Exploratory essay writing is often cited as one of the most frustrating and challenging experience students face while dealing with academic assignments. However, it needn’t be so – such an attitude comes mostly not from the task itself being extremely difficult, but from the fact that students fail to understand the principles according to which this type of work should be done, and their professors fail to give proper explanations. So, let’s rectify this little omission.
1. What Is an Exploratory Essay?
When you write an exploratory essay, you start without a definite end in mind. Ideally, you should be as new to the topic as your audience – or at least presume that you are. It is called exploratory because you are supposed to study the topic, evaluate the evidence in favor of different opinions and make a conclusion based on what you’ve discovered. It may be called an opposite of an argumentative essay – there you start with an argument and look for a proof to support it, here you start with a topic and formulate the argument as you collect more evidence.
2. Why Write Exploratory Essays?
This type of writing develops a whole set of skills and proficiencies: it teaches you how to analyze information and draw conclusions from what you’ve read, to look for data on your own, and to think logically. In other words, if you consider academic career, you should certainly pay attention to exploratory writing, as it is basically such an item that this career entails.
3. Tips on Writing Exploratory Essays
Exploratory essays follow some trends that are different from that ones, you may be used to in other types of writing, therefore, some of the tips are specific to them.
4. Be Objective
An exploratory essay is supposed to study a topic and to figure out a solution for a problem – therefore, it isn’t a place to express your personal opinions about the subject, even if you do have them. Instead, try to be as objective as possible in what you say and imply. If you notice that you are too quick to make a conclusion based on your preconceptions, pull back and reread what you’ve written.
5. Present Different Points of View
Even if you believe that you already know the answer to the problem, it is mere good taste to represent other views. General rule of a thumb would be to discuss at least three different viewpoints at some length before making any conclusions.
6. Cover Your Research Methods
To add credibility to your work, don’t forget to mention some research methods you’ve used while preparing it. It will show that you don’t simply draw your conclusions from pre-existing conceptions in your head or simply take them from a single source.
Exploratory essay may be quite different from any other type of writing you are used to, but there is nothing supernatural about it. Once you understand how it works and what is expected of you, there is nothing hard you can cope with having enough work and patience.