Stop boring your professors with tedious, predictable essays. Get better grades!

How do you write a great essay? It’s not about five paragraphs filled with quotations from experts—you need to discover who you are as a writer and what you want to say. In a conversational style, writing instructor Laura Swart uses real student writing to show you what to do (and what not to do). Unlock your creativity and potential as a writer and create essays that stand out from the rest of your class.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to:

• Avoid common student writing errors that keep your essays out of the A zone.


• Use the CSI (claim, support, investigation) method to write a critical essay.


• Integrate relevant and meaningful quotations and research to highlight, not overshadow, your ideas.


• Write natural transitions, structure seamless arguments, and craft compelling introductions and conclusions.


• Extend the boundaries of your thinking, giving a wide berth to mundane ideas and plodding expression.