Posts Tagged ‘essay prompts’

The Advantages of Sample Essay Prompts
29
October
2008

The advantages of sample essay prompts are many and varied, especially if you intend to pursue a field of study which will involve lots of writing intensive classes.  Honestly, these days, just about every collage student can count on getting several writing intensive courses at the very least, no matter what their major.  Similarly, no matter how old you are, whether you are in high school or college, practicing with essay prompts can be extremely beneficial.

Not only can you learn the foundations necessary for a number of different essays and research papers, but sample essay prompts will simply make you better at your craft.  The more you write, the more your writing itself will improve.  Sample prompts, no matter what kind they are, can help you technically – quite a bit, in fact.  You will be able to hone your skills in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and overall style.  You will learn to craft strong but interesting sentences which transition into concise, well thought out paragraphs, which will in turn lead to grade A, high quality papers – or stories, or poems, whatever kind of writing you prefer.

But yes, essay writing prompts can help any number of writers.  Academics, researchers, instructors, journalists, novelists, writers of literature, poets, et cetera – if you intend to be any of these things, or any number of others, you can count on doing a lot of writing.  Even if you write as a hobby, sample essay prompts can certainly be helpful.

For example, personal essay prompts are not only beneficial to future fiction and non fiction writers, but they can even help when it comes to persuasive essays and research papers.  Sometimes, especially when you have to persuade someone to believe in or agree with something, you have to show pieces of yourself as well.  Personal experiences, opinions, feelings: these all make an appearance even in academic writing.

Expository essay prompts are especially helpful to college and university levels, no matter the level at which you are studying.  At the most base level, most if not all academic writing involves explanation.  They all have their foundations in the expository essay, just as they all have persuasive roots as well.

Though it may not seem like the most exciting activities in the world, you should seriously consider drafting papers around sample essay prompts as an occasional exercise.  Using writing prompts can sometimes help writers get through a block, and sometimes they can just open up the flood gates.  They make great exercises both for that and to polish up your essay writing skills when necessary.  For instance, if you are applying to colleges to attend next fall, consider practicing with some essay prompts.  That way you can be prepared for your application essay.  The same goes for graduate school candidates and even high school students preparing to take the PSATs, SATs, and ACTs.  Like say, if you ever find yourself suffering from writer’s block, prompts can also help you to get ideas flowing in a focused direction, which can often overlap into your own creative writing. Learn what you need to know about essay help online.

Let Descriptive Essay Prompts Make You a Better Writer
23
September
2008

Descriptive essay prompts are utterly invaluable.  You cannot imagine how many areas of your life they can benefit.  It might seem silly to think that any essay writing prompts can have a positive advantage on your life as a whole, but believe it.  Every academic paper you will ever write, even if they are factual essays and research papers, needs to be descriptive.  All of them will have to pull your readers in and make them want to keep reading.  Whether you are a novelist, an essayist, a poet, or an academic, if no one wants to read what you write, then you are finished.  You can have the most brilliant thesis the world has ever seen, you can be proposing the most innovative and helpful research the world will ever know – but if your writing itself is dull, dry, and bland, no one is going to be interested.  After all the hard work that goes into our writing, no matter what kind it is, do we really want to risk letting it go unnoticed? Learn more about research paper format.

Before understanding the importance of descriptive essay prompts, we first need to understand the purpose of descriptive essays and research papers themselves.  At its core, a descriptive paper is the venue you use in order to create vibrant imagery, whether it is about a person, a place, or a thing.  As the writer, you will draw on all of your reader’s senses rather than just the visual.  The true purpose of a descriptive essay is to ultimately allow your reader to share in your own sensory experience as it applies to the subject.  Persuasive writing prompts are the tools used to show you exactly how you can do that.

The descriptive essay prompts you are given in grammar school, middle school, high school, et cetera, are designed to show you exactly what is needed in order to portray people, places, things, moments in time, and even theories with a sufficient amount of vivid detail to let the reader recreate the mental picture you had when you were writing about your subject.  Of course, you need to consider more than just the essay prompts you are given.  You also need to plan out your writing in order to write something truly descriptive.  For instance, you need to think about a moment that you would like to describe.  Specifically, you need to consider why that moment is so important to you, what you were doing, what was going out around you, and so on.  You even need to think about your location, the surroundings; the sights, sounds, tastes, smells and feelings occurring during that moment are extremely important.  Believe it or not, delving down this deeply can ultimately help you come up with terrific research paper topic ideas.  You will know exactly what elements are needed to pull your readers into your paper.

It really may be hard to believe, but descriptive essay prompts can inevitably help you when it comes to creating good research paper topics.  Truthfully, they can help you come up with great ideas for any number of academic papers.  Being able to discern exactly how to pique a reader’s interest is so valuable.  Learning how to be descriptive will help you spice up even the most factual paper. You can also order with some custom term papers writing services.

The Many Benefits of Writing Prompts
16
September
2008

Today we are going to discuss the benefits of writing prompts, namely by taking a look at several research paper examples.  Prompts are extremely beneficial in any number of ways.  When we reach a certain age, they may seem a little unnecessary.  After all, these are things that we have to deal with when we are in grammar school and middle school – and sometimes in high school as well.  We generally view them as tedious, but then, all school and homework assignments are rather tedious, aren’t they?

However, writing prompts are actually going to help you.  In fact, they are a tool used by your teachers, in order to groom your writing style.  You see, they teach you how to come up with thought provoking ideas on your own.  They also give you a chance to form your own style and tone as a writer.  Furthermore, they teach you quite a lot about form, structure, and format as well.  These lessons are invaluable, and trust in the fact that you will be very grateful for this knowledge when you get to college, where just about every other class seems like it is writing intensive.  It may be heard to believe, but these prompts are actually the foundation for the writing you will do later in your academic career – such as with essays and research papers.

Having said that, let’s take a look at a few sample writing prompts.  First off all, here are a few expository essay prompts, which will later be incredible invaluable.  After all, in most if not all academic writing, you are going to be asked for factually explain something.

Example 1: Write a clear how-to guide describing how to either: change a tire; train an athlete in the sport of your choice; or drive on dirt roads.

Example 2: Your class is making a time capsule.  It is going to be opened fifty years from now.  Choose some items that will tell people in the future about the year 2008.  Explain what you want to put in the capsule and why.

Example 3: Consider something you have made yourself, with your own two hands.  How did you make it?  Is there anything you would change?  Write a clear explanation so that someone else could easily build the same item.

Next, we are going to examine some persuasive essay prompts:

Example 1: Your teacher has decided to give your class three tests on the same day.  Write an essay persuading your teacher to give the tests over several days instead.  Explain why it is necessary.

Example 2: A new scientific study has found that students need to be in bed by 8:00pm every night.  They cannot watch TV, read, or even have the lights on past that hour.  Your parents are thinking about following this.  Persuade them into changing their minds.

Example 3: Your school/school board is thinking about implementing school uniforms.  Do you think this is a good idea?  Write an essay explaining your views.

Now, let’s look at some personal essay prompts:

Example 1: Many children have a problem with their parents’ rules.  Think about a rule you once had a problem with and write a personal essay explaining what happened when they enforced that rule, how you reacted, and why you did not like it.

Example 2: Write a personal essay describing a time in your life when you were very anxious.  Explain what made you feel nervous, how you reacted, and what ultimately happened.

Example 3: Write a personal essay wherein you describe your most memorable vacation.  Was it good or bad?  What happened during the vacation?  How did you react?

As you can see, although simplistic in nature, writing prompts can help you learn how to create your own topics and ideas.  Moreover, essay prompts show you exactly how to explain something to your reader, in order to get him or her interested in reading.  Aside of format and structure, that is the most important aspect of academic writing.

The Purpose of Personal Essay Prompts
10
September
2008

Your teachers and professors do not give you personal essay prompts because they are dying to read about how your first week of college is making you feel, why you want to major in a particular field, or what you hope to accomplish when you get older.  That is not to say that they will not be interested in why you ultimately tell them, though.  The point is, your instructors give you these essay prompts because they want to see your abilities and gauge how skill you are when it comes to focusing on a specific event or incident, no matter how meaningful or mundane it may be.  Moreover, more than anything, they want you to interest them, they want you to make them interested in your essay.  They want you to pull them into whatever you are describing.

Now then, there is actually a merciful aspect behind all the personal essay prompts your instructors assign when you have to write a personal paper.  Why?  Because writing about ourselves and our experiences can be some of the hardest things a writer ever does.  Think about all the writers who do not.  Journalists are staunch in their desire to write about other people, someone else’s experiences, the lives of others, et cetera.  Although fiction writers generally include a lot of ourselves in our work, most of us stick to characters rather than writing about caricatures of ourselves.  Professional essayists are another matter, as are writers of biographical non fiction, such as David Sadaris or even Anne Frank.

However, there will come a time in every student’s life when you have to write a personal, or narrative, essay.  For instance, did you know that college application essay prompts are considered personal essays?  With those types of essay prompts, your readers are also interested in your skills, your tone, your style, and how engaging it is.  It so happens that they are also interested in learning a bit about you as well.  That is why, so often, such topics deal with why you chose your particular major, that particular university, et cetera.

Not all personal essay topics will be so specific.  They can be general, even generic topics, such as “Describe a time in your life during which you were perfectly content.”  Some of you might consider personal essay prompts of that type quite boring – and, indeed, they certainly seem that way!  The trick – in truth, the entire underlying assignment – is to make it interesting by engaging your reader.  That is the key with all essays and research papers, no matter what their structure or purpose.  You have to draw in your reader, make he or she interested in what you are trying to say.

Personal essay prompts will be helpful that far down the line; they will help you with a number of different types of papers.  Personal essays themselves are the least of it.  Narrative essay prompts can also help you when it comes to writing such things as personal experience research papers.

The Benefits of College Application Essay Prompts
6
September
2008

A lot of students bemoan the fact that they have to study and practice with college application essay prompts.  That is a shame, because the essay part of your college application is one of the most important things on the whole form.  You have to have a good grade point average, of course.  Colleges look at your extra curricular activities, whether you are into sports, marching or concert band, the student council, or the Honor’s Society.  Any jobs or volunteer positions you have had are likewise important.  However, you will never write any essays and research papers as important as the essay you include on your college application.  It could mean the difference between getting accepted, getting put on a waiting list, or flat out getting rejected.  You could be neck and neck with another student for a position in the college, unbeknownst to either of you.  You could each have a solid 4.0 grade point average, you could each be the executive presidents of your class, you could have been in the same extra curricular activities.  Yet, if that student’s essay is better than yours, guess who is going to get picked?

The good news is, there are lots of college application essay prompts available in any number of places, which you can use to practice.  Quite likely, if you are in the eleventh or twelfth grade, your guidance counselor or the college adviser at your school may have already suggested this to you.  Take them up on it!  You might think these prompts are a drag, that between the high school research papers and essays you already have to write, you simply do not have time to waste on essay prompts that you will not even be graded on, but kids – get real!

College application essay prompts give you more than a grade – they can give you a future.  Between the two, which one is better, really?  Furthermore, these prompts can actually help you out during your college years.  In addition to actually getting you into college, they can actually help you come up with your own good research paper topics, on down the line.

In many ways, the essay on your college application is akin to the GED essay topics students are given when they go back to get their diplomas.  That is, they are just as important to what you are trying to attain.  For that matter, GED students can greatly benefit from practicing with essay prompts as well. Do you need a good sample term paper?

You can find college application essay prompts all over the Internet.  You should seriously think about getting a few of them and practicing.  You can even call the top colleges and universities of your choice, and see if they can give you some essay prompts that have been used on their applications in the past.  That way, you can practice writing essays that are small – for there is a limit – and concise, yet will tell the reader everything he or she needs to know to ensure your admittance into the college or university of your choice. Learn about custom essay writing services.

Essay Prompts and Research Papers
19
August
2008

Essay prompts are one of the best, most beneficial tools for research paper writing available to you.  This may seem hard to believe, especially when you are sitting in class, bored out of your mind, and groaning as your teacher gives you yet another essay prompt.

Essay prompts are most common in high school, though they are not entirely uncommon in college either.  They are especially common in early college courses, namely freshman and sophomore English classes.  The point is, you will be seeing a lot of them in your academic career, and going off to college does not necessarily mean you will be rid of them.  Think of it this way, however: whether you are in high school or college, you are going to be writing a lot of essays and research papers.  Repeat: you are going to be writing a lot of them.

Believe it or not, essay prompts are wonderful when it comes to teaching you how to craft good research paper topics.  There are an incredible amount of interesting and even controversial prompts.  They ask thought provoking, specific questions.  Certainly, you might get some simplistic ones, asking you to perhaps compare actual, written letters with emails or conversations with text messaging.  However, there are also prompts asking for your opinions on abortion, animal testing, stem cell research, and any number of other similar topics.

Do you see a theme?  You should – namely that some of those prompts and others like them would make for some very interesting research paper topics.  At the very least, you will learn what kind of elements and information you need to create good research paper topics.  You will know how deeply you need to go in your research papers, what kind of questions you need to ask, and other elements essential to the process of research paper writing.

In fact, this is what your teachers and professors are doing when they hand you essay prompts – and yes, even when they spring them on you with no warning whatsoever.  A sudden, “pop” essay is a veritable nightmare for a lot of students, but promise, your teachers are not doing it to torture you.  They are teaching you to think on your feet, to craft a good, strong essay as quickly as you possibly can.  Essays and research papers are two different things, of course, and you will never have to do that with any research papers.  However, that will help you to get down an outline for your paper as quickly as possible, and even to write rough drafts quickly, which will help you tremendously later on in your scholastic course.