by Kathleen M. Making decisions about when and how to use semicolons is more often about style than it is about grammar. Your sense of writing style comes through when you decide how to punctuate complex and compound sentences. Your writing style also comes through when you showcase your ability to write a variety of sentence types. These kinds of considerations come in the later stages of your writing process,
by Kathleen M. For the most part, you understand when to use capital letters. But when talking about college majors, the rules are various. So here is a super basic tip – if you are speaking in general terms, use lower case and if you are being specific, capitalize. Example 1:I am interested in studying English and possibly double majoring in applied physics. Here English is capitalized because it is
by Kathleen M. The main problem with most writing is clarity. And teachers will mark all sorts of things to help you try to clarify your meaning. One of the things they may have suggested you learn about is vague pronoun reference. One of the problems with having to look up things that will aid in your writing is that the grammar terms might be confusing. In order to understand
by Kathleen M. In order to avoid sentence fragments, you have to know what they are. And it is really pretty simple: a sentence fragment is a sentence which is missing one of its main parts – either the subject or verb. The problem with missing one of these essential elements is that first of all it is incorrect, but additionally, a sentence fragment rarely makes sense on its own.
By Kathleen M. One of the key lessons to learn as you write your personal narrative as a part of your college application is to be specific. Two of the words that get in the way of that specificity are “it” and “that.” Sure they are handy words to use and work in all kinds of ways in all kinds of sentences, but if you are working to make your
by Kathleen M. As you write, you may find yourself googling questions that are stressing you out. You know that your English teacher told you not to use personal pronouns in formal writing and here you are trying to write a personal narrative for your college application. How are you supposed to write about your authentic self without using I? You aren’t. Use “I” – you have to use “I”
by Kathleen M. You are working away on your college application essays and suddenly wonder – wait should I be using the past or present tense? Can I switch back and forth? What is correct? Relax. The main goal in writing your personal essays is to communicate with your audience. You want the reader to get a sense of who you are. So the main decision when you are writing
by Kathleen M. When I was a college student, I had a professor offer me an F on an essay with the caveat that if I turned it in having corrected the comma splices, I would earn an A. So that was the day I learned what a comma splice was! And I am here to save you from a similar fate. A comma splice happens when you use a
by Albert L. It. No, I’m not talking about the killer clown that preys on your deepest fears. However, overreliance on the word “it” in your writing should scare you. This seemingly harmless pronoun is the antithesis of clarity in writing. I understand the allure of this word for writers. It is a catchall to mean almost anything. You might say, EssayNarwhal Blogger, you just used it. And yes, I
