Guides
How to keep a field notebook for place writing
A field notebook for place writing: log visits, separate evidence types, mark uncertainty, sketch relationships, debrief, and build a searchable index.
Section
Guides
Guides
Place essay guide: landscape, history, people, and point of view
A place essay explains how a location works and what it means, using boundary, evidence, sensory detail, and a narrator who states their own limits.
Guides
How to prepare and conduct an essay interview
Essay interview method for setting goals, researching a guest, securing consent, asking neutral questions, recording clean audio, and verifying quotations.
Guides
Profile essay guide: access, observation, interviews, and structure
Profile essay guide to choosing a subject, negotiating access, observing work, interviewing other people, verifying scenes, and shaping a fair portrait.
Guides
Public-domain and archival research at the Library of Congress for essay evidence
Library of Congress research for essay evidence means using the catalog, Chronicling America, datasets and rights checks to build a citable archive trail.
Guides
US university writing programs for essay craft: degree models and AWP
US university writing programs for essay craft vary by degree and residency model; this overview explains workshops, theses, reading lists, and AWP.
Guides
How to explain a technical mechanism without distorting it
Explaining a mechanism means choosing a boundary, naming what sits inside it, and tracing cause honestly enough that a reader can predict failure.
Guides
Explanatory essay guide for science and technology topics
A working guide to writing science and technology explainers that give readers a usable mental model, honest numbers, clear context, and stated limits.
Guides
Lyric essay vs prose poem: four tests for writers and teachers
Lyric essay vs prose poem: a criteria table, four tests, and where each form wins. Use it to place a hybrid manuscript or to teach the difference.
Guides
How to pitch a reported essay to US editors
Pitch a reported essay to US editors in the right order, from the one-paragraph note to the signed contract, with the fact-checking stage built in.
Guides
Argumentative essay guide: claims, reasons, warrants, and limits
How to build an argumentative essay from an arguable question, scoped claims, connected reasons, exposed warrants, and limits the evidence earns.
Guides
How to build a personal essay from one consequential moment
Build a personal essay from one consequential moment by testing the scene, inventorying sensory details, and letting honest reflection earn the ending.
Guides
How to build a claim-evidence-source note system
A working claim-evidence-source note system ties every draft sentence to a source ID, a page locator, and a status label, so attribution survives every revision.
Guides
How to close-read an image, scene, song, or designed object
Learn how to close read an image, film scene, song, or designed object by recording details, finding patterns, and testing claims against the work.
Guides
Cultural criticism guide: object, context, interpretation, and stakes
Cultural criticism guide to observing form, researching context, building interpretations, testing alternatives, and explaining social and political stakes.
Guides
Essay research guide: questions, search paths, notes, and source judgment
Essay research guide covering question-led searches, source roles, evaluation, claim notes, contradiction logs, stopping rules, attribution, and fact checks.
Guides
Essay writing fundamentals: question, thesis, structure, and evidence
A working question, a thesis that survives evidence, and body paragraphs with clear jobs show how an essay moves from first doubt to finished argument.
Guides
Personal essay guide: scene, reflection, memory, and ethical limits
A personal essay turns lived experience into inquiry, using scene, reflection, memory, and ethical limits while respecting the privacy of real people.
Guides
How to turn a broad topic into a workable essay question
Learn how to develop an essay question by narrowing a broad topic, testing its scope, and checking whether available evidence can support an answer.
Guides
How to Write a Counterargument and Answer It Fairly
Learn how to write a counterargument by choosing a fair objection, stating its strongest case, matching your response to its target, and revising your claim.