Ever wake up and say to yourself, “I need to make some changes in my life”? Maybe you want a new job, a new college major, a new significant other, or even a new haircut. Whatever it happens to be, you know that something has to change. If you’ve ever felt this way, you can …
You’ve just finished reading The Handmaid’s Tale. You know the plot backward and forward. You know all about chemical spills, the oppression of women, declining fertility rates, and the story of a Handmaid (Offred) and her life in a totalitarian society. The problem? You haven’t quite figured out what it all means. If you’re struggling …
What is it about compare and contrast essays that makes them so difficult to get started? Maybe it’s having to juggle two different subjects in one essay. Usually you set your sights on one topic and tackle it directly. However, with a compare and contrast essay, you have to tackle two subjects. Plus, while addressing …
Creative geniuses cannot create their masterpieces until they’re inspired. Perhaps you’re that creative genius who simply hasn’t been inspired to write a thesis statement to help focus your thoughts for your upcoming compare and contrast essay. Perhaps you don’t fancy yourself a creative genius at all. Maybe you’re more of a major procrastinator who’s only …
Have you ever wished you could travel in time to finish all the things you need to do? To fix something, to do better on a test or an essay, to free up some time for a vacation? Well, guess what? You…you still can’t do that. Sorry. But you do have another power over the …
The expository essay—it’s an unavoidable essay in your educational career. In fact, teachers and professors love assigning it so much that some freshmen writing courses are devoted entirely to writing the expository essay. That’s a lot of expository essay writing! If you’re going to be writing this type of essay over and over again, you …
As Malcolm X once said, “If you have no critics you’ll likely have no success.” While critics often get a bad rap, they have the important task of taking information from movies and literature, analyzing the information, and breaking it down for their readers, viewers, or listeners. When you write your critical lens essay, you …
You’ve taken the required exams. You’ve filled out online and paper forms. You’ve sent in your high school transcripts. You’ve maybe even requested some letters of recommendation to help seal the deal. But as those admissions deadlines approach, you still have one thing left–the dreaded personal statement. Sure, you’re just one hopeful student in a …
Unless your prof has taught a grand total of no more than one course in her teaching career, chances are she’s already tired of reading papers about topics like these: The differences between high school and college Marijuana legalization Gun control School uniforms While it is possible to write a uniquely fascinating research paper about …
It’s late at night, and you’re desperate to find a good movie. You start scrolling through the thousands of options offered on your favorite video streaming service. What if instead of a short two-line summary of each movie, the service only offered a three-page detailed overview and analysis? Who has the time (or desire) to …
A group essay assignment can feel a bit like some kind of morbid social experiment. Several strangers are forced to work together on a project that’s generally recognized as being more easily done alone. Will they find a way to work together, or will they descend into chaos? Without the right strategies and attitudes in …
Bad celebrity interviews can be great fun to watch. Celebrities throw tantrums, walk out, or simply blank and have nothing interesting to say. Celebrity interviews can also go bad through no fault of the celebrities themselves. Sometimes it’s the interviewers who ask inappropriate questions or ask questions that can be only termed “stupid.” Take, for …
What if I told you that you had to write a research paper but that you didn’t actually have to do any of the research? Pretty sweet deal, right? A document-based question (DBQ) essay is sort of like that. You have to write an essay using a variety of sources, but someone else provides the …
Getting a graded paper back from your prof can be a frustrating experience. You get an essay back from a teacher with a grade written clearly across the top of the paper, but little is written elsewhere to indicate why you received that grade. There’s no real explanation of what you’ve done well or what …
When you’re assigned to write an essay, you usually have two options when it comes to topics. Your prof either says, “Write about one of these assigned topics,” or, “Pick something, and write about it.” There are advantages and disadvantages to both. On the plus side, if you’re assigned a topic, you don’t have to …
You’ve completed at least a few writing courses in your day and have written your share of essays. But just when you think you’ve written every possible type of paper, BAM! You’re hit with a new type of essay: the discursive essay. With the word “curse” seemingly smack dab in the middle of the name, …
Your professor just assigned you another student’s essay to peer review, but maybe you don’t know where to start. That’s okay! Let’s start by taking some of the mystery out of the equation. A peer review, also referred to as peer editing or a peer workshop, is when you read another student’s essay draft and …
The last time I baked cupcakes, I followed the directions on the box to the letter. I’m far from a celebrity chef, so following the recipe would be the only way for me to bake anything edible. My grandmother, on the other hand, never made anything from a box. I don’t even remember her following …
Are you starting college soon? How about your first college-level writing class? Before you trek into this uncharted territory, you’ll want to sharpen your skills and steel yourself for the big day when you’re writing your first major college essay. But you’ll need something more effective than that double-shot of espresso to get you through those …
If you’ve watched the movies Divergent, The Hunger Games, or Maze Runner and thought, “Whoa, these are amazingly original stories! Why hasn’t someone thought of this before?” you might be surprised to learn that this type of story is nothing new. Stories with dystopian themes have been around for a long time. What you probably …
When you hear the word “ESSAY,” what comes to mind? If you’re like a lot of students, you might think pain. Boredom. Tedium. Sheer misery. Rarely does the word “fun” come to mind. I get it. There are all sorts of reasons that you might hate writing an essay. Perhaps you struggle to start your …