If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself. Albert Einstein The primary goal of all communication is to ensure that everyone involved in the process achieves a mutual understanding of the message. And in order to do that, it is important to communicate in a comprehensible and simple manner. Simplicity […]

Creative writing is the art of creating original works of self-expression that entertain and give voice to the human experience. Unlike technical or academic writing, the purpose of creative writing is not to present facts but to give rein to the writer’s imagination through poetics and storytelling. A creative writer invites the reader to step […]

For a lot of college students, narrowing down a research topic and developing a research question can be tough because it is something they never learned to do in high school. Identifying a highly focused topic, as opposed to one that is too broad or generic, makes it easier to write a good thesis statement […]

Most writers have a favorite book (or several) that contributed to their evolution as a writer and sometimes even served as a source of inspiration. Some choose to pay homage by including an epigraph—a phrase, a quote, or sometimes even a poem from those book(s)—at the beginning of their own book. Epigraphs serve a dual […]

When you’re finished using Bartleby Write to research, draft, edit, and cite your paper, Bartleby Write will automatically generate an APA formatted title page for you to use with your final version. Quick Start Generating your APA title page is easy; just open the draft details form from the Essay Editor tab of Bartleby Write: […]

Whether you’re just getting started or already have a first draft, Bartleby Research can help you find relevant sources to strengthen your paper. Bartleby Research uses Machine Learning to search a proprietary database of publicly-available documents and find contextually-relevant sources. You can then save any of the suggested resources for further research and easily add […]

If you’ve finished revising your essay, you can now use the Print feature on Bartleby Write to generate a hard copy or PDF. Bartleby’s Print Feature uses your browser’s print dialogue to print to any available printer or to generate a PDF version of your essay. The printed copy will automatically include the title and […]

Bartleby Write now supports analysis of essays up to 12,500 words. This means that you can get help with plagiarism, spun-text detection, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and citation analysis on essays up to 50 double-spaced pages. Long-essay analysis is handled offline, and Bartleby Write will notify you when the results are ready. Here’s how it works: […]

There are many things applicants have to keep tabs on when applying to college. From submitting all the records on time to writing application essays, candidates may easily feel overwhelmed. The college application process, however, need not be all that stressful. By following the few simple steps listed below, it is possible to better prepare […]

What is a Supplemental Essay? A supplemental essay is an additional essay, besides the main one, submitted by applicants along with their college application. While the main college essay gives the admissions committee a peek into an applicant’s strengths and achievements, the supplemental essay provides more information on the applicant’s opinions, traits, and beliefs, based […]

“Well begun is half done” is an adage that holds true especially in the case of a college essay. The more compelling the opening statement of a college essay is, the more interested readers are likely to be in the piece.  Different types of essay introductions work differently. Depending on the type of the college […]

The college admission process grants students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, strengths, accomplishments, and beliefs, thus helping them build their personal brand. One of the quickest ways to get the attention of the admissions committee is by writing an impressive application essay. Since the essay can make or break the application, applicants should ensure […]

What Are Idioms? Idioms are figurative phrases that are a part of written and colloquial English. While a majority of them are figurative, some idioms are literal in their meaning. Idioms are used to embellish speech or a piece of writing and are considered a part of informal language. Therefore, they should not be used […]

Regular Verbs vs. Irregular Verbs When “-ed” or “-d” is added to a verb to form its past tense or past participle, then such verbs are called regular verbs. The past tense and the past participle of regular verbs are usually identical to the verb itself.  Below are some examples of regular verbs:  Regular Verb […]

Any element that makes a piece of writing meaningful and engaging is called a literary device. Be it poetic devices or devices used in prose, these literary techniques transform a simple piece of writing into a piece evoking emotion.  Anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is a literary device used by writers to attribute human characteristics to animals and […]

Be it prose or poetry, writers often use literary devices, which are techniques that help make a piece of writing interesting, poignant, grammar-free, and engrossing. Several literary devices are commonly used in writing. While some can be used in both prose and poetry, those used specifically in poetry are known as poetic devices.  Various poetic […]

Plagiarism – a word that strikes terror into the hearts of the most intrepid writers everywhere – refers to the act of copying someone else’s work and passing it off as one’s own. It is a wrong and unethical practice and can have dire consequences for writers. In fact, it can get students expelled from […]

Plagiarism (copying someone else’s work and passing it off as one’s own) is not a new phenomenon in academia. The advent of technology has made it easier not only to plagiarize but also to bring instances of plagiarism to light. Not all acts of plagiarism, however, are alike. There are many types of plagiarism and […]

In college writing, a citation indicates a source of information. Its goals are to inform readers that certain material in the work came from an outside source and to help them identify and find the source of that material. A citation provides the following information: Author of the source material Title of the work Name […]

Plagiarism is the most common type of academic misconduct. It can be deliberate or accidental, but either way, it is a punishable offense. Although different educational institutions have different disciplinary measures to deal with plagiarism, it is still rampant for a variety of reasons.  Why Do Students Plagiarize? 1. Lack of Organizational Skills Students with […]

What is a Hyphen? A hyphen is a small horizontal line used to combine two or more words to form a compound word.  Hyphens are often confused with em dashes and en dashes. The differences between the three are as follows:  Hyphen (-):  Example: “I’m a mother of a seven-month-old infant,” said Sandra. En dash […]

A period is a dot-shaped punctuation mark. It is one of the most frequently used ones in the English language. The symbol was introduced by Greek librarian Aristophanes during the 3rd century BCE. After its introduction, the period was mostly placed at the top edge of the end of a sentence. However, by the 9th […]

What Are Brackets?  From periods to colons and hyphens, punctuation marks play an important role in writing. Brackets are commonly used punctuation marks that appear in pairs. The first bracket in a pair is called an opening bracket, and the second one is called a closing bracket. There are different types of brackets used in […]

What Are Scare Quotes? Scare quotes are punctuation used to represent ironic, skeptic, or other nonstandard usage of terms. Although different writing style guides define scare quotes differently, the basic function of such quotes is to suggest that the words and phrases within the quotes mean something different than what they’re supposed to mean. Below […]

Jargon is any specific word or phrase used by people who belong to a particular profession or field. Of late, most language experts have come to believe that it is best to avoid jargon while writing and speaking unless it is necessary. It is ideal to use plain language to avoid confusion or use a […]

Reverse Outlining Creating and sticking to an outline does not always guarantee that an essay or a research paper is up to the mark. This is when reverse outlining is brought into the play.  Reverse outlining is the process of creating an outline after drawing up the first draft of an essay. While outlining helps […]

Any element that makes a piece of writing meaningful and engaging is called a literary device. Be it poetic devices or devices used in prose, these literary techniques transform a simple piece of writing into a piece evoking emotion.  Anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is a literary device used by writers to attribute human characteristics to animals and […]

Be it prose or poetry, writers often use literary devices, which are techniques that help make a piece of writing interesting, poignant, grammar-free, and engrossing. Several literary devices are commonly used in writing. While some can be used in both prose and poetry, those used specifically in poetry are known as poetic devices.  Various poetic […]