Your heart is pounding so hard that you’re positive everyone in the room can hear it. Beads of sweat form on your brow as you try to load your presentation. You pause and breathe deeply. It does nothing to calm you. The presentation finally loads … but it’s the draft you started days ago. The …
Most people run into some form of satire in their day-to-day lives—from comedians talking about politics to online comics criticizing the education system. But somehow, when students have to read or write satire for class, they tend to get a little lost. Most of the time, the lost feeling comes from making the topic way …
I bet you’re no stranger to electronic communication. There’s a good chance that you and everyone you know are using Twitter, text messages, and Facebook Messenger almost daily. And this is good news because it means that you’re practicing your communication skills every day. But now you’ve entered college or the workforce and need to …
What is it about compare and contrast essays that makes them so difficult to get started? Maybe it’s having to juggle two different subjects in one essay. Usually you set your sights on one topic and tackle it directly. However, with a compare and contrast essay, you have to tackle two subjects. Plus, while addressing …
“You held me down, but I got up Get ready ’cause I’ve had enough” —“Roar” by Katy Perry “R-E-S-P-E-C-T Find out what it means to me R-E-S-P-E-C-T / Take care, TCB” —“Respect” by Aretha Franklin “I am woman, hear me roar In numbers too big …
I’m almost positive you’ve been given at least one assignment in your academic career that was nothing more than busy work. You know the type: one that requires you to fill in the blanks by finding the correct word from a course reading or one that asks you to do nothing more than underline vocabulary …
WANTED: Witty, engaging writers to share their opinions about current, relevant, and/or local topics. Must be able to create buzz-worthy writing that gets people talking. If this sounds like you, I have the perfect writing assignment: an op-ed. Op-eds (opinions and editorials) are short essays published in newspapers. They were designed to allow the average …
The expository essay—it’s an unavoidable essay in your educational career. In fact, teachers and professors love assigning it so much that some freshmen writing courses are devoted entirely to writing the expository essay. That’s a lot of expository essay writing! If you’re going to be writing this type of essay over and over again, you …
As Malcolm X once said, “If you have no critics you’ll likely have no success.” While critics often get a bad rap, they have the important task of taking information from movies and literature, analyzing the information, and breaking it down for their readers, viewers, or listeners. When you write your critical lens essay, you …
If you’re assigned to write a critique and your first thought is, “I have absolutely no idea how to write a critique,” that’s understandable. But in all actuality, you probably already have a sense of how to critique. Need proof? Think about trying a new corner deli. The first time you visit, you evaluate the deli …
You’ve taken the required exams. You’ve filled out online and paper forms. You’ve sent in your high school transcripts. You’ve maybe even requested some letters of recommendation to help seal the deal. But as those admissions deadlines approach, you still have one thing left–the dreaded personal statement. Sure, you’re just one hopeful student in a …
It’s late at night, and you’re desperate to find a good movie. You start scrolling through the thousands of options offered on your favorite video streaming service. What if instead of a short two-line summary of each movie, the service only offered a three-page detailed overview and analysis? Who has the time (or desire) to …
Ask a surfer gal in SoCal about her life, and she might reply, “Livin’ the dream.” Ask the same question to a survivalist living off the grid in Alaska or to an off-Broadway actor living in a 400-square-foot studio apartment in NYC, and they’re also likely to express the same satisfaction about living their American …
A group essay assignment can feel a bit like some kind of morbid social experiment. Several strangers are forced to work together on a project that’s generally recognized as being more easily done alone. Will they find a way to work together, or will they descend into chaos? Without the right strategies and attitudes in …
What if I told you that you had to write a research paper but that you didn’t actually have to do any of the research? Pretty sweet deal, right? A document-based question (DBQ) essay is sort of like that. You have to write an essay using a variety of sources, but someone else provides the …
Getting a graded paper back from your prof can be a frustrating experience. You get an essay back from a teacher with a grade written clearly across the top of the paper, but little is written elsewhere to indicate why you received that grade. There’s no real explanation of what you’ve done well or what …
When you’re assigned to write an essay, you usually have two options when it comes to topics. Your prof either says, “Write about one of these assigned topics,” or, “Pick something, and write about it.” There are advantages and disadvantages to both. On the plus side, if you’re assigned a topic, you don’t have to …
You’ve completed at least a few writing courses in your day and have written your share of essays. But just when you think you’ve written every possible type of paper, BAM! You’re hit with a new type of essay: the discursive essay. With the word “curse” seemingly smack dab in the middle of the name, …
Your professor just assigned you another student’s essay to peer review, but maybe you don’t know where to start. That’s okay! Let’s start by taking some of the mystery out of the equation. A peer review, also referred to as peer editing or a peer workshop, is when you read another student’s essay draft and …
The last time I baked cupcakes, I followed the directions on the box to the letter. I’m far from a celebrity chef, so following the recipe would be the only way for me to bake anything edible. My grandmother, on the other hand, never made anything from a box. I don’t even remember her following …
J.R.R. Tolkien was grading a stack of college exam papers one summer day when he came upon a blank piece of paper tucked among them. He wrote on it the first thing to pop into his head: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” Over the next 20 or so years of …