Let’s pretend you wrote the following as a working thesis statement for your persuasive essay: Global climate change has been debated for many years. Do you think this is a persuasive thesis statement? (HINT: Say “no”!) NO: The thesis statement is a fact. It is not persuasive and not debatable. If you answered “yes” …
More often than not, when you’re assigned an essay, you think, “Great. I have zero interest in this topic. How am I supposed to write five pages about it?” But every once in a while, you get that essay assignment that encourages you to write about something you feel passionate about. Something you can sink …
If you’re a rooster and you consider yourself king of the hen house, you can’t just casually wander around with the rest of the chickens. You need to strut your stuff. You need to walk with authority and crow like you mean it! Likewise, if you’re writing a paper, you might consider yourself king (or …
We’ve all been there. Your professor asks a question to the class about last week’s required reading. You look down at your book, out the window, and at your shoes. You pretend to contemplate the answer. The reality: you only “skimmed” the reading, and you don’t have a clue how to answer the question. You …
Hello there! Welcome back to the Kibin blog. Our goal here at Kibin is to educate you on the art of writing. We do that in several ways, including awesome editing services, a deep database of essay examples, and this blog. Our focus on the Kibin blog is to explain ways to write specific essays …
When writing an essay, the first problem you might face is deciding on what topic to choose, which is pretty ironic if you’re writing a problem-solution essay. The way out of that dilemma is to choose an issue that you’re really passionate about. You should also select a problem that has a viable solution—something with …
What comes to mind when you hear the words “marijuana user”? Some people may automatically think Reefer Madness and see the film as an extreme exaggeration of users. Others may see it as a film with some underlying bit of truth to the dangers of marijuana. Still others may think of a marijuana user as …
If you’ve ever watched Survivor, you know how important it is for contestants to plan, form alliances, and do anything they can to avoid getting voted off the island by the Tribal Council. Writing an essay is kind of like being a contestant on Survivor. You need to plan ahead, learn the tricks of good writing, …
Here are four statements you might receive from your professor as essay feedback. “Essay does not meet assignment guidelines.” “This is a good start, but ideas aren’t fully developed.” “This submission is a nice revision of your earlier draft.” “Exemplary! This is a wonderful illustration essay.” I bet most (if not all) of you would …
Pretend you’re a pirate out on the high seas searching for treasure. Let’s say you have it on good authority that there’s a chest of gold buried on a nearby remote island. While you may have an idea which way you need to sail in order to get to the island, if you don’t know where …
As you know by now (for I tend to remind you ad nauseam), the thesis statement is the most important sentence in your essay. It’s the backbone of your paper. In other words, it’s the star around which your ideas orbit, the bread crumbs in your essay meatballs, or any other metaphor that articulates the …
Have you ever heard that different people learn in different ways? Well, it’s true. And while some people may be able to learn just by reading the theories on how to do something, you learn differently—you need actual examples. Just like a protester, politician, or superhero, I’m here to lead by example. I’ve put together …
If you’re thinking the SQ3R Method is a new iPhone QR code scanner app that allows you to scan your essay for grammar errors, you’d be wrong. (Though that would be pretty awesome, wouldn’t it?) The SQ3R Method is actually a reading method that will help you: Interact with a text Retain more of what …
Do you freak out or feel stressed at the mere thought of trying to organize your ideas for a paper? Have you tried prewriting and outlining, yet can’t seem to pull your ideas together? If all those Roman numerals and upper and lowercase letters of a traditional outline are enough to drive you mad, why …
You’re super confident when your teacher hands you an essay assignment. You’ve read the material and know exactly how to approach your arguments. But then you sit and stare at a blank page, unsure how to start. It happens to the best of us. Fortunately, because it’s a cause of concern for so many students, …
If you’re reading this post, chances are you’re a student who has spent most of your life in school. Think about all those hours in the classroom combined with all those hours studying and all those hours in extracurricular activities. You’ve probably spent the majority of your waking hours in some school-related task. Apparently, it’s …
Are you asking yourself why you should read this blog post? Are you asking, “What’s in it for me?” What if I promised that by reading this you’ll learn more about how to write an effective persuasive essay? What if I promised that by reading this you’ll learn 40 persuasive essay topics to help you …
On the west coast of Taiwan, just north of Taichung City, there is a place called Gaomei where the setting sun takes all but an inch of water with it out to sea. There, you can take off your shoes and socks and walk into the wetland, feeling the wet clay work its way up …
Imagine a world where there are no books to read. If you’re a student, sometimes that might feel like a dream come true. Now imagine a world with nothing to read. That includes no internet (and certainly no social media). That dream can quickly turn into a nightmare. In Fahrenheit 451, a ban on books …
Most of us think technology is pretty awesome—that is, until you go on a late-night fast food run and the drive-thru voice tells you that the credit card machine is down (and of course you have no cash to pay for your burger and fries). Or maybe technology is great because you can take an …
There’s an easy way and a hard way to do just about everything in life. However, the things most worth doing are almost always more difficult. For instance, it’s hard to go to school, work a job to pay for it, and then come home and study at the end of it all. It’s much …