Let’s see, for your Ancient History 101 course, your topics so far look like this: The history of the landline phone Life before the Internet A world without Snapchat Even though these topics might seem like ancient history, they’re probably not what your course is about or what your professor had in mind when she …
Do you take everything you see or read at face value, or do you think about it on a deeper level? Or think about it this way: if you were in The Hunger Games, would you be an inhabitant of The Capitol—carefree and enjoying the “entertainment” of the Games—or more critical of the government and …
Don’t you just love when the name of an essay is straightforward? A classification essay is an essay in which you classify something—anything—based on shared characteristics. You can classify people, things, or even ideas. Your subject will represent a broad “whole.” The idea is to examine this whole for the parts that make it up, …
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. …
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 …
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 …
Write an analytical essay. It’s a short sentence, but it packs some intimidation, doesn’t it? Don’t let it scare you. It’s really just a fancy way of saying, “Write a paper, and support what you say.” It’s like piecewise linear interpolation. Now that sounds scary! Someone once explained it to me as a mathematical way …
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 …
Remember when that annoying light came on while you were driving home last night? Turns out it really did serve a purpose—to tell you one of your tires was low. Unfortunately, you ignored the warning light. Unfortunately, you missed class because of your flat tire this morning. Because you missed class, you failed a quiz. …
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 30 years on this planet, it’s that you should always read the instructions. Okay, most of the time. At any rate, I know that you should read the instructions on tests. I learned this by accidentally skipping two pages of the math section on the SAT. Apparently, when …
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 if writing a more standard essay were not enough, your instructor slaps you with this: a compare and contrast essay. What makes it worse is that it’s about poetry—as if you know how to compare and contrast poems already. How does she expect you to completely decipher and explain not just one poem but …
Ever heard the adage “don’t compare apples to oranges?” We all know what it means: comparing the two doesn’t make practical sense because they are very different. But have you ever stopped and thought about how you might literally compare apples and oranges? Let’s make a quick list. Similarities Both are fruits. Both have seeds. …
“I propose that we cut taxes by 22%.” “I’m going to propose to Emma on Valentine’s Day.” “I propose we go to the new sushi place for dinner.” These are all great proposals, but they’re nothing like the research proposal you need to write … or are they? Actually, they’re more alike than you might …
Really? You have to write another persuasive essay? As I see it, you have two choices: 1) Try to persuade your professor that you know all there is to know about writing and there’s no need for you to write this persuasive essay. 2) Assume #1 (see above) won’t work, and write another persuasive essay. …
Your class has been writing a few argumentative essays here and there, and you have to admit … you’re getting pretty good at it. But now your instructor says that you need to take it a step further and write a synthesis essay. The name might be a little intimidating, but don’t worry—I’ll be here …
You’ve probably argued with people before, maybe with your parents, siblings, or friends. Heck, you may have even been in a fight or two, but get ready to put away the harsh words and heavy gloves because writing an argument essay is a totally different beast. Writing a winning argument essay may seem tough, but …
Woot! You’re finally free to choose your own research topic. This calls for celebration! “Why celebrate?” you ask? Because you’re no longer under your teacher’s thumb, that’s why. You can pick whatever topic you like, something you actually care about. How cool is that? So take a few minutes (or longer) to think about issues …