When we get an assignment from the teacher, we understand that each has definite requirements, structure, and aim. If you want to get high grades, it is necessary to not only disclose the topic but also follow academic writing standards of the work type. You may claim, ‘Write my essay!’ or dive into the writing world, discovering the chief differences between essay and report and becoming a writing expert with our precious advice!
What is an Essay: Precise Explanation
To find out the difference between often assigned essays and reports, it is worth highlighting what an essay is and its peculiarities. An essay is a piece of writing in a narrative style on a specific topic. As a rule, essays showcase the writer’s point of view, referring to some general information or facts. Teachers assign essays to develop critical thinking, analytical skills, and the ability to express thoughts logically and concisely.
When you need to write an essay, pay attention to its kind and follow the aim of your task. There are over 10 different types of essays, including
- Narrative essay
- Expository essay
- Descriptive essay
- Compare and contrast essay
- Argumentative essay
- Persuasive essay, etc.
Depending on the type, you need to express your idea, describe an issue, provide solid arguments, or persuade your reader about the appropriateness of your thoughts. Such tasks are typical for Art and Humanities disciplines.
What Is a Report: Key Details
To keep discovering report vs essay differences, it is time to look at another popular among students assignment. Unlike the essay, a report showcases factual information and outcomes from scientific studies or research. The main task of such writing is to summarize data from discovery and present it as a ground for future investigations or decision-making.
You will not find the writer’s point of view in a report. Only results aimed at informing the reader and describing the research methodology and the importance of the investigation are included in the report. Pay attention to the following recommendations if you strive to make your writing perfect.
- Clear and concise context;
- Understandable language without overloading the reader with terminology to cover a wider audience;
- Based on relevant resources and present accurate information;
- Well structured to avoid challenges in getting required data.
In your report, you may use different charts, diagrams, or tables to compare or summarize the results of the conducted investigation. However, in an essay, these sections are unnecessary and never used. In addition, as a summary of your report, you should not give your personal opinion like in an essay. It should contain only independent and relevant outcome descriptions.
Structure of an Essay – Main Details
It is advisable to consider the key essay and report difference concerning structure. Compared with other work types, an essay, perhaps, has the simplest structure of all. It also must be mentioned that you may hardly meet essay assignments unless you are a school, college, or university student.
Standard essay should contain such essential parts as:
- Present the topic and aim of your essay, provide background information and a thesis statement to familiarize and inform the reader what to expect from further writing and encourage reading.
- Inform the audience about critical arguments and evidence or provide quotes to support your viewpoint. Do not overload the reader. Be concise with information presenting only one main point per paragraph.
- Summarize the main points of your creation.
Do not forget to adhere to the chronological order of events. Remember, there is no need to add a bibliography to the structure. But do not forget about a hook at the beginning and strong arguments to catch readers’ attention.
Structure of a Report: Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Report Structure
Not everything is so simple when you deal with a report structure since the difference between an essay and a report structure is apparent. The following are the obligatory parts:
- Title page. Provides information about the topic and author.
- Third parties that participated in paper creation.
- Executive summary. A brief overview of the report.
- Structured paper by pages to simplify the search for information.
- Presentation of the aims and objectives of the report.
- Background information. Data is required to grasp the idea and message of the report.
- Description of methods applied for research.
- Results received during the investigation.
- Importance of achieved outcomes.
- Summary of chief issues investigated during the study.
- Suggestions of further actions based on research results.
- List of applied resources.
- Extra information, charts, tables, etc.
- Definition of specific terms used in the report.
It is essential to structurize your report to facilitate and simplify data search and logically present all the actions and received results of your research.
Summing Up
Suppose you feel the difference between essay and report and may hit the writing process. If you are still not confident enough to start your essay or report and need bright and perfect writing samples, you may turn to our UK essay writing service for qualified assistance on any discipline and every work type.
FAQ
Are the requirements of essay writing similar to a report?
Both essays and reports are often met among schools, colleges, or university assignments but have different aims and requirements. The essay task is to present a holistic description of the writer’s point of view concerning a particular issue. At the same time, a report informs the reader about the results of the investigation.
Is it necessary to include paragraphs in the report?
When writing a report structure, it is obligatory to include paragraphs like headings, subheadings, etc. to present information clearly and structurize obtained data. You will not find titles in an essay since all the information is presented in one-piece text.
What is similar between an essay and a report?
Considering the essay and report requirements, it must be admitted that they have a variety of differences. At the same time, some issues are typical for both work types. For instance, in the introduction, you should indicate the aim of writing, that information in the body should be logical and consistent. The conclusion should present crucial points as a result of the paper.
