About Essays

Essay writing is a requirement in order to have academic success. There are four main types of essay and each type of essay is named according to what the writer’s goal is. These four major types of essay are narrative essay, descriptive essay, expository essay, and persuasive essay. In a narrative essay, the writer or author narrates his or her story based on his or her experiences in real life. It has a plot, characters, setting, and etc. This type of essay usually uses the first person point of view. The descriptive essay is similar and alike to the narrative essay. In this type of essay, the writer describes any kinds of topic such as a person, a thing, or a place. The writer or author uses descriptive, colorful, or flowery words that are mostly sensory. The expository essay exposes ideas and analysis of a topic. It is mainly informative and it is usually written by the use of stating facts, statistics, comparing and contrasting, defining, giving examples, and telling the causes and effects. An expository essay should have a thesis statement. This is the most common essay which uses the five paragraph format that is composed with an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Writers or authors do not use the first person point of view in writing an expository essay. In a persuasive essay, the writer or author also presents and states facts and gives expert reasoning in order to convince the readers to agree on the writer’s point. This type of essay is also known as the argumentative essay in which the writer or author must have a stand on a certain topic. Just like an expository essay, a persuasive essay should also have a thesis statement and may also use the five paragraph format.

Studying with Music

Almost everyone has listened to music whilst doing homework or studying, right? But have you ever wondered what music is the best ‘study music’?  Studies have shown that some music can not only focus and relax your mind, but also improve your concentration and give you short-term mind-boosting effects! 

Classical music, and in particular, baroque classical music, is well-known for relaxing the mind and body. Composers such as Bach, Vivaldi, and Telemann are the most popular when it comes to soothing and peaceful music. Recent studies revealed that baroque classical music lowered the stress and enhanced the concentration across all age groups, including young children.

The ‘Mozart effect’ is another popular study tool used worldwide. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, perhaps the greatest classical composer of all time, remains one of the most listened to composers of this modern era. The ‘Mozart effect’ refers to the short-term improvement of tasks performed by a listener of Mozart’s music. Such improvements include deeper concentration, lower stress levels, and improved creativity. A common belief of the Mozart effect suggests that “listening to Mozart makes you smarter”, and that an early childhood exposure to classical music has a positive impact on their mental development.

Classical music isn’t the only way to calm your mind, however. Genres such as smooth jazz, country, and even techno, can relax your body and help your focus. Researchers believe that the best music for studying is at a slow tempo, usually under 60 beats per minute. 

Other ‘study music’ include ambient sounds or pulses. This music is designed to keep your brain engaged and alert on a subconscious level. The sounds of rain, waterfalls, wind, or waves crashing against a beach, might be just what you need when studying for that upcoming exam!

Here is an example of a classical music for study period.