Question about EssayForum - How does this site work?

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I did poorly in all my in class essays and take home essays for my first term of school. And the take home essays were worth nearly half of our term mark which really brought my mark down. Since our class only had two take home essays and did not take the time to have it proof-read which was a really stupid mistake. As for the in-class essays, there's really nothing that can be done to achieve the highest mark, its soley based on my writing skills without outside help.

Well.. hope I will do better for my second term!

I think that is really good idea. One of my biggest purpose is to come here that I should check my essays to get a correction from experts. Because, I do not have people who checks my grammar, and what is weakeness of my essay.

So, If you build like that sites, it will be great to students to improve their writing skill.

hello,

can anyone help me out on a research paper
the topic is on nuclear proliferation and i dont know how to start of my intro
can anyone help me out asap!

you may mention what if nuclear proliferation happens and then Your thesis should be about the threat if nuclear weapons are distributed to such bad countries.

Here are my suggestions.

like I said in a previous thread about research papers, what do you plan on talking about? what aspects of this topic? narrow the choices down (dangers/applicable history/current legislation/current debate/etc)

introduction:talk about some history, briefly, followed by the importance of the issue. then narrow down what you want to talk about, set the stage so to speak. last part of the intro should be a short conclusion of what you find

thesis can go in conclusion here or in the first paragraph of the intro. just a note: Introductions can be longer than just one paragraph. If you want to lay out subtitles in you paper, that will work too.

well i have to write a 7-10 page essay
i started my introduction its 2 paragraphs
now i dont know how to proceed forward

imn0
nice detail dude

what are you trying to say

so what IS your intro? without that, it's hard to give you further information. we need to know YOUR THESIS to be able to help you with the body paragraphs.

oh, and could you create a new thread for that matter? we don't want to spam this thread do we?

try to ask your teacher for help or other resources you have

I don't know exactly, but sometimes teachers, unconsciously, make their students feel low. maybe the bad methods of teaching.

I hope to find the best assistance here.

Well, it might be your previous teachers that failed... often, kids go from one grade to another without having been prepared. If you really want to write well, read a tiny book called The Elements of Style by strunk and white. It will help you a lot. Any yes, hang out with us here to ask your questions. Consider becoming an EF_Contributor (see link at bottom of page)


It sounds like maybe you have one of those teachers that is "only human," not sure enough of his own grammar to be able to give clear feedback. Are you too shy to ask him for explanations? The to/toward thing seems like an unnecessary correction to me... toward can be better than to, in my opinion.

As for the stab in the heart that never ends, I see what eric means about it possibly being confusing, but really, this is not something that should be held against you. It is poetic and nice.

I see what justin and some others saud about this, too----> "Each time he thinks about their misery is like a stab in the heart that never ends"---but you know, it really is not incorrect. I would write it this way:

"Each time he thinks about their misery, the thought is like a stab in the heart, and each time he feels this stabbing feeling, the pain lingers and feels like it will never end." It is kind of hard to say: "each time...never ends" because each time has to end for the next time to begin. But still, this is not worth taking of lots of points from your grade!!!

Read strunk and white, become an EF Contributor, and really take responsibility for your own expertise. Teachers are only human...

I'd like to know more about what you got points taken off for...

I'm glad you are here!

haha, i wish i had an english teacher who is "only human". My 10th grade english is a graduate from Harvard, and my english teacher now is...a self considered genius (not saying he's not, but if he is AS smart as he thinks he is, then he should consider doing bigger things, like writing a book or something).

they're of course, both arrogant to some extent, and aren't shy about it. This isn't anything bad and I'm not complaining about it (in fact, I'm even glad that I have such teachers since they both helped me tremendously), but I just think it's funny how different english teachers can be.

I LOVE The Elements of Style! Although a lot of its information is rudimentary but it's still fun to read it and it helps with some of the mistakes that are often used in high school.

I've personally had weird array of English teachers...starting from middle school.

One of my English teacher was rumored to have modeled for PlayBoy which was definitely (I think) false and she always slightly shook her head from left to right whenever a student was answering a question which always confused the kid because he/she thought he/she was wrong.

Well, she was the sole cause of my grammatical improvement.

Then, I had this teacher who was really annoying about little details and (in a way) taught me to pay attention to the minute details...was NOT fun.

My other English teacher was definitely crazy. An amazing teacher and writer who tremendously helped me improve my own style and maintain it throughout but she was just plain bizarre. Not to mention, scary. If you weren't on her good side (luckily, I was), then she loathed you until you wrote a good essay (which is what happened to one of the kid). My current English teacher is quirky but good although I sometimes dislike the occasional mood swings and tangents.

English teachers are weird. One of them even accused me of plagiarism when I quoted Lord of the Flies and wrote after the quote, "--Lord of the Flies" which still confuses me to this day.

don't worry, just keep on trying. I'm Chinese and I have been a "failure" in English for years. I never know how good/bad my essays were; my teacher never failed me once but I'm not sure if it's because I'm Chinese. Nevertheless I kept on trying, right now I'm in AP English but I still have doubts in my mind if I really deserve to be in that class. So for years I have no clue if my writing is any good... because well you know I thought maybe the teachers are been nice not to fail me since I'm Chinese... that's what I have been thinking for years

Right now I have gained some confidence (all thanks to this website), I just wrote my college essays and posted. The first few ones sucked ( I know from all the comments, and that's why I like this website, honesty and harsh is the key lol ), then the later ones improved. In just a few months (2-3), I think I have improved a lot.

So maybe just write and post away! we will read it.

p/s excuse me if I made any errors, you are always welcomed to point them out - Mistakes are the stepping stones to success!!!

I don't understand why you thought they didn't fail you because you were Chinese.

If they based your grades on your ethnicity that is the most offensive thing a teacher can possibly do.

Envie
I didn't speak any English so they might not grade as harsh as they would to other students. I wasn't a Chinese who spoke English.

I don't really know lol, I guess I wasn't very confident about myself.

You need to be confident. Confidence in your own writing is one ingredient that you should have.

Hell, English wasn't even my second language--it was my third. I still got by and the fact that your school has allowed you to get out of ESOL class simply proves your English is proficient especially when some administrator allowed you to take the AP English class.

Don't credit your teachers for giving your grade due to sympathy. You deserved them. I hope self-confidence is something you learn from this website as well because I see way too many students who come from different countries like I did basically die in English classes through self pity and low self-esteem. Sorry if I'm sounding too harsh but please, confidence (and mistakes, as you've pointed out) are "stepping stones to success."

Envie
Alright! Thanks.

haha, perhaps you didn't quote in MLA?


hey same here, high five!

i think I get what QiMin's trying to say. "Failure" doesn't mean actually failing, but compared to a math class where you can easily get an A+, an A- in certain english classes means death...at least for me. I don't ever remember getting above A- or writing an 9 on an AP prompt, although by some miracle i managed a 5 on the AP language exam.

Envie, I do disagree with


Chinese people traditionally get a lower grade NOT because of race, but because we are not used to the language, being immigrants, and simply don't get some of the nuances in English, which are essential in writing good analysis. Also, my teacher pointed out that I have some writing quirks particular to "immigrants", such as wrong prepositions like "different to" instead of "different from". These are correctable by studying for SAT, but I still struggle with them sometimes.

My point is that teachers are generally fair, and if they give lower grades on essays, that's not cuz of race or anything, but because of writing skills. Most people in my class gets the same grade as me, which means that I, and I would dare to speak for some of my other counterparts, am simply not as good in writing as in math, but so what? I'm still young and have ample time to improve :D

what languages do you guys speak? three, that's very impressive.

chinese obviously and french. go canada :D

You misunderstood me. QiMin was saying that the teachers gave her/him good grades possibly because he/she was Chinese. Not, bad grades. If it were bad grades, I would've just said it's probably because her/his writing was not adequate. I just was making a point that I would rather have a teacher give me a grade I deserve rather than giving me a better grade because of where I come from. I find that insulting.


That's funny :-o because my teacher kinda says a different thing. He said the other day that his students who hadn't lived in America as long as the native-born students are better grammatically because they are free from common mistakes used in daily conversations etc. Although I do agree that when you "translate" or transfer a sentence from your language view to English, it is often skewed with those mistakes.

As for SAT, reading books (well, reading anything of a certain level) will help you tremendously. If you enjoy reading and if you read a lot, the Writing section should be a breeze (maybe not the essay part) as well as the Critical Reading section.

oh, i see. It's unfair, but I'd not complain if I were the one receiving the benefits, which is DEFINITELY not the case. The entire college process is skewed this way since colleges favor not just a little URM (under represented minorities) which unfortunately doesn't include the so called "Asians". It's insulting to native indians, blacks, and hispanics, but they benefit so...


lol i just talked about THE SAME THING you did in another thread a few weeks ago. My argument the other day was that immigrants, because they have to learn a whole new language, master the grammar better than some of the native speakers who don't really care about syntax and stuff when they speak. I totally agree with you in that SAT helps improving English; actually, that's how I overcame most of my writing quirks, but since it's still a foreign language, I have yet to perfect my grammar.

I'm not complaining lol, I like all my teachers.

A. Publish your works here and hope someone will reply(Not always will someone reply)
B. Use some $$ to get a real tutor to help you
C. Try to suck up to that teacher(Not recommended for amateurs, might have opposite effects.)

That sounds terrible..
I had ESL classes when I was in high school. I regretted that I had not done enough reading and writing when I had time in high school...

Well, you still have chances...
Going to library, grabbing some books to read that you are interested in...that will absolutely help you a lot for your writing...

I think it's safe to assume that everyone here has had at least one (in our opinions) bad professor/teacher in our lifetime. have you considered setting a time in which you can speak to your educator face-to-face and tell them straight up, "I would like to improve in this class. What do you suggest I do to improve my grade." From personal experience, it shows them you want to improve and do better.

Let's do it together!
You'll be OK if you try hard!

I have a essay to write that will be due in around 2 weeks. Hope I do good this time. The essay is related to "The Catcher In the Rye"

Mmm...a most interesting book. Did you like it? Personally, I wasn't too thrilled about it unlike some of my classmates who say it was the best summer reading book.

question about asking questions about this website :

As a first time new user, other than sending essays like others, could I ask question about this web site through this method?
Please send me response as soon as possible.

Yes you definitely can :)

Yes, just post your question in the category called FAQ and HELP.

In fact, I'll move this thread to tat section right now. What do you want to know? Thanks for being here, writing with us! Kind regards,

Non-native speaker looking for help with essays- question

Hi to all,
I am not sure if this is the right place to post my question, if not I trust someone will tell me a better place or move the thread :).

I am a bit discouraged as I started a distance course almost a year ago and see myself not being able to write the "stupid" essays.

So in order to finish (or even start) the course I am wondering if this would be a good place?
I am not sure if I can be of any help for other people, so please let me know if I may or not start to ask for help to finish my essays.

Thanks,

NBravo

Hello. I want to welcome you to Essay Forum. Anything that you write can be reviewed for you here. If you have any questions, include them with your paper. If you are a beginner, nobody expects you to review other essays, that is optional. Don't worry if your writing is unfinished or short, anything you post will be available for review. There are many of us here that are happy to help, so do not hesitate to ask. Good luck in school :)

Hi,

Don't worry. This is very useful forum for students like us. My condition was same like yours but, I started posting my essays and found many feedback from all other members and moderators. Now, I know where I am and what I need to do to improve myself. I am learning lots of things from this forum. You will also.

All the best:)

Thanks,
Ana.

This site is wonderful, the feedback you attain from other students is excellent. The site has provided exceptional help with proofreading my work, I was not taught good grammar skills in high school. We were never once informed what a semi colon was, nor the references to commas and clauses.

Same with you, even worse..
Feel like lack of ideas and phrases when writing essays, sometimes feel disappinted that I even worse than before, I mean in high school T-T

Writing Questions

Hi, I am new here!
I just find the website by accident, and I feel it is very cool!
I am a student who are preparing the IELTS test, and now I am studying in USA.
I browse the web page and find out someone's IELTS writing can be corrected by others. I feel so happy since my writing is ALWAYS my weakness.

So, I wonder is that means I can post my writing and it will be corrected by other professional persons.
If it is, how long will it take?
Thank you!