How does a blog differ from a traditional essay?
A traditional essay consists of a topic and a body ending with a conclusion and does not include web links. A blog consist of useful information that can be edited, added to, or discussed by others. When reading an essay one can not click to links to find out more information like they can do reading a blog. Most blogs are in electronic form and not on paper like essays. Blogs are a great way to put your opinions and point of view on the web for others to read and comment on.
Blog
A weblog, which is usually shortened to a blog, is a journal or diary that is available on the web, where anyone can write about any subject on an ongoing basis. The word blog can also be used as a verb, meaning adding an entry to a blog. The first blog has been ascribed to Dave Winer. He has been credited as the first regular, widely followed blogger. Blogs began to take off in 1999 with the launch of sites like Blogger, Weblogger and Love Journal, which made self publishing painless for the masses. Tens of thousands of blogs have blossomed since their creation. The mainstream media has only recently shown a glimmer of interest in the form (Rodzilla 171).
Anatomy
The features of a blog include:
- Order: A blog include the most recent blog post to the oldest, in somewhat of a reversed order
- Date and Time: Blog entries include the date and time in which the blog was posted.
- Bloggers Identity: Bloggers may choose not to visually expose themselves but must have some sort of identification such as their actual name or any name they choose to go by.
- Audience: A blogger must have an audience to determine if their blog is successful. Readers are able to subscribe to your blog page giving them the option to comment and interact with other viewers.
Essay
An essay is a short piece of writing that discusses, describes, or analyzes one topic. It can discuss a subject directly or indirectly, seriously or humorously. It can describe personal opinions, or just report information. An essay can be written from any perspective, but essays are most commonly written in the first person (I), or third person (subjects that can be substituted with the he, her, it, or them pronouns). There are different kinds of essay each with a different form. A traditional essay is used for formal documents or most of the time in school (English Works).
Fifteen hundred and eighty is the accepted birth year of the essay (Tanner 11). Essays of today have a greater range, variety of subject, greater length and a greater literary finish compared to essays of the previous centuries. There is also evidence of greater individuality in thoughts and directness in style. The main influence that brought about these changes was the growth of individualism in all realms of thought (Tanner 17). Essays have a particular purpose. They can expand a reader's knowledge of a topic, or just entertain.
Traditional Essay
Traditional essays are mostly formal pieces of literature. Although the writer can add humor and their own creative writing style, one must not use slang or incorrect grammar. These types of essays are linear and do not have links. With a traditional essay the writer most pick a topic to research and discuss in full. A traditional essay is based on facts, while blogs are usually opinion driven. Essays are factually based because one has to research a topic thoroughly. This gives the writer all the necessary information he or she needs to write an efficient essay. In addition to that, traditional essays present all sides of the topic, even if the essay is persuasive. One of the largest differences between a blog and a traditional essays, is traditional essays require the writer to use a step-by-step structure. The essay starts off with an introduction, followed by body paragraphs, and finally comes the conclusion. The writer should not stray from this basic structure.An essay should have a structure that includes all of the components below
- Introduction- This part encompasses the first paragraph.The introduction has a variety of functioning purposes. One of the main purposes of the introduction is to establish and create the tone and style of the paper. It is important for the introduction to pave the way for the rest of the essay. The introduction tells the purpose of the essay, and introduces the subject. It also gives a brief synopsis of the points that will be covered in the paper. The writer should state the point and grab the reader’s interest in this paragraph. The final component of the introduction is the thesis.
- Body- Traditionally there are three to four body paragraphs in an essay. Each paragraph brings up a different point that is addressed in the thesis. The body includes the descriptions or explanations of what is given in the introduction. The body should include at least 5 paragraphs, use a particular point of view, develop the subject logically, and keep the reader's interest with detail. It should conclude by looking beyond.
- Conclusion- The writer offers closure and summarizes or ties the essay together in this final paragraph. This paragraph should be brief and point beyond the limited scope of the essay. The writer makes the final word and writes what they personally think about the topic.
Links
There are several types of blogs, for instance you could have an author who creates a personal blog which is merely for the purpose of sharing information, trading ideas and communicating with both friends and strangers. The personal blogger usually focus on topics they are passionate about, such as cooking, photography, and education. The next type of blog is considered to be a business blog. This is used for businesses to sell or promote various products. Some businesses will use personal bloggers to promote there products,and pay them. Business blogs are usually well designed and packed with helpful content.Organizational blogs are very similar to personal blogs expect, for the fact that the content will represent a particular organizations views. Organizational blogs can be either internal or external. Internal meaning that the blog is to be used within a large company, and external meaning to communicate with clients and other interested parties. The final type of blog is the professional blog this type of blogging is not as popular as the others mentioned but is slowly becoming a career for some writers. Many companies are moving toward hiring bloggers to maintain their blogs and to promote service products or ideas.