Marian High School Writing Resources
To Assist Faculty in Assigning and Evaluating Student Writing
Types of Writing as described by the faculty in a 1/19/2004 survey
journaling - writing freely what comes to mind; a free-flowing personal record of the
writer's thoughts from day to day
personal essay* - a series of cohesive paragraphs which reflect only the writer's
voice, thoughts, opinions on a
subject
narrative essay* - an essay which tells the story
of an event
5-paragraph essay* - highly structured essay which
must have an introductory
paragraph, 3 body paragraphs,
and a concluding paragraph;
the introductory paragraph must
contain a thesis statement and
3 contentions; each body
paragraph focuses on one
contention; the concluding
paragraph summarizes the
thesis and contention ideas.
book report* - overview which may contain sections on
aspects of the book; e.g., its literary
elements, author, social milieu,
historical significance and the like
process essay* - a type of expository writing which
explains how to do something or
how something happens
essay exam - assessment which calls upon the student
to formulate extensive written responses
to various writing prompts or questions
traditional research paper* - formal paper which collects
factual information from a variety of
sources, organizes and analyzes this
information, and presents it in a clear
way
I-search* - highly personal research project
started by an individual to investigate
a topic of personal interest which
incorporates extensive research of primary
sources and secondary sources (including
interviews), requires an empirical research
report using a superstructure of 7 elements
(introduction, research objectives, method
of fact-finding, facts, discussion,
conclusions, recommendations)
empirical research paper* - paper which gathers
information through carefully planned,
systematic observations or measurements
and reports on it in the writing
primary source paper* - formal paper which is based
on first-hand observation and investigation,
usually of a literary text (novel, short
story, poem, drama) or another work of
writing or a performance or a laboratory
experiment
secondary source paper* - research paper which presents
an examination both of a primary source plus
of outside studies (secondary sources) which
are about the specific primary source
Other Types of Writing:
expository essay* - essay which informs an
audience or explain a particular
subject and are usually written
in formal third-person voice
argumentative essay* - advance an explicit argument
and support it with evidence
*These essays must follow the conventions of grammar,
usage, and mechanics.
Thanks for browsing.
"If all of our students were better writers, then all of our jobs would
be easier." English Department, 2004
Marian High School
original site 8/17/04, last update 8/18/05
mascu@marian.creighton.edu
for Marian's North Central Curriculum Goal