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{{short description|Written work often reflecting the author's personal point of view}} {{other uses}} {{redirect|Essays}} {{for|selfref=y|a description of essays as used by Wikipedia editors|Wikipedia:Essays}} {{pp-semi|small=yes}} {{more citations needed|date=October 2017}} [[File:Essais Titelblatt (1588).png|thumb|Essays of [[Michel de Montaigne]]]] An '''essay''' is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own [[argument]], but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a [[Letter (message)|letter]], a [[term paper|paper]], an [[article (publishing)|article]], a [[pamphlet]], and a [[short story]]. Essays have been sub-classified as formal and informal: formal essays are characterized by "serious purpose, dignity, logical organization, length," whereas the informal essay is characterized by "the personal element (self-revelation, individual tastes and experiences, confidential manner), humor, graceful style, rambling structure, unconventionality or novelty of theme," etc.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Holman|first1=William|title=A Handbook to Literature|date=2003|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=New Jersey|page=193|edition=9}}</ref> Essays are commonly used as [[literary criticism]], political [[manifesto]]s, learned [[argument]]s, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. Almost all modern essays are written in [[prose]], but works in [[Poetry|verse]] have been dubbed essays (e.g., [[Alexander Pope]]'s ''[[An Essay on Criticism]]'' and ''[[An Essay on Man]]''). While brevity usually defines an essay, voluminous works like [[John Locke]]'s ''[[An Essay Concerning Human Understanding]]'' and [[Thomas Malthus]]'s ''[[An Essay on the Principle of Population]]'' are counterexamples. In some countries (e.g., the United States and Canada), essays have become a major part of formal [[education]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Owens |first=Derek |title=Keywords in Composition Studies |publisher=Boynton/Cook |year=1996 |isbn=0-86709-399-4 |location=Portsmouth, NH |pages=85β88 |chapter=Essay}}</ref> Secondary students are taught structured essay formats to improve their writing skills; [[admissions essay|admission essays]] are often used by [[university|universities]] in selecting applicants, and in the humanities and social sciences essays are often used as a way of assessing the performance of students during final exams. The concept of an "essay" has been extended to other media beyond writing. A [[#Film|film essay]] is a movie that often incorporates documentary filmmaking styles and focuses more on the evolution of a theme or idea. A [[photo essay|photographic essay]] covers a topic with a linked series of [[photographs]] that may have accompanying text or [[Photo caption|captions]].
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