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Featured Blog Articles
Crafting the Utterly Coolest Paragraph: The Opening Paragraph
“We are the first – yippee!” Oh, yes, how true: the opening paragraph IS the first paragraph, but it so much more: it is the coolest paragraph in any writing! No matter the writing – essay, column, book, email, review, letter, etc. – there must always be a first paragraph, a lead-off paragraph, an opening...
To Use “I” or Not to Use “I”: That Is Not Really a Question
“How can I show my experience and opinion without using ‘’I’?” a student recently asked for about the billionth time in my teaching career. Hi everyone! This is TK from the Department of Composition and WAC at Purdue Global. In CM 107–our Composition I course–students progress from personal writing about problem-solving to academic writing. As...
Destroying The He-Himself Syndrome: Getting Rid of Words and Phrases That Are Obvious and Bloat One’s Writing
Let’s see, I need to write about my life. Okay, this is how I’ll start: “To me my life has been, in my honest opinion, actual joy. The life’s experiences I went through included the following: going to learning schools, having an employable job, and getting married to my wife. I have to say these...
Understanding the Assignment
Hi everyone! This is Amy from the Academic Success Center. For many people, September means returning to school. At Purdue University Global, two new terms begin in September. With this in mind, we thought a throwback to a previous blog post about understanding assignments by Kurtis Clements would be appropriate. This blogcast was previously published...
Reading on the Road
In the spring of 1988, I got married and, instead of a traditional honeymoon, spent the next four months vagabonding through Europe with my wife, Ann. We were both twenty-three, young by today’s standards to marry, but we were in love and ready for adventure. One of the great things about travelling and flitting about...
Teaching Students to Adapt to Change Makes Them Better Communicators and Professionals
In the past few years, the US workforce has gone through a shift in social norms, especially around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Citizens are demanding change through anti-racist work and increased inclusion in all areas of life, including the workplace. Professionalism is like any other part of society—it is not static but evolves...
Teaching Inclusive Communication and Evolving Language as a Professional Skill
“Oh TK, that’s just politically correct BS!” “Let me guess, we’re ‘woke’ in this class?” “I always use that word. It’s not a slur.” “Am I going to be ‘cancelled’ now?” “What about my First Amendment rights to say what I want?” Hello everyone! This is Teresa Kelly–TK–from the Department of Composition and WAC. Whenever...
Weighing the Books
Hey, everyone! This is Kurtis from the Writing Center. Given we are in the midst of the summer reading season, I thought a post that speaks to the power of books would be fitting and what came to mind was a post written by Chrissine Cairns that was originally published to an earlier version of...
Take Your Pick: Every Job, No Matter Entry-Level or Beyond, Needs Good Writing—and You Can Take That to the Bank!
“No way do I need to know good writing, man! I’m flipping burgers; perhaps I’ll sign my name to the burgers, but I know how to spell that!” . . . “I’m pulling people out of water: what does a lifeguard need to know how to write?” . . . “This makes no sense: I’m...
Everything I Know about Analytical Reading I Learned by Doing Theatre
If you do not see the podcast player, click here to listen. Like many professors, I’ve always enjoyed school, and I’ve usually done well. I love learning new stuff, whether it’s the recent breakthrough in vaccine development, the two-foot wingspan of dragonflies 300 million years ago, or theorems and proofs in geometry. In other words,...
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