Let’s say you and your pals are in the middle of an all-night cram session for a big exam when you realize you’re out of food. You volunteer to make a snack run to the convenience store, and on your way out the door, someone yells, “Grab me a bag of chips!” It’s not until …
Ask yourself this—how many hours do you spend interacting with technology each week?? Add up the number of hours you spend each week on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and other social media sites. Now add to that the number of hours each week you spend surfing the web, playing video games, or completing some other online …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
There’s a right way and a wrong way to do most anything. Imagine you’re on an African safari dream vacation. Your tour guide stops in the middle of the Serengeti to point out a pride of lions and to allow a photo op. The right way to enjoy this breathtaking moment: Stay inside the vehicle …
If you need to write an opinion paper about affirmative action and all you know about the topic is that it has something to do with discrimination and education, or discrimination and the workplace, you’re going to need to do a little research before you can write your paper. Even if you consider yourself an …
Do you remember the fable The Ant and the Grasshopper? The ants work all summer long preparing for winter and storing food. The grasshopper laughs at the ants, and he plays all summer because he has plenty of food (for now). When winter comes, the grasshopper is starving, begging for food because he didn’t prepare …
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 …
I’m pretty sure your writing teachers have instructed you on the finer points of writing a variety of essays, including the persuasive essay, compare and contrast essay, and argument essay. You have these skills fine-tuned and can hold your own with the best of them. The problem is, now you’ve been assigned to write about …
Our world is shrinking every day – how do you like it? From the telegraph to the internet, from rails to jumbo jets, advances in communication and travel technology have connected people across the globe. Some of these connections have promoted prosperity while others have been problematic. For better or worse, globalization is a complex …
Love video games? Hate them? Either way, if you want to write an essay about the effects of video games on players and support your ideas with strong evidence, then let’s get started! In this blog post, I’ll give you a head start on your research by providing links to and descriptions of useful articles …
It’s 7:00pm, you just got out of chemistry class, and you’re starving–but you have that argumentative essay on fast food due soon! You decide to: A) trudge back to your dorm and rummage through your nearly empty cupboards for another meal of ramen noodles, B) make a quick trip to the local market to buy …
There are a few age-old debates in this world, and you have just been assigned one for your next persuasive essay—nature vs. nurture. Biologists, psychologists, sociologists and others have been arguing for decades about whether nature (a person’s biology or genetic makeup) or nurture (a person’s environment) has more of an impact in the person’s …
You have probably had to write about a fair share of boring essay topics, but this time, you’ve been dealt a topic that you think is completely played out–the death sentence. You may feel like your teacher is giving you the death sentence by making you write this paper in the first place, right? Well, …