What makes an essay?

Well, while each essay was highly varient in the focus of the subject, the readings had shared qualities to tie them to one another in format. The writings were meant to persuade or inform the audience of a certain topic in standard paragraphs. The essays drew from previous experience to gain a stable support for the message through examples. Each author used a logical progression of ideas characteristic of an essay. Also, as in many essays, there is a lack of informal language used in the readings.