Imagine that you’re on a road trip on a hot day. You spy an ice cream shop and whip the car into the parking lot for a cold, towering, double-scoop cone. Mmm. The server places the ice cream in your hands … without a flipping cone. You fumble with the cold, sloppy mess as you …
Do you remember the fable The Ant and the Grasshopper? The ants work all summer long preparing for winter and storing food. The grasshopper laughs at the ants, and he plays all summer because he has plenty of food (for now). When winter comes, the grasshopper is starving, begging for food because he didn’t prepare …
Travel. Adventure. Exploration. There’s so much to learn out there for those who go looking for it. André Gide once wrote: “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Of course, nowadays it’s a little less romantic. We “lose sight of the shore” after putting our seat …
For those of you who aren’t exactly fans of essay writing, standing in front of a firing squad might seem like a better option than having to write another essay about the death penalty. I hear ya. This is a long-debated topic and one that can be challenging to write about because it can seem …
Ever been nervous on a first date or freak out the moment you’re supposed to start a new job? Most people have. Why? Because you want to start on the right foot. You don’t want to call your date “Kay” when her name is actually “Kali.” And you don’t want to trip over a chair …
Some semesters can seem like the perfect storm—reading unfamiliar material, advanced writing, and seemingly not enough time to do it all. Before you start feeling like you’re drowning, learn how to take charge of your essay and be the captain of your own ship. Although it might feel like you’re trying to pilot a boat …
“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration” —Thomas Edison Edison was right. It takes a lot of hard work to be a genius. I’m here to tell you that it takes a lot of hard work to be a good writer too. One of the first steps you can take to be a good writer, …
Don’t know how to write an article review? Don’t panic—it’s easier than you think. Even if you’ve never written an article review before, the skills you’ve gained writing other types of essays will come in handy. Expository, descriptive, analytical, and argumentative essays have all prepared you to write an article review. Even if you haven’t …
You’ve just been assigned to write an opinion essay. “Opinions?!” You think, “I’ve got plenty of those!” But slow down, cowboy, you’re going to have to narrow it down to a single opinion. More than that, you must be able to support that opinion with facts, figures, or examples from the real world. “You are …
“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” This clever quote from Romeo and Juliet sums up the drama in Romeo and Juliet’s relationship. But if you’re struggling to find a topic for your Romeo and Juliet essay, you might feel the following quote sums up your own …
There are lots of times when doing something in reverse isn’t the best idea—like walking backwards through town or driving in reverse down the interstate. Neither of these serve any useful purpose (and can actually be dangerous). So don’t try these at home. What you definitely should try at home (or in your dorm room, …
Despite what our mothers may have told us when we were testing the more “colorful” side of language as children—raise your hand if you know what soap tastes like—there’s no such thing as a “bad word.” There are, however, words that are inappropriate for a given situation. This not only means that you should avoid …
Take a look at these four essay topics, and tell me why they won’t work as a topic for your paper: psychology Romanticism World War II music If you said that all of these are great subjects but they aren’t great topics because they’re too broad, you’re right. You cannot possibly write a good essay about …
You’re cruising through your writing class just fine. No speed bumps in the road to a decent grade. But then your instructor decides to put up a roadblock—a texting while driving essay. You screech to a halt. You weren’t paying attention to how to write essays most effectively and, instead, just wrote whatever came naturally. …
How many times has a professor given you a list of assigned topics and told you to write about one of them? How many times did you complain that you didn’t like any topics on the list? I bet you’ve done it at least once or twice. You yearn for the freedom to choose your …
At this point in your academic career, you’ve gone through the main three types of essays—argumentative, narrative, and descriptive. And you have to admit, you’ve gotten pretty good at them. But now your teacher wants you to write an exemplification essay, and you feel a little lost. Don’t worry. That’s what I’m here for. I’ll …
Have you ever tried to debate (or argue with) someone who just cannot see your point of view? They’re so caught up in what they think is right that they won’t even consider opposing evidence. It’s frustrating, right? That’s because, for many situations, choices aren’t easy to make. We live in a world where most …
There’s an old adage that says writing is a process, not a product. And to help drive that point in, I’m going to show you how to write an awesome process essay. In fact, you can consider this whole blog post as a type of process essay. But instead of just simply telling you the …
You’ve written a narrative essay or two by now, and they’ve been pretty good. But they haven’t given you that sense of pride that you get from, say, a well-supported argumentative essay. So when your instructor assigns another narrative essay, you’re looking to just churn something out without giving it any pizzazz. Wait a minute! …
As an English teacher, I can tell you that everyone makes mistakes in writing. And in my years as a TOEFL tutor, I’ve seen just about every kind of TOEFL writing mistake you can imagine. Still, certain kinds of writing mistakes are more common than others. The trick to creating a top-scoring TOEFL essay is …
Aiming for the big ‘A’ on that next essay? Well guess what—winging it without an essay outline is just not an option! By now, you’ve probably made plans in one form or another. You’ve marked quizzes and paper due dates on a calendar. Maybe you’ve put together a surprise birthday party for your friend. Thinking about …