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Estimated time to complete: 5-10 minutes

Supported Objective: CO1: Develop three clearly-written, well-researched, persuasive papers which demonstrate both critical reading and critical thinking skills.

The answer to this question is that it depends on your research question.

The important thing to understand is that all papers have elements of problem solution, of argument and of analysis. If there is no problem, there’s nothing to talk about. If there’s no argument, all you’ve got is a report. If there’s no analysis, you cannot make an argument; again, you will just have a report. All three types of essay need to deal with opposing viewpoints (counterarguments).

What are the main differences?

An argumentative essay makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, a cause-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to persuade the reader that the claim is true based on the evidence provided. An argumentative paper argues for the rightness of a specific position on a topic.

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A problem-solution essay first identifies a problem and shows that it exists (it makes the argument that there is a real problem), and then breaks the problem down (analysis). The paper should then discuss solutions that have been tried and to what extent they have succeeded or failed (analysis), and why (more analysis). Ultimately, the writer argues for a specific solution that addresses the components of the problem that the writer identified in their analysis.

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An analytical essay takes a topic apart into its components. It is an exploration of a topic in order to better understand it. In most cases, the writer of an analytical essay has no opinion about the topic before beginning research. A point of view gradually emerges as the writer does research and learns more about the topic. While the writer of an argumentative essay may be said to use sources as ammunition, the writer of an analytical essay uses sources more like pieces in a mosaic. Sources provide the facts, but the writer must provide the structure, the interpretation, the analysis.

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