George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Why I Write, the first in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell describes his journey to becoming a writer, and his movement from writing poems to short stories to the essays, fiction and non-fiction we remember him for. He also discusses what he sees as the ‘four great motives for writing’ – ‘sheer egoism’, ‘aesthetic enthusiasm’, ‘historical impulse’ and ‘political purpose’ – and considers the importance of keeping these in balance. Why I Write is a unique opportunity to look into Orwell’s mind, and it grants the reader an entirely different vantage point from which to consider the rest of the great writer’s oeuvre. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times

Following on from Writers at Work: The Paragraph and Writers at Work: the Short Composition, Writers at Work: The Essay will teach the basics of academic essay writing to intermediate-level students. In Writers at Work: The Essay, college and university students use the process approach to write different genres of essays common at the post-secondary level, the most important being expository writing, persuasive writing, and timed essay exams. Each chapter uses the same five-step approach to writing that is used in the two lower-level books. In each chapter, students analyze a model essay, noticing key organizational and linguistic features; brainstorm ideas; write multiple drafts; revise their work; engage in peer reviews; and share their finished work. Chapters recycle and build upon previously taught material.

Let the College Essay Guy take the stress out of writing your college admission essay. Packed with brainstorming activities, college personal statement samples and more, this book provides a clear, stress-free roadmap to writing your best admission essay. Writing a college admission essay doesn't have to be stressful. College counselor Ethan Sawyer (aka The College Essay Guy) will show you that there are only four (really, four!) types of college admission essays. And all you have to do to figure out which type is best for you is answer two simple questions: 1. Have you experienced significant challenges in your life? 2. Do you know what you want to be or do in the future? With these questions providing the building blocks for your essay, Sawyer guides you through the rest of the process, from choosing a structure to revising your essay, and answers the big questions that have probably been keeping you up at night: How do I brag in a way that doesn't sound like bragging? and How do I make my essay, like, deep? College Essay Essentials will help you with: The best brainstorming exercises Choosing an essay structure The all-important editing and revisions Exercises and tools to help you get started or get unstuck College admission essay examples Packed with tips, tricks, exercises, and sample essays from real students who got into their dream schools, College Essay Essentials is the only college essay guide to make this complicated process logical, simple, and (dare we say it?) a little bit fun. The perfect companion to The Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020/2021. For high school counselors and college admission coaches, this is an essential book to help walk your students through writing a stellar, authentic college essay.

Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy, I have a hot crush on the em dash. What does my need to stuff—while simultaneously fracturing—my sentences—with the meandering, the explanatory, the discursive, the perhaps not-entirely-necessary—say about me? —Cheryl Strayed Have you ever wished there were an advice columnist for writers, but one who didn’t take things so damned seriously? This unique writing guide pairs questions sent in by top contemporary essayists with hilariously witty answers and essays from acclaimed author Dinty W. Moore. Phillip Lopate asks for advice on writing about your ex without sounding like an ass, Julianna Baggott worries that to be a great writer you must drink like a fish, and Roxane Gay asks whether it’s kosher to write about writing. Taking advantage of all the tools available to today’s personal essayist—egregious puns, embarrassing anecdotes, and cocktail napkins—Professor Moore answers these questions, and more, demystifying the world of nonfiction once and for all. With a tip of the hat to history’s most infamous essay—Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals”—this book provides rollicking relief for writers in distress.

The wise and witty guide to researching and writing a thesis, by the bestselling author of The Name of the Rose—now published in English for the first time. Learn the art of the thesis from a giant of Italian literature and philosophy—from choosing a topic to organizing a work schedule to writing the final draft. By the time Umberto Eco published his best-selling novel The Name of the Rose, he was one of Italy’s most celebrated intellectuals, a distinguished academic, and the author of influential works on semiotics. Some years before that, Eco published a little book for his students, in which he offered useful advice on all the steps involved in researching and writing a thesis. Since then, it has been translated into 17 languages—and is now for the first time presented in English. Eco’s approach is anything but dry and academic. He not only offers practical advice but also considers larger questions about the value of the thesis-writing exercise in six different parts: • The Definition and Purpose of a Thesis • Choosing the Topic • Conducting the Research • The Work Plan and the Index Cards • Writing the Thesis • The Final Draft Eco advises students how to avoid “thesis neurosis” and he answers the important question “Must You Read Books?” He reminds students “You are not Proust” and “Write everything that comes into your head, but only in the first draft.” Of course, there was no Internet in 1977, but Eco’s index card research system offers important lessons about critical thinking and information curating for students of today who may be burdened by Big Data. Irreverent and often hilarious, How to Write a Thesis is unlike any other writing manual and belongs on the bookshelves of students, teachers, writers, and Eco fans everywhere.

Strategies from a noted educational consultant on how to ease the pressure, ace the essay, and gain admission into your top-choice school Getting into college has become fiercely competitive, which makes the personal-essay part of the application process even more important–and stressful. But stop worrying! In Write Your College Essay in Less Than a Day, Elizabeth Wissner-Gross–a top educational strategist in this area who counsels students at schools across the country–breaks down the harrowing ordeal of essay writing into manageable steps, leaving you with a fresh, polished, stand-out piece that admissions officers will love to read. Inside you’ll find • exercises to help you select an essay topic inspired by your most notable achievements–and winning a Nobel Prize needn’t be one of them • timed chapters (including snack breaks) to help you brainstorm, create, and critique your essay in only five hours • sample essays and grading criteria so that you can play the admissions officer–and know what you’re up against • advice on which writing techniques will score you points–and which could potentially sink your chances Accessible, savvy, and written with a student’s needs and concerns in mind, Write Your College Essay in Less Than a Day gives you all the tools you need to compose an original, professional essay that will help you turn your dream school into a well-deserved reality.

A collection of public domain poems and images to celebrate the practice of poetry teatime with children.

"Now, with "The making of the American essay' the editor includes selections ranging from Anne Bradstreet's secular prayers to Washington Irving's satires, Emily Dickinson's love letters to Kenneth Goldsmith's catalog's, Gertrude Stein's portraits to James Baldwin's and Norman Mailer's mediations on boxing. In this volume the editor uncovers new stories in the American essay's past and shows us that some of the most fiercely daring writers in the American literary canon have turned to the essay in order to produce some of our culture's most exhilarating art."-- book jacket.

"Some of the finest examples of contemporary, genuinely American prose. White's style incorporates eloquence without affection, profundity without pomposity, and wit without frivolity or hostility. Like his predecessors Thoreau and Twain, White's creative, humane, and graceful perceptions are an education for the sensibilities." — Washington Post The classic collection by one of the greatest essayists of our time. Selected by E.B. White himself, the essays in this volume span a lifetime of writing and a body of work without peer. "I have chosen the ones that have amused me in the rereading," he writes in the Foreword, "alone with a few that seemed to have the odor of durability clinging to them." These essays are incomparable; this is a volume to treasure and savor at one's leisure.