Difference between Article and Essay | There are many forms of writing such as reports, journals, research papers, articles, essays etc. Articles and essays are quite often misunderstood. However, there is a fine line of difference between the two, in the sense that articles are often supported by statistics, photos, facts and reports which are not necessary in the case of an essay, as they are fact based opinions on the topic.
An article is nothing but an article commonly found in a newspaper or website that contains fact-based information on a particular topic. It is published with the aim of making readers aware of something and keeping them up to date.
An essay is a literary work, which often discusses ideas, experiences and concepts in a clear and coherent way. It reflects the author’s personal views, knowledge and research on a particular topic. Before we move on to the differences, here are the definitions of articles and essays.
Article Definition
An ‘article’ can be described as any form of written information produced in print or electronic form, in a newspaper, magazine, journal or website. It aims to disseminate news, survey results, academic analysis or debate.
An article targets a large group of people, to captivate readers and engage them. Therefore, it should be in such a way as to maintain the interest of the readers.
It discusses stories, reports and describes news, presents balanced arguments, states opinions, provides facts, offers suggestions, compares and contrasts etc. formally or informally, depending on the type of audience.
To write an article, one needs to do thorough research on the subject, so as to provide genuine and authentic information to the readers.
Article Component
- Title: An article contains a catchy title that should be catchy and shouldn’t be too long and descriptive. However, it should be in such a way that it raises the theme or problem from the information provided.
- Preliminary: The introduction should clearly define the topic, providing a brief description of the situation or event.
- Body: The introduction is followed by the main body which presents complete information or news, in an elaborate manner, to inform the reader about the actual situation.
- Conclusion: The article ends with a conclusion, which summarizes the entire topic with recommendations or comments.
Definition of Essay
An essay is simply a formal and comprehensive piece of literature, in which a particular topic is thoroughly discussed. It usually highlights the author’s views, knowledge and experience on a particular topic. It is a short literary work, which explains, argues and analyzes a specific topic.
The word essay comes from the Latin term ‘exagium’ which means ‘case presentation’. Therefore, to write an essay means to state the reason or cause of something, or why something should be done or should be, which validates a certain point of view, analysis, experience, story, fact or interpretation.
Essays are written with the intention of convincing or telling the reader something. Furthermore, in order to write an essay, one must have a good knowledge of the subject to explain the concept thoroughly. Otherwise, the author will repeat the same point over and over again.
Essay Component
- Title: It should be a concise statement of the proposition.
- Preliminary: The introductory part of the essay, should be very interesting which immediately grabs the reader’s attention and makes them read the essay further. Therefore, one can start with a quote to make it more thought-provoking.
- Body: In the main body of the essay, evidence or reasons that support the author’s ideas or arguments are provided. One has to make sure that there is synchronization in the paragraphs of the main body, and they too, have to maintain a logical flow.
- Conclusion: In this section, the author summarizes all the points briefly and simply.
Key Differences Between Article and Essay
Here are the key points in discussing the difference between an article and an essay:
- An article refers to a written work, published in a newspaper, journal, website, magazine etc, which contains news or information, in a certain format. On the other hand, an essay is a continuous piece of writing, written with the aim of convincing the reader with an argument or simply informing the reader about the facts.
- An article is objective in the sense that it is based on facts and evidence, and simply describes the topic or narrates the event. As against, an essay is subjective, as it is based on facts or opinions based on one’s research or views on a particular topic. It analyzes, argues and critiques topics.
- The tone used in an article is conversational, thus making the article easy to understand and also keeping the reader’s interest intact. In contrast, essays use an educational and analytical tone.
- Articles can contain titles, which make them interesting and easy to read. On the other hand, an essay does not have headings, sections or bullet points, however, it is a coherent and organized form of writing.
- An article is always written with a definite purpose, which is to inform or make the reader aware of something. Furthermore, it is written to cater to a specific niche audience. Instead, an essay is written in response to a particular statement or question. Moreover, it is not written with any particular group of readers in mind.
- Articles are often supported by photos, graphs, statistics, graphs, and tables. On the other hand, essays are not supported by any photos, charts or graphs.
- Citations and references are a must in the case of essays, whereas there is no such requirement in the case of articles.
Conclusion: Generally, an article is meant to inform the reader about something, through news stories, headlines, product descriptions, reports, etc. On the other hand, an essay offers an analysis of a particular topic, while reflecting a detailed account of a person’s views on it.
