How essay writing is different from report writing?

What is Essay Writing?

An essay is a form of writing that comprises the writer’s own experiences and arguments. An essay consists may be of both formal or informal type, consisting of the writer’s emotions and thinking. The essay may contain comparisons but these comparisons are again according to the author’s arguments.

Essays are on different topics e.g., on some past experiences, trips, or maybe on abstract topics. Essay writing has a huge spectrum starting from school level to professional blog writers. The essay gives you a great opportunity to express all your views and thoughts. You also might want to consider using online resources such as Google Docs for your essay writing.

What should be the structure of the Essay?

There are different ways of writing an essay depending upon the topic and nature of the field. An essay that comprises the past experiences consists of a story with a small introduction and conclusion. Generally the structure of an essay is according to the following sequence:

Introduction: It consists of Background information about that topic.

Main Body: It consists of the main body and arguments of that topic.

Bottom lines: These are the conclusions that you draw at the end of your essay.

What is Report Writing?

Report writing is writing on any topic informal style. Unlike essay writing, the report is written in a formal style. Reports do not include arguments and self-assessments it is the writing of formal data in either tabulated format or paragraph format.

Structure of Report Writing:

The structure of report writing is different from simple essay writing because essay writing can be in an informal format but report writing is always formal. There is a specific pattern of report writing as explained below:

Introduction: It includes an introduction same as present in essays.

Methodology: This includes the method and procedure used in your findings.

Results: Consists of the result of your procedure.

Recommendations: This includes the best possible solution and recommendations of your topic.

Key Differences between Essay writing and Report Writing:

Many authors assume the terms essay writing and report writing as same. But these are different terms. There are huge differences between these terms. In this article, we will explain to you some of the highlighting differences between these two content writing.

1. Format:

Essays can be in both formats i.e formal and informal while a report must be formal. Reports are exact explanations of any topic and should be in a formal format.

2. Table of Content:

The table of content includes all the key highlighting features of the topic. This table of content is a characteristic feature of report writing and is not present in essays.

3. Methodology:

As explained before, reports include the method used in your findings and procedures. While essay does not require the presence of methodology. The reason is essays are written in informal formats so do not contain methodologies.

4. Purpose:

The purpose of report writing is to deliver specific information and data to the reader. It does not include arguments and other unnecessary information. While essays are written in such a way that it makes a flow of information-carrying the reader from a basic level to the required information in a systematic manner.

5. Recommendations:

The structure of reports includes recommendations while essay writing does not include recommendations. Reports first explain the topic and then recommend the best possible solution to your problem. Whereas essays are just explanations of that topic.

6. Sections and numbering:

Essays are written in a paragraph format and generally do not contain headings and numberings. Whereas reports are written in an organized manner consisting of specific numbering and headings on every paragraph. Thus report writing is an assembled form of writing.

7. Table and Graphs:

Reports include a graphical and pictorial explanation of that particular topic while this type of explanation is not available in essays. Graphs, tables, and pictures help in better understanding of any topic that is why reports are easy to read and understand.

• Bottom line:

Reports are informal language and include Graphs, tables, and headings that help in better understanding of that topic while essays are written in paragraph format and consist of a flow of information. Essays are difficult to understand as these are written in paragraphs and you get considerable knowledge if you read them thoroughly.