The presence of a specific theme or question.

The theme of the essay is always concrete, some researchers say that it has a private

character. Such are, for example, the themes of M. Montaigne's essays: "About Old Age", "About Fame", "About Self-Esteem", "On Books," "On Bad Means Serving a Good Purpose," "Against Idleness," "On the Thumb Thumb of the Hand," “college paper review”, etc. At the same time, the title of an essay is not in direct dependence on the topic: in addition to reflecting the content of the work, it can be a starting point in the author's thoughts, expressing the relationship of the part and the whole.

Personal character of perception of the problem and its comprehension.

In the essay the author's position is vividly expressed. The essay is a subjective genre, it is interesting and valuable precisely because it gives the opportunity to see the personality of the author, the uniqueness of his position, style of thinking, speech, attitude to the world.

Small volume.

There are, of course, no rigid boundaries, but even the most eloquent Essayist, as a rule, limits his/her essay to 2-3 dozens of pages (at the same time one page, a few thought-provoking phrases) is usually enough.

Free composition.

The free composition of an essay is subject to its internal logic, and the main idea of the essay should be searched for in the "motley lace" of the author's reflections. In this case, the problem touched upon will be considered from different sides. Researchers note that the essay by its very nature is arranged in such a way that it does not tolerate any formal frameworks. It is often constructed contrary to the laws of logic, is subject to arbitrary associations, is guided by the principle "Everything is backwards!".

Informality of narration.

It is important for the author of an essay to establish a trusting style of communication with the reader; in order to be understandable, he or she avoids intentionally complicated, obscure, overly "strict" constructions.

Researchers note that a good essay can be written only by someone who is fluent in

the topic, sees it from different angles, and is ready to present the reader not an exhaustive, but multidimensional view of the phenomenon that became the starting point of his thoughts.

Paradoxically.

The essay is designed to surprise the reader - this, according to many researchers, is its obligatory quality. Moreover, the essay is born out of the surprise that the author has when reading a book, watching a movie, in a conversation with a friend. The starting point for the reflections embodied in essays, is often an aphoristic, vivid statement or a paradoxical definition, literally colliding, at first glance, indisputable, but mutually exclusive statements, characteristics, and theses. This is, for example, the theme of the essay "A Praise for Boredom" by Joseph Brodsky. In order to convey a personal perception, mastering of the world, the author of the essay draws numerous examples; draws parallels; selects analogies; uses all kinds of associations.

Internal semantic unity.

Perhaps this is one of the paradoxes of the genre. Free in composition, focused on

At the same time, the essay has an inner syntactic unity, i.e.

The free composition and subjectivity oriented essay has at the same time an inner unity of meaning, that is, the coherence of the key theses and statements, the inner harmony of arguments and Associations, consistency of those judgments in which the personal position of the author is expressed.

Openness.

An essay is essentially incomplete, not in the sense that the author.

Not in the sense that the author stops half-word and intentionally doesn't express his opinion to the end, but in the sense that he.

Not in the sense that the author stops halfway through and intentionally does not offer his opinion in full, but in the sense that he does not claim to be exhaustive and does not offer a complete and thorough analysis of the problem.

Specific language:

The essay is characterized by the use of numerous means of artistic metaphors, allegorical and parable images, symbols, comparisons.

In terms of speech construction, the essay is a dynamic alternation of polemical statements,

questions, the installation of colloquial intonation and vocabulary.

Related Resources:

So what is an essay? 
What is a research paper essay? 
Rules of construction: the necessary parts of an essay and their sequence 
What an essay means