You’ve done all the leg work—identified your topic, crafted the perfect thesis statement, researched like crazy, and prepared your outline. Now you sit staring at a blank screen ready to put it all together. Maybe you’ve already written an introduction,...

It’s 7:00pm, you just got out of chemistry class, and you’re starving–but you have that argumentative essay on fast food due soon! You decide to: A) trudge back to your dorm and rummage through your nearly empty cupboards for another meal of ramen noodles,...

Despite what your grade-school teacher might have told you, poetry isn’t all hearts and flowers, especially not when you have to analyze a poem in an essay. When you delve into the realm of poetry, you’re much more likely to stumble into madness and decay,...

You may ask yourself, how do I work this? (Yes, thanks to David Byrne and the Talking Heads for my opening line.) I don’t know about you, but I’ve asked this question more than once in my lifetime. I’m sure you’ve asked this question many times, too. For...

Ah, the infamous James Joyce, bane of millions of high school and college students, and now it’s your turn to face the coming-of-age trial: writing a literary analysis of Araby by James Joyce. You might be thinking “I didn’t sign up for this.” You might...

There are a few age-old debates in this world, and you have just been assigned one for your next persuasive essay—nature vs. nurture. Biologists, psychologists, sociologists and others have been arguing for decades about whether nature (a person’s biology...

“Man, this essay is going to be impossible.” We’ve all been in this boat before, confronted with an essay assignment that is beyond difficult. What if I told you that I can teach you how to write an essay about pretty much anything under the sun? Even …...

Have you ever stared at the rack of candy at your local convenience store trying to figure out which candy bar you want? Do you finally just grab one simply because a candy bar is a candy bar, and it’s all chocolate, so one is just as good as the next? This...

Are you feeling frustrated by another 5-paragraph essay assignment? Do you feel as though your creative freedom has been stymied once again by the powers that be? Do you want to be free to explore essay organization like the effervescent honey blossom butterfly...

Why does that word – analysis ­– strike fear into the hearts of so many college students, and just what the heck is a literary analysis, anyway? Analysis is typically the last skill your brain learns, and most students don’t encounter this term until college....

What is a literary analysis, and what is it good for? Please don’t reply, “Absolutely nothing, say it again y’all!” You might think that a literary analysis isn’t good for anything, but it actually helps sharpen your writing skills and your critical thinking...

What’s your problem? Really, what’s your problem? I’m talking of course about the problem you’re writing about and that you are going to use for your problem statement. Do you have a problem in mind? Good. That’s a start. I bet your problem isn’t that...

Panic (noun) 1. sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior “A wave of panic washed over him as he realized he didn’t have a topic for his definition essay.” If this definition applies to you right now, and you’re panicking...

Though tone is slippery to nail down and might be one of the most difficult parts of a language to learn, managing the tone of an essay can make the difference between an “A” and an “F.” In fact, tone can also be the determining factor for getting...

Wait. Don’t tell me. You have to write an evaluation essay, don’t you? I bet you’re stumped for ideas, right? No, I’m not psychic; it was just an educated guess. I thought you might be looking for topic ideas since you found your way to a blog post about...

If I asked why you love the pizza place across town but hate the pizzeria two blocks away, you’d be able to give me a list of reasons, right? If you can answer this question, then you can write an evaluation essay. Okay, it’s a little bit harder than telling...

You know what I always liked about Batman and Iron Man over the rest of the superheroes? The fact that they are (relatively) normal guys. They don’t need any special powers to fit into the same category as Spiderman, Superman, or Wonder Woman. Heroes can be,...

And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy. The officer, surrounded by these noises, was moved...

You vacantly nod your head as your teacher keeps repeating the words, “It won’t be that hard. It’s just a book report,” but inside, you’re quaking. When was the last time you wrote a book report? Do you even remember how to write a book report? You look...

Your instructor is expecting a book report due in a few days. You’ve read the book, but you’re just so bored by the prospect of writing another book report that you don’t even feel like starting. Sound familiar? It doesn’t have to be this way....

So, you think you’ve got what it takes to write a good descriptive essay? What about a great one? Writing a descriptive essay usually requires you to describe something – an object, place, person, event, experience, emotion, etc. –  making use...