美高学生最常遇到的英语作文体裁主要有五类，其中——描写文与记叙文有异曲同工之妙，它们都鼓励作者以富有创意的形式表达观点；说明文和议论文则更注重清晰传递信息与有力论证观点；分析性作文要求作者系统阐述论点以深化读者对主题的理解，不同于旨在让读者接受特定观点的说服性写作。
本文，睿雅将为你详细介绍每种作文类型的特点，以帮助你在动笔时准确定位文体并掌握相应的写作要领。
1. 描写文-高中阶段（Descriptive high school essays）
描写文要求作者生动地刻画某个对象——可能是人、物、地点、经历、情感或某种情境，其中更常见的是描述抽象事物，比如某种情感、体验，或超出日常认知的事物。
这类作文鼓励学生发挥创意、自由表达，尤其是当主题与个人经历或关心的事物相关时（例如最爱的美食或文化传统）。虽然听起来简单，但它实际上考验着作者的选词能力和创造力，需要通过文字让读者在脑海中清晰勾勒出所描绘的画面。
描写文通常以引入描述对象开篇，先勾勒整体印象，再逐步展开细节描写。此外，如果能灵活运用不同的叙述视角（详见文章Guide to Point of View in Writing），还能大幅提升描写的层次感，通过多角度的呈现让读者获得更丰富的阅读体验。
以下是来自Yourdictionary的描写文范例：
I watched a thunderstorm, far out over the sea. It began quietly, and with nothing visible except tall dark clouds and a rolling tide. There was just a soft murmur of thunder as I watched the horizon from my balcony. Over the next few minutes, the clouds closed and reflected lightning set the rippling ocean aglow. The thunderheads had covered up the sun, shadowing the vista. It was peaceful for a long time.
I was looking up when the first clear thunderbolt struck. It blazed against the sky and sea; I could see its shape in perfect reverse colors when I blinked. More followed. The thunder rumbled and stuttered as if it could hardly keep up. There were openings in the cloud now, as if the sky were torn, and spots of brilliant blue shone above the shadowed sea.
I looked down then, watching the waves. Every bolt was answered by a moment of spreading light on the surface. The waves were getting rough, rising high and crashing hard enough that I could hear them.
Then came the rain. It came all at once and in sheets, soaking the sand, filling the sea. It was so dense I could only see the lightning as flashes of light. It came down so hard the thunder was drowned. Everything was rhythmic light and shadow, noise and silence, blending into a single experience of all five senses.
In an instant it stopped. The storm broke. The clouds came apart like curtains. The rain still fell, but softly now. It was as if there had never been a storm at all, except for a single signature. A rainbow, almost violently bright, spread above and across the water. I could see the horizon again.
2. 记叙文（Narrative Essay）
记叙文与描写文有相似之处，但更侧重于讲述故事而非描绘对象。这类作文可以围绕作者的亲身经历、某个事件、一则故事或一段往事展开，甚至允许虚构未曾体验过的情节。记叙文通常采用第一人称叙述，例如高中生申请大学时撰写的个人陈述就是典型范例。
记叙文的精髓不仅在于讲述故事本身，更要突出这段经历的深层意义。因此，想要写出优秀的记叙文，必须巧妙融合五大要素：背景设定、事件缘由、情节推进、高潮部分以及故事结局。
我们选取了一篇学生习作作为范例，该文章曾发表在People’s Republic of Creativity博客上：
Glup, glup.
I sat watching the plunger slowly make its way down the tube and into Miriam’s body. Inside the tube was a clear unknown liquid that would soon be injected into my own body. This was the third time this week, the twelfth time this month, and who knows how many times since we have been trapped in this hell on earth. Each day, we have only been given the bare minimum of food, water, and sleep. I don’t know how much longer we can survive before deemed useless by him.
Miriam fell out of her chair and onto the cold concrete floor, screaming in pain. She scrambles for something she can grasp onto to prop her malnourished body up. Then the piercing sound just suddenly stopped. Her thin arms that look only of bones and skin drop to the ground and she lay still on the floor, as if she were…dead. Please don’t tell me she’s dead! No, she couldn’t be; we promised each other to live until the day of liberation.
She needs to live.
Tap, tap.
It was my turn. He walked over with a syringe full of what had just been injected into Miriam. I try to focus on the red, black, and white badge on his left arm instead of letting the fear crawl in and take over my brain. But the unsettling tension stirs my thoughts around and around.
“Twin A1387, let’s hope what happened to your sister doesn’t happen to you.” He smirked. The needle pierced through my skin and my body was suddenly aflame. The raging blaze spread through every one of my veins, until I was shrouded in darkness.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in an empty confinement. The space next to me, the space for Miriam, was empty too. Where was everyone? Most importantly, where was Miriam?
I got up and set my bare foot onto the dirty, wooden floor. Suddenly, my head started spinning and along with it, the world spun too. I fell to the ground, and when I could finally lift my head, what I saw above me terrified me. It was him, death in human form, and beside him were four of his helpers. They grabbed my arms and forced me to stand up.
“Good morning A1387. I am afraid your dear twin sister couldn’t handle the injections from yesterday. Let’s hope your fragile little limbs can endure those chemicals. I wonder how many more injections it will take for you to meet your pathetic sister,” he said, patting my head. His tone was playful, but deadly.
I froze. What? Miriam…dead? That one word, “twins”, has taken away everything of what feels like my past life, and now my last hope? I felt a surge of anger, hatred, sadness, fear, devastation swirling inside me like boiling lava in a volcano, ready to erupt. I wanted to scream, to shout, to kill him, but I couldn’t. My soft limbs felt as if they would collapse merely by trying to stand up. They would be harmless and defenceless against the Angel of Death. When he saw the hatred on my face, he started laughing hysterically and simply said, “What a shame; she was only 13. I cannot wait to see how long it will take for you to fall apart!”
3. 说明文（Expository Essay）
根据普渡大学（Purdue University）的定义，说明文是一种要求学生围绕某个主题展开研究、评估论据、阐述观点，并以清晰简洁的方式提出相关论证的文体。为达成这一目标，作者需要运用多种方法，包括比较与对比、定义法、举例说明、因果分析等。
说明文写作的核心在于呈现客观事实与数据，而非表达个人观点或进行主观论证。
正如其名所示，说明文旨在通过提供充分的信息来”说明”（expose）特定主题。它是一篇提供信息的文章，要求对主题进行全面且平衡的分析，所有内容必须基于事实数据，而非个人见解。正因如此，说明文常被用作高中及大学阶段的写作任务，用以检验学生对特定话题的熟悉程度及信息传达能力。
以下是来自College Board SAT写作试题的范例：
In response to our world’s growing reliance on artificial light, writer Paul Bogard argues that natural darkness should be preserved in his article “Let There be dark”. He effectively builds his argument by using a personal anecdote, allusions to art and history, and rhetorical questions.
Bogard starts his article off by recounting a personal story – a summer spent on a Minnesota lake where there was “woods so dark that [his] hands disappeared before [his] eyes.” In telling this brief anecdote, Bogard challenges the audience to remember a time where they could fully amass themselves in natural darkness void of artificial light. By drawing in his readers with a personal encounter about night darkness, the author means to establish the potential for beauty, glamour, and awe-inspiring mystery that genuine darkness can possess. He builds his argument for the preservation of natural darkness by reminiscing for his readers a first-hand encounter that proves the “irreplaceable value of darkness.” This anecdote provides a baseline of sorts for readers to find credence with the author’s claims.
Bogard’s argument is also furthered by his use of allusion to art – Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” – and modern history – Paris’ reputation as “The City of Light”. By first referencing “Starry Night”, a painting generally considered to be undoubtedly beautiful, Bogard establishes that the natural magnificence of stars in a dark sky is definite. A world absent of excess artificial light could potentially hold the key to a grand, glorious night sky like Van Gogh’s according to the writer. This urges the readers to weigh the disadvantages of our world consumed by unnatural, vapid lighting. Furthermore, Bogard’s alludes to Paris as “the famed ‘city of light’”. He then goes on to state how Paris has taken steps to exercise more sustainable lighting practices. By doing this, Bogard creates a dichotomy between Paris’ traditionally alluded-to name and the reality of what Paris is becoming – no longer “the city of light”, but moreso “the city of light…before 2 AM”. This furthers his line of argumentation because it shows how steps can be and are being taken to preserve natural darkness. It shows that even a city that is literally famous for being constantly lit can practically address light pollution in a manner that preserves the beauty of both the city itself and the universe as a whole.
Finally, Bogard makes subtle yet efficient use of rhetorical questioning to persuade his audience that natural darkness preservation is essential. He asks the readers to consider “what the vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?” in a way that brutally plays to each of our emotions. By asking this question, Bogard draws out heartfelt ponderance from his readers about the affecting power of an untainted night sky. This rhetorical question tugs at the readers’ heartstrings; while the reader may have seen an unobscured night skyline before, the possibility that their child or grandchild will never get the chance sways them to see as Bogard sees. This strategy is definitively an appeal to pathos, forcing the audience to directly face an emotionally-charged inquiry that will surely spur some kind of response. By doing this, Bogard develops his argument, adding gutthral power to the idea that the issue of maintaining natural darkness is relevant and multifaceted.
Writing as a reaction to his disappointment that artificial light has largely permeated the presence of natural darkness, Paul Bogard argues that we must preserve true, unaffected darkness. He builds this claim by making use of a personal anecdote, allusions, and rhetorical questioning.
4. 议论文（Argumentative Essay）
议论文与说明文非常相似，两者都要求作者提出基于证据的论点，即在写作过程中，作者需要明确陈述中心论点，系统搜集并评估论据，最终确立自己的立场。
因此许多人将议论文与说明文混为一谈，但实际上议论文对研究深度的要求更高。说明文通常出现在SAT考试中，考生只需根据给定题目展开分析和论述即可；而议论文则多用于毕业设计或结业项目，往往需要更详实的研究支撑和更长的篇幅。
一篇标准的议论文包含三个部分：引言、主体和结论。引言部分需明确主题并提出中心论点；主体部分通过具体论据展开论证；结论部分则是总结论点，并提出未来研究的潜在方向。
以下范例选自美国教育考试服务中心（ETS）的GRE写作参考答案：
Prompt: The best ideas arise from a passionate interest in commonplace things
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement above and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how those considerations shape your position.
Answer:
Passion is clearly necessary for a truly great idea to take hold among a people—passion either
on the part of the original thinker, the audience, or ideally both. The claim that the most lucrative
subject matter for inspiring great ideas is “commonplace things” may seem initially to be counterintuitive. After all, aren’t great ideas usually marked by their extraordinary character? While this is true, their extraordinary character is as often as not directly derived from their insight into things that had theretofore gone unquestioned. While great ideas certainly can arise through seemingly pure innovation… say, for example, Big Bang cosmology, which developed nearly all of its own scientific and philosophical precepts through its own process of formation, it is nevertheless equally true that such groundbreaking thought was, and is, still largely
a reevaluation of previous assumptions to a radical degree… after all, the question of the ultimate nature of the universe, and man’s place in it, has been central to human thought since the dawn of time. Commonplace things are, additionally, necessary as material for the generation of “the best ideas” since certainly the success among an audience must be considered in evaluating the significance and quality of an idea.
The advent of Big Bang cosmology, which occurred in rudimentary form almost immediately upon Edwin Hubble’s first observations at the Hooker telescope in California during the early 20th century, was the most significant advance in mankind’s understanding of the universe in over 400 years. The seemingly simple fact that everything in the universe, on a very large scale, is moving away from everything else in fact betrays nearly all of our scientific knowledge of the origins and mechanics of the universe. This slight, one might even say commonplace, distortion of tint on a handful of photographic plates carried with it the greatest challenge to Man’s general, often religiously reinforced, conception of the nature of the world to an extent not seen since the days of Galileo. Not even Charles Darwin’s theory, though it created more of a stir than Big Bang cosmology, had such shattering implications for our conceptions of the nature of our reality. Yet it is not significant because it introduced the question of the nature of what lies beyond Man’s grasp. A tremendous number of megalithic ruins, including the Pyramids both of Mexico and Egypt, Stonehenge, and others, indicate that this question has been foremost on humankind’s collective mind since time immemorial. Big Bang cosmology is so incredibly significant in this line of reasoning exactly because of the degree to which it changed the direction of this generally held, constantly pondered, and very ancient train of thought.
Additionally, there is a diachronic significance to the advent of Big Bang cosmology, which is that, disregarding limitations such as the quality of optical devices available and the state of theoretical math, it could have happened at any point in time. That is to say, all evidence points to roughly the same raw intellectual capacity for homo sapiens throughout our history, our progress has merely depended upon the degree of it that a person happens to inherit, a pace that has been increasing rapidly since the industrial revolution. Yet this discovery had to happen at a certain point in time or another—it cannot have been happening constantly or have never happened yet still be present—and this point in time does have its own significance. That significance is precisely the fact that the aforementioned advent must have occurred at precisely the point in time at which it truly could have occurred—that is to say, it marks the point in our history when we had progressed sufficiently to begin examining, with remarkable substantiated acuity, the workings of the universe across distances that would take millions of human lifetimes to reach or to traverse. The point for the success of this advent must necessarily have been, additionally, the point at which the audience concerned was capable and prepared to accept such a radical line of reasoning.
Both factors, a radical, passionate interpretation of the commonplace and the preparedness to accept such an interpretation, are necessary for the formulation of a truly great idea. If the passion is absent from an inquiry by the thinker or by the bulk of an audience, the idea will die out if it comes to fruition at all. If the material is not sufficiently commonplace to be considered by an informed audience of sufficient size, the same two hazards exist. Given these two factors, the idea must still be found palatable and interesting by the audience if it is to hope to gain a foothold and eventually establish itself in a significant fashion.
5. 分析性作文（Analytical Essay）
分析性作文是一种对特定主题进行深度剖析的写作体裁，其研究对象涵盖艺术、音乐、文学文本乃至政治、科学、哲学等领域。这类文章不仅能提升作者的写作技巧和对主题的全面理解能力，还能帮助读者深入了解重要议题。
与说服性写作不同，分析性写作的核心目标并非引导读者接受某种观点，而是为读者提供多维度、系统化的客观分析。此类文体常见于GRE考试的写作部分。
一篇优秀的分析性文章应包含明确的核心论点，并围绕该论点展开层层剖析与论证。我们有篇文章介绍了撰写文学分析论文的七个步骤（7 Steps to Write a Literary Analysis Essay）。
我们将以一篇学生关于基因编辑技术CRISPR的论文为例（全文可点击此处查阅），以下是该论文的节选预览：
No matter how much money people are willing to pay for health care, they may still suffer terribly from incurable diseases such as AIDS and cancer because of the underdevelopment of medical technology. However, today, the advancement in human knowledge has led to the introduction of human gene-editing, turning impossibility to possibility. In particular, the recent technology for genome editing called CRISPR has been having a groundbreaking impact on research in genetic science. This is due to its remarkable potential to simply cure genetic diseases in an embryo before they have a serious effect on further developmental progression. Although currently, there have been numerous debates regarding its extension in research for widespread uses, CRISPR is a completely promising technology because of the benefits it brings to people.
CRISPR, or Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, is the newest innovation in genetic engineering. The way CRISPR works is similar to “the scissor-like action of Cas 9 to target… any specific DNA sequence” (Baylis and Rossant). By making cuts in specific locations in DNA, CRISPR can cure diseases and make alterations in an embryo’s DNA, which prevent diseases from being passed down to following generations (Baylis and Rossant). Throughout the history, governments and researchers came up with different approaches politically and scientifically in attempt to control population. They hoped to encourage the “richest, wisest and healthiest to breed like rabbits” and the “sick, stupid, and poor to take one for the empire and remain childless” (Comfort 28). The second attempt happened during the 20th century, when the U.S government passed the law preventing marriage and immigration that would threaten a perceived core American “stock.” Another more extreme example was when Nazi sterilization law further advanced this population control approach. Later in the century, a biotechnological approach was established as a safer and more humane way to manage population health (qtd in Comfort 28). “Gene surgery,” which is similar to CRISPR technology, was established and followed by contentious debates regarding ethical issues between disease treatment and human trait enhancements. Currently, there has been a halt in the use of CRISPR because of the increase in concern from the public about the pros and cons of this technology.
进一步阅读：
- Where to Submit Your Writing Works: 5 Main Platforms
- 6 Differences between High School and College Writing
- 20 Tips to Improve Your Writing
- Guide to Point of View in Writing
- 10 Mistakes High School Students Make in Creative Writing
- 5 Common Types of High School Essays (With Examples)
- How to Overcome Writer’s Block in High School Writing Competitions
Aralia睿雅写作类课程
这门课程每年夏季开设，面向13至18岁、果想学习如何将英文写作打磨成有效且可发表的创意作品的学生。 课程将通过多种工具，帮助学生掌握有目的性和技巧性的写作精髓，包括：运用修辞手法、有效的结构设计以及特定的写作形式，并将这些技能应用于他们的创作中。
本课程旨在帮助学生发展和提升写作技能，为高等教育课程做好准备。教学方法强调批判性阅读、批判性思维和批判性写作的能力。学生将学习信息性、叙述性、描写性、创意性和说服性写作技巧。课程内容包括如何进行头脑风暴、构建结构与提纲、形成论点并进行论证、整合学术资源，以及培养清晰有力的写作风格。课程重点还包括写作过程、目标读者、一致的时态、视角的运用、正确的语法使用、词汇积累、恰当的文体风格，以及规范的研究和引用方式。
