Let’s pretend you wrote the following as a working thesis statement for your persuasive essay: Global climate change has been debated for many years. Do you think this is a persuasive thesis statement? (HINT: Say “no”!) NO: The thesis statement is a fact. It is not persuasive and not debatable. If you answered “yes” …
If you’re a lieutenant commander on the U.S.S. Enterprise, and your name is Spock, it’s a given that you’re all about logic. If you’re not Spock or a Vulcan (I’m assuming you’re not either of these), you might be guilty of faulty logic and might end up with at least one logical fallacy in your …
Has this ever happened to you? Professor: Where is your thesis statement? Student: … If so, don’t worry. You’re not the first person to struggle with writing a thesis statement, and you won’t be the last. This part of essay writing has vexed many college students, but luckily, I’m here to show you the ropes. …
If you’re assigned to write a movie review, you need to watch a movie and then critically evaluate it. Logic dictates that, if you’re assigned to write a literature review, you’d read some type of literature and then critically evaluate it. But that’s not the case. Sometimes logic can fail you. It’s like if you …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
So you’ve carefully read your professor’s instructions and picked your research topic. Awesome — but now what? The long and winding road to a great research paper starts with a strong thesis statement, but theses don’t grow on trees! You must first come up with a great research question, which will act like your paper’s …
What’s your problem? Really, what’s your problem? I’m talking of course about the problem you’re writing about and that you are going to use for your problem statement. Do you have a problem in mind? Good. That’s a start. I bet your problem isn’t that you don’t have a topic, is it? (If you need …
What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word “hero”? Do you think first responders rushing to the scene of a tragedy to help victims? Maybe you’re reading this before lunch, and the first thing you think of is a hero sandwich. While both of these are legitimate types of heroes, they …
If I asked you to tie an overhand knot, you might stumble a bit. Actually, if you’ve never been a scout, you might think it’s impossible for you to know how to tie such an obscure knot. But what if I showed you an example? It would certainly help, right? Check out the video below …
To some people, writing a formal outline for a speech is about as much fun as getting a flu shot. I get it. If you’re not a fan of outlines, it can be pretty tedious to sort out where to put an “A,” a “1,” or a “b.” The mere thought of it is enough …
What if I told you to build a garage but offered you no tools to work with, or told you to paint a portrait but you had no brushes, paints, or canvas? You can’t complete either of these tasks without tools. So what if I handed you a hammer, a saw, and a handful of …
I’m sure you’ve heard stories about famous writers who say they can’t write until they’re inspired or unless they have the perfect writing conditions. For these writers, inspiration might hit in six months when they’re walking out of a pub in London or having brunch in New York City. The perfect writing conditions might be …
You may have written a few synthesis essays in your English classes, but knowing how to synthesize information has value far beyond your Dracula essay. This skill is used in countless areas—from history to science—and can come in handy in both professional and personal settings. While we may still talk about essays a little bit …
Most of us have bad habits we’d like to break. Maybe you’re guilty of hogging the only TV in the dorm or leaving your Chinese takeout boxes all over the living room (both of which drive your roommates crazy). If your bad habits only cause a few disagreements with your roommates, maybe it’s not worth the …
We’re going to be diving into something a little bit different today. Instead of a post about how to write a killer conclusion or what symbolism you can find in The Scarlet Letter, we’re going to discuss inclusive language. Language is how we communicate our ideas. And the words we use aren’t just important when …
Writing a personal statement can be daunting. There are only few hundred words standing between you and your biggest goal. Once your grades are completed and your volunteer and extracurricular work is logged, your personal statement is your last opportunity to make a great impression on your school of choice. As a college applicant, chances …
Would you write an email to your boss using the same word choices and style that you’d use to send an email or text to your friend? Would you start your email to your boss with “Hey dude, wassup?” Probably not. Why? Because writing to your boss demands a higher level of professionalism and formality …
Imagine you’re auditioning to be a contestant on a cool new TV show that requires you to traverse the country in search of clues. If you get to the final destination first, you win a million dollars. (Not a bad deal, right?) As you step in front of a panel of rather intimidating celebrity judges …