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...
Category: Academic Writing
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Unconfusing the Confusing: Meet the Brilliant Oxford Comma!
THE PROBLEM. Over the years I have learned some strange and seemingly impossible things from students, friends, relatives, and folks I don’t know. I have always thought of myself as a rational person, one...