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 …
“If I ruled the world, summer vacation would last all year long, kids could stay up as long as they wanted, and everyone could eat ice cream for every meal!” My 10-year-old self had a lot of excellent suggestions for a perfect world. I’m sure we’ve all had thoughts (both as kids and as …
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 …
Even though discrimination is an ugly part of society, you know that professors aren’t going to discriminate when it comes to handing out essay grades. No matter how many hours you work on your discrimination essay, if it isn’t good, your prof will let you know about it (no matter who you are). How do …
What is truth? Do people have free will? Can we know we exist? Questions like these are what philosophers think and write about. As a philosophy student, it’s your job to learn from the great philosophers and write about their responses—and yours—to life’s big questions. Philosophy essays can be a bit intimidating. You may feel …
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 …
“True friendship isn’t about being there when it’s convenient; it’s about being there when it’s not.” “A friend who knows your tears is much more valuable than a lot of friends who only know your smile.” Not a sappy friendship quote kind of person? Are you rolling your eyes just thinking about the cheesiness of …
Here’s a quick (and simple) survey: How many social media sites do you use regularly? How many times per week do you log in to a social media site? How many hours per week do you spend on social media? I’m guessing that, for some of you, the numbers are pretty high. If you’re writing …
Tell me about yourself. Whether you hear these words as you introduce yourself to a new group of people or read them on an essay assignment, they can be intimidating. In general, we’re taught not to brag, but how can you write about yourself without at least doing a little bit of bragging? And what …
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words,” right? But does it really take 1,000 words to create a vivid picture? Check out this short paragraph from Charlotte’s Web: Fern came slowly down the stairs. Her eyes were red from crying. As she approached her chair, the carton wobbled, and …
What does it really mean to be boring? We can all point to a moment that was boring. And we’re quick to recognize a new one when it presents itself, but what are the criteria for something to fall into that category? When I worked as a cashier at a grocery store as a teen, …
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” —Mary Shelley If you’re a math major enrolled in a required literature course, the painful and sudden change you might be experiencing right now is the fact that you have to write a paper about Frankenstein. There’s no need to be …
Are you one of those people who has been told (likely more than once) that you have an opinion on everything? If you are, then you’re in luck. The opinion essay is the perfect way to express your opinions to the world (or at least to your professor). Telling someone your opinion and writing an …
If you’re a lieutenant commander on the U.S.S. Enterprise, and your name is Spock, it’s a given that you’re all about logic. If you’re not Spock or a Vulcan (I’m assuming you’re not either of these), you might be guilty of faulty logic and might end up with at least one logical fallacy in your …
If I say “animal testing,” which of the following two images comes to mind? Image #1: Professional, ethical scientists carefully monitoring and testing animals and developing life-saving cures. Image #2: People needlessly injecting, probing, and torturing defenseless animals. While some of you may have an image that’s somewhere between ethical testing and torture, I’m sure …
In Greek Orphic tradition, Thesis, the goddess of creation, is worshiped for creating all of the matter we see in the world today. In the academic writing world, it feels as if we are often worshiping her ourselves. I mean, your thesis statement is kind of like the bedrock on which your paper will either …
You’ve been toiling away the entire term, and now it all comes down to this—the term paper. In many classes, term papers take the place of a final exam and can determine a whole letter grade (and sometimes more). No pressure, right? While writing a term paper can be stressful, time-consuming, and really just a …
Mass media is a constant in our daily lives. If you ever watch TV, read a news feed, surf the Internet, watch or hear an advertisement, or listen to the radio, you’re consuming media. Given that most of us are experts when it comes to consuming media, we should be experts on writing about media, …
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Practice makes perfect.” And you know that this applies to almost anything you do in life: sports, music, debate, public speaking, dungeon master, whatever. Essay writing skills are just the same. You must practice to get better. But practice only takes you so far. You’ll also need the right tools. …