The literary essay is one of three types of essays — the other two being the opinion essay and the personal essay. While some writing techniques are common to all three, you must know the characteristics of each. The purpose of the literary essay is to inform and sometimes suggest a message in a well-written piece. Because the subject can be anything, writing a literary essay affords an excellent opportunity to learn more about a topic that fascinates you and convey that information with attention to the craft of writing.