Typically, an essay has five paragraphs: an introduction, a conclusion, and three body paragraphs. However, there is no set rule about the number of paragraphs in an essay.
The number of paragraphs can vary depending on the type and scope of your essay. An expository or argumentative essay may require more body paragraphs to include all the necessary information, whereas a narrative essay may need fewer.
To enhance the coherence and readability of your essay, it’s important to follow certain rules regarding the structure. Take a look:
1. Arrange your information from the most simple to the most complex bits. You can start the body paragraph off with a general statement and then move on to specifics.
2. Provide the necessary background information at the beginning of your essay to give the reader the context behind your thesis statement.
3. Select topic statements that provide value, more information, or evidence for your thesis statement.
There are also various essay structures , such as the compare and contrast structure, chronological structure, problem method solution structure, and signposting structure that you can follow to create an organized and impactful essay.
An impactful, well-structured essay comes down to three important parts: the introduction, body, and conclusion.
1. The introduction sets the stage for your essay and is typically a paragraph long. It should grab the reader’s attention and give them a clear idea of what your essay will be about.
2. The body is where you dive deeper into your topic and present your arguments and evidence. It usually consists of two paragraphs, but this can vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing.
3. The conclusion brings your essay to a close and is typically one paragraph long. It should summarize the main points of the essay and leave the reader with something to think about.
The length of your paragraphs can vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing. So, make sure you take the time to plan out your essay structure so each section flows smoothly into the next.
When it comes to writing an essay, the introduction is a critical component that sets the tone for the entire piece. A well-crafted introduction not only grabs the reader’s attention but also provides them with a clear understanding of what the essay is all about. An essay editor can help you achieve this, but it’s best to know the brief yourself!
Let’s take a look at how to write an attractive and informative introductory paragraph.
1. Construct an attractive hook
To grab the reader’s attention, an opening statement or hook is crucial. This can be achieved by incorporating a surprising statistic, a shocking fact, or an interesting anecdote into the beginning of your piece.
For example, if you’re writing an essay about water conservation you can begin your essay with, “Clean drinking water, a fundamental human need, remains out of reach for more than one billion people worldwide. It deprives them of a basic human right and jeopardizes their health and wellbeing.”
2. Provide sufficient context or background information
An effective introduction should begin with a brief description or background of your topic. This will help provide context and set the stage for your discussion.
For example, if you’re writing an essay about climate change, you start by describing the current state of the planet and the impact that human activity is having on it.
3. Construct a well-rounded and comprehensive thesis statement
A good introduction should also include the main message or thesis statement of your essay. This is the central argument that you’ll be making throughout the piece. It should be clear, concise, and ideally placed toward the end of the introduction.
By including these elements in your introduction, you’ll be setting yourself up for success in the rest of your essay.
Let’s take a look at an example.
The Wright Brothers’ invention of the airplane in 1903 revolutionized the way humans travel and explore the world. Prior to this invention, transportation relied on trains, boats, and cars, which limited the distance and speed of travel. However, the airplane made air travel a reality, allowing people to reach far-off destinations in mere hours. This breakthrough paved the way for modern-day air travel, transforming the world into a smaller, more connected place. In this essay, we will explore the impact of the Wright Brothers’ invention on modern-day travel, including the growth of the aviation industry, increased accessibility of air travel to the general public, and the economic and cultural benefits of air travel.
You can persuade your readers and make your thesis statement compelling by providing evidence, examples, and logical reasoning. To write a fool-proof and authoritative essay, you need to provide multiple well-structured, substantial arguments.
Let’s take a look at how this can be done:
1. Write a topic sentence for each paragraph
The beginning of each of your body paragraphs should contain the main arguments that you’d like to address. They should provide ground for your thesis statement and make it well-rounded. You can arrange these arguments in several formats depending on the type of essay you’re writing.
2. Provide the supporting information
The next point of your body paragraph should provide supporting information to back up your main argument. Depending on the type of essay, you can elaborate on your main argument with the help of relevant statistics, key information, examples, or even personal anecdotes.
3. Analyze the supporting information
After providing relevant details and supporting information, it is important to analyze it and link it back to your main argument.
End one body paragraph with a smooth transition to the next. There are many ways in which this can be done, but the most common way is to give a gist of your main argument along with the supporting information with transitory words such as “however” “in addition to” “therefore”.
Here’s an example of a body paragraph.
The Wright Brothers’ invention of the airplane revolutionized air travel. They achieved the first-ever successful powered flight with the Wright Flyer in 1903, after years of conducting experiments and studying flight principles. Despite their first flight lasting only 12 seconds, it was a significant milestone that paved the way for modern aviation. The Wright Brothers’ success can be attributed to their systematic approach to problem-solving, which included numerous experiments with gliders, the development of a wind tunnel to test their designs, and meticulous analysis and recording of their results. Their dedication and ingenuity forever changed the way we travel, making modern aviation possible.
A powerful concluding statement separates a good essay from a brilliant one. To create a powerful conclusion, you need to start with a strong foundation.
Let’s take a look at how to construct an impactful concluding statement.
1. Restructure your thesis statement
To conclude your essay effectively, don’t just restate your thesis statement. Instead, use what you’ve learned throughout your essay and modify your thesis statement accordingly. This will help you create a conclusion that ties together all of the arguments you’ve presented.
2. Summarize the main points of your essay
The next point of your conclusion consists of a summary of the main arguments of your essay. It is crucial to effectively summarize the gist of your essay into one, well-structured paragraph.
3. Create a lasting impression with your concluding statement
Conclude your essay by including a key takeaway, or a powerful statement that creates a lasting impression on the reader. This can include the broader implications or consequences of your essay topic.
Here’s an example of a concluding paragraph.
The Wright Brothers’ invention of the airplane forever changed history by paving the way for modern aviation and countless aerospace advancements. Their persistence, innovation, and dedication to problem-solving led to the first successful powered flight in 1903, sparking a revolution in transportation that transformed the world. Today, air travel remains an integral part of our globalized society, highlighting the undeniable impact of the Wright Brothers’ contribution to human civilization.
Most essays are derived from the combination or variation of these four main types of essays . let’s take a closer look at these types.
1. Narrative essay
A narrative essay is a type of writing that involves telling a story, often based on personal experiences. It is a form of creative nonfiction that allows you to use storytelling techniques to convey a message or a theme.
2. Descriptive essay
A descriptive essay aims to provide an immersive experience for the reader by using sensory descriptors. Unlike a narrative essay, which tells a story, a descriptive essay has a narrower scope and focuses on one particular aspect of a story.
3. Argumentative essays
An argumentative essay is a type of essay that aims to persuade the reader to adopt a particular stance based on factual evidence and is one of the most common forms of college essays.
4. Expository essays
An expository essay is a common format used in school and college exams to assess your understanding of a specific topic. The purpose of an expository essay is to present and explore a topic thoroughly without taking any particular stance or expressing personal opinions.
While this article demonstrates what is an essay and describes its types, you may also have other doubts. As experts who provide essay editing and proofreading services , we’re here to help.
Our team has created a list of resources to clarify any doubts about writing essays. Keep reading to write engaging and well-organized essays!
What is the difference between an argumentative and an expository essay, what is the difference between a narrative and a descriptive essay, what is an essay format, what is the meaning of essay, what is the purpose of writing an essay.
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The term essay comes from the French for "trial" or "attempt." French author Michel de Montaigne coined the term when he assigned the title Essais to his first publication in 1580. In "Montaigne: A Biography" (1984), Donald Frame notes that Montaigne "often used the verb essayer (in modern French, normally to try ) in ways close to his project, related to experience, with the sense of trying out or testing."
An essay is a short work of nonfiction , while a writer of essays is called an essayist. In writing instruction, essay is often used as another word for composition . In an essay, an authorial voice (or narrator ) typically invites an implied reader (the audience ) to accept as authentic a certain textual mode of experience.
Montaigne's Autobiographical Essays "Although Michel de Montaigne, who fathered the modern essay in the 16th century, wrote autobiographically (like the essayists who claim to be his followers today), his autobiography was always in the service of larger existential discoveries. He was forever on the lookout for life lessons. If he recounted the sauces he had for dinner and the stones that weighted his kidney, it was to find an element of truth that we could put in our pockets and carry away, that he could put in his own pocket. After all, Philosophy — which is what he thought he practiced in his essays, as had his idols, Seneca and Cicero, before him — is about 'learning to live.' And here lies the problem with essayists today: not that they speak of themselves, but that they do so with no effort to make their experience relevant or useful to anyone else, with no effort to extract from it any generalizable insight into the human condition." (Cristina Nehring, "What’s Wrong With the American Essay." Truthdig, Nov. 29, 2007)
The Artful Formlessness of the Essay "[G]ood essays are works of literary art. Their supposed formlessness is more a strategy to disarm the reader with the appearance of unstudied spontaneity than a reality of composition. . . . "The essay form as a whole has long been associated with an experimental method. This idea goes back to Montaigne and his endlessly suggestive use of the term essai for his writing. To essay is to attempt, to test, to make a run at something without knowing whether you are going to succeed. The experimental association also derives from the other fountain-head of the essay, Francis Bacon , and his stress on the empirical inductive method, so useful in the development of the social sciences." (Phillip Lopate, "The Art of the Personal Essay". Anchor, 1994)
Articles vs. Essays "[W]hat finally distinguishes an essay from an article may just be the author's gumption, the extent to which personal voice, vision, and style are the prime movers and shapers, even though the authorial 'I' may be only a remote energy, nowhere visible but everywhere present." (Justin Kaplan, ed. "The Best American Essays: 1990". Ticknor & Fields, 1990) "I am predisposed to the essay with knowledge to impart — but, unlike journalism, which exists primarily to present facts, the essays transcend their data, or transmute it into personal meaning. The memorable essay, unlike the article, is not place or time-bound; it survives the occasion of its original composition. Indeed, in the most brilliant essays, language is not merely the medium of communication ; it is communication." (Joyce Carol Oates, quoted by Robert Atwan in "The Best American Essays, College Edition", 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 1998) "I speak of a 'genuine' essay because fakes abound. Here the old-fashioned term poetaster may apply, if only obliquely. As the poetaster is to the poet — a lesser aspirant — so the average article is to the essay: a look-alike knockoff guaranteed not to wear well. An article is often gossip. An essay is reflection and insight. An article often has the temporary advantage of social heat — what's hot out there right now. An essay's heat is interior. An article can be timely, topical, engaged in the issues and personalities of the moment; it is likely to be stale within the month. In five years it may have acquired the quaint aura of a rotary phone. An article is usually Siamese-twinned to its date of birth. An essay defies its date of birth — and ours, too. (A necessary caveat: some genuine essays are popularly called 'articles' — but this is no more than an idle, though persistent, habit of speech. What's in a name? The ephemeral is the ephemeral. The enduring is the enduring.)" (Cynthia Ozick, "SHE: Portrait of the Essay as a Warm Body." The Atlantic Monthly, September 1998)
The Status of the Essay "Though the essay has been a popular form of writing in British and American periodicals since the 18th century, until recently its status in the literary canon has been, at best, uncertain. Relegated to the composition class, frequently dismissed as mere journalism, and generally ignored as an object for serious academic study, the essay has sat, in James Thurber's phrase, ' on the edge of the chair of Literature.' "In recent years, however, prompted by both a renewed interest in rhetoric and by poststructuralist redefinitions of literature itself, the essay — as well as such related forms of 'literary nonfiction' as biography , autobiography , and travel and nature writing — has begun to attract increasing critical attention and respect." (Richard Nordquist, "Essay," in "Encylopedia of American Literature", ed. S. R. Serafin. Continuum, 1999)
The Contemporary Essay "At present, the American magazine essay , both the long feature piece and the critical essay, is flourishing, in unlikely circumstances... "There are plenty of reasons for this. One is that magazines, big and small, are taking over some of the cultural and literary ground vacated by newspapers in their seemingly unstoppable evaporation. Another is that the contemporary essay has for some time now been gaining energy as an escape from, or rival to, the perceived conservatism of much mainstream fiction... "So the contemporary essay is often to be seen engaged in acts of apparent anti-novelization: in place of plot , there is drift or the fracture of numbered paragraphs; in place of a frozen verisimilitude, there may be a sly and knowing movement between reality and fictionality; in place of the impersonal author of standard-issue third-person realism, the authorial self pops in and out of the picture, with a liberty hard to pull off in fiction." (James Wood, "Reality Effects." The New Yorker, Dec. 19 & 26, 2011)
The Lighter Side of Essays: "The Breakfast Club" Essay Assignment "All right people, we're going to try something a little different today. We are going to write an essay of not less than a thousand words describing to me who you think you are. And when I say 'essay,' I mean 'essay,' not one word repeated a thousand times. Is that clear, Mr. Bender?" (Paul Gleason as Mr. Vernon) Saturday, March 24, 1984 Shermer High School Shermer, Illinois 60062 Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did was wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us — in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed... But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain and an athlete and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club (Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson, "The Breakfast Club", 1985)
Literary devices, terms, and elements, definition of essay, common examples of essay, significance of essay in literature.
Many famous writers and thinkers have also written numerous examples of essays. For instance, the treatises of the philosophers Plutarch, Cicero, and Seneca are all early forms of essay writing. Essay writing might seem dull to school children, but in fact the form has become extremely popular, often converging with a type of writing called “creative non-fiction.” Authors are able to explore complex concepts through anecdote, evidence, and exploration. An author may want to persuade his or her audience to accept a central idea, or simply describe what he or she has experienced. Below you will find examples of essays from famous writers.
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an essayist and poet who was a part of the Transcendentalist movement and who believed strongly in the importance of individualism and self-reliance. The above essay example, in fact, is titled “Self-Reliance,” and encourages human beings to trust themselves and strike out on their own.
Yet, because he was so small, and so simple a form of the energy that was rolling in at the open window and driving its way through so many narrow and intricate corridors in my own brain and in those of other human beings, there was something marvelous as well as pathetic about him. It was as if someone had taken a tiny bead of pure life and decking it as lightly as possible with down and feathers, had set it dancing and zig-zagging to show us the true nature of life. Thus displayed one could not get over the strangeness of it. One is apt to forget all about life, seeing it humped and bossed and garnished and cumbered so that it has to move with the greatest circumspection and dignity. Again, the thought of all that life might have been had he been born in any other shape caused one to view his simple activities with a kind of pity.
Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd — seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the ‘natives’, and so in every crisis he has got to do what the ‘natives’ expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. I had got to shoot the elephant. I had committed myself to doing it when I sent for the rifle. A sahib has got to act like a sahib; he has got to appear resolute, to know his own mind and do definite things. To come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing — no, that was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at.
(“Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell)
George Orwell’s marvelous essay “Shooting an Elephant” tells the story of when he was a police officer in Lower Burma and was asked to deal with an elephant wandering through a market. Orwell brilliantly extrapolates his role in shooting and killing the animal to the effects of Imperialism and the British Empire.
Not that it’s profound, but I’m struck, amid the pig’s screams and wheezes, by the fact that these agricultural pros do not see their stock as pets or friends. They are just in the agribusiness of weight and meat. They are unconnected, even at the fair’s self-consciously special occasion of connection. And why not?—even at the fair their products continue to drool and smell and scream, and the work goes on. I can imagine what they think of us, cooing at the swine: we fairgoers don’t have to deal with the business of breeding and feeding our meat; our meat simply materializes at the corn-dog stand, allowing us to separate our healthy appetites from fur and screams and rolling eyes. We tourists get to indulge our tender animal-rights feelings with our tummies full of bacon. I don’t know how keen these sullen farmers’ sense of irony is, but mine’s been honed East Coast keen, and I feel like a bit of an ass in the Swine Barn.
(“Ticket to the Fair” by David Foster Wallace)
David Foster Wallace wrote many famous essays as well as novels; he often looks at modern life with a heightened attention to detail and different perspectives. In the essay “Ticket to the Fair,” he visits a fair and describes what he sees and feels, including the excerpt above where he considers the different way he and the farmers at the fair feel about animals.
3. Which of the following statements is true? A. Essays are found in many intellectual magazines. B. Essays are only used in school settings. C. Essays are always boring. [spoiler title=”Answer to Question #3″] Answer: A is the correct answer.[/spoiler]
10 May, 2020
11 minutes read
Author: Tomas White
Well, beyond a jumble of words usually around 2,000 words or so - what is an essay, exactly? Whether you’re taking English, sociology, history, biology, art, or a speech class, it’s likely you’ll have to write an essay or two. So how is an essay different than a research paper or a review? Let’s find out!
The essay is a written piece that is designed to present an idea, propose an argument, express the emotion or initiate debate. It is a tool that is used to present writer’s ideas in a non-fictional way. Multiple applications of this type of writing go way beyond, providing political manifestos and art criticism as well as personal observations and reflections of the author.
An essay can be as short as 500 words, it can also be 5000 words or more. However, most essays fall somewhere around 1000 to 3000 words ; this word range provides the writer enough space to thoroughly develop an argument and work to convince the reader of the author’s perspective regarding a particular issue. The topics of essays are boundless: they can range from the best form of government to the benefits of eating peppermint leaves daily. As a professional provider of custom writing, our service has helped thousands of customers to turn in essays in various forms and disciplines.
Over the course of more than six centuries essays were used to question assumptions, argue trivial opinions and to initiate global discussions. Let’s have a closer look into historical progress and various applications of this literary phenomenon to find out exactly what it is.
Today’s modern word “essay” can trace its roots back to the French “essayer” which translates closely to mean “to attempt” . This is an apt name for this writing form because the essay’s ultimate purpose is to attempt to convince the audience of something. An essay’s topic can range broadly and include everything from the best of Shakespeare’s plays to the joys of April.
The essay comes in many shapes and sizes; it can focus on a personal experience or a purely academic exploration of a topic. Essays are classified as a subjective writing form because while they include expository elements, they can rely on personal narratives to support the writer’s viewpoint. The essay genre includes a diverse array of academic writings ranging from literary criticism to meditations on the natural world. Most typically, the essay exists as a shorter writing form; essays are rarely the length of a novel. However, several historic examples, such as John Locke’s seminal work “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” just shows that a well-organized essay can be as long as a novel.
The essay enjoys a long and renowned history in literature. They first began gaining in popularity in the early 16 th century, and their popularity has continued today both with original writers and ghost writers. Many readers prefer this short form in which the writer seems to speak directly to the reader, presenting a particular claim and working to defend it through a variety of means. Not sure if you’ve ever read a great essay? You wouldn’t believe how many pieces of literature are actually nothing less than essays, or evolved into more complex structures from the essay. Check out this list of literary favorites:
Pretty much as long as writers have had something to say, they’ve created essays to communicate their viewpoint on pretty much any topic you can think of!
Not only are students required to read a variety of essays during their academic education, but they will likely be required to write several different kinds of essays throughout their scholastic career. Don’t love to write? Then consider working with a ghost essay writer ! While all essays require an introduction, body paragraphs in support of the argumentative thesis statement, and a conclusion, academic essays can take several different formats in the way they approach a topic. Common essays required in high school, college, and post-graduate classes include:
This is the most common type of a formal essay. The type of paper that students are usually exposed to when they first hear about the concept of the essay itself. It follows easy outline structure – an opening introduction paragraph; three body paragraphs to expand the thesis; and conclusion to sum it up.
These essays are commonly assigned to explore a controversial issue. The goal is to identify the major positions on either side and work to support the side the writer agrees with while refuting the opposing side’s potential arguments.
This essay compares two items, such as two poems, and works to identify similarities and differences, discussing the strength and weaknesses of each. This essay can focus on more than just two items, however. The point of this essay is to reveal new connections the reader may not have considered previously.
This essay has a sole purpose – defining a term or a concept in as much detail as possible. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not quite. The most important part of the process is picking up the word. Before zooming it up under the microscope, make sure to choose something roomy so you can define it under multiple angles. The definition essay outline will reflect those angles and scopes.
Perhaps the most fun to write, this essay focuses on describing its subject using all five of the senses. The writer aims to fully describe the topic; for example, a descriptive essay could aim to describe the ocean to someone who’s never seen it or the job of a teacher. Descriptive essays rely heavily on detail and the paragraphs can be organized by sense.
The purpose of this essay is to describe an idea, occasion or a concept with the help of clear and vocal examples. “Illustration” itself is handled in the body paragraphs section. Each of the statements, presented in the essay needs to be supported with several examples. Illustration essay helps the author to connect with his audience by breaking the barriers with real-life examples – clear and indisputable.
Being one the basic essay types, the informative essay is as easy as it sounds from a technical standpoint. High school is where students usually encounter with informative essay first time. The purpose of this paper is to describe an idea, concept or any other abstract subject with the help of proper research and a generous amount of storytelling.
This type of essay focuses on describing a certain event or experience, most often chronologically. It could be a historic event or an ordinary day or month in a regular person’s life. Narrative essay proclaims a free approach to writing it, therefore it does not always require conventional attributes, like the outline. The narrative itself typically unfolds through a personal lens, and is thus considered to be a subjective form of writing.
The purpose of the persuasive essay is to provide the audience with a 360-view on the concept idea or certain topic – to persuade the reader to adopt a certain viewpoint. The viewpoints can range widely from why visiting the dentist is important to why dogs make the best pets to why blue is the best color. Strong, persuasive language is a defining characteristic of this essay type.
Several other artistic mediums have adopted the essay as a means of communicating with their audience. In the visual arts, such as painting or sculpting, the rough sketches of the final product are sometimes deemed essays. Likewise, directors may opt to create a film essay which is similar to a documentary in that it offers a personal reflection on a relevant issue. Finally, photographers often create photographic essays in which they use a series of photographs to tell a story, similar to a narrative or a descriptive essay.
“What is an Essay?” is quite a polarizing question. On one hand, it can easily be answered in a couple of words. On the other, it is surely the most profound and self-established type of content there ever was. Going back through the history of the last five-six centuries helps us understand where did it come from and how it is being applied ever since.
If you must write an essay, follow these five important steps to works towards earning the “A” you want:
Generally speaking, when you must write any type of essay, start sooner rather than later! Don’t procrastinate – give yourself time to develop your perspective and work on crafting a unique and original approach to the topic. Remember: it’s always a good idea to have another set of eyes (or three) look over your essay before handing in the final draft to your teacher or professor. Don’t trust your fellow classmates? Consider hiring an editor or a ghostwriter to help out!
If you are still unsure on whether you can cope with your task – you are in the right place to get help. HandMadeWriting is the perfect answer to the question “Who can write my essay?”
Due to human nature, we draw conclusions only when life gives us a lesson since the experience of others is not so effective and powerful. Therefore, when analyzing and sorting out common problems we face, we may trace a parallel with well-known book characters or real historical figures. Moreover, we often compare our situations with […]
Writing a research paper on ethics is not an easy task, especially if you do not possess excellent writing skills and do not like to contemplate controversial questions. But an ethics course is obligatory in all higher education institutions, and students have to look for a way out and be creative. When you find an […]
Students obtaining degrees in fine art and art & design programs most commonly need to write a paper on art topics. However, this subject is becoming more popular in educational institutions for expanding students’ horizons. Thus, both groups of receivers of education: those who are into arts and those who only get acquainted with art […]
S chool is out and summer is here. Yet future high school seniors and their families are likely already thinking about applying to college — a process that can be as labor-intensive and time-consuming as it is confusing. Students submit SAT scores, grades, references, personal essays, and more, often without a clear sense of what counts most.
The challenges facing college applicants today aren’t new. For over a century, Americans seeking higher education have had to navigate complicated admissions requirements including exams and grades as well as qualitative metrics of assessment, such as references, interviews, and essays.
Collecting so much academic and personal information has given colleges and universities greater control over the kinds of students they admit. In the first half of the 20th century, this information was mainly used to bar some applicants based on race, gender, and religion. Since the social movements of the 1960s and 70s, however, it has been used to do nearly the opposite by expanding access to previously excluded groups. In this process, personal essays have been especially valuable for the unique insights they can offer into applicants’ backgrounds and perspectives. In the context of today’s narrowing national diversity agenda, they are key to promoting inclusion in American higher education.
In the late 19th century, college admission standards were relatively low in America, even at the “Big Three” private universities, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. In an era when few Americans had more than an eighth-grade education, and even fewer could afford the cost of higher education, there was little competition for admission. Applicants needed only to pass subject matter exams, tests that were rudimentary and could be taken repeatedly until passed. Even those who failed their entrance exams might be admitted if they had elite standing and could pay tuition.
Read More: How to Talk About Race on College Applications, According to Admissions Experts
By the turn of the 20th century, however, demand for higher education was growing. Colleges worked intentionally to admit a broader range of students, dropping archaic requirements like knowledge of Latin and Greek that had previously barred all but the most privileged high school students from applying. More and more qualified applicants competed for fewer available spots, which meant that colleges and universities could be more selective.
But with more applicants passing exams and earning entry to higher education, private universities became increasingly concerned about the demographics of their student bodies. By the 1910s, as immigration increased, and more public high schools were better preparing students of all backgrounds to meet private entrance requirements, rising numbers of Jewish students were landing spots at the historically Protestant and upper-class universities. With antisemitism on the rise, many private colleges adopted new metrics of admission that could be used to limit the number of “undesirable” students, especially Jewish ones.
It was at this juncture that selective colleges introduced the application essay to assess students for the amorphous category of "fit." Applications in general became much more involved and intrusive.
For instance, beginning in 1919, Columbia required prospective students to complete an eight-page form, submit a photo, list their mother’s maiden name, and provide information about their religious background. Even standardized tests could be used to screen students by cultural background. Early entrance exams were heavily biased toward American customs and colloquialisms, putting first-generation immigrants at a disadvantage.
In the wake of World War II, the passage of the GI Bill created a surge in demand for higher education across the country. Between 1950 and 1970, enrollment in colleges and universities in the U.S. nearly quadrupled.
Although public and private universities expanded in response, they still came under new pressures to bolster selective criteria that would allow them to limit the growth of their student bodies. To ensure spots for students long considered the natural recipients of higher education — especially white, middle-class, Protestant men — private colleges continued to use quotas and other forms of preference such as legacy status to effectively limit the numbers of Jewish students, people of color, and women admitted. Meanwhile, admissions were far from need blind; applying for a scholarship could damage your chance of acceptance.
Public universities like the University of California, Berkeley charted a different course. In the post-war period, the UC system admitted all students who met basic requirements — graduation from an accredited high school along with a principal's recommendation, acceptance by exam, or completion of an Associate’s degree. But public universities now also faced more demand than they could accommodate. Indeed, the 1960s California Master Plan for Higher Education acknowledged that state universities, too, might well have to introduce a selective process for choosing applicants in the face of expanded access across much wider class, geographic, and ethnic backgrounds.
By the 1960s, a selective application process became common across major private and public universities. But the social movements of the 1960s and 70s forced private universities to drop their formal practices of discrimination and changed the use of personal essays and other qualitative metrics of evaluation in the process.
For the first time, in the 1960s, admissions officers at historically white and Protestant universities acknowledged that applicants’ academic profiles were deeply shaped by the opportunities — educational, economic, and cultural — available to them, and that these in turn were shaped by students’ race, ethnicity, and sex.
While special considerations about background had once been used to systematically exclude minorities, in the 1960s they were invoked for the first time to do the opposite, albeit with some striking limitations.
By looking at applicants from a comprehensive standpoint, which included these markers of identity, even the most selective private universities made major strides in achieving racial diversity in this period. They also dropped quotas and began to admit women on an equal basis with men. Class diversity, however, was another matter — to this day private universities continue to be comparatively socio-economically homogenous despite meaningful shifts in other areas.
Since the 1970s, the admissions system has only grown increasingly competitive, with more students than ever before applying to college. That forced universities to choose between strong applicants while building their own brands and competitive profiles. This competitive environment has turned the college application essay into a particularly important vehicle in the admissions process for learning about students’ backgrounds and human qualities.
Read More: How the End of Affirmative Action Could Affect the College Admissions Process
In 1975, a small group of mostly East Coast colleges came together to form the Common App — today used by more than 1,000 universities. The Common App led the way in formulating what we now think of as the personal statement, aimed at understanding the inner world of each student.
For more than 50 years now, universities both private and public have evaluated essays for a range of qualities including leadership capacity, creativity, service to the community, and ability to overcome hardship, as part of their admissions decisions. The kinds of questions universities ask, the qualities they seek, and the responses they receive have changed many times and have been shaped by the cultural trends of our times.
In 2021 for example, following the spread of a global pandemic, the Common App introduced a question about gratitude for the first time. And while the prompts remained unchanged following the 2023 Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. (SFFA) v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and SFFA v. University of North Carolina , which formally excluded race as a factor in admissions, universities began to read them for the role of race, ethnicity, and other identities in students’ profiles. In these and many other ways, the essay has only gained value as a way for students to explain the important ways their experiences and identities have shaped their academic profiles.
Still, there have been calls to eliminate the college essay from admissions requirements from both the right and the left, as either frivolously inclusive, or potentially exclusionary. Now, at a time when there are major political constraints on supporting diversity and inclusion at the national level, personal essays give admissions committees important flexibility. They also allow colleges to evaluate students for underrated but essential intellectual and personal qualities hard to observe elsewhere, including the capacity for growth, self-reflection, and awareness of the world around them.
The history of modern admissions shows how institutions of higher education have sought to engineer their classes, often reinforcing harmful racial, class, and gender hierarchies. There is little objectivity in the metric of “fit” that has shaped American admissions practices. But the Civil Rights era has had a powerful and long-lasting legacy in broadening access through an assessment of applicants that is attentive to identity. However flawed the system, the essay offers something no other metric can: an account of a student’s lived experience, in their own words.
Sarah Stoller is a writer and historian. She also tutors college essay writing.
Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here . Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors .
Write to Sarah Stoller / Made by History at [email protected]
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used for saying that you accept that you are wrong or that something is your fault
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Collaboration, information literacy, writing process, the first person.
The first person—“I,” “me,” “my,” etc.—can be a useful and stylish choice in academic writing, but inexperienced writers need to take care when using it.
There are some genres and assignments for which the first person is natural. For example, personal narratives require frequent use of the first person (see, for example, “ Employing Narrative in an Essay ). Profiles, or brief and entertaining looks at prominent people and events, frequently employ the first person. Reviews, such as for movies or restaurants, often utilize the first person as well. Any writing genre that involves the writer’s taste, recollections, or feelings can potentially utilize the first person.
But what about more formal academic essays? In this case, you may have heard from instructors and teachers that the first person is never appropriate. The reality is a little more complicated. The first person can be a natural fit for expository, critical, and researched writing, and can help develop style and voice in what can often be dry or impersonal genres. But you need to take care when using the personal voice, and watch out for a few traps.
First, as always, listen to your teacher, instructor, or professor. Follow the guidelines given to you; if you’re not supposed to use the first person in a particular class or assignment, don’t! Also, recognize that, while it is not universally valid or helpful, the common advice to avoid the first person in academic writing comes from legitimate concerns about its misuse. Many instructors advise their students in this way due to experience with students misusing the first person.
Why do teachers often counsel against using the first person in an academic paper? Used too frequently or without care, it can make a writer seem self-centered, even self-obsessed. A paper filled with “I,” “me,” and “mine” can be distracting to a reader, as it creates the impression that the writer is more interested in him- or herself than the subject matter. Additionally, the first person is often a more casual mode, and if used carelessly, it can make a writer seem insufficiently serious for an academic project. Particularly troublesome can be constructions like “I think” or “in my opinion;” overused, they can make a writer appear unsure or noncommittal. On issues of personal taste and opinion, statements like “I believe” are usually inferred, and thus repeatedly stating that a statement is only your opinion is redundant. (Of course, if a statement is someone else’s opinion, it must be responsibly cited.)
Given those issues, why is the first person still sometimes an effective strategy? For one, using the first person in an academic essay reminds the audience (and the author) of a simple fact: that someone is writing the essay, a particular person in a particular context. A writer is in a position of power; he or she is the master of the text. It’s easy, given that mastery, for writers and readers alike to forget that the writer is composing from a limited and contingent perspective. By using the first person, writers remind audiences and themselves that all writing, no matter how well supported by facts and evidence, comes from a necessarily subjective point of view. Used properly, this kind of reminder can make a writer appear more thoughtful and modest, and in doing so become more credible and persuasive.
The first person is also well-suited to the development of style and personal voice. The personal voice is, well, personal; to use the first person effectively is to invite readers into the individual world of the writer. This can make a long essay seem shorter, an essay about a dry subject seem more engaging, and a complicated argument seem less intimidating. The first person is also a great way to introduce variety into a paper. Academic papers, particularly longer ones, can often become monotonous. After all, detailed analysis of a long piece of literature or a large amount of data requires many lines of text. If such an analysis is not effectively varied in method or tone, a reader can find the text uninteresting or discouraging. The first person can help dilute that monotony, precisely because its use is rare in academic writing.
The key to all of this, of course, is using the first person well and judiciously. Any stylistic device, no matter its potential, can be misused. The first person is no exception. So how to use the first person well in an academic essay?
Once you’ve assured that you’re using the first person in a consistent, grammatically correct fashion, your most important tools are restraint and caution. As I indicated above, part of the power of the first person in an academic essay is that it is a rarely used alternative to the typical third person mode. This power only persists if you use the first person in moderation. Constantly peppering your academic essays with the first person dilutes its ability to provoke a reader. You should use the first person rarely enough to ensure that, when you do, the reader notices; it should immediately contrast with the convention you’ve built in your essay.
Given this need for restraint, student writers would do best to use the first person only when they have a deliberate purpose for using it. Is there something different about the particular passage, paragraph, or moment into which you want to introduce the first person? Do you want to call attention to a particular issue or idea in your paper, particularly if you feel less certain about that idea, or more personally connected to it? Finally, have you established a consistent use of the third person, so that using the first person here represents a meaningful change? After a long, formal argument, the first person can feel like an invitation for the reader to get a little closer.
Think of the first person as a powerful spice. Just enough can make a bland but serviceable dish memorable and tasty. Too much can render it inedible. Use the first person carefully, when you have a good reason to do so, and it can enliven your academic papers.
Using first person in an academic essay: when is it okay.
Definition of essay noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
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Shaboozey has achieved his first number one hit song with “ A Bar Song (Tipsy) ,” which just topped the charts on the Billboard Hot 100 .
The 29-year-old singer actually joined Beyonce on her Cowboy Carter tracks “Spaghetti” and “Sweet Honey Buckiin” before dropping his hit single.
In the chorus of his new song, Shaboozey sings, “Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey (A double shot of whiskey) / They know me and Jack Daniel’s got a history (We go way back) / There’s a party downtown, near 5th Street / Everybody at the bar gettin’ tipsy (Woo).”
If you didn’t know, Shaboozey ‘s new single interpolates J-Kwon ‘s hit song “Tipsy.”
The rapper is opening up about the “sad” meaning behind the track.
Keep reading to find out more…
“Not to ruin anybody’s time, but ‘A Bar Song’ is… a song that sounds happy, but if you look at it from a different perspective, it’s also like, a song about someone who is having some struggles that are trying to get through it,” he told Audacy . “And in the moment, it seems like we’re having a great time, but then…. It’s kinda sad. Like, ‘I’m at the bottom of a bottle don’t miss me…. It’s good storytelling.“
Download the song now on iTunes or Amazon Music . Stream the music video below from YouTube!
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Eminem makes reference to alec baldwin’s ‘rust’ shooting: “f*** around and get popped like halyna hutchins”, breaking news.
By Bruce Haring
pmc-editorial-manager
Taylor Swift keeps adding little twists to her live show.
Swift’s “Eras Tour” show in Amsterdam on Saturday featured a mashup of “Mary’s Song,” “So High School” and “Everything Has Changed” during the secret songs segment.
At the end, Swift sang the closing lyrics to her 2006 “Mary’s Song,” performed live for the first time and which now can be read as a reference to boyfriend and NFL star Travis Kelce : “I’ll be 87, you’ll be 89 / I’ll still look at you like the stars that shine / In the sky, oh my my my.”
Kelce was present for the song, joined by teammate Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany Mahomes. The couple stopped in Amsterdam during their European vacation.
Swift later switched the lyrics to “Karma” to mention “the guy on the Chiefs,” which she sings whenever Kelce is in the crowd.
Swift next heads to Zürich, Switzerland, where she is set to play two back-to-back nights on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Later this summer, she’ll close out the European leg with five dates in London.
Paramount wins bidding war for caroline dries’ spec ‘over asking’ in 7-figure deal.
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By Hillary Rodham Clinton
Mrs. Clinton was the Democratic nominee for president in 2016.
Last week I had the time of my life at the Tony Awards introducing a song from “Suffs,” the Broadway musical I co-produced about the suffragists who won women the right to vote. I was thrilled when the show took home the awards for best original score and best book.
From “Suffs” to “Hamilton,” I love theater about politics. But not the other way around. Too often we approach pivotal moments like this week’s debate between President Biden and Donald Trump like drama critics. We’re picking a president, not the best actor.
I am the only person to have debated both men (Mr. Trump in 2016 and, in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary race, Mr. Biden). I know the excruciating pressure of walking onto that stage and that it is nearly impossible to focus on substance when Mr. Trump is involved. In our three debates in 2016, he unleashed a blizzard of interruptions, insults and lies that overwhelmed the moderators and did a disservice to the voters who tuned in to learn about our visions for the country — including a record 84 million viewers for our first debate.
It is a waste of time to try to refute Mr. Trump’s arguments like in a normal debate. It’s nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are. He starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather. This has gotten only worse in the years since we debated. I was not surprised that after a recent meeting, several chief executives said that Mr. Trump, as one journalist described it, “could not keep a straight thought” and was “all over the map.” Yet expectations for him are so low that if he doesn’t literally light himself on fire on Thursday evening, some will say he was downright presidential.
Mr. Trump may rant and rave in part because he wants to avoid giving straight answers about his unpopular positions, like restrictions on abortion, giving tax breaks to billionaires and selling out our planet to big oil companies in return for campaign donations. He interrupts and bullies — he even stalked me around the stage at one point — because he wants to appear dominant and throw his opponent off balance.
These ploys will fall flat if Mr. Biden is as direct and forceful as he was when engaging Republican hecklers at the State of the Union address in March. The president also has facts and truth on his side. He led America’s comeback from a historic health and economic crisis, with more than 15 million jobs created so far, incomes for working families rising, inflation slowing and investments in clean energy and advanced manufacturing soaring. He’ll win if that story comes through.
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In an essay published on Sunday, Andrea Robin Skinner writes that her stepfather sexually abused her, and that Munro stayed with him after learning about it.
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When the Nobel Prize-winning Canadian author Alice Munro died in May at age 92 , her many admirers paid tribute to the subtle construction of her short stories, which often involved the gradual unveiling of a terrible revelation.
Andrea Robin Skinner, one of Munro’s daughters, published an essay in the Toronto Star on Sunday that brought to light a long-held secret in the author’s own family: Munro’s husband, geographer Gerald Fremlin, had sexually abused Skinner starting in 1976, when she was 9. Munro learned of the abuse when Skinner wrote to her about it 16 years later, and the author ultimately decided to stay with Fremlin afterward. Fremlin wrote letters to the Munro family, admitting to the abuse in graphic detail and blaming Skinner, describing her as a “homewrecker.” Skinner’s essay in the Star was accompanied by an article by two reporters at the paper.
Munro remained married to Fremlin until his death in 2013. “She was adamant that whatever had happened was between me and my stepfather,” Skinner wrote. “It had nothing to do with her.”
In the essay, Skinner described the initial sexual assault, which occurred during a 1976 visit to her mother and stepfather. During subsequent visits, Fremlin spoke lewdly to her, exposed himself and masturbated in front of her. Skinner struggled with bulimia, migraines and insomnia throughout her youth, and at age 25 she divulged the abuse to her mother.
When she next spoke to her mother, Skinner wrote, Munro focused on her own sense of injury and seemed “incredulous” that Skinner described being hurt by the abuse. Munro told Skinner about “other children Fremlin had ‘friendships’ with, emphasizing her own sense that she, personally, had been betrayed.”
Other members of the family knew about some aspect of the abuse. Soon after the initial assault, Skinner told her stepmother, who informed Skinner’s father, Jim Munro. Jim Munro did not inform his ex-wife, a choice that “relieved” Skinner at first, she wrote. Later, though, his “inability to take swift and decisive action to protect me also left me feeling that I no longer truly belonged in either home. I was alone.”
Skinner became estranged from the family in 2002, after telling Munro she would not allow Fremlin near her children. After reading a 2004 newspaper feature in which Munro spoke glowingly about her marriage, Skinner wrote, she decided she could no longer keep the abuse a family secret. She contacted Ontario police and shared Fremlin’s letters. He was charged for indecent assault, and pleaded guilty, in 2005. Skinner hoped that this would force the public to confront her experience, but “my mother’s fame meant the silence continued.”
The secrecy spread beyond the family: Canadian academic Robert Thacker told the Globe and Mail that Skinner had written to him about her experiences as his book “Alice Munro: Writing Her Lives” went to press in 2005. Thacker decided not to act on the information: “I knew about the discord within the family and no, I wasn’t going to do anything to make a bad situation worse.” He also said he had spoken with Munro about the abuse, but he did not elaborate on those conversations.
“Many influential people came to know something of my story yet continued to support, and add to, a narrative they knew was false,” Skinner wrote in her essay.
Skinner and her siblings reconnected in 2014, as they began to talk more openly about the dynamics that had prevented them from discussing the abuse with one another or understanding its severity. “We were so loyal to our mother that sometimes we were almost pitted against each other,” her sister told Toronto Star reporters.
Contacted by The Washington Post for comment, Skinner wrote, “I feel that the #metoo movement has changed the way we talk about and think about shame and silence. We are fed up with the way things have been.
“I feel very grateful for people like Dylan Farrow, who spoke out at a time when it was extremely dangerous to do so. The brave people who dared to tell the truth, back when the public were a lot less trauma-informed, cleared a path for people like me. I really want to open the path for many, many others.”
Readers expressed horror at the news, with some saying it would be difficult for them to return to reading Munro’s work. (As of press time, representatives for Penguin Random House Canada had not responded to a request for comment.)
“The Alice Munro news is so completely and tragically consistent with the world she evoked in her stories — all those young people betrayed and sabotaged by adults who were supposed to care for them,” novelist Jess Row wrote on the social media site X. “This is the most awful feeling of recognition.”
“This is gutting,” Tajja Isen, a contributing writer to the Walrus, a Canadian magazine, said on X. “I have so much respect for Andrea for writing this, especially amidst a flood of pieces — including mine, just last week — that missed this part of her mother’s legacy.”
“Someone will surely eventually write the piece that worries we are cancelling Munro but I feel this revelation only enriches and deepens my understanding and relationship with her work,” journalist Michelle Dean said on X. “I only wish it had been made sooner because Andrea Skinner did not deserve to pay this price.”
Munro’s Books, the bookstore co-founded by Alice and Jim Munro in 1963 and under new ownership since 2014, expressed support for Skinner in a statement: “Along with so many readers and writers, we will need time to absorb this news and the impact it may have on the legacy of Alice Munro, whose works and ties to the store we have previously celebrated.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to Tajja Isen as a contributing editor to the Walrus. She is a contributing writer. This story has been updated.
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Finally, we have more than just that snippet. We have the full song and video too.
When Katy Perry first teased her single, “Woman’s World,” last month, she had the internet buzzing. Of course, there were widespread celebrations about her long-awaited return, but there were also many questions about the snippet she shared.
She posted a TikTok lip-syncing to a clip of the track: “Sexy, confident / So intelligent / She is heaven-sent / So soft, so strong.”
People were... a bit confused! Not only because of the sparse melody, but also because of the out-of-context Girl Power-y lyrics. But who is Katy Perry without a bit of confusion? This is a woman who had the infamous “left shark” as a backup dancer and who came to the Met Gala dressed as a hamburger. She knows how to keep us on our toes.
But now that the song has finally arrived, we get a fuller picture. It turns out that clip was just the beginning of “Woman’s World,” which eventually explodes with dance-pop energy reminiscent of her 2000s pop hits. “It’s a woman’s world and you’re lucky to be living in it,” she sings in the chorus.
While she hasn’t broken down the visuals just yet, Perry did speak about the anthemic nature of the new song while speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music.
“I think that people, when they think of me, they think of ‘Roar,’ they think of ‘Firework,’ sometimes they think of ‘I Kissed a Girl,’ but I think mostly they think of these kind of empowering songs,” she said. “Songs with a message, songs that are captions on t-shirts and stuff like that or things that help people get through. And I love that. I love hearing the stories and really, I write these songs from a place where I need to get through something. But so I wanted to continue with that and also, this is the first contribution I have given since becoming a mother and since feeling really connected to my feminine divine.”
This is merely our first glimpse at Perry’s upcoming album, 143 , which arrives on September 20. The singer just shared the title, release date, and cover art yesterday. While Perry’s comeback is highly anticipated, it’s also been met with controversy following news that producer Dr. Luke (real name Lukasz Gottwald) was involved with the album after his years-long legal battle with Kesha. (He previously produced Perry’s hits like “I Kissed a Girl,” “California Gurls,” and more.) Perry has not yet publicly addressed their latest collaborations.
Watch the “Woman’s World” video and read the full lyrics below.
Sexy, confident So intelligent She is heaven-sent So soft, so strong She’s a winner Champion Superhuman Number one She’s a sister She’s a mother Open your eyes, just look around, and you’ll discover You know It’s a woman’s world, and you’re lucky to be living in it (uh huh, uh huh) It’s a woman’s world, and you’re lucky to be living in it (uh huh, uh huh) You better celebrate ’Cause baby we ain’t going away It’s a woman’s world, and you’re lucky to be living in it (uh huh, uh huh) Fire in her eyes Feminine divine She was born to shine To shine, to shine, yeah She’s a flower She’s a thorn Superhuman Number one She’s a sister She’s a mother Open your eyes, just look around, and you’ll discover You know It’s a woman’s world, and you’re lucky to be living in it (uh huh, uh huh) It’s a woman’s world, and you’re lucky to be living in it (uh huh, uh huh) You better celebrate ’Cause baby we ain’t going away It’s a woman’s world, and you’re lucky to be living in it (uh huh, uh huh) Lucky to be living in it Lucky to be living in it That’s right It’s a woman’s world And you’re lucky to be living in it Uh huh
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What to Know When used to begin a list of two or more things, there is a strong preference for first over firstly today, but this preference is one of custom and usage, not grammar. Both first and firstly can function as adverbs, but they are not completely interchangeable; for example, we never say “firstly of all.”
When enumerating a list of two or more things, should you begin with first or firstly ? There’s a strong preference for first in written English today, but adverbs are supposed to end in -ly , aren’t they? Like so many “rules” of English, this one isn’t a rule at all , but a shortcut that helps with broad generalizations.
Even though they are both adverbs, 'first' and 'firstly' are hardly interchangeable in all situations: we never say “I firstly noticed it yesterday." One might say "firstly, what are you doing in my home?" or "firstly, I hope you have insurance"—but if you want to avoid criticism, 'first' is the best bet for most situations.
An adverb that has the same form as its related adjective is called a flat adverb (think of fast in “go fast” or slow in “go slow”). There are relatively few of these in English, since many adverbs do have an -ly ending, which creates adjective/adverb pairs like speedy/speedily , elegant/elegantly , close/closely , etc. Some flat adverbs have the same meaning with both forms: “The sun shines bright/brightly .” Some have different meanings, having separated over time, like “sleep tight” and “close tightly.” And some, like first and firstly , have an uneasy coexistence.
It turns out that there’s been a conspiracy against firstly for centuries. The great English dictionaries of the 1700s and early 1800s by Samuel Johnson and Noah Webster didn’t even have entries for firstly , though the word had been used since the 1300s (Webster had no entry between FIRSTLING and FIRST-RATE). When firstly was finally added in the first posthumous edition of Webster’s Dictionary in 1847, it wasn’t even accorded the courtesy of a definition; instead, the entry simply reads “Improperly used instead of first.”
Some writers objected to the use of firstly instead of first for the oldest reason in the book: they thought it was new to the language (the 19th-century equivalent of saying: “That’s not a word!”). We know today that they were incorrect, but since firstly hadn’t been entered in dictionaries until then, they could be forgiven for thinking it was a neologism.
Others objected with a double correction: they said that those who used firstly created an adverb from first because the firstly -users believed that first wasn’t an adverb—all a waste of time, since first was and is used as an adverb (as are fast, slow, tight, etc.). The new objection was that firstly amounted to a pedantic hypercorrection of a word that was just fine in the first place, and therefore unnecessary. This is clearly the rationale behind the stigmatization found in the entry in the 1847 Webster’s Dictionary .
More recent objections have been more about style than substance: these commentators don’t like firstly because it’s longer than first . Even though they are both adverbs, first and firstly are hardly interchangeable in all situations: we never say “firstly of all” or “I firstly noticed it yesterday,” but these differences amount to idiomatic usage—the habits of centuries—and not grammar. In writing, first is much more common than firstly and is probably the best bet for most situations, even if the only reason is that a reader may wonder if firstly is proper and be distracted by this word choice. You might say that the conspiracy has succeeded by maintaining this word's slightly disrespectable reputation.
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Essay. An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal and informal: formal essays are characterized by "serious purpose, dignity, logical organization ...
An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.
Meaning. In the broadest sense, the term "essay" can refer to just about any short piece of nonfiction -- an editorial, feature story, critical study, even an excerpt from a book. However, literary definitions of a genre are usually a bit fussier. One way to start is to draw a distinction between articles, which are read primarily for the ...
Essay, an analytic, interpretive, or critical literary composition usually much shorter and less systematic and formal than a dissertation or thesis and usually dealing with its subjects from a limited and often personal point of view. Learn more about essays in this article.
The beginning of an essay can seem daunting. Sometimes, writers can start their essay in the middle or at the end, rather than at the beginning, and work backward. The process depends on each individual and takes practice to figure out what works best for them. Regardless of where students start, it is recommended that the introduction begins with an attention grabber or an example that hooks ...
Essay Definition. An essay (ES-ey) is a nonfiction composition that explores a concept, argument, idea, or opinion from the personal perspective of the writer. Essays are usually a few pages, but they can also be book-length. Unlike other forms of nonfiction writing, like textbooks or biographies, an essay doesn't inherently require research.
The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body. This article provides useful templates and tips to help you outline your essay, make decisions about your structure, and ...
An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates. In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills. Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative: you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence ...
A first-class essay should demonstrate a good awareness of the available literature on the essay subject and it's always a good idea to show that you are conversant with both the theoretical and empirical literature if applicable.
An essay is a form of writing in paragraph form that uses informal language, although it can be written formally. Essays may be written in first-person point of view (I, ours, mine), but third-person (people, he, she) is preferable in most academic essays. Essays do not require research as most academic reports and papers do; however, they ...
An essay is a piece of nonfiction writing that informs the reader about a topic or argues a perspective. Learn all about the parts of a five-paragraph essay!
An essay is a short work of nonfiction, while a writer of essays is called an essayist. In writing instruction, essay is often used as another word for composition. In an essay, an authorial voice (or narrator) typically invites an implied reader (the audience) to accept as authentic a certain textual mode of experience.
First-person essays are an opportunity for a writer to share their personal experiences. They can be funny, inspiring, or challenging to the reader. Either way, the goal of a first-person essay is to forge a connection with the person who is reading it, inviting them to follow along with your personal journey and learn something about themselves in the process.
The meaning of ESSAY is an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view. How to use essay in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Essay.
Definition and a list of examples of essay. An essay is a short piece writing, either formal or informal, which expresses the author's argument.
The essay is a written piece that is designed to present an idea, propose an argument, express the emotion or initiate debate. It is a tool that is used to present writer's ideas in a non-fictional way. Multiple applications of this type of writing go way beyond, providing political manifestos and art criticism as well as personal observations and reflections of the author.
The essay component of American college applications has a long history, but its purpose has changed over time.
A first-generation student essay is different from a regular college essay because the reader wants to hear about the struggles you experience as a first-gen student. First-gen essays are mostly found in scholarship prompts but can be used as your personal essay on the Common or Coalition Application.
ESSAY meaning: 1. a short piece of writing on a particular subject, especially one done by students as part of the…. Learn more.
This marks the first time in seven years Costco is raising membership fees. Additionally, Costco's premium "Executive Membership" is going up by $10 to $130 a year.
ESSAY definition: 1. a short piece of writing on a particular subject, especially one done by students as part of the…. Learn more.
The first person—"I," "me," "my," etc.—can be a useful and stylish choice in academic writing, but inexperienced writers need to take care when using it. There are some genres and assignments for which the first person is natural. For example, personal narratives require frequent use of the first person (see, for example ...
Definition of essay noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
Shaboozey has achieved his first number one hit song with "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," which just topped the charts on the Billboard Hot 100.. The 29-year-old singer actually joined Beyonce on her ...
Taylor Swift keeps adding little twists to her live show.. Swift's "Eras Tour" show in Amsterdam on Saturday featured a mashup of "Mary's Song," "So High School" and "Everything ...
The defeat of the Conservative Party in the UK election ends Rishi Sunak's two-year premiership. Does it also sour the story of Britain's first Asian prime minister, asks Sunder Katwala.
Guest Essay. Hillary Clinton: I've Debated Trump and Biden. ... visions for the country — including a record 84 million viewers for our first ... Economics estimated that Mr. Trump's tariffs ...
Alice Munro in 2009. A daughter of the Nobel Prize-winning Canadian author published an essay on Sunday revealing that she was sexually abused by her stepfather and that Munro ultimately chose to ...
When Katy Perry first teased her single, "Woman's World," last month, she had the internet buzzing.
Some flat adverbs have the same meaning with both forms: "The sun shines bright/brightly ." Some have different meanings, having separated over time, like "sleep tight" and "close tightly." And some, like first and firstly, have an uneasy coexistence.