Student Questions

student questions

We are proud of how comprehensive our website is and try to stay ahead of the curve and predict the questions and concerns that students are experiencing.  However, we work with thousands of students a year, from universities all around the world.  Every once in a while, a student has a question that we have not yet addressed in our tutorials and guides.  That is why we developed our student questions section.  Not quite a FAQ, our student question section is where students can go to find out more information about the art and craft of academic writing.

What type of questions do students ask us?  Honestly, it depends on the student.  Some of our previous customers have asked very specific, technical questions about different writing types.  We answer those questions for the students, and sometimes use those questions to develop guides and tutorials for our entire customer base.  For example, we began to get a number of questions about the synthesis essay, and realized that many professors had begun to use this term to describe a very specific type of argumentative/persuasive essay that requires the student to call on class reading lists for their supporting information.  Once we saw that need, we expanded our answer from the student question section and into our tutorial section.

Other students ask very specific questions about their own projects.  We have answered student request on topics as varied as can we suggest sources for a particular type of essay and how a student can avoid run-on sentences in their writing.  We get a lot of questions about the writing process, and the answers vary for that because each of our writers has his or her own process.  In other words, our student questions section is designed to give you an opportunity to ask a professional writer any and all of the questions you may have while working on your own writing assignments.


 

How Many Paragraphs Are in an Essay

Half the battle of crafting a good essay revolves around pleasing the specific criteria of your teacher. Some teachers are strict, some are more lenient. Some adhere to deeply held beliefs about what a “proper” essay looks contains, others allow the student more individual and creative interpretation. So what is a student supposed to do? Well the answer is almost always, whatever your teacher has specified. He or she is the person who grades your essay. But what if your teacher hasn’t made any specifications one way or the other? In that case, you would want to err on the Continue Reading...

How Long is a Short Essay?

How long is the short essay?  With all things relative in this day and age, one man’s short might be another man’s long—so let’s settle the matter once and for all and affirm without equivocation that the short essay is…well, you know, it actually kind of depends…. What It Is and Isn’t Let’s start off with what we know.  We know that the short essay is not supposed to be an extensive paper.  That means it should be quick and to the point.  No need for a great deal of research.  No need for more than 3 body paragraphs.  Can Continue Reading...

Online and Offline Sexual Predators Essay

Student Question  Compare and contrast online and offline sexual abusers.  What similarities and differences are there between the two type of offenders? Our Answer In order to write a compelling thesis statement, you must be able to concisely and specifically introduce your topic, tell the audience the main point of your paper, and provide a guidepost for your paper.  When writing a comparison/contrast essay, this can be difficult because your essay may have several different points.  Therefore, your thesis statement should focus on whether the things being compared and contrasted are more alike or more different. Discussion Your writing prompt Continue Reading...

Need a Thesis Statement for an Essay on Harlem Renaissance

Question  How can I write a thesis statement on the following: I’m supposed to show how the writings of the Harlem Renaissance reflect and support Alain Locke’s thesis that the New Negro, decidedly different from their predecessors, exists? Response The key to writing a thesis statement on any topic is trying to distill the essence of your argument into a concise one-to-two sentence statement, which tells the audience the main point of your paper.  Because the thesis statement is your paper’s central argument, you should be able to refer back to the thesis statement while writing the bulk of your Continue Reading...

Which of the following should your thesis statement achieve?

Question Which of the following should your thesis statement achieve? It should specify the point of the research. All of these are correct. It should provide unity and a sense of direction. It should set the argument and focus the entire paper. Answer ( B ) This question focuses on what a thesis statement should do.  While a thesis statement is a concise statement discussing the central argument of the paper, to maximize its effectiveness, it needs to include other elements as well. Discussion There are several important components to a great thesis sentence: specificity; clarity; stating a position and/or Continue Reading...

Titles for Police Brutality Essay

Question What are some good titles for an essay on police brutality?  Answer Police brutality is a multi-faceted topic that lends itself to a number of different approaches.  Before you can determine what to title your police brutality essay, you need to narrow the focus of your essay.  We suggest that you write your title last, after figuring out the focus of your paper and writing your thesis statement.  This way you can ensure that your title is sufficiently specific to give the readers an idea of what you will be discussing in the paper. There are literally thousands of Continue Reading...

What Are Some Hamlet Essay Ideas?

“To be, or not to be” a good writer in the late 16th century was never on Shakespeare’s mind, but developing new Hamlet essay ideas is an especially challenging endeavor for many students today. After all, when the Bard penned Hamlet, it is reasonable to suggest that he never envisioned the millions of essays that high school and college students would be required to write about the Prince and his cast of characters over the next 500 years. Part of the problem in understanding Shakespeare’s Hamlet, of course, is that his work does not easily translate into modern social and Continue Reading...

What Is a Hook in an Essay?

While you can catch a fish with a net, you can only grab and keep a reader’s attention in an essay with a hook. An essay hook consists of one of two sentences in the introduction paragraph that are used to grab and keep your audience’s attention and interest. If you are still reading, it is clear that the foregoing two sentences provided the requisite hook that kept your interest and attention. Because these critical sentences occur first in your essay, it is vitally important to ensure that your hook is sufficiently compelling and interesting that your audience (which may Continue Reading...

What Does Freedom Mean to Me Essay Ideas?

Human constructs such as trust and freedom are nebulous concepts so a good way for many students to write these types of essays is to define the concept in general terms and then describe what this means to them by providing some relevant examples. For instance,  a “what does freedom mean to me essay” can draw on personal experiences or the experiences of other to illustrate points of view such as civil liberties contained in the Bill of Right such as the freedom of speech and assembly and personal incidents where individuals exercised these types of freedom. Likewise, examples of Continue Reading...

What is a Hero Essay?

Everyone loves a hero so essays about what is a hero can be interesting and even fun to write. A straightforward dictionary definition of hero simply states that this is “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities,” and it is reasonable to suggest that everyone knows of someone who satisfies these characteristics in varying degrees. A “what is a hero essay” should provide a concise definition and some salient examples of an individual or individuals to demonstrate these qualities. If you are writing about a historical heroic figure, there are countless resources you Continue Reading...