Compare the feeling you get when you earn an A on a paper to how you feel when you get a D on a paper. There’s really no comparison, is there? My goal in writing this post is for you learn more about compare and contrast essays, so you can skip that wretched feeling of …
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 …
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 …
How many times have you watched a movie, bought a new phone, or bought a new anything based on an ad? If you’re anything like me, I bet you’ve done it at least a few times. After all, those ads can be pretty convincing. Ask your parents. I bet they’ve bought at least one knife, …
Classification: It sounds like one of those terms a mobster might use in a 1940s film noir. “Hey, Mac! Get that dame over here. This place could use some classification. Someone needs to class up this joint!” Okay, classification doesn’t mean “to class up a joint.” To understand the meaning of the word, think about …
“Hey, you’ll never guess what happened to me last night!” “Dude! You gotta hear this!” If a friend approaches you with one of these lines, chances are she has a story to tell. And judging by the sounds of it, the story is a good one! We all know those people who tell great stories …
“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, …
It’s pretty easy to look at a poorly written piece of writing and say, “Here’s what you shouldn’t do.” After all, most of us can recognize bad writing when we see it. We can recognize good writing too. But it’s not always that easy to identify what makes good writing good. It can be even …
We’ve been reinventing Kibin over the last two years. It began in late 2014 with the launch of our essay examples database (EDB), a research tool to help students brainstorm ideas for their essay topics. This marked a major branch out from our core editing service, but also opened the doors to a more scalable business strategy. Then …
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 …
What’s your first reaction to these opening lines? The Egyptians lived a long time ago. Back in the day, kids worked in factories. If your reaction is a big yawn, I understand. Who wants to read lifeless writing like this? You might as well start your paper with, “Attention: this essay will bore you to …
Remember the days of elementary school reports when you had to write about events like the first Thanksgiving or the signing of the Declaration of Independence? Those were the good ol’ days when you could look up a few facts about a historical event, summarize the highlights, and voila, you had an A paper! Life …
You know those classes that seem to drag on forever? The clock on the wall mocks you by moving slower. The breeze sweeps in through an open window and calls to you. These are examples of personification—the clock mocking and the breeze calling. I know you might not be looking forward to your essay on …
Gun control is a hot button issue, especially in the wake of so many recent, tragic mass shootings. It is also a polarizing issue, which means that it tends to divide people. When you’re writing an argumentative essay, it generally doesn’t matter what side of an issue you take. What matters is that you take …
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 …
Any reader of some or all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 60 Sherlock Holmes detective stories knows the author follows a certain formula. First, a stranger visits Detective Holmes and his sidekick Watson, presenting them with a mysterious criminal quandary. Then Holmes and Watson visit the scene of the crime where Holmes is able to …
Have you ever logged in to your class to check your grades and sat there staring blankly in amazement because you failed a test or got a big fat “F” on an essay? After you got the anger (and maybe a few tears) out of your system, did you think about why you failed so …
Who hasn’t seen Forrest Gump? A touching, hilarious, poignant movie about a shrimp-fishing, table-tennis-playing, long-distance-running war hero from the deep South. The movie begins with Forrest sitting at a bus stop. As various people come and go, Forrest recalls the story of his life. It’s like the movie version of a narrative essay. Forrest does a …
POP QUIZ! How confident are you right now in your ability to write a killer definition essay? A. Super-confident. I can write a great essay with one hand tied behind my back. B. Reasonably confident. I’d probably need both hands to type my paper. C. Completely lacking in confidence. I couldn’t write a good paper …
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 …