It\u2019s that time again. Your professor has passed out the next essay prompt. You give it the once over, and your heart sinks. You must choose your own topic and provide adequate support from the text. You\u2019re probably asking, Why do professors do this? Why can\u2019t they just give me a prompt? The truth is, however annoyed and lost you may feel, this is a tremendous opportunity. In fact, this is one of the best essay prompts you can get. Most essay prompts with a decisive list of A to Z kind of feel like a checklist, don\u2019t they? Whether you\u2019re breaking down the cell reproduction, summarizing the Punic Wars, or rehashing the plot of The Grapes of Wrath, you\u2019re just regurgitating information. And that\u2019s great; most of what we\u2019ll have to do in our respective jobs someday will follow that protocol. Step one, two three. But that read, memorize, and tell back process is pretty much all we did in high school, right? This is college, and the gears are shifting. Professors want analysis and synthesis.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m betting you\u2019ve seen those scary words before, right? I spent most of high school hating that duo, mostly because I didn\u2019t know what they meant. I\u2019m here to break it down for you, so you don\u2019t have live in fear and annoyance. Plus, learning how to analyze and synthesize will put you ahead of the memorize-and-describe crowd. The most important rule in essay writing is write what you wanna write about. There is nothing worse than trying to motivate yourself to write when you\u2019re bored about the subject. So you can\u2019t pick the topic; you really don\u2019t want to write about the bubonic plague, the effects of subliminal advertising, or the major themes in Beowulf. I get it, and I\u2019ve been there. Did I really want to write about the pros and cons of recycling? I mean, are there really any cons to recycling? But instead of facing the prospective of an essay kicking and screaming, I figured out what I wanted to write about. Usually, this means figuring out what you DON\u2019T want to write about, and then going from there.<\/p>\n
When I tutor peer\u2019s papers at the writing center at my college, I can spot a successful paper after 5 seconds of meeting my tutor-e. \u201cHave you brought the prompt? Behind my smile hides a thousand tears. First, no one can help you with an essay if they don\u2019t know the prompt. Second, successful students re-read the prompt so much they can memorize it. Even if you\u2019re expected to choose your own topic, the professor has SOME kinds of requirements. I know even after the first draft I\u2019ve forget about half of the prompt\u2019s requirements. See, even if you wrote the most beautiful summary of Napoleon\u2019s conquests, but didn\u2019t include biographical information requested in the prompt, well, wave your white flag, because you just created your Waterloo. And I understand that may seem like a cheap move, and like your professors just looking to mark you down, but just think about it.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re working the 9 to 5 someday and your employee brings to the board meeting a summary of the company\u2019s stock stats but doesn\u2019t include the monthly reportings of the gains and losses, LIKE YOU ASKED\u2026. You get the picture. This is all prep for the real world. When you look at it that way, it can seem less annoying and more practical practice. So here we go. The big, bag duo. What does analyze mean when it comes to college essays? Let\u2019s work backwards a bit. When you find a question on an exam that says, \u201cDefine allegory,\u201d the teacher wants just that; a definition. You\u2019re recalling knowledge. When the question says, \u201cExplain how a bill becomes a law,\u201d you\u2019re recalling memorized knowledge and explaining it in your own words. Then it gets a little hairy. \u201cDescribe the differences between static and kinetic friction.\u201d Now you\u2019re being asked to analyze friction, but in two particular categories. All you have to do is know what static and kinetic friction are, and compare and contrast them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s that time again. Your professor has passed out the next essay prompt. You give it the once over, and your heart sinks. You must choose your own topic and provide adequate support from the text. You\u2019re probably asking, Why Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[11,13],"class_list":["post-430110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essay-paper-writing","tag-assignment-writing-service","tag-essay-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}