A Writing Guide
Writing an essay can be an incredibly rewarding process with the right support, approach, and topic. This page is dedicated to helping you navigate this arduous process.
Pre-Writing and Research
Research
General Tips and Tricks
Google Tips from Harvard, Basic and Advanced
Bargain Bin Academic Research
Outlining
Thesis + Topic Sentences
Post-It Note and Card System
Three-Act Narrative Approach
Drafting
Body Paragraphs (First)
Writing Around Quotes
They Say, I Say (Graff and Birkenstein)
How, Why, So: A Guide to Interpretive Analysis
Comparative Literary Analysis Paragraph Samples
Descriptive Writing Video (~5min)
Conclusions (Second)
Going Elsewhere: Common Strategies, Their Pitfalls and Advantages
Synthesis Over Summary
Introductions and Titles (Third)
Strong, Academic Titles
What Makes a Great Opening Line?
How-To: Strategies for First-Impression Paragraphs
Word Lists and Sentence Frames
Verbs
Strong Verbs with Basic Analytical Sentence Frames
Big Verb List with Explanations of Use
Adjectives
MASSIVE Tone Words List (with Definitions)
Tone and Mood (Descriptor Word List; Adjectives)
Printable Tone Words (1-Pager)
Literary
Final Drafts and Revision
MLA
Works Cited
In-Text Citation