Archive
Tag: Teaching Essay Strategies
Rhetorical Questions in Essays
A rhetorical question is a statement formed as a question. Rhetorical questions can be manipulative because they are designed to appear objective and open-ended, but may…
How to Eliminate Passive Voice
In the passive voice the subject of the sentence is acted upon by the verb. For example, in “Her mistake was noticed by the students,” the…
Don’t Use Metaphors in Essays
A metaphor is an implied (suggested) comparison of two unlike things. An extended metaphor continues the comparison through several sentences in a story or through several…
Avoiding Repetitious Writing
Repetitious writing involves repeating the same ideas, words or synonyms of those words, and sentence structure.
Avoiding Parentheses
An appositive is a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that identifies or explains another noun or pronoun before or after it. Avoid using appositives, particularly parentheses,…
Avoiding Clichés
A cliché is an overused and worn-out word, phrase, or sentence, which has lost its original meaning or effect. Avoid these expressions in formal writing, such…
Unsupported Generalizations
A generalization is a statement which applies to most all cases and to most all times. When writers combine specific points of an essay into a broader…
Wordiness | Eliminating Expletives
Expletives are just cuss words! Teach students to eliminate unnecessary words and phrases in their writing in this lesson. Often, expletives add emotion or emphasis to…