Essay vs Short Story: What is the Difference?

What are the basic differences between an essay and a short story?  An essay is non-fiction whereas a short story is fiction.  An essay can be anywhere from 1000 to 10,000 words.  A short story "should be able to be read in one sitting".  See Edgar Allan Poe's "Philosophy of Composition" (1846) at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/poe/composition.html.  An essayist shares his or her thoughts and beliefs.  A short story writer describes an experience or event.  An essay follows strict reason whereas a short story has the elements of plot, dialogue, setting, character and theme.

However, Sharon Lippincott points out that it doesn't hurt for an essay to have a bit of action and a short story to include a bit of self-reflection.  In fact, these are the stories that will connect with the reader.  Annie Dillard maintains that the essayist has more at his disposal than the short story writer. "The essay is and has been all over the map.  There's nothing you cannot do with it; no subject matter forbidden, no structure proscribed.

The "godfathers" of the essay are Thoreau, Twain and Poe while the expert short story writers are O'Henry, Stephen Crane and Jack London.  To learn more about essay writing, read Writing and Publishing Personal Essays by Sheila Bender.  Tom Bailey's On Writing Short Stories is a good source for writers as well.

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Essay vs. Article: What is the Difference?

For the month of June, I am blogging about essays.  What is the difference between an article and an essay?  Here are some basic ways in which the two forms of writing differ.

1.  While articles are brief, about 500 to 1500 words in length, essays are long, up to 10,000 words in length.

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2.  Essays include citations and references, both not required of an article.

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3.  The purpose of an article is to give a factual account whereas the purpose of an essay is to focus on a central argument and its supporting arguments.

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4.  Articles focus on topics like business, weight loss, health and travel, whereas essays focus on subjects such as historical events, characters or science experiments.

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5.  Articles are usually accompanied by photographs; however, essays usually do not require photographs.

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6.  Essays are usually subjective in nature whereas articles should be objective.

7.  Articles are often written in a conversational tone, but essays take on an educational tone.

http://classroom.synonym.com/examples-tone-persuasive-writing-5886.html

8.  Essays, critical analyses, discuss the pros and cons of an argument, whereas articles, descriptive analyses, merely describe the topic.

https://toughsledding.wordpress.com/2010/01/01/dont-let-positive-thinking-impede-critical-analysis/

9.  Essays require a conclusion, but articles do not.

http://www.wikihow.com/End-an-Essay

10.  Articles require headings and subheadings to help the reader follow along whereas essays do not.

http://line25.com/articles/15-must-read-articles-for-css-beginners

For more information, visit http://www.projectguru.in/publications/difference-between-essay-article-and-journal/.