Writing Assignment Terms

When teachers give writing assignments they use specific terms like paragraph, essay, review, report, etc. Each has a special meaning, and understanding the differences between them can have a big impact on your writing success. Here are a few worth memorizing:

Short answer
a complete sentence or two

Paragraph
a group of related ideas organized by a topic sentence and one or more supporting sentences

Journal entry
a single draft response, informally organized

Narrative
relating a series of events in story form; narratives can be fiction or non-fiction

Summary
a writing in your own words that shortens a longer work into its main points

Report
a well organized collection of facts with some emphasis on interpretation

Essay
an exploration of a subject, idea, or experience in multiple paragraphs; essays are often organized around a thesis and use one or more elements of narration, description, persuasion, and exposition

Research
a longer essay that interprets a substantial collection of facts paper and carefully cites sources.

• Keep in mind that these compositions reflect levels of formality and are evaluated accordingly. While grammar, mechanics, and usage might not be evaluated in a journal entry, they would be in a report.