questions to ask when writing a essay

• Educational Assessment

Good Questions for Better Essay Prompts (and Papers)

• April 8, 2020
• Jessica McCaughey

Most professors would admit that they’ve found themselves frustrated when grading papers. Yes, sometimes those frustrations might stem from students ignoring your clear, strategic, and explicit instructions, but more often, I’d argue, “bad” papers are a result of how and what we’re asking of students, and how well we really understand our goals for them. Further, we often struggle to strike a balance between providing too much information and too little, and placing ourselves in a novice’s shoes is difficult. In an effort to combat these challenges, I present a series of questions to ask yourself as you begin developing or revising prompts.

1. What do you want your students to learn or demonstrate through this writing assignment? Is an essay the best way reach these goals? If so, do they understand those learning goals? Assigning an essay is, for many instructors, our go-to. But paper writing isn’t always the best assessment tool. Think hard about what it is you’re hoping for your students to take away from an assignment. Are there other, better forms the assignment might take? And if the answer is a resounding, “This paper is the right venue!” you should consider whether you are explicitly conveying to your students why you’re asking them to do certain work. Transparency benefits them tremendously. Transparent assignment design—being explicit about how and why you are facilitating their learning in the ways that you are—helps all students, but it particularly helps those students who may not have the experience, networks, or models in college that other students have, such as first-generation college students, minorities, or students with disabilities. Whether in class discussion or in the written prompt itself, strive to follow these transparent assignment design principles .       2. Who is the audience (real or imagined) for the assignment, and what is the purpose of the text? For most writing assignments, the “audience” is, of course, the instructor, and students strive to meet that instructor’s expectations, even if they’re guessing about what this instructor knows, wants, and expects.Even assignments as specific as “Write a letter to the Editor on X topic” beg for more detail. (Is this for my hometown paper or the New York Times ? Those letters will of course read very differently.) And when it comes to purpose or goals, while it might seem obvious to you what the purpose of this paper is, it might not be to your students. Work to be as explicit as possible as you can in what you’d like them to achieve in their paper. You might use language such as, “In this paper you are writing to an audience of scholars in X field, who are/are not familiar with your topic,” or “Your overarching purpose in this paper is to persuade your reader towards a specific, implementable solution to the problem at hand, and support your argument with scholarship in the field.”

3. Do you want to read their papers? This question may seem silly, but it’s not. In every field, professors have the capacity to set students up for authentic, engaging assignments. If you don’t feel excited to read the paper, you can likely imagine how difficult it will be for students to engage in the much more substantial process of writing it. So, consider retooling the assignment into something you look forward to spending time reading. Might you consider new genres, audiences, or purposes for their writing? Develop a traditional essay into a problem-solving task ?

4. What does good writing look like in your field? How can you convey this to students? We all know what good writing looks like in our fields, but students sometimes don’t even understand that writing forms, expectations, and conventions vary from discipline to discipline. Whether we like it or not, and whether we think we have time for it or not, it is our job to teach students about texts in our specific disciplines. Maybe that includes offering them annotated sample papers. Maybe this happens over a series of beginning-of-class conversations as they’re drafting. Maybe it’s showing them some of your own work or looking closely at the writing in a flagship journal. Regardless of how you do it, be sure that a part of the writing process for your students includes exposure and at least an introductory understanding to what “good” writing is to you and your field.

5. Are your grading criteria clear—and thoughtful and reasonable? We know that clear grading criteria—whether in the form of a rubric or a narrative—is key to student writer success, but it’s not as simple as assignment weights to columns such as “Grammar” and “Thesis.” In order to think deeply about how we’re grading, we also have to interrogate what assumptions we have about our student writers? What do we think they already know? Why do we think this? What do we prioritize in an essay, and more importantly, why is that the priority? Do our priorities align with our learning goals for students? These answers to these questions too should be transparent to students as they embark on your writing assignments.

6. What support and structure are you able to provide? Traci Gardner’s Designing Writing Assignments illustrates that the kinds of prompts that allow students to write strong papers share certain characteristics, and among the most important is providing support, both materially and in their process (35). How are you going to facilitate the writing that you want to see your students develop and showcase it in your prompt? Can the assignment be broken down into smaller, scaffolded steps? Or, if you want the students to practice managing projects and figure this out themselves, how can you serve as a guide as they work through time and resource management in order to do so? As scholars, we are not expected to create excellent work without feedback, and we shouldn’t expect it of our students either. We’re not only teaching content and, as noted above, what writing looks like in our discipline, but we’re also working to instill a writing process. Before assigning a paper, be clear about how you’ll build in steps, support, and this process of feedback and revision into your assignment.

7. Does it make sense for this particular assignment and your particular class to include a reflective element? Research shows that metacognition and reflection aid in the transfer of knowledge and skills , so building in some way for students to reflect on the writing and learning they’ve done through your assignment is a valuable way to help them take that knowledge forward, into other classrooms and, later, the workplace. 8. How can you go through the writing process yourself to create the most productive possible prompt? Ask for feedback from colleagues—or your students! There’s no shame in showing students a prompt and revising it based on their questions, perceptions, and, after the semester ends to benefit your next class, their writing.

Bio: Jessica McCaughey is an assistant professor in the University Writing Program at  George Washington University , where she teaches academic and professional writing. In this role, Professor McCaughey has developed a growing professional writing program consisting of workshops, assessment, and coaching that helps organizations improve the quality of their employees’ professional and technical writing. In 2016, she was nominated for the Columbian College’s Robert W. Kenny Prize for Innovation in Teaching of Introductory Courses, and in 2017, she won the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s Emergent Researcher Award.

References:

Elon Statement on Writing Transfer. (29 July 2013). Retrieved from http://www.elon.edu/ e-web/academics/teaching/ers/writing_transfer/statement.xhtml  

Gardner, Traci. (2008).  Designing Writing Assignments . National Council of Teachers of English.  https://wac.colostate.edu/books/gardner/  

• Jessica McCaughey is an assistant professor in the University Writing Program at George Washington University, where she teaches academic and professional writing. In this role, Professor McCaughey has developed a growing professional writing program consisting of workshops, assessment, and coaching that helps organizations improve the quality of their employees’ professional and technical writing. In 2016, she was nominated for the Columbian College’s Robert W. Kenny Prize for Innovation in Teaching of Introductory Courses, and in 2017, she won the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s Emergent Researcher Award.

Stay Updated with Faculty Focus!

Get exclusive access to programs, reports, podcast episodes, articles, and more!

• Opens in a new tab

Welcome Back

Username or Email

Remember Me

Already a subscriber? log in here.

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, getting college essay help: important do's and don’ts.

College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

Student and Parent Forum

Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com , allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Prewriting (Invention) General Questions

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Beyond the strategies outlined in the previous section, these questions might help you begin writing.

Explore the problem — not the topic

• Who is your reader?
• What is your purpose?
• Who are you, the writer? (What image or persona do you want to project?)

Make your goals operational

• How can you achieve your purpose?
• Can you make a plan?

Generate some ideas

• Keep writing
• Don't censor or evaluate
• Keep returning to the problem

Talk to your reader

• What questions would they ask?
• What different kinds of readers might you have?

Ask yourself questions

Journalistic questions

Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? So What?

Stasis questions

Conjecture: what are the facts? Definition: what is the meaning or nature of the issue? Quality: what is the seriousness of the issue? Policy: what should we do about the issue? For more information on the stases, please go to the OWL resource on stasis theory .

Classical topics (patterns of argument)

• How does the dictionary define ____?
• What do I mean by ____?
• What group of things does ____ belong to?
• How is ____ different from other things?
• What parts can ____ be divided into?
• Does ____ mean something now that it didn't years ago? If so, what?
• What other words mean about the same as ____?
• What are some concrete examples of ____?
• When is the meaning of ____ misunderstood?

Comparison/Contrast

• What is ____ similar to? In what ways?
• What is ____ different from? In what ways?
• ____ is superior (inferior) to what? How?
• ____ is most unlike (like) what? How?

Relationship

• What causes ____?
• What are the effects of ____?
• What is the purpose of ____? - What is the consequence of ____?
• What comes before (after) ____?
• What have I heard people say about ____?
• What are some facts of statistics about ____?
• Can I quote any proverbs, poems, or sayings about ____?
• Are there any laws about ____?

Circumstance

• Is ____ possible or impossible?
• What qualities, conditions, or circumstances make ____ possible or impossible?
• When did ____ happen previously?
• Who can do ____?
• If ____ starts, what makes it end?
• What would it take for ____ to happen now?
• What would prevent ___ from happening?

Contrastive features

• How is ____ different from things similar to it?
• How has ____ been different for me?
• How much can ____ change and still be itself?
• How is ____ changing?
• How much does ____ change from day to day?
• What are the different varieties of ____?

Distribution

• Where and when does ____ take place?
• What is the larger thing of which ___ is a part?
• What is the function of ____ in this larger thing?

Cubing (considering a subject from six points of view)

• *Describe* it (colors, shapes, sizes, etc.)
• *Compare* it (What is it similar to?)
• *Associate* it (What does it make you think of?)
• *Analyze* it (Tell how it's made)
• *Apply* it (What can you do with it? How can it be used?)
• *Argue* for or against it

Make an analogy

Choose an activity from column A to explain it by describing it in terms of an activity from column B (or vice-versa).

Rest and incubate.

(Adapted from Linda Flower's Problem-Solving Strategies for Writing, Gregory and Elizabeth Cowan's Writing, and Gordon Rohman and Albert Wlecke's Prewriting.)

Flower, Linda. Problem-Solving Strategies for Writing . Third Edition. Orders, 1989.

Neeld, Elizabeth Cowan, and Gregory Cowan. Writing . Scott, Foresman, 1986.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Student Opinion

401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing

By Michael Gonchar

• March 1, 2017

Note: We have 310 new argumentative writing prompts to add to this list.

Of all the resources we publish on The Learning Network, perhaps it’s our vast collection of writing prompts that is our most widely used resource for teaching and learning with The Times.

This list of 401 prompts ( available here in PDF ) is now our third iteration of what originally started as 200 prompts for argumentative writing, and it’s intended as a companion resource to help teachers and students participate in our annual Student Editorial Contest .

So scroll through the hundreds of prompts below that touch on every aspect of contemporary life — from social media to sports, politics, gender issues and school — and see which ones most inspire you to take a stand. Each question comes from our daily Student Opinion feature, and each provides links to free Times resources for finding more information. And for even more in-depth student discussions on pressing issues like immigration , guns , climate change and race , please visit our fall 2016 Civil Conversation Challenge .

What’s your favorite question on this list? What questions should we ask, but haven’t yet? Tell us in the comments.

And visit our related list as well: 650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing .

Social Media and Smartphones

1. Does Technology Make Us More Alone? 2. Is Social Media Making Us More Narcissistic? 3. Will Social Media Help or Hurt Your College and Career Goals? 4. Would You Consider Deleting Your Facebook Account? 5. Does Facebook Need a ‘Dislike’ Button? 6. Has Facebook Lost Its Edge? 7. Should What You Say on Facebook Be Grounds for Getting Fired? 8. Would You Be Willing to Pay for Facebook or Google in Exchange for Your Privacy? 9. Are Anonymous Social Media Networks Dangerous? 10. Should People Be Allowed to Obscure Their Identities Online? 11. Is Our Culture of Online Shaming Out of Control? 12. Is Snapchat a Revolutionary Form of Social Media? 13. Do Apps Help You or Just Waste Your Time? 14. Do You Spend Too Much Time on Smartphones Playing ‘Stupid Games’? 15. Is Pokémon Go a Positive Cultural Force? Or Is it Just Another Excuse for People to Stare at Their Phones? 16. Are Digital Photographs Too Plentiful to Be Meaningful? 17. Do You Worry We Are Filming Too Much? 18. How Many Text Messages Are Too Many? 19. Does Punctuation in Text Messages Matter? 20. Can a GIF Work Better Than Words?

Technology in Schools and the Future

21. Are the Web Filters at Your School Too Restrictive? 22. Does Technology in the Classroom Ever Get in the Way of Learning? 23. Should Tablet Computers Become the Primary Way Students Learn in Class? 24. Can Cellphones Be Educational Tools? 25. Should There Be More Educational Video Games in School? 26. Is Online Learning as Good as Face-to-Face Learning? 27. How Would You Feel About a Computer Grading Your Essays? 28. Do Machines Represent a Threat to Humans? 29. Are Self-Driving Vehicles the Wave of the Future? 30. Do You Think Recreational Drones Are Safe? 31. What Role Will Robots Play in Our Future? 32. Will Wearable Technology Ever Really Catch On?

Gender Issues

33. Do Parents Have Different Hopes and Standards for Their Sons Than for Their Daughters? 34. Is School Designed More for Girls Than Boys? 35. Is Single-Sex Education Still Useful? 36. Is There Too Much Pressure on Girls to Have ‘Perfect’ Bodies? 37. How Much Pressure Do Boys Face to Have the Perfect Body? 38. What Does it Mean to Be ‘a Real Man’? 39. Do We Need to Teach Boys and Men to Be More Emotionally Honest? 40. Is It O.K. for Men and Boys to Comment on Women and Girls on the Street? 41. What Should We Do to Fight Sexual Violence Against Young Women? 42. Why Aren’t There More Girls in Leadership Roles? 43. Do Professional Women Need a ‘Girls’ Lounge’? 44. Why Aren’t More Girls Choosing to Pursue Careers in Math and Science? 45. Why Aren’t More Girls Pursuing Careers in Computing and Tech Fields? 46. Should Women Be Allowed to Fight on the Front Lines Alongside Men? 47. Now That Women Can Serve in All Combat Roles in the U.S. Military, Should They Also Be Required to Register for the Draft? 48. Do Female Athletes Get Short Shrift? 49. Should Sports Be Coed? 50. Do You Believe in Equal Rights for Women and Men? 51. Is It Harder Being a Girl? 52. Do We Need New Ways to Identify Gender and Sexuality? 53. Should Toys Be More Gender-Neutral? 54. Should There Be More Boy Dolls? 55. Should Transgender People Be Allowed to Use the Bathroom of Their Choice? 56. What Rules Should Apply to Transgender Athletes When They Compete? 57. Is It O.K. to Refuse to Serve Same-Sex Couples Based on Religious Beliefs? 58. Are Women Better at Compromising and Collaborating? 59. Do Boys Have Less Intense Friendships Than Girls? 60. Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

Dating and Sex

61. Should Couples Live Together Before Marriage? 62. Is Dating a Thing of the Past? 63. Is Hookup Culture Leaving Your Generation Unhappy and Unprepared for Love? 64. Could Following These Directions Make You Fall in Love With a Stranger? 65. How Should Children Be Taught About Puberty and Sex? 66. Are Affirmative Consent Rules a Good Idea? 67. Should Birth Control Pills Be Available to Teenage Girls Without a Prescription? 68. Should the Morning-After Pill Be Sold Over the Counter to People Under 17? 69. How Big of a Problem Is Sexting? 70. How Should Educators and Legislators Deal With Minors Who ‘Sext’? 71. How Should Parents Address Internet Pornography?

72. Should High Schools Drop Football Because Too Many Players Are Getting Injured? 73. Should Parents Let Their Children Play Football? 74. If Football Is So Dangerous to Players, Should We Be Watching It? 75. Are Some Youth Sports Too Intense? 76. Should There Be Stricter Rules About How Coaches Treat Their Players? 77. Is Cheerleading a Sport? 78. Should Cheerleading Be an Olympic Sport? 79. Has Baseball Lost Its Cool? 80. Do Sports Teams Have a Responsibility to Hold Players to a Standard for Their Personal Conduct? 81. Should Athletes Who Dope Have to Forfeit Their Titles and Medals? 82. How Big a Deal Is It That an N.B.A. Player Came Out as Gay? 83. Should Women’s Basketball Lower the Rims? 84. Should College Football Players Get Paid? 85. Is ‘Redskins’ an Offensive Name for a Team? 86. Is It Offensive for Sports Teams to Use Native American Names and Mascots? 87. Do Fans Put Too Much Pressure on Their Favorite Professional Athletes? 88. How Much Should Fans Be Allowed to Distract Opposing Teams? 89. Does a Championship Game Always Need to Have a Winner (and a Loser)? 90. Should Sports Betting Be Legal Everywhere? 91. Are Some Extreme Sports Too Extreme? 92. How Young Is Too Young to Climb Mount Everest? 93. Should Colleges Fund Wellness Programs Instead of Sports? 94. Where Should Colleges and Sports Teams Draw the Line in Selling Naming Rights?

TV, Movies and Video Games

95. Does Reality TV Promote Dangerous Stereotypes? 96. Do TV Shows Like ‘16 and Pregnant’ Promote or Discourage Teenage Pregnancy? 97. Does TV Capture the Diversity of America Yet? 98. Is TV Too White? 99. What Makes a Good TV Show Finale? 100. Why Do We Like to Watch Rich People on TV and in the Movies? 101. Does Live Theater Offer Something You Just Can’t Get Watching Movies or TV? 102. What — if Anything — Does the Current Hollywood Film Industry Lack? 103. What Makes a Good Commercial? 104. Why Did a Cheerios Ad Attract So Many Angry Comments Online? 105. Should Video Games Be Considered a Sport? 106. Should Stores Sell Violent Video Games to Minors? 107. Do Violent Video Games Make People More Violent in Real Life? 108. When Should You Feel Guilty for Killing Zombies? 109. Can a Video Game Be a Work of Art? 110. What Game Would You Like to Redesign? 111. How Sexist Is the Gaming World?

Music, Literature and Art

112. What Current Musicians Do You Think Will Stand the Test of Time? 113. What Artists or Bands of Today Are Destined for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? 114. What Musician, Actor or Author Should Be a Superstar, but Hasn’t Quite Made It Yet? 115. What Artists Do You Consider ‘Sellouts’? 116. How Much Can an Artist Borrow From Earlier Musicians Before It Becomes Stealing? 117. Who Does Hip-Hop Belong To? 118. What Can You Predict About the Future of the Music Industry? 119. Will Musical Training Make You More Successful? 120. Are Paper Books Better Than E-Books? 121. Does Reading a Book Count More Than Listening to One? 122. To What Writer Would You Award a Prize? 123. Who Are the Characters That Authors Should Be Writing About? 124. Are Shortened Versions of Classic Adult Literature Right for Young Children? 125. Do You Prefer Your Children’s Book Characters Obedient or Contrary? 126. Do We Still Need Libraries? 127. Do We Need More Diverse Superheroes? 128. What Is a Hero? 129. Can Graffiti Ever Be Considered Art? 130. Do We Need Art in Our Lives? 131. Is It Possible to Separate Art From the Artist Who Created It? 132. Should Society Support Artists and Others Pursuing Creative Works? 133. Should Displays of Art Be Welcome in All Public Spaces? 134. Does Pop Culture Deserve Serious Study?

Parenting and Childhood

135. At What Age Should Children Be Allowed to Go Places Without Adult Supervision? 136. How Much Freedom Should Parents Give Their Children? 137. Should Children Be Allowed to Wear Whatever They Want? 138. How Should Parents Discipline Their Kids? 139. When Does Discipline Become Child Abuse? 140. Should Parents Bribe Their Children? 141. Should Parents Make Their Children Clean Their Room? 142. Do We Give Children Too Many Trophies? 143. Is Modern Culture Ruining Childhood? 144. Are Adults Hurting Young Children by Pushing Them to Achieve? 145. How, and by Whom, Should Children Be Taught Appropriate Behavior? 146. Are ‘Dark’ Movies O.K. for Kids? 147. When Does a Halloween Costume Cross the Line? 148. Should Halloween Costumes Portray Only ‘Positive Images’? 149. Are Parents Violating Their Children’s Privacy When They Share Photos and Videos of Them Online? 150. Should Children Be Allowed to Compete on TV? 151. How Young Is Too Young for an iPhone? 152. Should Parents Limit How Much Time Children Spend on Tech Devices? 153. Who Should Be Able to See Students’ Records?

Being a Teenager

154. When Do You Become an Adult? 155. When Should You Be Able to Buy Cigarettes, Drink Alcohol, Vote, Drive and Fight in Wars? 156. When You Are Old Enough to Vote, Will You? 157. If Teenagers Are Such Bad Drivers, Should They Be Allowed to Drive? 158. What Can Older People Learn From Your Generation? 159. Does Your Generation Have Too Much Self-Esteem? 160. Is Your Generation More Self-Centered Than Earlier Generations? 161. Is Your Generation Really ‘Postracial’? 162. Do ‘Shame and Blame’ Work to Change Teenage Behavior? 163. Do ‘Saggy Pants’ Mean Disrespect? 164. Do You Think Teenagers Can Make a Difference in the World? 165. Is Teenage ‘Voluntourism’ Wrong? 166. Is Prom Worth It? 167. Is Prom Just an Excuse to Drink?

168. Do Teachers Assign Too Much Homework? 169. Are High School Students Being Worked Too Hard? 170. Does Your Homework Help You Learn? 171. What Are You Really Learning at School? 172. Does Class Size Matter? 173. What Makes a Good Teacher? 174. Should Schools Strive for Racial Diversity Among Teachers? 175. Do We Need a Better Way to Teach Math? 176. Does Gym Help Students Perform Better in All Their Classes? 177. Should Reading and Math Be Taught in Gym Class Too? 178. Should Kindergarten Be More About Play or Literacy? 179. What Are the Best Ways to Learn About History? 180. What Is the Right Amount of Group Work in School? 181. What Do You Think of Grouping Students by Ability in Schools? 182. How Important Is Arts Education? 183. Should Schools Be Teaching, and Evaluating, Social-Emotional Skills Like ‘Grit’? 184. Should Schools Teach Children How to Cook? 185. Do Schools Provide Students With Enough Opportunities to Be Creative? 186. Is Shakespeare Too Hard? 187. Should High Schools Do More to Prepare You for Careers? 188. How Much Does It Matter to You Which High School You Attend? 189. Would You Rather Attend a Public or a Private High School? 190. Are Small Schools More Effective Than Large Schools? 191. Would You Want to Be Home-Schooled? 192. Should Home-Schoolers Be Allowed to Play Public School Sports? 193. Does the Way Your Classroom Is Decorated Affect Your Learning? 194. Should All Children Be Able to Go to Preschool? 195. Should All Students Get Equal Space in a Yearbook? 196. Should School Newspapers Be Subject to Prior Review?

School Rules, Discipline and Bullying

197. Are School Dress Codes a Good Idea? 198. How Does Your School Deal With Students Who Misbehave? 199. What Role Should the Police Have in Schools? 200. What Are the Best Teaching Methods for Getting Students to Behave Well in Class? 201. Should Schools Be Allowed to Use Corporal Punishment? 202. Is Cheating Getting Worse? 203. Should Schools Put Tracking Devices in Students’ ID Cards? 204. Should Middle School Students Be Drug Tested? 205. Should Students Be Barred From Taking Cellphones to School? 206. How Big a Problem Is Bullying or Cyberbullying in Your School or Community? 207. How Should Schools Address Bullying? 208. How Should Schools Address Cyberbullying? 209. What Should the Punishment Be for Acts of Cyberbullying? 210. When Do Pranks Cross the Line to Become Bullying? 211. How Should Schools Respond to Hazing Incidents?

Grading and Testing

212. Should Students Be Able to Grade Their Teachers? 213. How Well Do You Think Standardized Tests Measure Your Abilities? 214. How Seriously Should We Take Standardized Tests? 215. Do You Spend Too Much Time Preparing for Standardized Tests? 216. Should Schools Offer Cash Bonuses for Good Test Scores? 217. How Important Are Parent-Teacher Conferences? 218. Should Students Be Present at Parent-Teacher Conferences? 219. How Should Parents Handle a Bad Report Card? 220. Does Your School Hand Out Too Many A’s? 221. Do Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys in Your School? 222. Does Separating Boys and Girls Help Students Perform Better in School? 223. Why Do Boys Lag Behind Girls in Reading? 224. Should Discomfort Excuse Students From Having to Complete an Assignment? 225. Should Schools Give Students ‘Body’ Report Cards?

Time in School

226. Should Schools Cancel Summer Vacation? 227. Do Kids Need Recess? 228. Should the School Day Start Later? 229. Is Your School Day Too Short? 230. Do You Think a Longer School Calendar Is a Good Idea? 231. Should the Dropout Age Be Raised? 232. Should We Rethink How Long Students Spend in High School? 233. Should Students Be Allowed to Skip Senior Year of High School? 234. Should Kids Head to College Early? 235. Class Time + Substitute = Waste? 236. A Short Fall Break, but What Should We Call It?

College and Career

237. Should a College Education be Free? 238. Is College Overrated? 239. How Necessary Is a College Education? 240. Should Colleges Find a Better Way to Admit Students? 241. Should Colleges Use Admissions Criteria Other Than SAT Scores and Grades? 242. Do You Support Affirmative Action in College Admissions? 243. Are Early-Decision Programs Unfair? Should Colleges Do Away With Them? 244. What Criteria Should Be Used in Awarding Scholarships for College? 245. Should Engineers Pay Less for College Than English Majors? 246. Does It Matter Where You Go to College? 247. Do College Rankings Really Matter? 248. What Is the Perfect Number of College Applications to Send? 249. Do Fraternities Promote Misogyny? 250. Should Colleges Ban Fraternities? 251. Is a Sorority a Good Place for a Feminist? 252. Should Colleges Offer Degrees in Sports? 253. What Do You Want More From a Career: Happiness or Wealth? 254. Would You Quit if Your Values Did Not Match Your Employer’s? 255. Should Employers Be Able to Review Job Applicants’ SAT Scores? 256. Do You Worry Colleges or Employers Might Read Your Social Media Posts Someday? 257. Would You Rather Work From Home or in an Office? 258. Is ‘Doing Nothing’ a Good Use of Your Time? 259. Should All High School Students Be Able to Get a Summer Job if They Want One?

Health and Nutrition

260. Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered? 261. Is Drinking and Driving Still a Problem for Teenagers? 262. Should the Legal Age to Purchase Tobacco Be Raised From 18 to 21? 263. Should E-Cigarettes Be Banned for Teenagers? 264. Is Smoking Still a Problem Among Teenagers? 265. Are Antismoking Ads Effective? 266. Should Marijuana Be Legal? 267. Should Students Be Required to Take Drug Tests? 268. Why Is Binge Drinking So Common Among Young People in the United States? 269. Should Universities Work to Curtail Student Drinking? 270. Should Distracted Driving Be Punished Like Drinking and Driving? 271. Should Texting While Driving Be Illegal in Every State? 272. How Should Schools Handle Unvaccinated Students? 273. Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal in Every State? 274. Should Terminally Ill Patients Be Allowed to Die on Their Own Terms? 275. Is School Lunch Really All That Bad? 276. Do You Think a Healthier School Lunch Program Is a Lost Cause? 277. Should French Fries and Pizza Sauce Count as Vegetables? 278. How Concerned Are You About Where Your Food Comes From? 279. Is It Ethical to Eat Meat? 280. Is Breakfast Really the Most Important Meal of the Day? 281. Do You Prefer Your Tacos ‘Authentic’ or ‘Appropriated’? 282. Should Sugary Drinks Be Taxed? 283. Should the Government Limit the Size of Sugary Drinks? 284. Should Teenagers Think Twice Before Downing Energy Drinks? 285. How Important Is It to Be Attractive in Our Society? 286. Are Models Too Skinny? 287. What Are Your Opinions on Cosmetic Surgery? 288. Do Photoshopped Images Make You Feel Bad About Your Own Looks? 289. Doctored Photos: O.K. or Not? 290. Should You Care About the Health and Safety of Those Making Your Clothing?

Animals and Science

291. Should Farm Animals Have More Legal Protections? 292. Is It Ethical to Genetically Engineer Animals? 293. When Is Animal Testing Justified? 294. Should Certain Animals Have Some of the Same Legal Rights As People? 295. Do Gorillas Belong in Zoos? 296. Is It Unethical for a Zoo to Kill a Healthy Giraffe? 297. Should Circuses Be Animal Free? 298. Should You Go to Jail for Kicking a Cat? 299. Should You Feel Guilty About Killing Spiders, Ants or Other Bugs? 300. Should Emotional Support Animals Be Allowed on College Campuses? 301. How Concerned Are You About Climate Change? 302. How Should Nations and Individuals Address Climate Change? 303. If You Were President, What Would You Do About Climate Change? 304. Should Developers Be Allowed to Build in and Near the Grand Canyon? 305. Should Scientists Try to Help People Beat Old Age So We Can Live Longer Lives? 306. Given Unlimited Resources, What Scientific or Medical Problem Would You Investigate? 307. When Is It O.K. to Replace Human Limbs With Technology? 308. Should Fertilized Eggs Be Given Legal ‘Personhood’? 309. How Do You Think Dinosaurs Went Extinct? 310. Do You Think Life Exists — or Has Ever Existed — Somewhere Besides Earth? 311. Do You Believe in Intelligent Alien Life? 312. Will Humans Live on Mars Someday? 313. Would You Want to Be a Space Tourist?

Personal Character and Morality

314. Does Achieving Success Always Include Being Happy? 315. Can Money Buy You Happiness? 316. Does Buying and Accumulating More and More Stuff Make Us Happier? 317. Which Is More Important: Talent or Hard Work? 318. How Important Is Keeping Your Cool? 319. When Should You Compromise? 320. Are We Losing the Art of Listening? 321. Do People Complain Too Much? 322. Is ‘Be Yourself’ Bad Advice? 323. How Important Is Keeping a Clean House? 324. Does Keeping a Messy Desk Make People More Creative? 325. Do You Believe That Everything Happens for a Reason? 326. How Much Control Do You Think You Have Over Your Fate? 327. Can You Be Good Without God? 328. How Important Do You Think It Is to Marry Someone With the Same Religion? 329. Does Suffering Make Us Stronger and Lead to Success? 330. Do Bystanders Have a Responsibility to Intervene When There is Trouble? 331. When Is Looting Morally O.K.? 332. Can Kindness Become Cool? 333. Are Manners Important? 334. Have Curse Words Become So Common They Have Lost Their Shock Value?

Government and Leadership

335. How Strong Is Your Faith in American Democracy? 336. Is America Headed in the Right Direction? 337. Is It Possible to Start Out Poor in This Country, Work Hard and Become Well-Off? 338. Should the United States Care That It’s Not No. 1? 339. How Should Opponents Receive the New President — With an Open Mind and Honor for the Office, or With Defiance and Rejection? 340. What Do You Think the Role of the First Lady — or First Spouse — Should Be Today? 341. Should Voting Be Mandatory? 342. Does Voting for a Third-Party Candidate Mean Throwing Away Your Vote? 343. If You Were Governor of Your State, How Would You Spend a Budget Surplus? 344. What Local Problems Do You Think Your Mayor Should Try to Solve? 345. Should Rich People Have to Pay More Taxes? 346. What Is More Important: Our Privacy or National Security? 347. When Is the Use of Military Force Justified? 348. When Should Countries Negotiate With Their Traditional Enemies? 349. Should the U.S. Be Spying on Its Friends? 350. What Responsibility Do We Have to Take In Refugees From Global Humanitarian Crises? 351. Should Countries Pay Ransoms to Free Hostages Held by Terrorists? 352. Should Millions of Undocumented Immigrants Be Allowed to Live in the U.S. Without Fear of Getting Deported? 353. Are Children of Illegal Immigrants Entitled to a Public Education? 354. Do We Need a Higher Minimum Wage? 355. What Do We Owe Our Veterans? 356. Do Leaders Have Moral Obligations? 357. Do Great Leaders Have to Be Outgoing?

Guns, Prisons and the Justice System

358. What Are Some Answers to America’s Gun Violence? 359. How Should We Prevent Future Mass Shootings? 360. Would You Feel Safer With Armed Guards Patrolling Your School? 361. What Is Your Relationship With Guns? 362. Where Do You Stand on Unconcealed Handguns? 363. Should Guns Be Permitted on College Campuses? 364. Would Arming College Students Help Prevent Sexual Assaults on Campus? 365. What Should Be the Purpose of Prison? 366. Should Prisoners Be Given the Opportunity to Get an Education? 367. Should Felons Be Allowed to Vote After They Have Served Their Time? 368. Should the United States Stop Using the Death Penalty? 369. What Do You Think of the Police Tactic of Stop-and-Frisk? 370. When Should Juvenile Offenders Receive Life Sentences? 371. Do Rich People Get Off Easier When They Break the Law? 372. Should All Police Officers Wear Body Cameras? 373. Should Prostitution Be Legal?

Other Questions

374. Should the Private Lives of Famous People Be Off Limits? 375. Should We Be Privy to the Lives of Celebrities’ Children? 376. Do You Think Child Stars Have It Rough? 377. What Causes Should Philanthropic Groups Finance? 378. Should Charities Focus More on America? 379. Do Poor People ‘Have It Easy’? 380. Should We Think Twice Before Buying Online? 381. Is Amazon Becoming Too Powerful? 382. How Much Do You Trust Online Reviews? 383. Do You Shop at Locally Owned Businesses? 384. Would You Want a Bike Share Program for Your Community? 385. How Much Does Your Neighborhood Define Who You Are? 386. Should Companies Collect Information About You? 387. What Time Should Black Friday Sales Start? 388. How Long Is It O.K. to Linger in a Cafe or Restaurant? 389. Should Restaurants Do Away With Tipping? 390. Should Single-Use Plastic Shopping Bags Be Banned? 391. Do We Crank Up the A.C. Too High? 392. Should Everyone Learn at Least One Other Language? 393. What Are the Five Greatest Inventions of All Time? 394. Dressing Up Like Creepy Clowns: Freedom of Expression or Public Nuisance? 395. Would Life Be Better Without Time Zones? 396. What Words or Phrases Do You Think Are Overused? 397. What Words or Phrases Should Be Retired? 398. Do Laws That Ban Offensive Words Make the World a Better Place? 399. Should Newspapers Reprint Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad That Some Deem Offensive? 400. Is It Wrong for a Newspaper to Publish a Front-Page Photo of a Man About to Die? 401. Are There Topics That Should Be Off Limits to Comedy?

Ask Questions to Improve Your Writing: Home

• Last Updated: Oct 23, 2023 10:56 AM
• URL: https://spcollege.libguides.com/writingquestions

• [email protected]

How to ask a question in an essay (with tips and examples)

An essay question is designed to test your understanding of a given subject. It is typically framed as a statement, or series of statements, that require you to answer with an essay-length response. The purpose of asking questions in an essay is to explore ideas, concepts, and topics in greater depth, enabling you to demonstrate your knowledge and critical thinking skills.

Essay questions are often composed of several parts. The introduction sets the stage, giving the reader an overview of what’s to come. The body of the question will typically contain the main points you need to discuss in your response. Finally, the conclusion will ask for your overall thoughts on the topic and provide you with a final chance to drive home the overall argument of your essay .

Sometimes an essay question can be divided into two or more sections, each containing a separate, but related, set of instructions. This type of question requires you to break down the topic into chunks, focusing on one element at a time before connecting them together in a cohesive way.

Essay questions are a great way to show off your understanding of the material, so make sure to read the question carefully and provide thoughtful, comprehensive answers. Think about the key concepts and relationships that are being addressed and focus on the underlying message or point of the question. Doing so will ensure that you are providing the best possible answer to the essay question.

Asking the right questions can be a major factor in writing a successful essay . The goal is to craft questions that are both thoughtful and direct – questions that will help you uncover and explore the key ideas within the essay topic. Here are some tips on how to ask questions in an essay:

Focus on the Big Picture

When crafting questions, it’s important to keep the big picture in mind. Start by thinking broadly about the topic and narrowing it down to a specific question. Ask yourself, “what overall insight can I gain from this topic?” or “what relevance does this topic have to the present world?”

Use Open-ended Questions

Open-ended questions allow for more creative exploration of the topic than closed-ended questions. An open-ended question is one that requires the reader to think critically and offer more than a single answer, while closed-ended questions are ones where the reader sees only one possible answer. Examples of open-ended questions include: “What are the most important considerations to make when exploring this topic?” and “How could this topic impact future generations?”

Be Mindful of the Structure

Questions should have a clear structure and logical flow. When crafting questions, make sure that each subsequent question builds upon and expands upon the previous ones. This helps to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Think Critically

Asking critical questions encourages deeper thinking and analysis. Questions that require the reader to reflect on the implications or consequences of their answers are especially effective. Examples of critical questions include: “What are the ethical implications of this topic?” and “How can this topic be used to better the world?”

Incorporate Problem-solving Questions

Problem-solving questions are those that challenge the reader to consider an issue from multiple points of view and to develop an appropriate solution. In addition to being interesting and thought-provoking, these types of questions also allow the reader to apply their own knowledge and skills towards solving the issue. Examples of problem-solving questions include: “What steps can be taken to reduce environmental damage?” and “What legal policies should be instituted to prevent discrimination based on gender or race?”

By following these tips, you can ensure that your questions are well-crafted and thoughtfully constructed. Asking the right questions will enable you to uncover important insights and make your essay a success!

Tip 1: Read the Prompt Carefully and Analyze Keywords

Understanding the essay prompt is key to coming up with questions that are relevant and meaningful. You should begin by carefully reading the prompt and evaluating any keywords or topics to consider. This will help you to stay focused on the task at hand and ensure that your questions address the relevant points.

It is a good idea to make a list of all the keywords in the prompt and then come up with a few questions for each keyword. This will help you to tailor your questions to the specific points of the essay and ensure that you don’t miss any important details. Additionally, make sure to focus on the main topic and try to avoid getting sidetracked by tangential topics.

Finally, it is important to remember that the essay question should be clear and concise, so you need to make sure that your questions provide an effective way to explore the topic in depth. Avoid asking too many questions that are overly general or provide little insight into the subject matter.

Tip 2: Brainstorm Ideas

Brainstorming is an important step in the essay writing process. It involves generating ideas and topics related to the essay prompt or topic. Brainstorming can help you come up with a range of possible questions related to the essay prompt, as well as the many ways those questions could be addressed.

First and foremost, it’s important to carefully read the essay prompt and analyze any keywords or key topics within the prompt. Then, think of broader topics that may relate to the prompt. For example, if the prompt is about the history of the civil rights movement in the United States, consider what specific events, people, or legislation could be included in an essay about this topic.

It can also be helpful to generate ideas related to the prompt by doing research online or by consulting additional texts. This way, you can find new facts, data, or examples that can be used when forming questions and developing arguments for your essay. Additionally, conducting research and familiarizing yourself with other essays on the same topic can help you gain a better understanding of vocabulary and sentence structure related to the prompt.

Finally, brainstorming can involve coming up with multiple questions from a single prompt. This means exploring different angles on the same topic and creating questions that can be answered in various ways. For instance, if the prompt is asking you to write an essay on the effect of the civil rights movement on public education, consider how this topic can be approached and what unique points you can make using evidence and facts.

Seeking Feedback to Ask Engaging Questions

When you are writing an essay , it is easy to get stuck on coming up with the right questions. Seeking feedback from peers or editors can be a great help in this process. Having someone else read your work can help identify areas that need improvement or need more thought. It also gives you the opportunity to get outside perspectives and develop new ideas for asking questions.

Having feedback from others can help you answer questions more effectively. It can also help you see your own essay from a different angle, helping you to come up with more engaging questions. Sometimes, even just talking about the essay idea to someone else can provide insight into the topic and help you come up with new and interesting questions.

When seeking feedback, it’s important to explain your goal: to come up with engaging questions. That way, the person reviewing your work can offer more help in that area. Additionally, it can be helpful to share any research you’ve already done, sources you’ve consulted, or any reading material you’ve found that could support your ideas.

To get the most out of feedback, it’s important to ask questions that will help you better develop your ideas. You might want to ask questions such as “What other questions could I ask to explore this topic further?” or “Are there any other points I could make to support my ideas?” Asking these types of questions will help you get the most out of the feedback and gain valuable insight into the topic.

Seeking feedback from peers and/or editors is a great way to improve your essay and come up with engaging questions. By leveraging feedback from others who are familiar with the essay topic , you can gain valuable insight, identify potential gaps in your understanding, and develop better questions. Ultimately, seeking feedback can help you write a better essay and ask questions more effectively.

Tip 4: Ask Clarifying Questions

Asking clarifying questions about the essay prompt or topic can be extremely helpful when trying to select the right question. It is important to focus on the key elements of the essay and try to understand the overall message or purpose being conveyed in the prompt. This can help guide you in finding the best question to ask in order to get the most out of your essay.

What Are Clarifying Questions?

Clarifying questions are questions that are used to help better understand a given topic or prompt. They are asked to gain a clear, concise understanding of what is being asked in the essay. For example, if the prompt for an essay was “Describe the changes that occurred in the economy during the Industrial Revolution”, a clarifying question might be “Which countries are being referenced when discussing economic changes during the Industrial Revolution?”.

How Can Asking Clarifying Questions Help?

Asking clarifying questions can help you hone in on the right question to ask in your essay. It can also help to provide context which can make it easier to craft an effective essay. Crafting the right questions before starting the actual writing of the essay can give you an advantage over other students who may not have put in the same time and effort to think through their essay topics.

Tips for Asking Clarifying Questions

When asking clarifying questions there are a few tips to keep in mind to make sure you get the necessary information from the prompt:

• Be precise – use precise language that is easy to understand and doesn’t leave room for interpretation.
• Ask why – don’t just ask what, but also ask why the prompt is asking what it is.
• Be specific – make sure the questions you are asking directly relate to the essay prompt.

Asking clarifying questions can help you develop a deeper understanding of the essay topic and ensure that you are crafting the best question for your essay. Taking the time to ask clarifying questions will be well worth the effort as it can help you construct an engaging and effective essay.

Tip 5: Be Specific

Writing effective questions for an essay requires some thought and consideration. Asking the right question can mean getting the most comprehensive answer or uncovering significant detail. For this reason, it’s important to be specific and avoid vague descriptions when writing your questions.

The difference between a specific and a general question can be seen in the wording and detail provided. A specific question will ask for detail, analysis, and examples, while a general question will provide broad statements or multiple choice answers.

For example, let’s say you are writing an essay about the Revolutionary War. A specific question might be, “What role did African Americans play during the Revolutionary War?” This question requires more detailed research and thinking as it is specific. A general question such as, “Who fought in the Revolutionary War?” is much too broad and does not require any further thought on the matter.

When writing your question, consider what information you need to answer the prompt. A good rule of thumb is to write out a sentence that contains the main idea or point of the question and then break it down into two or three parts. Each part should ask for more detail or analysis. For instance, a more detailed question than the one above could be, “What contributions did African Americans make to the Revolutionary War effort, and how did this influence the outcome of the war?”

In addition, be sure to avoid creating questions that have no real answer. Your questions should always be able to be answered with evidence and/or research. For example, avoid questions like “Do you think the Revolutionary War was good or bad?” as there is no clear answer or evidence to back up either side.

By taking the time to create specific questions for your essay, you are ensuring that you are asking the right questions and getting the most out of the research and thought process. Being specific will also help focus your research and answer the essay prompt more efficiently.

Overall, when writing questions for an essay, you must be sure to create specific questions that ask for detailed answers and provide evidence to back them up. Avoid general questions and questions that can’t be answered with evidence or research. With practice and careful consideration, you will be well on your way to creating specific and effective essay questions.

Tip 6: Avoid Vague Descriptions

When asking questions in an essay, it’s important to avoid making statements that are too vague. Vague descriptions can easily lead to confusion and may cause the reader to misinterpret the intention of the question.

By avoiding vague descriptions, you can ensure that your essay is clear and concise. This will also make it easier for readers to understand the message that you are trying to convey.

Vague descriptions generally contain words or phrases that have unclear meaning. These may include words such as “many”, “some” or “most”, as well as phrases like “it varies”. It’s important to avoid these types of words and phrases when asking a question in an essay .

In some cases, you may need to use a vague description. In these cases, it’s important to provide additional context so that the reader can interpret the intention of the question. You can do this by providing specific examples or additional details about the topic.

For example, if you wanted to ask how technology has changed our lives, you could provide an example of a specific type of technology and ask how it has impacted our lives. This would provide clarity on the exact question that you are asking and make it easier for the reader to understand.

Overall, avoiding vague descriptions is essential when asking questions in an essay. This will help ensure that your questions are clear, concise and easy to understand. Additionally, provide additional context and examples if you do need to use a vague description. This will make it easier for readers to interpret the message of the question and understand the point that you are trying to make.

Examples of Good Questions to Ask in an Essay

Asking the right question can make all the difference when writing an essay. A good question will do more than just state a fact—it will help you to explore an idea, argue a point, or provide insight. That’s why it’s important to understand what makes a good question.

When asking a question in an essay, it should be direct, pointed and relevant to the topic. Here are few examples of good questions to ask in an essay:

• What is the historical context of this issue?
• How does this argument fit into current debates on the topic?
• What are the implications of this argument for future research?
• What do other scholars have to say about this issue?

When using example-based questions, it’s important to make sure that the example is relevant to the subject and that the question being asked isn’t too broad or difficult to answer. Here are some examples of good example-based questions:

• How did John F. Kennedy’s speech on civil rights inform current policy debates?
• What impact did the invention of the printing press have on the spread of literacy?
• What role did the French Revolution play in the development of modern democracy?
• What are the implications of the Eurozone crisis for economic growth in Europe?

These types of questions encourage deeper exploration of a topic and can help you to develop a more nuanced argument. Remember to always focus on asking relevant questions that are directly related to the essay prompt.

Conclusion:

Writing an essay is a great way to answer questions, express your opinion, and tell a story. It’s important to make sure you ask the right questions in your essay. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself what you are trying to get out of this essay. Will it help you prove a point? Explain something? Move the reader’s understanding along? If you can answer these questions, you’ll be better prepared to pick the best questions for your essay.

Here are some key takeaway points to remember when asking questions in an essay:

• Read the prompt carefully and analyze keywords.
• Brainstorm ideas and develop multiple questions from one prompt.
• Seek feedback from peers and/or editors to refine your thoughts.
• Ask clarifying questions to help guide your question selection.
• Be specific when asking questions.
• Avoid vague descriptions.

By following these tips, you’ll be able to easily identify the right questions to ask in any essay. Asking the right questions will help you get clear answers and move the conversation forward. This will ultimately help you write a better essay that expresses your thoughts more effectively.

Making sure you reference the sources of information that you use in your essay is important for acknowledging the work of others and also for avoiding plagiarism. Including references in your essay can help to support your arguments, add credibility and make your writing more compelling.

When writing an essay, it is important to look for outside sources of information or data that backs up your argument, but always make sure to cite them properly. You should include a list of references at the end of your essay, providing details such as the authors’ names, the year the source was published, and the title of the source.

When formatting your reference list, check with your teacher or professor to find out if there is a preferred style, such as MLA or APA. The format may vary depending on the type of sources you used. For example, books require different information than online sources.

• For books: author name(s), title, edition number, publisher name, place of publication, date of publication.
• For articles: author name(s), title of article, name of magazine or journal, volume and issue number, page numbers, date of publication.
• For websites: author name(s) (if available), title of page/article, website name, web address, date of publication or last update.

It is good practice to cross-check your reference list with the in-text citations that you have used throughout your essay. Make sure the two match up. If you have any doubt about whether something should be referenced, it’s best to include it. It is also important to keep track of all information used in your research, so you can easily create a comprehensive list of references.

• Last Edit 01 MAY 2023

Nick Radlinsky

Nick Radlinsky is a devoted educator, marketing specialist, and management expert with more than 15 years of experience in the education sector. After obtaining his business degree in 2016, Nick embarked on a quest to achieve his PhD, driven by his commitment to enhancing education for students worldwide. His vast experience, starting in 2008, has established him as a reputable authority in the field.

Nick's article, featured in Routledge's " Entrepreneurship in Central and Eastern Europe: Development through Internationalization ," highlights his sharp insights and unwavering dedication to advancing the educational landscape. Inspired by his personal motto, "Make education better," Nick's mission is to streamline students' lives and foster efficient learning. His inventive ideas and leadership have contributed to the transformation of numerous educational experiences, distinguishing him as a true innovator in his field.

TOK Essay Word Count. Min & Max

In this guide, we discuss the crucial parameters set by the International Baccalaureate for minimum and maximum word counts. Through the insights of an experienced IB writer, this article offers practical strategies for staying within these limits while improving the quality and depth of your essay.

How Long Is IB IA? Average IA Word Count

From my experience as IB tutor, a frequent question among students is, “How Long Is IB IA?” This question is crucial as the IA represents a significant component of the IB diploma, reflecting a student’s ability to apply classroom knowledge in a real-world context.

IB Extended Essay Rubric. Grading Criteria

Understanding the IB extended essay rubric is essential for success. The rubric provides a framework that grades students on several key criteria including the sharpness of their research question, the rigor of their methodology, the breadth and depth of their knowledge, the fluidity and clarity of their argumentation, and their personal engagement with the research topic.

IB TOK Essay Rubric. Grading Criteria

This article provides essential insights and strategies for understanding the assessment process and helping you write essays that meet and exceed the rigorous standards of the IB curriculum. Whether you’re striving for clarity of argument, effective integration of knowledge, or personal engagement, our tips will help you achieve a higher score.

IB Internal Assessment Rubric and Grading Criteria

The IB IA rubric is carefully structured to assess students’ understanding, skills and application of subject matter in a nuanced and comprehensive manner. Each subject rubric, whether for sciences such as Biology and Chemistry, humanities such as History and Psychology, or Mathematics, emphasizes a unique set of criteria tailored to assess specific competencies and skills.

Visual Arts IA Topics: The Best Topic Ideas

In the vast world of art, the possibilities for your IA topic are nearly limitless. Yet, this abundance of choice can sometimes feel overwhelming. Whether you’re drawn to traditional painting techniques, the avant-garde movements of the 20th century, or the intersection of digital media and art, your chosen topic should ignite a spark of curiosity and passion within you.

© 2023  I Bstudenthelp.com. This website is owned and operated by Udeepi OU Harju maakond, Tallinn, Lasnamäe linnaosa, Sepapaja tn 6, 15551. Disclaimer : Services we provide are only to assist the buyer like a guideline to complete any kind of writing assignment. Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions Cookie Policy Revision Policy Refund Policy

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

8 Questions Your College Essay Should Answer

Your college essay should reflect your opinions and experiences and display clear and critical thinking. It’s more than a list of facts or a highlight reel of successes; it helps college admissions officers understand your character. So show them who you are. Set yourself apart from other candidates by painting a vivid picture of yourself.

Colleges may provide writing prompts or leave the topic up to you. Whether requirements are specific or vague, your college essay should answer important questions to grab the attention of each college admissions officer who reads it.

How Important Is the College Essay?

It depends . If you have a high GPA, competitive test scores, and stand-out extracurricular activities, acceptance is less likely to hinge on your essay. If you’re on the borderline, an essay can’t make up for inadequate scores or stats, but a good essay might give you the edge over another student.

Even at top schools, college essays can make a difference by allowing your personality, passions, and determination to show through. Schools like students with a track record of success. Your essay can show them where you shine and what benefits you’d bring to their community.

According to the College Board, “a majority of colleges and universities believe the essay to be of considerable or moderate importance in determining which academically qualified students they would choose.” Since colleges take essays seriously, you should, too.

Questions to Answer

Including all the facts, feelings, and impressions necessary to set you apart in 600 words is a tall order, but you can do it. Below are questions your college essay might address to get the right kind of attention. Consider these common prompts before you write. Then write to the supplied prompt or choose your own focus. First create an outline and estimate how long each section should be before you start writing. Some schools put no upper limit on size, but if you write more than 700 words, overworked admissions officers become frustrated. Aim for about 550 to 600 words.

1. How can you foster your passion and love of learning at this school?

If you mention specific things about a college, get the facts straight. Mention courses, programs, or opportunities that show you’ve done research. Don’t feel you need to praise the school too much. This isn’t about buttering people up; it’s about showing how you’d fit into the college environment. Share something specific to emphasize what makes you a good fit. Describe how the school would benefit from your presence. Mention planned majors or extracurriculars that show how you’d take advantage of their resources. Demonstrate that you’re ready to be active in classes, leadership opportunities, or other activities.

2. What are your long-term goals?

Show that you’re self-aware. Share your plans. Don’t know what you’ll major in? Focus on your most likely general field of study. Discuss what drew you to it and what you’ll do in future. How is the college the best place for you to meet those goals? Focus on one or two; don’t mention too many things without addressing any in depth.

3. Do you intend to go to graduate school?

This question assesses planning abilities and awareness of strengths. If you see yourself going on to graduate school, describe what you’ll study. Express how you’ll use undergraduate time to prepare for that future. Describe resources that will help you achieve your goals.

Show that you’re open to considering further study once you see how you develop during college. Even if you don’t intend to go to grad school, demonstrate that you’re a devoted student. Focus on how you’ll benefit from undergraduate work. Describe how much it matters to have a first-rate undergrad education.

4. Do you take initiative? Are you self-motivated?

A cardinal rule of good writing is: Show, don’t tell. Don’t tell colleges how important something is— show them what you’ve done. Describe times when you’ve taken action. Write about instances when discipline and persistence helped you. Show evidence of initiative and determination. Describe examples of self-starting behavior so readers imagine you in action.

5. How involved are you in extracurriculars? What have you learned from them?

Extracurriculars show evidence of determination, creativity, teamwork, passion, or civic-mindedness. They clarify what you value, what motivates you, what sets you apart. Give examples of ways you’ve pushed yourself outside of school. Which challenges did you overcome? Focus on one or two and make an impression with personal details.

6. Have you gone beyond the high school curriculum to challenge yourself?

Describing extracurriculars that show talents and interests is valuable. Consider also showing concern for others. Have you volunteered, tutored, been a counselor, helped parents with their business, or worked after school? How do you challenge yourself as part of a team? Help readers see how well you’d integrate into their community.

7. How do you overcome obstacles and problems?

Don’t talk about lofty principles; give examples of problems you’ve solved. Write about ways in which you’ve overcome obstacles. Willingness to get help is good—knowing limits is healthy. Being willing to get assistance and learn from others is impressive. If you show how you’ve improved after getting help, you show willingness to stick to difficult tasks.

8. What sets you apart from other applicants?

Don’t list characteristics; focus on behaviors. Enthusiasm, attitude, and drive are easier to see if you explain that you used them to start a club, work at a dog shelter, or build a boat. Let readers imagine you doing and succeeding. Share times you did something you’re proud of. Let that behavior illuminate who you are.

Once you’ve written your college essay, set it aside, then  re-read it with fresh eyes. Get at least one person (a teacher or counselor is ideal) to proofread i it. Show what you care about and what makes you different. Then you’ll really shine!

Things to Keep in Mind Before You Write

If you’re supplied with a writing prompt, read it carefully. Your essay shows how well you follow directions. Some schools don’t ask a question or suggest a topic; those that do want to see that you address it directly. Don’t let your essay feel generic or written to answer a different prompt.

What’s the reason for the prompt? What does the college hope to learn? Sarah Myers McGinty , author of The College Application Essay , says essays often uncover how well a student might fit at the school, or show whether a student can do the work. She says colleges tend to ask three kinds of questions:

• You questions about who are you and what you’d offer to the college community
• Why us questions about why you think the college would be a good fit
• Creative questions that give you chances to share inventive, original thoughts

Before writing to a prompt, take time to consider what kind of question it asks. What is the college really interested in learning about you? Write to address that interest.

Make answers specific and personal. Don’t write too broadly. Don’t tell your life story or echo the rest of your application. Focus on one thing in detail. Make your story something readers won’t find elsewhere. It should be less about experiences than about how you respond to them. Differentiate yourself from others.

Don’t just describe what happened—reflect on it. Just telling a story isn’t the point. Giving a glimpse into how you think is more important. Show what insights you’ve gained from experiences.

Creative doesn’t mean unfocused. If a college essay prompt is meant to show creativity, you must still write a detailed, logical essay with a point. Avoid meandering or pretention. Even off-the-wall prompts require well-written responses. Don’t let parents or teachers influence your style so much that you sound like they do. Write in your own voice. Also, stick to the truth; don’t embellish your history.

Be careful with humor. Writing vividly without trying to be funny usually works best. Show enthusiasm but avoid jokes or humor that might offend or confuse admissions officers or professors who read what you write.

Don’t write a sob story. Students often write about unusual challenges. Stories about adversity have built-in drama and evoke sympathy. But sympathy alone won’t get you admitted. Don’t rely too heavily on emotions; include important facts. If you focus on challenges, describe how you overcame them.

For more ideas about writing a college essay, check out these articles in the CollegeVine blog:

How to Prepare for College Level Writing in High School

What Is a College Personal Statement?

4 Ways Parents Can Help Their Teen with College Essays

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

100 Writing Practice Lessons & Exercises

by Joe Bunting | 50 comments

Free Book Planning Course!  Sign up for our 3-part book planning course and make your book writing easy . It expires soon, though, so don’t wait.  Sign up here before the deadline!

Want to become a better writer? Perhaps you want to write novels, or maybe you just want to get better grades in your essay writing assignments , or maybe you'd like to start a popular blog .

If you want to write better, you need practice. But what does a writing practice actually look like? In this post, I'm going to give you everything you need to kick off your writing practice and become a better writer faster.

What Is Writing Practice?

Writing practice is a method of becoming a better writer that usually involves reading lessons about the writing process, using writing prompts, doing creative writing exercises , or finishing writing pieces, like essays, short stories , novels , or books . The best writing practice is deliberate, timed, and involves feedback.

How Do You Practice Writing?

This was the question I had when I first started The Write Practice in 2011. I knew how to practice a sport and how to practice playing an instrument. But for some reason, even after studying it in college, I wasn't sure how to practice writing.

I set out to create the best writing practice I could. The Write Practice is the result.

I found that the best writing practice has three aspects:

Deliberate . Writing whatever you feel like may be cathartic, but it's not an effective way to become a better writer or build your writing skills. You'll get better faster by practicing a specific technique or aspect of the writing process each time you sit down to write.

This is why we have a new lesson about the writing process each day on The Write Practice, followed by a practice prompt at the end so you can put what you learned to use immediately.

Timed . It's no secret writers struggle with focus. There are just too many interesting distractions—Facebook, email, Kim Kardashian's Instagram feed (just kidding about that last one, sort of)—and writing is just too hard sometimes.

Setting a timer, even for just fifteen minutes, is an easy and effective way to stay focused on what's important.

This is why in our writing practice prompt at the end of each post we have a time limit, usually with a link to an online tool egg timer , so you can focus on deliberate practice without getting distracted.

Feedback . Getting feedback is one of the requirements to deliberately practice writing or any other craft. Feedback can look like listening to the reactions of your readers or asking for constructive criticism from editors and other writers.

This is why we ask you to post your writing practice after each lesson, so that you can get feedback from other writers in The Write Practice community. It's also why we set up The Write Practice Pro community , to provide critique groups for writers to get feedback on each finished piece of writing.

Our 100+ Best Creative Writing Practice Exercises and Lessons

Now that you know how we practice writing at The Write Practice, here are our best writing practice lessons to jumpstart your writing skills with some daily writing exercises, for beginner writers to even the most expert writers:

All-Time, Top 10 Writing Lessons and Exercises

These ten posts are our most viewed articles to boost your writing practice:

1. What is Plot? The 6 Elements of Plot and How to Use Them . Great stories use similar elements in wildly different ways to build page-turning stories. Click here to read what they are and learn how to start using them !

2. Top 100 Short Story Ideas . Here are over a hundred writing prompts in a variety of genres. If you need ideas for your next story, check this out!

3. How To Use Neither, Nor, Or, and Nor Correctly . Even good writers struggle figuring out when to use neither/nor and either/or. In this post, our copy-queen Liz Bureman settles the confusion once and for all. Click to continue to the writing exercise

4. Ten Secrets To Write Better Stories . How does Pixar manage to create such great stories, year after year? And how do you write a good story? In this post, I distill everything I've learned about how to write a good story into ten tips. Click to continue to the writing exercise

5. 35 Questions To Ask Your Characters From Marcel Proust . To get to know my characters better, I use a list of questions known as the Proust Questionnaire, made famous by French author, Marcel Proust. Click to continue to the writing exercise

6. How a Scene List Can Change Your Novel-Writing Life . Creating a scene list changed my novel-writing life, and doing the same will change yours too. Includes examples of the scene lists from famous authors. Click to continue to the writing exercise

7. Why You Need to be Using the Oxford Comma . Most people I've met have no idea what the Oxford comma is, but it's probably something that you have used frequently in your writing. Click to continue to the writing exercise

8. Six Surprising Ways to Write Better Interview Questions.  The interview is the most-used tool in a journalist's bag. But that doesn't mean novelists, bloggers, and even students can't and don't interview people. Here's how to conduct a great interview. Click to continue to the writing exercise

9. Why You Should Try Writing in Second Person . You've probably used first person and third person point-of-view already. But what about second person? This post explains three reasons why you should try writing from this point-of-view. Click to continue to the writing exercise

10. The Secret to Show, Don't Tell . You've heard the classic writing rule, “Show. Don't Tell.” Every writing blog ever has talked about it, and for good reason. Showing, for some reason, is really difficult. Click to continue to the writing exercise.

12 Exercises and Lessons To Become a Better Writer

How do you become a better writer? These posts share our best advice:

• Want to Be a Better Writer? Cut These 7 Words
• What I Mean When I Say I Am A Writer
• How to Become a Writer: 3 Simple Steps
• 72% of Writers Struggle With THIS
• 7 Lies About Becoming a Writer That You Probably Believe
• 10 Questions to Find Your Unique Writing Voice
• The Best Writing Book I’ve Ever Read
• The Best Way to Become a Better Writer
• The Creative Writer’s Toolkit: 6 Tools You Can’t Write Without
• Should You Write More or Write Better: Quantity vs Quality
• How to Become a Better Writer in One, Simple Step
• 11 Writing Tips That Will Change Your Life

6 Lessons and Exercises from Great Writers

If you want to be a writer, learn from the great writers who have gone before you:

• 23 Essential Quotes from Ernest Hemingway About Writing
• 29 Quotes that Explain How to Become a Better Writer
• 10 Lessons Dr. Seuss Can Teach Writers
• 10 Writing Tips from Ursula Le Guin
• Once Upon a Time: Pixar Prompt
• All the Pretty Words: Writing In the Style of Cormac McCarthy

12 Genre and Format Specific Writing Lessons and Exercises

Here are our best writing lessons for specific types of writing, including essays, screenplays, memoir, short stories, children's books, and humor writing:

• Writing an Essay? Here Are 10 Effective Tips
• How To Write a Screenplay: The 5 Step Process
• How to Write a Great Memoir: a Complete Guide
• How to Write a Short Story from Start to Finish
• How to Write a Thriller Novel
• How to Write a Children's Book
• How to Write a Love Story
• How to Write a Coming of Age Story or Book
• How to Write an Adventure Book
• 5 Key Elements for Successful Short Stories
• 4 Tips to Write a Novel That Will Be Adapted Into a Movie
• Humor Writing for People Who Aren’t Funny

14 Characterization Lessons and Exercises

Good characters are the foundation of good fiction. Here are our best lessons to create better characters:

• Character Development: How to Create Characters Audiences Will Love
• Writing Villains: 9 Evil Examples of the Villain Archetype
• How NOT to Introduce a New Character
• The Strongest Form of Characterization
• The Most Important Character Archetype
• How Do You Build A Strong Character In Your Writing?
• 75+ Antihero Examples and How to Use Them
• How to Explore Your Characters’ Motivations
• 8 Tips for Naming Characters
• The Protagonist: How to Center Your Story
• Heroes vs. Anti-Heroes: Which Is Right For Your Story?
• The Weakest Form of Characterization
• How to Write With an Accent
• How To Create a Character Sketch Using Scrivener

15 Grammar Lessons and Exercises

I talk to so many writers, some of whom are published authors, who struggle with grammar. Here are our best writing lessons on grammar:

• Is It Okay To End A Sentence With A Preposition?
• Contractions List: When To Use and When To Avoid
• Good vs. Well
• Connotation vs. Denotation
• Per Se vs. Per Say
• When You SHOULD Use Passive Voice
• When Do You Use “Quotation Marks”
• Polysyndeton and Asyndeton: Definition and Examples
• The Case Against Twilight
• Affect Versus Effect
• Stop Saying “Literally”
• What Is a Comma Splice? And Why Do Editors Hate Them?
• Intra vs. Inter: Why No One Plays Intermural Sports
• Alright and Alot: Words That Are Not Words
• The Poor, Misunderstood Semicolon

4 Journalism Lessons and Exercises

Want to be a journalist? Or even use techniques from journalism to improve your novel, essay, or screenplay? Here are our best writing lessons on journalism:

• Six Ways to Ask Better Questions In Interviews
• How Should You Interview Someone? Over Email? In Person?
• What If They Don’t Want to Talk to You?
• Eleven Habits of a Highly Effective Interviewers

16 Plot and Structure Lessons and Exercises

Want to write a good story? Our top plot and structure lessons will help:

• The Ten Types of Story and How to Master Them
• Points of a Story: 6 Plot Points Every Story Needs
• How to Shape a Story: The 6 Arcs
• 7 Keys To Write the Perfect First Line of a Novel
• The Secret to Creating Conflict
• 4 Tips to Avoid Having Your Short Story Rejected by a Literary Magazine
• 7 Steps to Creating Suspense
• 5 Elements of Storytelling
• 3 Important Rules for Writing Endings
• A Writer’s Cheatsheet to Plot and Structure
• Overcoming the Monster
• How to Satisfy Your Reader With a Great Ending
• Pow! Boom! Ka-Pow! 5 Tips to Write Fight Scenes
• The Dramatic Question and Suspense in Fiction
• How to Write a Memorable Beginning and Ending
• How to Write the Perfect First Page

6 Lessons and Exercises to Beat Writer's Block

Writer's block is real, and it can completely derail your writing. Here are six lessons to get writing again:

• How To Write Whether You Feel Like it Or Not
• This Fun Creative Writing Exercise Will Change Your Life
• When You Should Be Writing But Can't…
• What to do When Your Word Count is Too Low
• 7 Tricks to Write More with Less Willpower
• When You Don’t Know What to Write, Write About Your Insecurities

7 Literary Technique Lessons and Exercises

These writing and storytelling techniques will teach you a few tricks of the trade you may not have discovered before:

• 3 Tips to “Show, Don’t Tell” Emotions and Moods
• 3 Reasons to Write Stream of Consciousness Narrative
• 16 Observations About Real Dialogue
• Intertextuality As A Literary Device
• Why You Should Use Symbolism In Your Writing
• 6 Ways to Evoke Emotion in Poetry and Prose
• 3 Tips To Write Modern Allegorical Novels
• Symbol vs. Motif: What’s the Difference

3 Inspirational Writing Lessons and Exercises

Need some inspiration? Here are three of our most inspiring posts:

• Why We Write: Four Reasons
• You Must Remember Every Scar
• 17 Reasons to Write Something NOW

3 Publishing Blogging Lessons and Exercises

If you want to get published, these three lessons will help:

• The Secret to Writing On Your Blog Every Day
• How to Publish Your Book and Sell Your First 1,000 Copies
• How to Get Published in Literary Magazines

11 Writing Prompts

Need inspiration or just a kick in the pants to write. Try one of our top writing prompts :

• Grandfathers [writing prompt]
• Out of Place [writing prompt]
• Sleepless [writing prompt]
• Longing [writing prompt]
• Write About Yourself [writing prompt]
• 3 Reasons You Should Write Ghost Stories
• Road Trip [writing prompt]
• Morning [writing prompt]
• The Beach [writing prompt]
• Fall [writing prompt]
• How to Use Six-Word Stories As Writing Prompts

Is It Time To Begin Your Writing Practice?

It's clear that if you want to become a writer, you need to practice writing. We've created a proven process to practice your writing at The Write Practice, but even if you don't join our community, I hope you'll start practicing in some way today.

Personally, I waited  far  too long to start practicing and it set my writing back years.

How about you? Do you think practicing writing is important?  Let me know in the comments section .

Choose one of the writing practice posts above. Then, read the lesson and participate in the writing exercise, posting your work in the Pro Practice Workshop . And if you post, please give feedback to your fellow writers who also posted their practices.

Have fun and happy practicing!

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

50 Comments

You have THE BEST content for writing on this blog!!

Thank you, Kristen. This made my morning. 🙂

Thanks Mitch. 🙂

I can’t remember when I started following this website. I have to look in my notebooks because that’s where I did these practices. I didn’t have access to a computer when I did them, so I wrote them out, setting the time limit. But even when I do get to a computer, I have my reservations about putting my practices on the page. even though it’s practice, I want them to be the best, almost perfect. But I know it won’t be. I’ve gotten feedback before that says so. It still gets to me that I didn’t put something together that not everyone liked. I need to get over it. After all, that is what these practices are about: to learn and improve on our craft.

I don’t know either, George, but it’s been several years. Perfectionism is something so many of us face, and it’s made worse when you don’t have a critique community as warm and encouraging as ours is. I hope you and everyone here are always willing to try something new, even if it comes out a little messed up, because you know we’ll support you and try to make you better.

What a great share! Thanks so much!

You’re so welcome, Elizabeth. Thank you for commenting.

when I ran writing classes I wrote. when I am “a member of writing classes” the teacher/leader/facilitator is NOT MY AUDIENCE and so I don’t write as well/as much. I don’t get the feedback I need from fellow students because most of them have never run their own writing projects/workshops. So many people expect you to write their story for them. I’ve actually got quite a few stories of me own. I have finally decided I like owning them. 😉

It sounds like you need a new critique group, Patience! Hope you can find a place where you get the feedback you need.

Wow! Terrific round-up of resources. 🙂

Thanks Stephanie. 🙂

Practice is necessary, period. It doesn’t matter what you want to learn. If you want to improve, practice is vital.

It’s odd. I’ve known and applied that principle for years on a variety of things. Painting. Drawing. Blogging. Gardening. Laundry.

But never writing.

Like you, I had the notion that just writing every day was all it took to improve. Why not the same level of dedication to writing?

Perhaps it’s time to change that!

I can relate, Carrie. It’s easy to confuse the craft of writing with journaling, thinking that you can just write whatever you feel like and you’ll get better, write something worth reading. The truth is that writing interesting things to read is a skill, but the good news is that you can get better at it with practice. Thanks for practicing with us! 🙂

I love these suggestions , and have set Writing Practice as my homepage so the first 15 minutes of my day is spent writing, whether its a practice or exercise here or another that is sprinkled through out this site, Thank you for all you do everyone here at The Write Practice

This is great Debra. I want to write the first 15 minutes of my day too!

I agree with Joe, Do it. Could be your to do list… ( that could lead to something else story wse later)

I love that, Debra. Such a good way to start your day.

Thanks Joe!

The best! Thank you so much for this.

You’re very welcome!

I simply LOVE all the tips and suggestions given on this blog. They are super helpful!

THANK you. We love sharing them with you. 🙂

Hi! You forgot the link to How to Write a Story a Week: A Day-by-Day Guide.

Thanks a lot for your work! This post is amazing.

It’s a great post Thiago. Definitely one of our most shared. Thanks for mentioning it! BTW here’s the link:

https://thewritepractice.com/a-story-a-week/

Wow!! There are so many exercises…. I just love it..! I am gonna really enjoy it..!

Awesome! Thank you for reading and practicing with us. 🙂

I only read halfway , My tootie is jumping all over me, and typing this is a struggle when a 3yr old wants his Toy Story movie on Youtube in this computer. Thank you for this article, will come back later to finish reading.

I know the feeling! Good luck!

Can’t wait to get stuck in with this! 🙂

Very helpful! Thank you!

I’ve just bookmarked this page. Thanks for this wonderful list.

This is awesome! So many helpful tips. I will be coming back to this often. Thanks for posting this!

Wow, so many goodies! Thank you for always providing such amazing content!!

I have enjoyed all these articles. Thank you for the help an inspiration to get my writing on its way. My creativity is boosting with confidence. Tootle loo.

Amazing contents for beginners like me Joe. I am highly inspired by your commitment. Thank you.

Hey, thanks!

Although I have only read half of thisc article, the practice exercises are excellent. Some of them are exactly what a beginning writer like myself needs. I am committing to at least try ALL of them. Thanks Joe!!

very helpful! thank you..

Amazing articles! Thanks so much for sharing!

My god this article made me love this site . You know it’s kinda hard for a beginner writer, who don’t know where to start and fixing goals, even samll ones give us a direction . A place to go , an aim for our creativity so thanks you , this community and this site. Love you all . At your pens ! 😉

Wow. This is great. I find all your posts informative, but this one is the best for me to use as a guide to get my self starting to write….Thank you.

I’m an old lady who wants to publish one more book before I die — have published several, all non-fiction, and done two under contract to a major publisher (reference books). So help me, the BIGGEST problem I have all along, is keeping track of the damned paper work and research that goes into a book!!! Yet I never ever see articles on something as simple as “How to file” — Oh I know, there’s wonderful software these days so probably I will never find a way to get paper organized — everybody will use software and do it on the computer. I’m too old for that — just one look at the learning curve for software, even putting the damned stuff into computer files is even MORE frustrating than paper!! Oh well, somehow I managed in the past to get books published, I may be able to do it one more time.

you enjoy writing more than anything else and you do indeed care to help others write. I love writing but translation from Arabic into English and English into Arabic is taking all of my time from the early hours of the morning till the evening. I will soon get all of your books in order to read them as soon as possible. One thing I am sure of. You know what you are doing very well. Hamzah

Excellent! Many useful tips. Many thanks!

Liz and Joe, I have only looked at a few exercises. Already, I am convinced that your site is one of the best sites out there. Thank your for sharing your wisdom.

Wow, these are the best lessons and exercises for writing. Actually i’m participating in a compitition this wendsday. so, i’m quite nervous and exited. this helped me a lot

Magnificent post ever I have read. This article will help me a lot to write a right way. Thank you.

i need your help to improve to become a better writer please. i think i usually commit moist of these errors and i don;t pay attention to many advices too.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

• OTR Links 08/17/2015 | doug — off the record - […] 100 Writing Practice Lessons & Exercises […]
• Join the Wacky Writing Prompt Scavenger Hunt (and win silly prizes) - […] Looking for more awesome writing prompts? Find our top 100 writing prompts and writing exercises here » […]
• 5 Hacks to Create a Good Writing Habit - […] To keep yourself focused as you write, consider writing with a timer. […]
• The Only Habit You Need as a Writer - […] It’s the same formula for writing: practice, practice, practice. […]
• Last Week Links For 11/2-11/7 | B. Shaun Smith - […] 100 Writing Practice Lessons & Exercises […]
• 9 blogs per a amants de l’escriptura creativa | Raquel Picolo - […] 100 Writing Practice Lessons & Exercises […]
• 5 Out-of-the-Box Writing Prompt Sources by Emily Wenstrom | ARHtistic License - […] Fortunately, you don’t have to just sit there and take it—there’s ways to take matters into your own hands…
• 100 Writing Practice Lessons & Exercises | dkstevens327 - […] https://thewritepractice.com/writing-practice […]
• 10 Short Story Ideas - […] share it with a friend or join a writing critique group. Feedback is the most important piece of a good…
• 100 Writing Practice Lessons & Exercises - I'm a Writer! - […] Source: 100 Writing Practice Lessons & Exercises […]
• Prompted again… – My Journal-Blog - […] I’ve decided to not go to The daily post to get prompted for my blog post. Instead, I went…
• Writing | Writing in the Real World - […] Here is a link to some practice exercises to help you start writing: Practice! […]
• Writing Exercises for Authors | Writing Prompt Contests - […] for their informative articles and writing exercises, The Write Practice has another list of ten of writing exercises to…
• Frankfort Writers Center » Want to Be a Better Writer? Practice Writing - […] Bunting’s website, The Write Practice, especially this post which features 100 Top Writing Practice Lessons and Exercises, is loaded with tips…
• Want to Be a Better Writer? Practice Writing - Charity Singleton Craig - […] Bunting’s website, The Write Practice, especially this post which features 100 Top Writing Practice Lessons and Exercises, is loaded with tips…
• How to Practice Writing Like Van Gogh Practiced Painting | Creative Writing - […] or describing a person we’ve seen, or building an image of a place we’ve been, we practice writing and…
• What’s Really Keeping You from Writing? | Creative Writing - […] wants to succeed and be good at what they do. But we don’t become the best at something without…
• Intro – Site Title - […] to play at least 20 minutes a day. Essay: I am a very slow writer, so I challenge myself…
• Top 20 of Best Writing Blogs Recommended Most Times by Writing Pros - Consultants 500 - […] Handy Resources: JK Rowling’s 8 Rules of Writing Want to Be a Better Writer? Cut These 7 Words 7…
• Ultimate Guide on How to Be an Author - Author LaVera Edick - […] Learning good writing practices from the experienced authors is one of the best way to acquire sufficient knowledge in…
• 5 Tips to Transform Your Loneliness Into Self Reflection – everydaypower-com - […] your head by free writing for 10 minutes. Just write down whatever is on your mind. Afterwards, be a…
• Your First Writing Practice - […] how fifteen minutes of creative writing each day could change your life. Fifteen minutes of writing practice a day, and…
• Writing Workshop: Can a Workshop Help You Become a Better Writer? - […] Lessons on the creative writing process. […]
• Writing Workshop: Can a Writing Workshop Help You Become a Better Writer? – Books, Literature & Writing - […] Lessons on the creative writing process. Structured time to plan your writing piece and brainstorm story ideas Structured writing…
• Writing Prompt: Two Reasons to Write About Departures - […] or a job in a new city, departures can be stressful, exciting, and full of conflict. Use this prompt…
• Two Reasons to Write About Departures – Lederto.com Blog - […] or a job in a new city, departures can be stressful, exciting, and full of conflict. Use this prompt…
• Two Reasons to Write About Departures | Blog Writing Services - […] or a job in a new city, departures can be stressful, exciting, and full of conflict. Use this prompt…
• What’s the most useful marketing tip you’ve found from this post? - […] or a job in a new city, departures can be stressful, exciting, and full of conflict. Use this prompt…
• 5 Writing Tips for Beginners | Become a Writer Today - […] a good idea to devote time to practice writing about different topics. You can start by discussing simpler and less…
• Best Content Writing Tools Recommended Most Times by the Pros - Consultants 500 - […] Handy Resources: JK Rowling’s 8 Rules of Writing Want to Be a Better Writer? Cut These 7 Words 7…
• The 4pm Blowjob – Buy Free Stuff - […] clarify to your peers what exactly it is that you do. If you adore travel and you have a…
• Satisfy Any Sweet Tooth With These Favorite Candy Bars - My live Posts - Best Place for Bloggers - […] to dⲟ something wߋrk-wise tһat made mｅ һappy, [HP fuel tank ԛuickly remarked that іt was writing. Ⴝo that’s…

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Submit Comment

Join over 450,000 readers who are saying YES to practice. You’ll also get a free copy of our eBook 14 Prompts :

Popular Resources

Book Writing Tips & Guides Creativity & Inspiration Tips Writing Prompts Grammar & Vocab Resources Best Book Writing Software ProWritingAid Review Writing Teacher Resources Publisher Rocket Review Scrivener Review Gifts for Writers

Books By Our Writers

Now, Take Your Idea and Write a Book!

Enter your email to get a free 3-step worksheet and start writing your book in just a few minutes.

You've got it! Just us where to send your guide.

Enter your email to get our free 10-step guide to becoming a writer.

You've got it! Just us where to send your book.

Enter your first name and email to get our free book, 14 Prompts.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

19.2 Getting Ready: Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Research Essay

If you are coming to this chapter after working through some of the earlier chapters in this book, then you are ready to dive into your research essay. By this point, you probably have done some combination of the following things:

• Thought about different kinds of evidence to support your research;
• Been to the library and/or the internet to gather evidence;
• Developed an annotated bibliography for your evidence;
• Written and revised a working thesis for your research;
• Critically analyzed and written about key pieces of your evidence;
• Considered the reasons for disagreeing with and/or questioning the premise of your working thesis;
• Categorized and evaluated your evidence.

In other words, you already have been working on your research essay through the process of researched writing.

But before diving into writing a research essay, you need to take a moment to ask yourself, your peers, and your teacher some important questions about the nature of your project.

What is the specific assignment?

It is crucial to consider the teacher’s directions and assignment for your research essay. The teacher’s specific directions will in large part determine what you are required to do to successfully complete your essay. They may specify how many sources you need to consult, how your essay should be organized, and how long it should be. The directions may even determine your topic. If you have been given the option to choose your own research topic, the assignment for the research essay itself might be open-ended. Alternatively, your instructor may have assigned you a topic to write about.

What is the main purpose of your research essay?

Has the goal of your essay been to answer specific questions based on assigned reading material and your research? Or has the purpose of your research been more open-ended and abstract, perhaps to learn more about issues and topics to share with a wider audience? In other words, is your research essay supposed to answer questions that indicate that you have learned about specific subject matter (usually a topic that your teacher already more or less understands), or is your essay supposed to discover and discuss an issue that is potentially unknown to your audience, including your teacher?

The “demonstrating knowledge about a specific topic” purpose for research is quite common in academic writing. For example, a political science professor might ask students to write a research project about the Bill of Rights in order to help her students learn about the Bill of Rights and to demonstrate an understanding of these important amendments to the U.S. Constitution. But presumably, the professor already knows a fair amount the Bill of Rights, which means she is probably more concerned with finding out if you can demonstrate that you have learned and have formed an opinion about the Bill of Rights based on your research and study.

“Discovering and discussing an issue that is potentially unknown to your audience” is also a very common assignment, particularly in composition courses. As the examples included throughout this chapter   suggest, the subject matter for research essays that are designed to inform your audience about something new is almost unlimited.

How do you select a topic?

If your instructor allows you free choice of topics, the choices can be almost overwhelming. How do you narrow the task to something that interests you, is manageable, and that has enough sources in the library or online to sustain an engaging argument? The best place to start looking for a research project topic is to examine your own interests, passions, and hobbies. What topics, events, people, or natural phenomena, or stories interest, concern you, or make you passionate? What have you always wanted to find out more about or explore in more depth?

To narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as mindmapping or brainstorming. As the example below suggests, you can create a map with both images and text, which are related to branches centered on the main focus, “time management.” Based on this kind of mindmap, you have to narrow down or choose specific parts of your ideas instead of including all the ideas and topics that you had during the mindmapping process. You simultaneously want to ask a question–a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research. It is not necessary to propose a possible answer or working thesis at this stage, but you can speculate about a kind of argument that you can build through research. You may use your research question and working thesis to create a research proposal. For this part of writing, see “ Identifying Issues for Research .”

Looking into the storehouse of your knowledge and life experiences will allow you to choose a topic for your research project in which you are genuinely interested and in which you will be willing to invest plenty of time, effort, and enthusiasm. Simultaneously with being interesting and important to you, your research topic should, of course, interest your readers. As you have learned from the chapter on rhetoric, writers always write with a purpose and for a specific audience.

Therefore, whatever topic you choose and whatever argument you will build about it through research should provoke a response in your readers. And while almost any topic can be treated in an original and interesting way, simply choosing the topic that interests you, the writer, is not, in itself, a guarantee of success of your research project.

Here is some advice on how to select a promising topic for your next research project. As you think about possible topics for your paper, remember that writing is a conversation between you and your readers. Whatever subject you choose to explore and write about has to be something that is interesting and important to them as well as to you.

When selecting topics for research, consider the following factors:

• Your existing knowledge about the topic
• What else you need or want to find out about the topic
• What questions about the topic (or what aspects of it) are important not only for you but for others around you
• Resources (libraries, internet access, primary research sources, and so on) available to you in order to conduct a high quality investigation of your topic.

Read about and “around” various topics that interest you. As we argue later on in this chapter, reading is a powerful invention tool capable of teasing out subjects, questions, and ideas which would not have come to mind otherwise. Reading also allows you to find out what questions, problems, and ideas are circulating among your potential readers, thus enabling you to better and more quickly enter the conversation with those readers through research and writing.

If you have an idea of the topic or issue you want to study, try asking the following questions

• Why do I care about this topic?
• What do I already know or believe about this topic?
• How did I receive my knowledge or beliefs (personal experiences, stories of others, reading, and so on)?
• What do I want to find out about this topic?
• Who else cares about or is affected by this topic? In what ways and why?
• What do I know about the kinds of things that my potential readers might want to learn about it?
• Where do my interests about the topic intersect with my readers’ potential interests, and where they do not?
• Which topic or topics have the most potential to interest not only you, the writer, but also your readers?

Let’s practice how to select a topic and how to narrow down a scope for a research paper within a reasonable timeline. Suppose that, in one first-year seminar on Sociology, you are assigned to write a research-based argumentative essay on social media and privacy.

• Start a free writing or draw a mindmap in relation to the two key terms: social media and privacy. What words come to your mind? How would you relate them to the key terms or to one another? What questions do you have? Write and/or draw them down.
• Examine your initial thoughts. What part of your free writing or mindmap particularly attracts your attention and why? As if you have a magnifying glass, let’s zoom in that part. What specific topics do you like to have under the umbrella of social media and privacy? What would you argue about them?
• List what kinds of information and studies you may need to delve into these topics for an argument.
• Consider where you can find them including campus and local libraries, databases, and other digitally open sources.
• Assume that you have two weeks to complete a five-page research essay. Then, how would you plan a research and writing schedule to meet the deadline? By considering the steps above, make a timeline for the project.
• Compare your timeline with those of your classmates, and exchange each other’s rationales of timelines. Why do they look alike or different? How are the timelines realistic or ideal? After the discussion, if you’d like to revise your schedule for the research and writing, what compels you to reconsider the initial plan?

Continue Reading: 19.3 Planning Your Research

Composition for Commodores Copyright © 2023 by Mollie Chambers; Karin Hooks; Donna Hunt; Kim Karshner; Josh Kesterson; Geoff Polk; Amy Scott-Douglass; Justin Sevenker; Jewon Woo; and other LCCC Faculty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

• LEARN WITH CHLOE
• ABOUT CHLOE

7 Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Start Your Essay

Do you ever find yourself diving into writing without much planning before you start your essay?

I see this A LOT with the students I work with and a few things tend to happen:

– the writing process takes a lot longer – the writing process is more stressful – they end up having to cut loads of words that aren’t relevant – they go off on tangents and don’t answer the question – they get lower grades because of it.

I don’t want this to happen to you. Instead, follow my simple planning process before you start your essay, and you’ll find the whole process much easier AND you’ll achieve higher grades.

In this episode, I take you through a worked example essay question, and teach you the 7 simple but powerful questions you should ask yourself before you start your essay to ensure your arguments are strong, coherent, and that you actually answer the task you’ve been set.

~ FREE TRAINING ~

How to Actually START Your Essay

Workbook + video training to take you from procrastination and overwhelm to understanding your question and mapping out your ideas with momentum. Easier, faster essay writing (and higher grades) await.

Ways to listen:

• Listen in the player above
• Click to listen on Apple Podcasts .
• Click to listen on Spotify .
• Click to listen on Google Podcasts .

Resources and links:

• Check out my membership, the  Kickbutt Students Club .
• Check out my range of study skills trainings .
• Sign up to my awesome email newsletter – Students Who Graduate .
• Grab a copy of my book –  The Return to Study Handbook .
• Find out more and enrol in Essays With Ease .

You may also like...

7 ways to write a sh*te essay (and how to write a great essay instead).

In this episode, you’ll learn the do’s and don’ts of academic writing to help you write a great essay. We’ll start by highlighting seven common mistakes that lead to subpar essays – or what I refer to as shite essays. Because learning what NOT to do can really help you get clear on what you

How to Become the Student Who Graduates With Their Dream Grades

If you’ve ever wondered how to graduate with dream grades, here’s your roadmap. Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed and stressed out on your academic journey? It’s time to break free from that cycle. We’ll explore the powerful concept that results are a product of behaviors, which are rooted in your identity. You’ll learn how

7 Essential Ways to Ensure This Is Your Best Academic Year Yet

Are you ready to embark on your best academic year ever? Getting ready for the new academic year is about more than buying new stationery and setting up your study space. It IS possible to take a few simple, intentional actions now to set the stage for an easier studying life AND epic grades. The

What do you want to learn? 

Either select the study skill you want to dive into, or choose whether you're in the mood to check out a blog post or podcast episode.

• Confident learning
• Critical thinking
• Distance learning
• Essay writing
• Exam preparation
• Higher grades
• Mature student
• Note taking
• Organisation
• Procrastination
• Productivity
• Study challenge
• Study habits
• Studying while working

FREE EMAIL SERIES

How to Build Unshakeable Studying Confidence in Just 5 Days

Learn 5 powerful strategies to build an unshakeable foundation of studying confidence.

Say goodbye to self-doubt and traumatic school memories getting in the way of you acing your learning as an adult.

And instead say hello to studying with more motivation, positivity and ease so that you can graduate with the grades you want.

~ ENROL IN THIS FREE TRAINING ~

It's time to say goodbye to procrastination and overwhelm and hello to easier, faster essay writing.

I will never sell your information to third parties and will protect it in accordance with my privacy policy . You may withdraw this consent at any time by unsubscribing.

• Plagiarism check
• AI Check New
• Get premium

20 important questions to consider when writing an essay

1. who is your audience.

Every writer should consider their audience when writing. However, when writing for your own blog or website, it is important to understand who you are writing for.

Your audience may be an individual, a specific group, or a larger group. Your writing should be based on what they are looking for and what they are seeking out. For example, if you are writing a blog post about how to lose weight, you may be targeting people interested in losing weight.

However, you may also be targeting people who are interested in writing, as you may be writing on the topic of losing weight and writing at the same time.

Every writer should always consider their audience, as you want to provide them with the best material possible.

2. What is the purpose of your paper?

I’ve seen some pretty funny responses to this question, but you’ll get a better grade if you provide the instructor with a purpose statement that’s clear, concise, and logical. In other words, give your instructor an answer they can understand.

You could simply say that you’re writing a persuasive essay in order to convince readers to adopt your viewpoint. If you’re writing a research paper, you could say that you’re providing evidence to support a claim, or that you’re trying to answer a specific question. If you’re writing a memoir or a novel, you could say that you’re telling a story or creating characters that readers can relate to.

As long as your purpose statement is clear and logical, you’ll get points for providing the instructor with a response that they can understand and relate to.

3. What is the main argument or point you are trying to make?

The question of “What is the main argument or point you are trying to make?” is one of the most popular questions from an editor, reviewer, and reader. It’s also one of the most difficult to answer. When writing an essay, article, or book, we tell ourselves that we want to write about X. We believe that X is the problem, and we’re the hero who has discovered the solution. Then, we get stuck when we start writing and realize that the solution we’re presenting isn’t actually a solution at all. We have no idea how to fix X! Then, we panic, and we start to think that maybe X isn’t the problem after all. We think maybe we’ve misunderstood the problem or misdiagnosed it. This is why the question of “What is the main argument or point you are trying to make?” is so difficult to answer. Because we’re moving the goalposts as we write. We discover new problems and new solutions as we write, so the answer to the question changes over time.

For example, let’s say I write a book about how to manage your email. I tell myself that the main argument is that you can’t manage your email if you have to check it all the time. So, I need to show readers how to batch their email so that they can leave it for blocks of time. Then, I start writing, and I discover that many people have multiple email addresses, so they can check one address for personal and one for work. So, I need to teach people how to manage multiple accounts. Then, I discover that people use Gmail, Outlook, and other types of email, so I need to explain how to manage all of these different types. Then, I discover that some people don’t want to give up their email access because they rely on it for work. So, I need to explain how to set a boundary between work and personal email. The goalposts keep moving, and the main argument changes as I write.

The lesson is that you don’t need to know exactly what your main argument is before you start writing. Because you’re likely to discover things along the way. The important thing is to start writing and see where the story takes you. Use writing to clarify your thinking.

4. What evidence or examples will you use to support your argument?

When you’re writing an argumentative essay, you must use evidence to back up your argument. That evidence can take the form of statistics, examples, or expert opinion. The key is to make sure that your reader understands exactly why your argument is valid and true. Evidence is the key to making that connection with your reader, so be sure to use it!

For example, let’s say you’re writing an argumentative essay about why college athletes should be paid. You might use statistics to show how much money the university is making off of these athletes, and how little these athletes are getting for all of their hard work and effort. You could also use examples of other college athletes who were paid and how their performance improved as a result. Or, you could use expert opinion, with quotes from college athletic directors and coaches who support paying college athletes. All of these examples are forms of evidence, and they all help to make your argument stronger and more persuasive.

5. How well do you know the subject matter?

No matter what you’re writing about, whether it’s a book or a blog post, you should always do your research beforehand. When it comes to writing engaging content, it’s important to look beyond just Wikipedia and use other sources as well. Using multiple sources not only makes your writing more credible, but it also helps you find new information that you might not have known about otherwise.

For example, say you’re writing a blog post about “how to declutter your home.” If you just used Wikipedia as your only source, you would only know information related to the topic of decluttering. But if you used multiple sources and looked at related topics like “how to organize your home,” you would learn about different ways to organize your home and different tools that can help you do so.

6. What are the counterarguments or opposing view points?

To write an effective counter-argument, you must first understand the opposing viewpoint’s main points and how it differs from your argument. Next, you must address the main points of the opposing argument in a logical, factual manner, and support your counterargument with more evidence or facts. Finally, you must wrap up your counterargument in a way that segues into your original argument.

When writing a counterargument, it is important to remember that your writing should address the opposing argument directly, and not just be a list of arguments that you like better. Your counterargument should address the opposing argument’s main points, not just the points that are easy for you to refute.

7. How will you refute them?

This is a question that requires you to think about your opponent and what they’re saying. If you can refute their argument, you’ll be able to support your own and win the argument. Even if you don’t, knowing what the other person is saying can help you prepare for the conversation. If you know what they’re saying, you can prepare counter-arguments or ask more questions to help you understand their perspective more. So, try to think about what the other person is saying, and what you can say to refute that. Then, you can use that to help you in your own argument!

8. What is your thesis statement?

Always be open to suggestions and feedback. I have been a freelancer writer for over 15 years and have never once written an article that did not have to be revised at least once. I have learned over the years that when approaching the writing of a thesis statement that consensus is key. When you are writing a thesis statement, you are opening up your thoughts and ideas to be critiqued by your editors and by your readers.

When you begin your writing process, make sure that your editors know what your thesis statement is and what your thoughts are on the topic at hand. You may be surprised to see that your editors see things from a different perspective than you, and when they do, they are trying to bring the best version of your work out, and by including them in the writing process, you are opening yourself up to their feedback and ideas, which in turn, makes for a better thesis statement and overall piece of writing.

9. Is it clear and concise?

Read your content out loud. This will help you determine if your content is clear and concise. When you read your content, you want it to flow easily. Your writing should sound natural and not forced. If you can’t read it out loud without stumbling over your words, it’s not clear and concise. Make sure your content is easy to understand and doesn’t have a lot of unnecessary words or phrases. If you can’t read it out loud without stumbling over your words, it’s not clear and concise.

10. Does it accurately reflect the main points of your paper?

Readers want to know that your argument is logical and organized. Do you jump around too much, or not enough? Do you use subheadings and transitions effectively, or do you rely too much on paragraph breaks? Think about how you used your space to create a clear argument and then make sure that your paper actually accomplishes that.

The easiest way to check this is by comparing your word count to your actual paper. If you have 2,500 words but you feel like you said a lot more, you might need to add more subheadings or add more information to a few of your existing ones. If you have too many words and not enough headings, you may need to split some of your longer paragraphs or remove a few altogether.

11. Have you chosen the right words to convey your ideas?

Writing is a process, and you should never think that what you have written is perfect and complete because you will always find ways to improve it. You will learn new words, better ways to say things, and more effective ways to explain topics. Even if you already feel satisfied with your writing, keep working and improving because there is always something else to learn.

Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you don’t know what word to use, ask someone else. If you want feedback on your writing, ask someone else. If you are confused about something, ask someone else. There is no such thing as asking too many questions.

12. Are your sentences clear and free of errors?

The best way to make sure your writing is clear and free of errors is to read it out loud. When you read it out loud it helps you to focus on the rhythm and flow of your writing. Reading it out loud also helps you to catch spelling and grammatical errors because you’re more focused on what you’re reading.

Also, reading your writing out loud helps you to make sure that you’re using the right words to convey your message. Sometimes when you’re just reading your writing silently, it can be easy to miss mistakes or not be as clear with your message. By reading it out loud you have a better chance of making sure that your writing is clear and free of errors.

13. Is your paper well-organized?

A well-organized paper must have a clear beginning and end. A paper’s beginning should set the context of the paper. The middle should address the main argument and the end should tie up any loose ends and provide the paper with a final conclusion that supports the main argument. The paper is organized to help the reader follow the argument and understand the paper’s thesis.

A well-organized paper should have a clear and logical structure. A paper’s introduction should do more than just state the topic of the paper. It should provide context, set the tone, and make a clear argument for the paper’s thesis. The body should address the main argument, include relevant evidence, and support the argument with a logical progression. Finally, the conclusion should restate the main argument, restate the paper’s thesis, and provide a sense of closure for the reader.

14. Does it flow smoothly from one point to the next?

Flow is important to a good essay, but not at the expense of a unique voice. If you’re trying to go back and add transitions, you may be tempted to add transitions that are too similar to your original writing. This can sound unna##tural and draw the reader out of your essay. Instead, focus on what makes your voice unique and how you can better use it to guide your reader through your arguments.

Remember that your essay is a reflection of your thoughts and ideas, not just a reflection of your ability to follow a format or write in a certain style. If you’re having trouble making your essay flow, take a step back and make sure that you haven’t lost your voice in the process.

15. Are your transitions effective?

This is a tough question. One way to answer it is to show the piece in progress to a few people and get their feedback. You can loop them in over a few rounds of edits, with the last round being the one you show to the questioner. Most people I know are happy to give feedback on something they’re reading if they know it’s a work in progress.

But you can also consider the question on your own. What are some things you do to move smoothly from one idea to the next? That’s a good start. Ask yourself, as you read your own piece, if you’re confused by the transitions. If so, what might you do to make them clearer?

16. Have you included an introduction and conclusion?

Since these sections usually carry the most weight in a writing assignment, it’s important that writers are able to make these sections meaningful and engaging. The introduction should set up the topic and the conclusion should summarize the topic with a call to action. For example, if the topic was about how to travel in style, the introduction would be about the importance of traveling and what it means to travel in style. The conclusion would be about the tips of traveling in style and how one can do so.

Including an introduction and conclusion is crucial because these sections help the reader understand and remember the topic. If the introduction and conclusion are not well written, then the entire body of work could fall apart.

17. Do they accurately preview and summarize the main points of your paper?

The reviewer should be able to get a good grasp of your paper’s important points, so this is a good place to start. Your introduction and conclusion are likely the most important parts of your paper and should be written with that in mind, so this is a great place to start the preview and summary process. The reviewer should be able to understand the purpose of your paper, why it is important, and where it fits in the current literature. Start there and work your way through your paper in a way that gives the reviewer a comprehensive overview of your work.

18. Have you proofread your paper for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors?

Grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors do not have to be a cause for concern, especially if you have a solid understanding of the English language. If you have any experience as a writer, it is likely that you have proofread your own work. This is because you understand the language and grammar rules. You know what mistakes to look for and how to correct them. When asked this question, it is important to point out your experience as a writer and your understanding of the English language. This will help your employer to see that you are the perfect candidate for the job.

19. Have you cited all of your sources?

If you’re writing a college research paper, you’ll be required to cite your sources. As a writer, you should be aware of the different citation styles and choose the one that’s best suited to your needs. Do your research on which style is most commonly used in your field. By doing this you’ll be able to save time and effort by following a format that’s already been used effectively by others in your niche.

There are several different citation styles to choose from, including the Chicago Manual of Style, the American Psychological Association (APA), the Modern Language Association (MLA), and the American Medical Association (AMA). The best way to learn which style is most appropriate for your writing is to ask your professor or do some research online.

20. Have you checked for plagiarism ?

This is a difficult question for every writer who wants to get their work published in reputable journals and magazines. There is little doubt that these days it is much easier to search for an article’s text somewhere on the internet, rather than write it from scratch.

This is why it is important to convince the editor that your work is unique and that you have not copied it from anywhere else. It is essential to provide evidence that you have carried out a thorough, independent research, conducted interviews with experts and participants, and used your own analytical skills. In addition, it is advisable to write about your personal experience of researching the topic or producing this kind of work in the past, in order to convince the editor that you are an experienced writer.

About Rephrasely

Getting your wording just right.

Paraphrasing is a natural part of the writing process as it helps you clarify your thinking and suit your words to your audience. Using a Rephrasely helps structure and streamline this work, and our paraphrase tool offers 20 modes, many of them free, for accomplishing just this. The 20 modes we offer are diverse, including a summarize tool, a free grammar checker, a mode to simplify text, and a sentence shortener. There are sentence rephrasers and paraphrase rephrase tools, and we pride ourselves on having both, since our reword generator accounts for context at both the sentence and paragraph levels.

When you google paraphrase you will get a variety of results, from a free Rephrasely , to an article spinner, to a general phrase tool, and it can be hard to determine which of these rephrase tools will best help you complete your work. If you simply need to get a word rephrase, that is, reword only small elements within the sentence, many tools will suffice, but there is the risk that you end up with a tool that does not consider context and produces very awkward and ungrammatical sentences. Rephrasing is very much an art, and we’ve built our paraphrase bot to produce the most correct results in 20 modes in over 100 languages, making it the best paraphrasing tool at an exceptionally low cost. So whether you need to paraphrase deutsch, paraphrase greek, or paraphrase bahasa melayu, the next time you think, I need something to paraphrase this for me, you’ll know where to turn.

From keywords to paragraphs

Generating paragraphs with unique ideas can be challenging, and too often writers get stuck at this stage of the writing process. With our paragraph tool, you can enter keywords and let our AI generate paragraphs for you, so that you can have something to work with, refine the output, and become more engaged in your writing.

A paragraph generator creates links between your ideas, such that the output is sensible, unique, and stimulating, very close to what you would expect a thoughtful human paragraph writer to produce.

Paragraph makers are nice, but what about a short story generator? Because our AI is generalized, it serves a story generator, an essay generator, a poem generator, and much more. To generate compelling stories, you should provide the story generator with useful keywords from which it can develop plot elements, including characters, setting details, and any situational information. To generate reasonably good essays, you should likewise provide the essay maker with details around argumentative positions and any other pertinent ideas. If you more specifically want an introduction paragraph generator or conclusion paragraph generator, you can provide starter text and keywords that will best enable our essay creator to produce them.

You may well ask, “is this essay generator free?” Everything on this site is free within a 3-day trial, so you can test and develop confidence in our products. You may also be wondering where this is an essay automatic writer or if it will take a while to get results. All results appear within a matter of seconds, so you can move through your work as quickly as possible.

You may have professional needs for creating paragraphs as well, such as those needed for cover letter. Most of the time a cover letter template includes information that is not relevant to you; by using your own keywords, we can produce cover letter examples that are relevant to your use case and often require very little editing. By using this service, you can also learn how to write a cover letter and achieve the cover letter format you need.

Plagiarism checker free

Like everything else on our site, you can check plagiarism free within a trial, which is a great opportunity for those who want to check a paper for plagiarism without committing to paying before they see results. This free plagiarism checker is great for students and clearly indicates how to check for plagiarism by highlighting areas of similarity between the two texts. Just to be sure you are not accidentally plagiarizing, be sure to check all of your paraphrases as well.

• How It Works
• Our Writers

Questions to Ask When Writing an Essay

Most teachers do not make use of a very important aspect of writing essays and papers. And that aspect is that the student should ask him/herself questions as a pre-writing preparation. Asking these questions will ultimately result in a better piece of writing. So, here are questions you should ask yourself as you get ready to write any essay or paper.

You may have a general topic area, but within that topic area, you will need to select a smaller sub-topic for your essay or paper. Here is what you need to ask yourself:

• What sub-topic will interest me the most? Check through your text and lecture notes for topic ideas, and pick one in which you have good interest. Writing an essay or paper on a topic you don’t like is like getting a root canal – painful, very painful!
• Is there enough information on the topic to fulfill the length requirement? If you need an 8-page paper on the Civil War, the Battle of Antietam will probably not cut it. Before you finalize your topic, check out what’s available for resource information.

Thesis Statement

Every essay or paper has to have a thesis statement. So, here is what you need to ask as you formulate that statement:

• Why is it important for the reader to know this?
• What is the main point I am trying to make?
• What is my opinion about these topics?

[WIDGET:GET_YOUR_PAPER_2]

There may be a large number of potential resources to use, but they are not all created equal. By the time you are in college, you can dump the idea of using encyclopedias of any kind. They are not appropriate for the type of research expected of you. So, here are your questions?

• Is the author of this book or journal article considered an expert on this topic?
• Can I find and use primary resources on this topic?
• If I have to use only secondary resources, are these the most current and relevant?

Choose your resources wisely – your professor will expect them to be of high quality.

Organizing Your Information

Before you make an outline for writing, ask yourself the following:

• Should the information or data be organized sequentially?
• In what order should the points I make be given? Most important to least important, or the other way around?

After the Rough Draft is Finished

You know you are not going to turn in the first draft of whatever you write. You have to review it and fix your errors – structural and grammatical. So, as you read through that draft, ask yourself the following:

• Do I have a logical flow of the points I am making?
• Do I have good transitional sentences between paragraphs and, for longer works, sections?
• Have I varied the length of my sentences?
• Does my introduction begin with something that will capture the reader’s attention right away?
• Have I stated my thesis in the introduction and made it very clear?
• Have I used spell and grammar checkers to catch errors?

Asking the right questions gets you to a “better place” in your writing and, ultimately, a better grade. If you have any concerns about your topic, resources, or the quality of your writing, send it over to some good  custom writing services like EssaySupply.com for a full review and edit. It will be returned to you polished and ready to go

We'll email you a temporary link to change your password.

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

How to write better ChatGPT prompts in 5 steps

ChatGPT is the generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that's taken the world by storm. While there's always the possibility it will simply make stuff up , there's a lot you can do when crafting prompts to ensure the best possible outcome. That's what we'll be exploring in this how-to.

In this article, we'll show you how to write prompts that encourage the large language model (LLM) that powers  ChatGPT to provide the best possible answers. 

Also: Have 10 hours? IBM will train you in AI fundamentals - for free

Writing effective prompts, known as prompt engineering, has even become its own highly-paid discipline . Who knows? These tips could help you build the skills to become one of those highly paid prompt engineers. Apparently, these gigs can pay from $175,000 to $335,000 per year.  

How to write effective ChatGPT prompts

1. talk to the ai like you would a person.

One of the more interesting things I had to get used to when working with ChatGPT is that you don't program it, you talk to it. As a formally trained programmer, I've had to leave a lot of habits by the wayside when engaging with AI. Talking to it (and with it) requires a mindset shift.

When I say talk to it like a person, I mean talk to it like you would a co-worker or team member. If that's hard to do, give it a name. Alexa is taken, so maybe think of it as "Bob". This naming helps because when you talk to Bob, you might include conversational details, little anecdotes that give your story texture.

Also:   How to use ChatGPT to write code

When talking to a person, it would be natural for them to miss your point initially and require clarification, or veer away from the topic at hand and need to be wrangled back. You might need to fill in the backstory for them, or restate complex questions based on the answers they give you. 

This is called interactive prompting. Don't be afraid to ask multi-step questions: ask, get a response, and based on that response, ask another question. I've done this myself, sometimes 10 or 20 times in a row, and gotten very powerful results. Think of this as having a conversation with ChatGPT.

2. Set the stage and provide context

Writing a ChatGPT prompt is more than just asking a one-sentence question. It often involves providing relevant background information to set the context of the query.

Let's say that you want to prepare for a marathon (for the record, I do not run, dance, or jump -- this is merely an example). You could ask ChatGPT:

How can I prepare for a marathon?

However, you'll get a far more nuanced answer if you add that you're training for your first marathon. Try this instead: 

I am a beginner runner and have never run a marathon before, but I want to complete one in six months. How can I prepare for a marathon?

By giving the AI more information, you're helping it return a more focused answer. Even with ChatGPT's help, there's no way I'm going to run a marathon (unless I'm doing it with a V-Twin motor under my seat). Here are two more examples of questions that provide context:

I am planning to travel to Spain in a few months and would like to learn some basic Spanish to help me communicate with local residents. I am looking for online resources that are suitable for beginners and provide a structured and comprehensive approach to learning the language. Can you recommend some online resources for learning Spanish as a beginner?

In this case, rather than just asking about learning resources, the context helps focus the AI on learning how to communicate on the ground with local residents. Here's another example: 

I am a business owner interested in exploring how blockchain technology can be used to improve supply chain efficiency and transparency. I am looking for a clear and concise explanation of the technology and examples of how it has been used in the context of supply chain management. Can you explain the concept of blockchain technology and its potential applications in supply chain management?

In this example, rather than just asking for information on blockchain and how it works, the focus is specifically on blockchain for supply chain efficiency and how it might be used in a real-world scenario. 

Also:  How to use Image Creator from Microsoft Designer (formerly Bing Image Creator) Lastly, let's get into how to construct a detailed prompt. 

One note: I limit the answer to 500 words because ChatGPT seems to break when asked to produce somewhere between 500 and 700 words, leaving stories mid-sentence and not resuming properly when asked to continue. I hope future versions provide longer answers, because premises like this can generate fun story beginnings: 

Write a short story for me, no more than 500 words. The story takes place in 2339, in Boston. The entire story takes place inside a Victorian-style bookstore that wouldn't be out of place in Diagon Alley. Inside the store are the following characters, all human: The proprietor: make this person interesting and a bit unusual, give them a name and at least one skill or characteristic that influences their backstory and possibly influences the entire short story. The helper: this is a clerk in the store. His name is Todd. The customer and his friend: Two customers came into the store together, Jackson and Ophelia. Jackson is dressed as if he's going to a Steampunk convention, while Ophelia is clearly coming home from her day working in a professional office. Another customer is Evangeline, a regular customer in the store, in her mid-40s. Yet another customer is Archibald, a man who could be anywhere from 40 to 70 years old. He has a mysterious air about himself and seems both somewhat grandiose and secretive. There is something about Archibald that makes the others uncomfortable. A typical concept in retail sales is that there's always more inventory "in the back," where there's a storeroom for additional goods that might not be shown on the shelves where customers browse. The premise of this story is that there is something very unusual about this store's "in the back." Put it all together and tell something compelling and fun.

You can see how the detail provides more for the AI to work with. First, feed "Write me a story about a bookstore" into ChatGPT and see what it gives you. Then feed in the above prompt and you'll see the difference.

3. Tell the AI to assume an identity or profession

One of ChatGPT's coolest features is that it can write from the point of view of a specific person or profession. In a previous article, I showed how you can make ChatGPT write like a pirate or Shakespeare , but you can also have it write like a teacher, a marketing executive, a fiction writer -- anyone you want. 

Also: How ChatGPT can rewrite and improve your existing code  

For example, I can ask ChatGPT to describe the Amazon Echo smart home device, but to do so from the point of view of a product manager, a caregiver, and a journalist in three separate prompts: 

From the point of view of its product manager, describe the Amazon Echo Alexa device. From the point of view of an adult child caring for an elderly parent, describe the Amazon Echo Alexa device. From the point of view of a journalist, describe the Amazon Echo Alexa device.

Try dropping these three prompts into ChatGPT to see its complete response. 

I've pulled a few lines from ChatGPT's responses, so you can see how it interprets different perspectives.  From the product manager identity:  I can confidently say that this is one of the most innovative and revolutionary products in the smart home industry.

From the caregiver identity:  The device's ability to set reminders and alarms can be particularly helpful for elderly individuals who may have trouble remembering to take their medication or attend appointments.

Also:   5 ways to explore the use of generative AI at work

And from the journalist identity:  From a journalistic perspective, the Echo has made headlines due to privacy concerns surrounding the collection and storage of user data.

You can see how different identities allow the AI to provide different perspectives as part of its response. To expand this, you can let the AI do a thought experiment. Let's look at some of the issues that went into the creation of something like Alexa:

The year is 2012. Siri has been out for the iPhone for about a year, but nothing like an Alexa smart home device has been released. The scene is an Amazon board meeting where the Echo smart assistant based on Alexa has just been proposed.  Provide the arguments, pro and con, that board members at that meeting would have been likely to discuss as part of their process of deciding whether or not to approve spending to invest in developing the device.  Feel free to also include participation by engineering design experts and product champions, if that provides more comprehensive perspective.

It's also good to know that making minor changes to your prompts can significantly change ChatGPT's response. For example, when I changed the phrase, "Provide the arguments, pro and con, that..." to "Provide the pro and con arguments as dialogue, that...," ChatGPT rewrote its answer, switching from a list of enumerated pros and cons to an actual dialogue between participants.

4. Keep ChatGPT on track

As mentioned above, ChatGPT has a tendency to go off the rails, lose track of the discussion, or completely fabricate answers. 

There are a few techniques you can use to help keep it on track and honest.

One of my favorite things to do is ask ChatGPT to justify its responses. I'll use phrases like "Why do you think that?" or "What evidence supports your answer?" Often, the AI will simply apologize for making stuff up and come back with a new answer. Other times, it might give you some useful information about its reasoning path. In any case, don't forget to apply the tips I provide for having ChatGPT cite sources .

Also:  My two favorite ChatGPT Plus features and the remarkable things I can do with them

If you have a fairly long conversation with ChatGPT, you'll start to notice that the AI loses the thread. Not that that's unique to AIs -- even in extended conversations with humans, someone is bound to get lost. That said, you can gently guide the AI back on track by reminding it what the topic is, as well as what you're trying to explore.

5. Don't be afraid to play and experiment

One of the best ways to up your skill at this craft is to play around with what the chatbot can do.

Try feeding ChatGPT a variety of interesting prompts to see what it will do with them. Then change them up and see what happens. Here are five to get you started:

• Imagine you are a raindrop falling from the sky during a thunderstorm. Describe your journey from the moment you form in the cloud to the moment you hit the ground. What do you see, feel, and experience?
• You are a toy that has been left behind in an attic for decades. Narrate your feelings, memories of playtimes past, and your hopes of being rediscovered.
• Write the final diary entry of a time traveler who has decided to settle down in a specific era, explaining why they chose that time and what they've learned from their travels.
• Imagine a dialogue between two unlikely objects, like a teacup and a wristwatch, discussing the daily routines and challenges they face.
• Describe a day in an ant colony from the perspective of an ant. Dive deep into the politics, challenges, and social structures of the ant world.

Pay attention not only to what the AI generates, but how it generates what it does, what mistakes it makes, and where it seems to run into limits. All of that detail will help you expand your prompting horizons.

More prompt-writing tips 

• Feel free to re-ask the question. ChatGPT will often change its answer with each ask.
• Make small changes to your prompts to guide it into giving you a better answer.
• ChatGPT will retain its awareness of previous conversations as long as the current page is open. If you leave that page, it will lose awareness. To be clear, ChatGPT will also sometimes lose the thread of the conversation without reason, so be aware you may need to start over from time to time.
• Similarly, opening a new page will start the discussion with fresh responses.
• Be sure to specify the length of the response you want. Answers over about 500 words sometimes break down. 
• You can correct and clarify prompts based on how the AI answered previously. If it's misinterpreting you, you may be able to just tell it what it missed and continue.
• Rephrase questions if ChatGPT doesn't want to answer what you're asking. Use personas to elicit answers that it might not otherwise want to give.
• If you want sources cited , tell it to support or justify its answers.
• ChatGPT custom instructions are now available to free users. You can  give ChatGPT a set of prompts that are always available , so you don't have to retype them.
• Keep experimenting.
• Consider getting the ChatGPT Plus subscription . You can then use your own data for powerful analytics . You can also pull data from the Web . 
• Try asking the same question of Gemini  (formerly Bard) or Copilot (formerly Bing Chat). Both will interpret your prompts differently and answer differently. This is effectively getting a second opinion on your prompt, and can give you alternate perspectives.
• Ask for examples. If you want to see how well ChatGPT understands what you're asking for, ask it "Can you give me three examples of how that works?" or similar questions.
• Ask it to repeat parts of your original requests back to you. For example, if you feed it an article to analyze, you can tell it something like, "Just to be sure you understand, please echo back the first three headlines," or "I want to be sure you understand what I mean, so summarize the main conflict discussed in this article." 
• Sometimes ChatGPT just fails. Keep trying, but also be willing to give up and move on to other tools. It's not perfect...yet.

What type of prompts work best with ChatGPT? 

Part of what makes ChatGPT so compelling is you can ask it almost anything. That said, keep in mind that it's designed to provide written answers. If you want a list of websites, you're better off talking to Google. 

Also:  How to use DALL-E 3 in ChatGPT

If you want some form of computation, talk to Wolfram Alpha . Give ChatGPT open-ended prompts, encourage creativity, and don't be afraid to share personal experiences or emotions. Plus, keep in mind that the AI's knowledge ends in 2021  for ChatGPT 3.5 and December 2023 for ChatGPT 4 in ChatGPT Plus.

How can I adjust the complexity of ChatGPT responses?

You can directly specify the complexity level by including it in your prompt. Add "... at a high school level" or "... at a level intended for a Ph.D. to understand" to the end of your question. You can also increase complexity of output by increasing the richness of your input. The more you provide in your prompt, the more detailed and nuanced ChatGPT's response will be. You can also include other specific instructions, like "Give me a summary," "Explain in detail," or "Provide a technical description."

Also:  How does ChatGPT actually work?

You can also pre-define profiles. For example, you could say "When evaluating something for a manager, assume an individual with a four-year business college education, a lack of detailed technical understanding, and a fairly limited attention span, who likes to get answers that are clear and concise. When evaluating something for a programmer, assume considerable technical knowledge, an enjoyment of geek and science fiction references, and a desire for a complete answer. Accuracy is deeply important to programmers, so double-check your work."

If you ask ChatGPT to "explain C++ to a manager" and "explain C++ to a programmer," you'll see how the responses differ.

What do I do if ChatGPT refuses to answer or I don't like its answer? 

There are some guardrails built into ChatGPT. It tends to shut down if you ask it political questions, for example. That's what's built into the system. While you might be able to tease out an answer, it's probably not going to provide great value. That said, feel free to keep trying with different phrasing or perspectives. 

You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly update newsletter on Substack , and follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz , on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz , on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz , and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV .

More on AI tools

Google releases two new free resources to help you optimize your ai prompts, how to use chatgpt, 5 ways ai can help you study for finals - for free.

AskEasy: AI ChatBot Assistant 12+

Ask chat bot・your 24/7 helper, zilingial limited, designed for iphone.

• #60 in Productivity
• 4.7 • 18.3K Ratings
• Offers In-App Purchases

iPhone Screenshots

Description.

AskEasy: simplify your life with a smart assistant! Looking for a good recipe to surprise your guests? Need ideas for a birthday party? Or some help with writing an essay or composing a resume? Simply open the app and ask! AskEasy is a real lifesaver. It finds answers to any questions, generates texts and brainstorms ideas, helps with daily tasks, proofreads and improves your content, and even acts as a fun empathetic friend always open for a chat! All you need to do is just type in your request and see how an accurate answer magically appears on your screen! What sets this app apart are its four most powerful chat models: GPT 3.5, GPT 4, Llama 2, and Gemini. These cutting-edge AI technologies ensure that you can easily choose the model that best meets your specific needs, providing tailored, intelligent responses in real-time. Have questions about a YouTube video? Or need a short summary of a video instead of watching it whole? Now, you can simply paste the video link and ask away. Our chatbot will answer your questions based on the video content and provide a concise summary of it. Need to create unique visuals for your project? Go to Image Generator and get inspiring images generated by AI in seconds! All you have to do is just to type in the text description – and see how it magically transforms into images. Moreover, you can easily get creative captions, tags and stories based on your images by using the Text to Image tool. AI understands and interprets the context and emotions of your photos, and brings the ideas of creative texts that will enhance your social media presence. With """"Upload & Ask,"""" you have the power to directly upload a PDF document and effortlessly ask questions about its content. This feature deciphers the text, providing you with precise answers and insights without the need for manual searching or reading. Meanwhile, """"Ask by Link"""" offers an equally innovative capability where you can insert a link to a web page and receive answers derived from its content. Whether it's a detailed explanation, summary, or specific information, this feature ensures you get the answers you need quickly and efficiently. Your creativity is your only limit! Experiment with your queries to discover everything the chatbot can do for you, and you will be amazed by the mind-blowing results: - Choose the chat model (GPT 3.5, GPT 4, Llama 2, or Gemini) to solve your tasks quickly and efficiently - Write anything: from tweets, email responses, and ad copies to essays, poems, and creative stories - Brainstorm ideas: new recipes, movie and song recommendations, places to go, party ideas, etc. - Check and improve your writing - Simplify your texts by summarizing them - Insert a link to YouTube video and ask your questions based on it - Get quick and concise summary of a video on YouTube - Get AI-generated images from your word description - Transform any text into visually captivating quotes - Generate captivating captions, relevant tags, or stories for your pics - Create original jokes and holiday greetings - Translate texts into other languages or even into programmatic commands - Use it for analytics and business intelligence - Get prepared for an exam or job interview - Or simply check out your daily horoscope! Features: - Smart chat for iPhone - GPT 3.5, GPT 4, Llama 2, and Gemini support - Spell and grammar check - Images Generator - Quote Maker - Text for Image - “Ask by Link” and “Upload & Ask” features - Ask Youtube and Youtube Summary - Text writing and facts search - History of your queries - CV and social profile builder - Clear and smart design - Simple and blazingly fast to use Privacy Policy Url - https://mychat-ai.cloud/pp Term Of Use Url - https://mychat-ai.cloud/tou Support Address - [email protected]

Version 2.1

Why update the app that already works great? To get the most out of it, of course! The benefits of the new version: —Flawless bug-free experience —Improved user interface and app's navigation Your positive reviews in the App Store will inspire us to new achievements!

Ratings and Reviews

18.3K Ratings

Ok so I have a problem

The concept of having ai write you a story is amazing. The stories are amazing. But, what good is it if it doesn’t give an ending. It doesn’t have to be long to end well. But it leaves you hanging. Not a fan of that. Especially since I paid for it UPDATE: ok, so I changed most review from three stars to 5z mainly because regardless of if the story ends or not, I’m able to end it myself quite well. I enjoy the app and it helps me a lot in my work

Developer Response ,

Dear Juliabrown1966!!!!!Thank you for your feedback. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and we understand your frustration with the limitations you've encountered in the application. The application has certain restrictions in place due to server limitations and the significant computing resources required for advanced AI technology like GPT-4. These limitations are in place to ensure the app's performance and availability for all users. We have increased the limit of characters to the maximum allowed from GPT itself and we cannot go beyond it. Thank you for understanding. Warmest regards, AI ChatBot: Smart Assistant Support Team

Not as described

Right after installing presented programs not functioning, i didn’t get try all, with in two minutes was forced to rated with 5 stars if i was too quick to press buttons. I didn’t even get to read what was the gpt’s response to me but as it was typing things really fast noticed everything being typed was flickering like screen power is too low. Remember after 3 days i trial you will be charged automatically. This look good but just like most of them, taking a freeware altering in some cases not much from the original and start chasing the money with tricks and dancing around the truth with lies. I think today’s browsers gpt is good as most of these tricksters version unless you need a serious one for school or work then I suggest getting a real one pay a few more dollars than what these people are asking and have a real one, if that’s not the case stick with ones as browsers add on is my opinion.

Dear User! We are very grateful to you for taking the time to leave us a review. We consider a customer-centric approach and always put ourselves in our customer’s mind. That way, we can align the learning experience with their expectations and improve our application. We will definitely take into account the fact that the users need more time to evaluate the application and will not force them to rate the app too quickly. We have our users' best interests at heart and will continue to work tirelessly to better ourselves and our application. Best regards, AI ChatBot: Smart Assistant Support Team

Concern over longevity

I have tried numerous AI Assistants. And this one, by far, is my favorite. I even went so far as to opt in for paying for full features. However, as an assistant or even aid, it is limited and out dated. When querying about the up-to-date information it could provide me, my assistant informs me that it is only as up-to-date as 2021. So, I queried about when the databases may be updated. And there was no information on that. The databases are already years behind and this is concerning. I didn’t pay to have something that can’t actually do as it is alleged to be able to perform. I can google and get more current information.

Dear Crashed and Lost! Thank you for your feedback and for choosing our AI ChatBot as your favorite assistant. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the limitations of the up-to-date information provided. We are constantly working on improving our databases and ensuring the latest information is available. But as we use the official open AI api and their system is based on data up to 2021, the assistant informs you that it is only as up-to-date as 2021. Best regards, AI ChatBot: Smart Assistant Support Team

App Privacy

The developer, Zilingial Limited , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

Data Used to Track You

The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:

• Identifiers

Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

• Diagnostics

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese

• AI ChatBot: 1 Week Access $7.99
• AI ChatBot - 1 Week Access $7.99
• AI ChatBot: Access for 1 Year $49.99
• AI Chat Bot: Weekly Access $7.99
• AI ChatBot: 1 Week Access $4.99
• AI Assistant - 1 Month $19.99
• AI ChatBot for 1 Year $19.99
• AI ChatBot: 1 Year $39.99
• AI ChatBot: 1 Year Access $49.99
• AI Helper for 1 Week $4.99
• Developer Website
• App Support
• Privacy Policy

More By This Developer

AI Wallpapers & Widgets - Flex