Essays are the primary, if not the only, means by which students communicate their thoughts and analyses to professors. In some ways, essay-writing is a performative art. Similar to a one-night-only concert, you only get one shot (unless you have…
Tag: what professors are looking for
Good Grammar for Dummies: Quick tips to help you improve your writing anytime, anywhere
When you’re done writing a draft, the task of editing your grammar can be daunting—but it’s still critical! While you may no longer get “points off” for grammar mistakes, poor grammar can make your writing hard, or downright impossible, to understand.…
Writing Clearly and Comprehensibly
The eroticization of post-capitalist hegemony is, and yet is not, the discourse of pedagogical institutions.i I used the University of Chicago’s academic sentence generator to create this wonderful sentence. This website, courtesy of U Chicago’s Writing Program, is an entertaining…
Developing Original Critique: A Plea for Gentle Persuasion
One of the most challenging aspects of the transition to college writing is the idea that we as writers must develop our own unique thesis that contrasts, expands upon, or complements the authors we read in class. How are we,…
Pre-Write Like a Pro
I recall a time when I couldn’t write a thesis statement if my life depended on it. At the start of high school there wasn’t a paper assigned that I didn’t need an extension on — and it certainly wasn’t…
Too Long, Too Short, Just Right?: How to Fit your Whole Argument into Only Two Pages
With the end of the semester upon us, many of us are spending countless hours organizing information, developing arguments, and churning out page after page. Getting to that, say, twentieth page is certainly demanding, but what about when we encounter…
Learning From Your Mistakes
Many students do not give a lot of thought to the techniques they use when they write, or to their overall writing style. I can sympathize with them – my own writing habits developed by imitating the styles of the…
SPRINKLE THEORY: Indulge Yourself in Writing
Writing is like a chocolate cake. In fact, it’s like a double-layer chocolate fudge cake with rainbow sprinkles on top, according to a member of the Class of 2013’s Sprinkle Theory. The Sprinkle Theory essentially states that when a grandiose…
Tips for Writing Your First Science Paper
Writing in the sciences may seem foreign and unrelated to essays written in the humanities and social sciences, but for those new to the discipline: don’t fret! Here’s some helpful tips that remind you it’s not so different after all.…
Length Requirements for Academic Papers
It’s a question we’ve all found ourselves pondering: if my professor has assigned a paper to be between “x” and “y” pages, how many pages should I actually be writing? Many students seem to think there is some sort of…