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 …
Even though discrimination is an ugly part of society, you know that professors aren’t going to discriminate when it comes to handing out essay grades. No matter how many hours you work on your discrimination essay, if it isn’t good, your prof will let you know about it (no matter who you are). How do …
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 …
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 I say “animal testing,” which of the following two images comes to mind? Image #1: Professional, ethical scientists carefully monitoring and testing animals and developing life-saving cures. Image #2: People needlessly injecting, probing, and torturing defenseless animals. While some of you may have an image that’s somewhere between ethical testing and torture, I’m sure …
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 …
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 …
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. …
Most of us have heard the arguments about the devastating effects of global warming. We’ve also heard the arguments that the entire idea of global warming is a hoax. While the topic continues to be debated, what’s not debatable is that you need to write an essay about global warming. (Yes, really, you do. Did …
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 …
Police brutality, unfortunately, has been all too prevalent in the news lately. With it being such a controversial topic, chances are you’ll be writing about it in at least one of your classes. The subject of police brutality isn’t exclusive to criminal justice courses. You might write about the topic in a number of classes, …
All semester you’ve known you’d have to write an argumentative essay. You figured you had it made because you had what you thought was a surefire plan to rework last semester’s paper about gun control. Then your prof dropped a bombshell. Along with the assignment guidelines, she included a list of banned topics. All the …
You’ve decided to write a persuasive essay, and the topic you’ve chosen is cyber bullying—specifically, something should be done about it, but what? The core, or the “guts,” of your essay should come from your own thoughts and views on the issue. To really make an impact, though, you should support your arguments with citations …
Have you ever heard that immersion is the best way to learn a language? The same can be said of literature. The more you read, the more you learn about how stories, poems, and plays are structured, what makes them so enthralling, and how to analyze them. Just like with any language, there are certain …
Over the years, I’m sure at least some of your teachers have used unique writing assignments to help you learn. Maybe you learned about the Civil War by writing a letter from the point of view of Abraham Lincoln. Or maybe you learned about character and plot by re-writing the ending of Hamlet. Some topics …
You’ve known for a week that this day was coming. It’s the day you’ll have to write the dreaded in-class essay. You don’t work well under pressure. You have no time to organize your thoughts. You never know what to write. You’re freaking out and can feel your heart pounding out of your chest. You …
What do the following have in common? Hippies Kim Kardashian Whip/Nae Nae Friends (the television show) Call of Duty (the video game) At first glance, these probably don’t seem to relate to each other in any way, but they actually have at least one very important thing in common: they’re all pop culture legends. While …
It’s time to write yet another essay, and you’re looking for help so you can write a good definition essay. But how do you define “good”? Both you and your instructor may have very different definitions of the word. That’s the inherent problem with defining terms that can be subjective. Each person can have a …
Ever hear the phrase “for illustration purposes only”? An illustration is a picture or drawing, but in this case, it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with actual images. “For illustration purposes only” means that examples are being presented to highlight or explain a topic. The same is true for an illustration essay. Its purpose …