There’s nothing like a deadline to spark your creativity! Or so some people claim. For others, it just sparks anxiety. Whether you’re writing a timed essay in class or you had some unforeseen circumstance and didn’t start working on your essay until the last minute, it’s important to put that anxiety to the side and …
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 …
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 …
“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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
When you’re reading for pleasure, you can take your time and enjoy it, much like watching a movie. You don’t have to think about deeper meanings, symbolism, or the characters unless you want to. But then there’s reading for school. When your teacher gives you an essay question before you start reading, the reading can …
How many times have you received a software update notification? If you’re like me, you have a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with these notifications. Too often, what you think will be a quick and easy process turns into an hour-long nightmare. Sound familiar? Something so seemingly simple becomes deceptively complex. The same is true for …
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. …
It’s the middle of the night, and you’ve drifted off into a deep sleep. You’re dreaming of a magnificent summer day of relaxing on the beach or maybe hiking a mountain trail. Then your alarm goes off. You’re slapped back into reality. Your once-peaceful dream is now bordering on a nightmare. There are exactly 28 …
You’ve spent quite a bit of time in your English classes writing argumentative essays. You’ve even gotten pretty good at writing on the topics your instructor assigns. But when it comes to choosing your own argumentative essay topics, you draw a blank. It’s not that there aren’t any good topics to choose from. It’s that you …
There are tons of scary stories—ones filled with ghosts or vampires or zombies. But in my opinion, there’s nothing scarier than the stories that show what the world could be like if left in the hands of the wrong people. One of the books that demonstrate this point the best is George Orwell’s 1984. And …
If literature isn’t your thing and you’ve been reading long, boring novels all semester, the chance to read and write about a short story might be just what you need to get interested in literature again. After all, everyone loves a good story, and a short one (especially when it comes to reading something you’re …
Do you love a good monster movie? Do you enjoy a gruesome fight between the hero of the story and the evil nemesis? If you do, I bet you’d love to read an epic poem translated from Old English about monsters and a hero, right? Okay, so epic poetry translated from Old English may not …
If you’re not familiar with the work of Edgar Allen Poe, you might think “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a love story or maybe even a story about a jilted lover. This is a clear case of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (or a short story by its title). “The Tell-Tale Heart” …