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
Because this is my last semester at USC Upstate, I’m taking Senior Seminar: essentially, a 15-week-long writing workshop for a capstone paper. Knowing that I was going to take this course, I brainstormed all year for topic ideas. Writing 25 pages is easy for me, but a good, meaty thesis can be difficult to come by. By the beginning of this semester, I had two ideas: use the Order of the Real to explain body horror, or talk about the dearth of positive menstruation portrayals in literature and its impact on women and girls. Continue reading