  They first began gaining in popularity in the early 16 th century, and their popularity has continued today both with original writers and ghost writers.  Many readers prefer this short form in which the writer seems to speak directly to the reader, presenting a particular claim and working to defend it through a variety of means.  Not sure if you’ve ever read a great essay? You wouldn’t believe how many pieces of literature are actually nothing less than essays, or evolved into more complex structures from the essay. Check out this list of literary favorites:

• The Book of My Lives by Aleksandar Hemon
• Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
• Against Interpretation by Susan Sontag
• High-Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now and Never by Barbara Kingsolver
• Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion
• Naked by David Sedaris
• Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

Pretty much as long as writers have had something to say, they’ve created essays to communicate their viewpoint on pretty much any topic you can think of!

The Essay in Academics

Not only are students required to read a variety of essays during their academic education, but they will likely be required to write several different kinds of essays throughout their scholastic career.  Don’t love to write?  Then consider working with a ghost essay writer !  While all essays require an introduction, body paragraphs in support of the argumentative thesis statement, and a conclusion, academic essays can take several different formats in the way they approach a topic.  Common essays required in high school, college, and post-graduate classes include:

Five paragraph essay

This is the most common type of a formal essay. The type of paper that students are usually exposed to when they first hear about the concept of the essay itself. It follows easy outline structure – an opening introduction paragraph; three body paragraphs to expand the thesis; and conclusion to sum it up.

Argumentative essay

These essays are commonly assigned to explore a controversial issue.  The goal is to identify the major positions on either side and work to support the side the writer agrees with while refuting the opposing side’s potential arguments.

Compare and Contrast essay

This essay compares two items, such as two poems, and works to identify similarities and differences, discussing the strength and weaknesses of each.  This essay can focus on more than just two items, however.  The point of this essay is to reveal new connections the reader may not have considered previously.

Definition essay

This essay has a sole purpose – defining a term or a concept in as much detail as possible. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not quite. The most important part of the process is picking up the word. Before zooming it up under the microscope, make sure to choose something roomy so you can define it under multiple angles. The definition essay outline will reflect those angles and scopes.

Descriptive essay

Perhaps the most fun to write, this essay focuses on describing its subject using all five of the senses.  The writer aims to fully describe the topic; for example, a descriptive essay could aim to describe the ocean to someone who’s never seen it or the job of a teacher.  Descriptive essays rely heavily on detail and the paragraphs can be organized by sense.

Illustration essay

The purpose of this essay is to describe an idea, occasion or a concept with the help of clear and vocal examples. “Illustration” itself is handled in the body paragraphs section. Each of the statements, presented in the essay needs to be supported with several examples. Illustration essay helps the author to connect with his audience by breaking the barriers with real-life examples – clear and indisputable.

Informative Essay

Being one the basic essay types, the informative essay is as easy as it sounds from a technical standpoint. High school is where students usually encounter with informative essay first time. The purpose of this paper is to describe an idea, concept or any other abstract subject with the help of proper research and a generous amount of storytelling.

Narrative essay

This type of essay focuses on describing a certain event or experience, most often chronologically.  It could be a historic event or an ordinary day or month in a regular person’s life. Narrative essay proclaims a free approach to writing it, therefore it does not always require conventional attributes, like the outline. The narrative itself typically unfolds through a personal lens, and is thus considered to be a subjective form of writing.

Persuasive essay

The purpose of the persuasive essay is to provide the audience with a 360-view on the concept idea or certain topic – to persuade the reader to adopt a certain viewpoint. The viewpoints can range widely from why visiting the dentist is important to why dogs make the best pets to why blue is the best color.  Strong, persuasive language is a defining characteristic of this essay type.

The Essay in Art

Several other artistic mediums have adopted the essay as a means of communicating with their audience.  In the visual arts, such as painting or sculpting, the rough sketches of the final product are sometimes deemed essays.  Likewise, directors may opt to create a film essay which is similar to a documentary in that it offers a personal reflection on a relevant issue.  Finally, photographers often create photographic essays in which they use a series of photographs to tell a story, similar to a narrative or a descriptive essay.

Drawing the line – question answered

“What is an Essay?” is quite a polarizing question. On one hand, it can easily be answered in a couple of words. On the other, it is surely the most profound and self-established type of content there ever was. Going back through the history of the last five-six centuries helps us understand where did it come from and how it is being applied ever since.

If you must write an essay, follow these five important steps to works towards earning the “A” you want:

• Understand and review the kind of essay you must write
• Brainstorm your argument
• Find research from reliable sources to support your perspective
• Cite all sources parenthetically within the paper and on the Works Cited page
• Follow all grammatical rules

Generally speaking, when you must write any type of essay, start sooner rather than later!  Don’t procrastinate – give yourself time to develop your perspective and work on crafting a unique and original approach to the topic.  Remember: it’s always a good idea to have another set of eyes (or three) look over your essay before handing in the final draft to your teacher or professor.  Don’t trust your fellow classmates?  Consider hiring an editor or a ghostwriter to help out!

If you are still unsure on whether you can cope with your task – you are in the right place to get help. HandMadeWriting is the perfect answer to the question “Who can write my essay?”

A life lesson in Romeo and Juliet taught by death

Due to human nature, we draw conclusions only when life gives us a lesson since the experience of others is not so effective and powerful. Therefore, when analyzing and sorting out common problems we face, we may trace a parallel with well-known book characters or real historical figures. Moreover, we often compare our situations with […]

Ethical Research Paper Topics

Writing a research paper on ethics is not an easy task, especially if you do not possess excellent writing skills and do not like to contemplate controversial questions. But an ethics course is obligatory in all higher education institutions, and students have to look for a way out and be creative. When you find an […]

Art Research Paper Topics

Students obtaining degrees in fine art and art & design programs most commonly need to write a paper on art topics. However, this subject is becoming more popular in educational institutions for expanding students’ horizons. Thus, both groups of receivers of education: those who are into arts and those who only get acquainted with art […]

What Is Electric Charge?

Most electric charge is carried by the electrons and protons within an atom. Electrons are said to carry negative charge, while protons are said to carry positive charge, although these labels are completely arbitrary (more on that later). Protons and electrons attract each other, the archetype of the cliché "opposites attract," according to the University of Georgia’s website, HyperPhysics . Conversely, two protons repel each other, as do two electrons.

Protons and electrons create electric field s, which exert a force called the Coulomb force, which radiates outward in all directions. According to Serif Uran, a professor of physics at Pittsburg State University, the electric field radiates outward from a charged particle similarly to how light radiates outward from a light bulb. Just as with the brightness of the light, the strength of the electric field decreases as the square of the distance from the source (1/ r 2 ). If you move twice as far away, the strength of the field decreases to one-fourth, and if you move three times as far away, the field decreases to one-ninth.

Because protons are generally confined to the nuclei imbedded inside atoms, they are not nearly as free to move as are electrons. Therefore, when we talk about electric charge, we nearly always mean a surplus or deficit of electrons. When an imbalance of charges exists, and electrons are able to flow, an electric current is created. 

A localized and persistent deficit or surplus of electrons in an object causes static electricity. Current can take the form a sudden discharge of static electricity such as a lightning bolt or the spark between your finger and a grounded light switch plate; the steady flow of direct current (DC) from a battery or solar cell; or an oscillating current such as that from an alternating-current (AC) generator, a radio transmitter, or an audio amplifier. 

Electric universe

We are usually unaware of electric charge because most objects contain equal amounts of positive and negative charge that effectively neutralize each other, according to Michael Dubson, a professor of physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. It is generally believed that the net charge of the universe is neutral. If the ratio of positive to negative charge were off by a factor of only 10 −40 , the Coulomb force would be more powerful than gravity, which would make the universe quite different from the one we observe, Dubson told Live Science. Nevertheless, some researchers, such as Michael Düren of the Justus Liebig University Giessen in Germany, have speculated on the possibility of an electrically charged universe . 

Early electric research

Positive and negative values of charge were originally assigned by the American statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin , who started studying electricity in 1742. Until then, most people thought that electrical effects were the result of mixing of two different electrical fluids, one positive and one negative. However, Franklin became convinced that there was only one single electric fluid and that objects could have excess or deficiency of this fluid. Therefore, according to the University of Arizona , he invented the terms positive and negative to designate an excess or deficiency, respectively.

The unit for measuring electric charge is the coulomb (C), named after Charles-Augustin Coulomb , an 18th-century French physicist. Coulomb developed the law that says "like charges repel; unlike charges attract." A coulomb is defined as the amount of charge transported by a current of one ampere for one second. While this sounds like a small amount, according to HyperPhysics , “Two charges of one coulomb each separated by a meter would repel each other with a force of about a million tons!” Electrical engineers often prefer to use a larger unit for charge, the ampere hour, which is equal to 3,600 C. 

The Coulomb force is one of the two fundamental forces that is noticeable on a macroscopic scale, the other being gravity. However, the electrical force is much, much stronger than gravity. The repulsive Coulomb force between two protons due to their charge is 4.1 × 10 42 times stronger than the attractive gravitational force between them due to their mass. This is true at any distance, since the distance cancels out on both sides of the equation. 

Just how big of a number is that? Comparing the magnitude of the two forces is like comparing the mass of the Earth to the mass of a single molecule of penicillin! However, gravity still dominates the universe on a large scale, because, unlike charge, it is possible to assemble large quantities of mass. Large accumulations of similarly charged particles are not possible due to their mutual repulsion and their affinity for unlike charges. 

Other properties of charge

Electric charge is quantized, meaning that it occurs in discrete units. Protons and electrons carry charges of ±1.602 × 10 −19 C. Every accumulation of charge is an even multiple of this number, and fractional charges cannot exist. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) states that protons and neutrons are each composed of three quarks with charges of +2/3 or −1/3 of the unit proton charge, and two of one and one of the other combine to form particles with charges of zero or +1 unit charge. 

However, these particles cannot exist separately. Whenever you try to split a proton or neutron into its constituent quarks, it takes so much energy to do so, the energy is converted into matter in accordance with Einstein’s famous equation E = mc 2 , and instead of a single quark, you end up with a neutrally charged quark–antiquark pair, called a meson. Electrons, though, are believed to be truly fundamental, meaning they cannot be split into smaller parts. 

Electric charge is a conserved quantity. That means it cannot be created or destroyed, and the net amount of electric charge in the universe is constant and unchanging. Positive and negative charges can neutralize each other, or neutral particles can split to form positively and negatively charged pairs of particles, but the net amount of charge always remains the same. 

Additional resources

• Physics4Kids.com: Coulomb's Law
• The Physics Classroom: Current Electricity
• HyperPhysics: Electric Charge

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Meaning of charge in English

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charge verb ( MONEY )

• How much do you charge for hiring out a bicycle for a week ?
• He charges anywhere from $20 to $50 for a haircut and blow-dry .
• The restaurant charges shockingly high prices for its food .
• The plumber charges £60 an hour .
• The policy of charging air travellers for vegetarian meals proved unpopular .
• counterfoil
• credit note
• savings bond

charge verb ( ACCUSE FORMALLY )

• accuse He was accused of statutory rape.
• make an accusation against She was arrested for making false accusations against her former employer.
• level an accusation against Ferguson was furious at the accusations levelled against his player.
• level a charge against She denied all the charges levelled against her.
• hurl accusations at She hurled accusations at her ex-husband across the courtroom.
• charge someone with He was charged with three counts of fraud.
• Two sisters have been charged with murder .
• He tried to run away from the police and was charged with resisting arrest .
• He was charged with driving 75 mph in a 55 mph zone .
• Several England supporters were arrested and charged with disturbing the peace after the match .
• Six rugby internationals were charged with taking drugs to improve their performance .
• accuse someone of a crime
• accuse someone of something
• contributory negligence
• impeachment
• incriminating
• incrimination
• recrimination
• sacrificial lamb

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

charge verb ( MOVE FORWARD )

• speed He ran back to his car and sped off.
• race She raced over and hugged me.
• fly She flew across the room just in time to stop the baby falling off the chair.
• belt UK Traffic was belting along the motorway.
• tear A fire truck came tearing down the road.
• streak Bullets streaked across the sky.
• The children charged in, demanding ice cream .
• As the protesters drew nearer , the soldiers charged.
• Stop charging around - you'll wear yourself out!
• The herd of rhinos charged towards us.
• Crowds of demonstrators charged police lines .
• bowl down/along something
• make good time idiom
• make haste idiom

charge verb ( EXPLOSIVE )

• caught in crossfire
• machine gun
• semi-automatically
• semiautomatic
• shoot someone down

charge verb ( ORDER )

• all-points bulletin
• boss someone around
• put something on
• self-ordained
• shove someone around
• stick out for something

charge verb ( SUPPLY ENERGY )

• anti-static
• capacitance
• electricity
• high-voltage
• non-electric
• non-electrical
• non-electronic
• solid-state
• transistorized

Phrasal verb

Charge noun ( money ).

• Although long-distance phone calls are going up, the charge for local calls will not alter .
• Interest charges on an overdraft are usually quite high.
• Prescription charges are rising in June .
• I just want a basic bank account with low charges.
• admission charge
• at the cost of something/doing something
• bank charges
• price point
• transfer fee

charge noun ( FORMAL ACCUSATION )

• The company pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter .
• The charge of murder was altered to the lesser charge of manslaughter .
• Both men vehemently denied the charges against them.
• Criminal charges will be brought against the driver of the lorry .
• Simson, aged 19, was convicted on two charges of burglary .

charge noun ( CONTROL )

• accountable
• accountable to someone
• accountably
• answer for something
• duty of care
• fall to someone
• on your own head be it idiom
• owe someone a living idiom
• someone's answer to someone/something idiom

charge noun ( EXPLOSIVE )

• anti-missile
• anti-satellite
• Molotov cocktail
• mushroom cloud
• neutron bomb
• submunition
• surface-to-air missile
• test ban treaty

charge noun ( MOVE FORWARD )

Charge noun ( order ).

• as per instructions idiom
• clarion call
• commandment
• counter-order
• doctor's orders
• imperatively
• marching orders
• orders are orders idiom
• walkthrough

charge noun ( ENERGY )

Charge | american dictionary, charge verb ( ask for money ), charge verb ( owe ), charge verb ( accuse ), charge verb ( store energy ), charge verb ( instruct ), charge noun ( storage of energy ), charge | business english, examples of charge, collocations with charge.

These are words often used in combination with charge .

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

Translations of charge

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Word of the Day

the act of an animal running around, sometimes in circles, in a very energetic way

Binding, nailing, and gluing: talking about fastening things together

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• charge (MONEY)
• charge something to someone's account
• charge (ACCUSE FORMALLY)
• charge (MOVE FORWARD)
• charge (EXPLOSIVE)
• charge (ORDER)
• charge (SUPPLY ENERGY)
• charge (FORMAL ACCUSATION)
• charge (CONTROL)
• charge (ENERGY)
• charge (ASK FOR MONEY)
• charge (OWE)
• charge (ACCUSE)
• charge (STORE ENERGY)
• charge (INSTRUCT)
• charge (STORAGE OF ENERGY)
• charge sth to sb's account
• take charge (of sth)
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