Effective information organization is one of the most challenging problems non-writers encounter when tasked with a composition project. While the lowly 5-paragraph essay would be a poor format choice for your dissertation, it has proven to be very effective when used to write book reviews, cover letters, and pitches. This is a handy guide to writing a 5-paragraph essay for – almost – any situation. Continue reading
The thesis statement is the one sentence in academia that generates the most angst among students. It is the axis on which the entire essay revolves, and it must be in sync with the rest of the paper, or else the entire endeavor falls apart. This article addresses the most common mistakes made in crafting a thesis statement.
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When you first enter the word of literature and literary academia, the vocabulary can be unnerving. These are words you’ve probably never seen before; you hardly feel comfortable reading them to yourself, much less out-loud. Everyone has met with challenges like these at least once, so try not to let your intimidation keep you from meeting these challenges head-on. Here are 13 words every writer should know. Continue reading
A great professor once told me that you’re either a heavy planner or a heavy reviser. Some people can plot out every step of a project and follow through in turn, while others need to get their hands dirty in order to make anything worthwhile. Personally, I think George Burns had it right: Continue reading
The problem I hear hobbyist writers–the ones with notebooks of poetry and short stories that they have no interest in publishing–complain about the most is their lack of knowledge regarding English grammatical structure. Now, as an English major who has studied the history and development of the language, I can tell you with 100% certainty that English can be cruel, frustrating, and downright illogical. Expressing complicated ideas can be like pulling teeth, when half the rules don’t make any practical sense at all. For those of you who have been struggling for years, I present my first tutorial: How to Write a Complete Sentence. Continue reading