essential questions for essay writing

A Giant List Of Really Good Essential Questions

by Terry Heick

Essential questions are, as Grant Wiggins defined, ‘essential’ in the sense of signaling genuine, important and necessarily-ongoing inquiries.” These are grapple-worthy, substantive questions that not only require wrestling with, but are worth wrestling with–that could lead students to some critical insight in a 40/40/40-rule sense of the term.

I collected the following set of questions through the course of creating units of study, most of them from the Greece Central School District in New York. In revisiting them recently, I noticed that quite a few of them were closed/yes or no questions, so I went back and revised some of them, and added a few new ones, something I’ll try to do from time to time.

Or maybe I’ll make a separate page for them entirely. Or, who knows. Nonetheless, below are many, many examples of essential questions. Most are arts & humanities, but if this post proves useful, we can add some STEM inquiry to the mix as well. Let me know in the comments.

See also 8 Strategies To Help Students Ask Great Questions

Many, Many Examples Of Essential Questions

Decisions, Actions, and Consequences

• What is the relationship between decisions and consequences?
• How do we know how to make good decisions?
• How can a person’s decisions and actions change his/her life?
• How do the decisions and actions of characters reveal their personalities?
• How do decisions, actions, and consequences vary depending on the different perspectives of the people involved?

Social Justice

• What is social justice?
• To what extent does power or the lack of power affect individuals?
• What is oppression and what are the root causes?
• How are prejudice and bias created? How do we overcome them?
• What are the responsibilities of the individual in regard to issues of social justice?
• How can literature serve as a vehicle for social change?
• When should an individual take a stand against what he/she believes to be an injustice? What are the most effective ways to do this?
• What are the factors that create an imbalance of power within a culture?
• What does power have to do with fairness and justice?
• When is it necessary to question the status quo? Who decides?
• What are the benefits and consequences of questioning / challenging social order?
• How do stereotypes influence how we look at and understand the world?
• What does it mean to be invisible? (context: minorities)
• In what ways can a minority keep their issues on the larger culture’s “radar screen?”
• What creates prejudice, and what can an individual overcome it?
• What are the causes and consequences of prejudice and injustice, and how does an individual’s response to them reveal his/her true character?
• What allows some individuals to take a stand against prejudice/oppression while others choose to participate in it?
• What are the causes and consequences of prejudice and how does an individual’s response to it reveal his/her morals, ethics, and values?

Culture: Values, Beliefs & Rituals

• How do individuals develop values and beliefs?
• What factors shape our values and beliefs?
• How do values and beliefs change over time?
• How does family play a role in shaping our values and beliefs?
• Why do we need beliefs and values?
• What happens when belief systems of societies and individuals come into conflict?
• When should an individual take a stand in opposition to an individual or larger group?
• When is it appropriate to challenge the beliefs or values of society?
• To what extent do belief systems shape and/or reflect culture and society?
• How are belief systems represented and reproduced through history, literature, art, and music?
• How do beliefs, ethics, or values influence different people’s behavior?
• How do individuals reconcile competing belief systems within a given society (e.g., moral beliefs conflicting with legal codes)?
• When a person’s individual choices are in direct conflict with his/her society, what are the consequences?
• What is morality and what are the factors that have an impact on the development of our morality?
• What role or purpose does religion / spirituality serve in a culture?
• What purpose or function do ethics / philosophy have in governing technological advances?
• How do our values and beliefs shape who we are as individuals and influence our behavior?

Adversity, Conflict, and Change 

• How does conflict lead to change?
• What problem-solving strategies can individuals use to manage conflict and change?
• How does an individual’s point of view affect the way they deal with conflict?
• What personal qualities have helped you to deal with conflict and change?
• How might if feel to live through a conflict that disrupts your way of life?
• How does conflict influence an individual’s decisions and actions?
• How are people transformed through their relationships with others?
• What is community and what are the individual’s responsibility to the community as well as the community’s responsibility to the individual?

Utopia and Dystopia

• How would we define a utopian society?
• How has the concept of utopia changed over time and/or across cultures or societies?
• What are the ideals (e.g., freedom, responsibility, justice, community, etc.) that should be honored in a utopian society?
• Why do people continue to pursue the concept of a utopian society?
• How do competing notions of what a utopian society should look like lead to conflict?
• What are the purposes and/or consequence of creating and/or maintaining a dystopian society?
• What is the relationship between differences and utopia?

Chaos and Order

• What is the importance of civilization and what factors support or destroy its fabric?
• What are the positive and negative aspects of both chaos and order?
• What are the responsibilities and consequences of this new world order described as ‘global’?
• What role does chaos play in the creative process?
• What are the politics and consequences of war, and how do these vary based on an individual or cultural perspective?

Constructing Identities

• How do we form and shape our identities?
• In a culture where we are bombarded with ideas and images of what we ‘should’ be, how does one form an identity that remains true and authentic for her/himself?
• What turning points determine our individual pathways to adulthood?
• In a culture where we are bombarded with other people trying to define us, how do we make decisions for ourselves?
• What is creativity and what is its importance for the individual / the culture?
• What is art and its function in our lives?
• What are the limits, if any, of freedom of speech?

Freedom and Responsibility

• What is freedom?
• What is the relationship between freedom and responsibility?
• What are the essential liberties?
• What is the relationship between privacy, freedom, and security?
• When does government have the right to restrict the freedoms of people?
• When is the restriction of freedom a good thing?

Good and Evil in the World

• Is humankind inherently good or evil?
• Have the forces of good and evil changed over time and if so, how?
• How do different cultures shape the definitions of good and evil?

Heroes and “She-roes”

• Do the attributes of a hero remain the same over time?
• When does a positive personality trait become a tragic flaw?
• What is the role of a hero or “she-roe” (coined by Maya Angelou) in a culture?
• How do various cultures reward / recognize their heroes and “she-roes”?
• Why is it important for people and cultures to construct narratives about their experience?
• What is the relevance of studying multicultural texts?
• How does the media shape our view of the world and ourselves?

The Human Condition / Spirit

• In the face of adversity, what causes some individuals to prevail while others fail?
• What is the meaning of life, and does that shape our beliefs regarding death?

Illusion vs. Reality

• What is reality and how is it constructed?
• What tools can the individual use to judge the difference, or draw a line between, illusion and reality?

Language & Literature

• How is our understanding of culture and society constructed through and by language?
• How can language be powerful?
• How can you use language to empower yourself?
• How is language used to manipulate us?
• In what ways are language and power inseparable?
• What is the relationship between thinking and language? How close or far are they apart?
• How does language influence the way we think, act, and perceive the world?
• How do authors use the resources of language to impact an audience?
• How is literature like life?
• What is literature supposed to do?
• What influences a writer to create?
• What is the purpose and function of art in our culture?
• How does literature reveal the values of a given culture or time period?
• How does the study of fiction and nonfiction texts help individuals construct their understanding of reality?
• In what ways are all narratives influenced by bias and perspective?
• Where does the meaning of a text reside? Within the text, within the reader, or in the transaction that occurs between them?
• What can a reader know about an author’s intentions based only on a reading of the text?
• What are enduring questions and conflicts that writers (and their cultures) grappled with hundreds of years ago and are still relevant today?
• How do we gauge the optimism or pessimism of a particular time period or particular group of writers?
• Why are there universal themes in literature–that is, themes that are of interest or concern to all cultures and societies?
• What are the characteristics or elements that cause a piece of literature to endure?
• What distinguishes a good read from great literature?
• Who decides the criteria for judging whether or not a book is any good?
• What is the purpose of: science fiction? satire? historical novels, etc.?

Love & Sacrifice

• If any, what are the boundaries of love and sacrifice, and where does one draw the line between them?
• What are the factors that move individuals / communities / nations to great sacrifice and what are the consequences?

Nature in the Balance

• What are the responsibilities of the individual / society / superpowers in regard to the health of the environment?  (local, regional, national or international context can be used)
• What are the consequences of being unconcerned with nature’s balance/harmony?

Our View of the World and Ourselves

• How do we know what we know?
• What is changeable within ourselves?
• How does what we know about the world shape the way we view ourselves?
• How do our personal experiences shape our view of others?
• What does it mean to be an insider or an outsider?
• What does it mean to “grow up”?
• Where do our definitions of good and evil come from?

Past, Present, and Future

• Why do we bother to study/examine the past, present or future?
• What are the recurrent motifs of history and in what ways have they changed or remained the same?

The Pursuit of Happiness

• What is happiness, and what is the degree of importance in one’s life?
• To what extent does a culture / society / subculture shape an individual’s understanding or concept of happiness?

Relationships and Community

• What are the elements that build a strong friendship?
• How do friendships change over time?
• What impact does family have during different stages of our lives?
• What can we learn from different generations?
• How is conflict an inevitable part of relationships?
• How do you know if a relationship is healthy or hurtful?
• What personal qualities help or hinder the formation of relationships?
• What is community and what are the individual’s responsibilities to the community as well as the community’s responsibilities to the individual?

Shades of Truth

• Who defines “truth”?
• How does perspective shape or alter truth?

My brain; Grant’s authenticeducation.org; L. Beltchenko 2007-2008 and the Greece Central School District, New York; Many, Many Examples Of Essential Questions

About The Author

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• Focus and Precision: How to Write Essays that Answer the Question

About the Author Stephanie Allen read Classics and English at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and is currently researching a PhD in Early Modern Academic Drama at the University of Fribourg.

We’ve all been there. You’ve handed in an essay and you think it’s pretty great: it shows off all your best ideas, and contains points you’re sure no one else will have thought of.

You’re not totally convinced that what you’ve written is relevant to the title you were given – but it’s inventive, original and good. In fact, it might be better than anything that would have responded to the question. But your essay isn’t met with the lavish praise you expected. When it’s tossed back onto your desk, there are huge chunks scored through with red pen, crawling with annotations like little red fire ants: ‘IRRELEVANT’; ‘A bit of a tangent!’; ‘???’; and, right next to your best, most impressive killer point: ‘Right… so?’. The grade your teacher has scrawled at the end is nowhere near what your essay deserves. In fact, it’s pretty average. And the comment at the bottom reads something like, ‘Some good ideas, but you didn’t answer the question!’.

If this has ever happened to you (and it has happened to me, a lot), you’ll know how deeply frustrating it is – and how unfair it can seem. This might just be me, but the exhausting process of researching, having ideas, planning, writing and re-reading makes me steadily more attached to the ideas I have, and the things I’ve managed to put on the page. Each time I scroll back through what I’ve written, or planned, so far, I become steadily more convinced of its brilliance. What started off as a scribbled note in the margin, something extra to think about or to pop in if it could be made to fit the argument, sometimes comes to be backbone of a whole essay – so, when a tutor tells me my inspired paragraph about Ted Hughes’s interpretation of mythology isn’t relevant to my essay on Keats, I fail to see why. Or even if I can see why, the thought of taking it out is wrenching. Who cares if it’s a bit off-topic? It should make my essay stand out, if anything! And an examiner would probably be happy not to read yet another answer that makes exactly the same points. If you recognise yourself in the above, there are two crucial things to realise. The first is that something has to change: because doing well in high school exam or coursework essays is almost totally dependent on being able to pin down and organise lots of ideas so that an examiner can see that they convincingly answer a question. And it’s a real shame to work hard on something, have good ideas, and not get the marks you deserve. Writing a top essay is a very particular and actually quite simple challenge. It’s not actually that important how original you are, how compelling your writing is, how many ideas you get down, or how beautifully you can express yourself (though of course, all these things do have their rightful place). What you’re doing, essentially, is using a limited amount of time and knowledge to really answer a question. It sounds obvious, but a good essay should have the title or question as its focus the whole way through . It should answer it ten times over – in every single paragraph, with every fact or figure. Treat your reader (whether it’s your class teacher or an external examiner) like a child who can’t do any interpretive work of their own; imagine yourself leading them through your essay by the hand, pointing out that you’ve answered the question here , and here , and here. Now, this is all very well, I imagine you objecting, and much easier said than done. But never fear! Structuring an essay that knocks a question on the head is something you can learn to do in a couple of easy steps. In the next few hundred words, I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned through endless, mindless crossings-out, rewordings, rewritings and rethinkings.

Top tips and golden rules

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been told to ‘write the question at the top of every new page’- but for some reason, that trick simply doesn’t work for me. If it doesn’t work for you either, use this three-part process to allow the question to structure your essay:

1)     Work out exactly what you’re being asked

It sounds really obvious, but lots of students have trouble answering questions because they don’t take time to figure out exactly what they’re expected to do – instead, they skim-read and then write the essay they want to write. Sussing out a question is a two-part process, and the first part is easy. It means looking at the directions the question provides as to what sort of essay you’re going to write. I call these ‘command phrases’ and will go into more detail about what they mean below. The second part involves identifying key words and phrases.

2)     Be as explicit as possible

Use forceful, persuasive language to show how the points you’ve made do answer the question. My main focus so far has been on tangential or irrelevant material – but many students lose marks even though they make great points, because they don’t quite impress how relevant those points are. Again, I’ll talk about how you can do this below.

3)     Be brutally honest with yourself about whether a point is relevant before you write it.

It doesn’t matter how impressive, original or interesting it is. It doesn’t matter if you’re panicking, and you can’t think of any points that do answer the question. If a point isn’t relevant, don’t bother with it. It’s a waste of time, and might actually work against you- if you put tangential material in an essay, your reader will struggle to follow the thread of your argument, and lose focus on your really good points.

Put it into action: Step One

Let’s imagine you’re writing an English essay about the role and importance of the three witches in Macbeth . You’re thinking about the different ways in which Shakespeare imagines and presents the witches, how they influence the action of the tragedy, and perhaps the extent to which we’re supposed to believe in them (stay with me – you don’t have to know a single thing about Shakespeare or Macbeth to understand this bit!). Now, you’ll probably have a few good ideas on this topic – and whatever essay you write, you’ll most likely use much of the same material. However, the detail of the phrasing of the question will significantly affect the way you write your essay. You would draw on similar material to address the following questions: Discuss Shakespeare’s representation of the three witches in Macbeth . How does Shakespeare figure the supernatural in Macbeth ?   To what extent are the three witches responsible for Macbeth’s tragic downfall? Evaluate the importance of the three witches in bringing about Macbeth’s ruin. Are we supposed to believe in the three witches in Macbeth ? “Within Macbeth ’s representation of the witches, there is profound ambiguity about the actual significance and power of their malevolent intervention” (Stephen Greenblatt). Discuss.   I’ve organised the examples into three groups, exemplifying the different types of questions you might have to answer in an exam. The first group are pretty open-ended: ‘discuss’- and ‘how’-questions leave you room to set the scope of the essay. You can decide what the focus should be. Beware, though – this doesn’t mean you don’t need a sturdy structure, or a clear argument, both of which should always be present in an essay. The second group are asking you to evaluate, constructing an argument that decides whether, and how far something is true. Good examples of hypotheses (which your essay would set out to prove) for these questions are:

• The witches are the most important cause of tragic action in Macbeth.
• The witches are partially, but not entirely responsible for Macbeth’s downfall, alongside Macbeth’s unbridled ambition, and that of his wife.
• We are not supposed to believe the witches: they are a product of Macbeth’s psyche, and his downfall is his own doing.
• The witches’ role in Macbeth’s downfall is deliberately unclear. Their claim to reality is shaky – finally, their ambiguity is part of an uncertain tragic universe and the great illusion of the theatre. (N.B. It’s fine to conclude that a question can’t be answered in black and white, certain terms – as long as you have a firm structure, and keep referring back to it throughout the essay).

The final question asks you to respond to a quotation. Students tend to find these sorts of questions the most difficult to answer, but once you’ve got the hang of them I think the title does most of the work for you – often implicitly providing you with a structure for your essay. The first step is breaking down the quotation into its constituent parts- the different things it says. I use brackets: ( Within Macbeth ’s representation of the witches, ) ( there is profound ambiguity ) about the ( actual significance ) ( and power ) of ( their malevolent intervention ) Examiners have a nasty habit of picking the most bewildering and terrifying-sounding quotations: but once you break them down, they’re often asking for something very simple. This quotation, for example, is asking exactly the same thing as the other questions. The trick here is making sure you respond to all the different parts. You want to make sure you discuss the following:

• Do you agree that the status of the witches’ ‘malevolent intervention’ is ambiguous?
• What is its significance?
• How powerful is it?

Step Two: Plan

Having worked out exactly what the question is asking, write out a plan (which should be very detailed in a coursework essay, but doesn’t have to be more than a few lines long in an exam context) of the material you’ll use in each paragraph. Make sure your plan contains a sentence at the end of each point about how that point will answer the question. A point from my plan for one of the topics above might look something like this:

To what extent are we supposed to believe in the three witches in Macbeth ?  Hypothesis: The witches’ role in Macbeth’s downfall is deliberately unclear. Their claim to reality is uncertain – finally, they’re part of an uncertain tragic universe and the great illusion of the theatre. Para.1: Context At the time Shakespeare wrote Macbeth , there were many examples of people being burned or drowned as witches There were also people who claimed to be able to exorcise evil demons from people who were ‘possessed’. Catholic Christianity leaves much room for the supernatural to exist This suggests that Shakespeare’s contemporary audience might, more readily than a modern one, have believed that witches were a real phenomenon and did exist.

My final sentence (highlighted in red) shows how the material discussed in the paragraph answers the question. Writing this out at the planning stage, in addition to clarifying your ideas, is a great test of whether a point is relevant: if you struggle to write the sentence, and make the connection to the question and larger argument, you might have gone off-topic.

Step Three: Paragraph beginnings and endings

The final step to making sure you pick up all the possible marks for ‘answering the question’ in an essay is ensuring that you make it explicit how your material does so. This bit relies upon getting the beginnings and endings of paragraphs just right. To reiterate what I said above, treat your reader like a child: tell them what you’re going to say; tell them how it answers the question; say it, and then tell them how you’ve answered the question. This need not feel clumsy, awkward or repetitive. The first sentence of each new paragraph or point should, without giving too much of your conclusion away, establish what you’re going to discuss, and how it answers the question. The opening sentence from the paragraph I planned above might go something like this:

Early modern political and religious contexts suggest that Shakespeare’s contemporary audience might more readily have believed in witches than his modern readers.

The sentence establishes that I’m going to discuss Jacobean religion and witch-burnings, and also what I’m going to use those contexts to show. I’d then slot in all my facts and examples in the middle of the paragraph. The final sentence (or few sentences) should be strong and decisive, making a clear connection to the question you’ve been asked:

  Contemporary suspicion that witches did exist, testified to by witch-hunts and exorcisms, is crucial to our understanding of the witches in Macbeth.  To the early modern consciousness, witches were a distinctly real and dangerous possibility – and the witches in the play would have seemed all-the-more potent and terrifying as a result.

Step Four: Practice makes perfect

The best way to get really good at making sure you always ‘answer the question’ is to write essay plans rather than whole pieces. Set aside a few hours, choose a couple of essay questions from past papers, and for each:

• Write a hypothesis
• Write a rough plan of what each paragraph will contain
• Write out the first and last sentence of each paragraph

You can get your teacher, or a friend, to look through your plans and give you feedback . If you follow this advice, fingers crossed, next time you hand in an essay, it’ll be free from red-inked comments about irrelevance, and instead showered with praise for the precision with which you handled the topic, and how intently you focused on answering the question. It can seem depressing when your perfect question is just a minor tangent from the question you were actually asked, but trust me – high praise and good marks are all found in answering the question in front of you, not the one you would have liked to see. Teachers do choose the questions they set you with some care, after all; chances are the question you were set is the more illuminating and rewarding one as well.

Image credits: banner ; Keats ; Macbeth ; James I ; witches .

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• Example of a great essay | Explanations, tips & tricks

Example of a Great Essay | Explanations, Tips & Tricks

Published on February 9, 2015 by Shane Bryson . Revised on July 23, 2023 by Shona McCombes.

This example guides you through the structure of an essay. It shows how to build an effective introduction , focused paragraphs , clear transitions between ideas, and a strong conclusion .

Each paragraph addresses a single central point, introduced by a topic sentence , and each point is directly related to the thesis statement .

As you read, hover over the highlighted parts to learn what they do and why they work.

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Table of contents

Other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about writing an essay, an appeal to the senses: the development of the braille system in nineteenth-century france.

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

In France, debates about how to deal with disability led to the adoption of different strategies over time. While people with temporary difficulties were able to access public welfare, the most common response to people with long-term disabilities, such as hearing or vision loss, was to group them together in institutions (Tombs, 1996). At first, a joint institute for the blind and deaf was created, and although the partnership was motivated more by financial considerations than by the well-being of the residents, the institute aimed to help people develop skills valuable to society (Weygand, 2009). Eventually blind institutions were separated from deaf institutions, and the focus shifted towards education of the blind, as was the case for the Royal Institute for Blind Youth, which Louis Braille attended (Jimenez et al, 2009). The growing acknowledgement of the uniqueness of different disabilities led to more targeted education strategies, fostering an environment in which the benefits of a specifically blind education could be more widely recognized.

Several different systems of tactile reading can be seen as forerunners to the method Louis Braille developed, but these systems were all developed based on the sighted system. The Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris taught the students to read embossed roman letters, a method created by the school’s founder, Valentin Hauy (Jimenez et al., 2009). Reading this way proved to be a rather arduous task, as the letters were difficult to distinguish by touch. The embossed letter method was based on the reading system of sighted people, with minimal adaptation for those with vision loss. As a result, this method did not gain significant success among blind students.

Louis Braille was bound to be influenced by his school’s founder, but the most influential pre-Braille tactile reading system was Charles Barbier’s night writing. A soldier in Napoleon’s army, Barbier developed a system in 1819 that used 12 dots with a five line musical staff (Kersten, 1997). His intention was to develop a system that would allow the military to communicate at night without the need for light (Herron, 2009). The code developed by Barbier was phonetic (Jimenez et al., 2009); in other words, the code was designed for sighted people and was based on the sounds of words, not on an actual alphabet. Barbier discovered that variants of raised dots within a square were the easiest method of reading by touch (Jimenez et al., 2009). This system proved effective for the transmission of short messages between military personnel, but the symbols were too large for the fingertip, greatly reducing the speed at which a message could be read (Herron, 2009). For this reason, it was unsuitable for daily use and was not widely adopted in the blind community.

Nevertheless, Barbier’s military dot system was more efficient than Hauy’s embossed letters, and it provided the framework within which Louis Braille developed his method. Barbier’s system, with its dashes and dots, could form over 4000 combinations (Jimenez et al., 2009). Compared to the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, this was an absurdly high number. Braille kept the raised dot form, but developed a more manageable system that would reflect the sighted alphabet. He replaced Barbier’s dashes and dots with just six dots in a rectangular configuration (Jimenez et al., 2009). The result was that the blind population in France had a tactile reading system using dots (like Barbier’s) that was based on the structure of the sighted alphabet (like Hauy’s); crucially, this system was the first developed specifically for the purposes of the blind.

While the Braille system gained immediate popularity with the blind students at the Institute in Paris, it had to gain acceptance among the sighted before its adoption throughout France. This support was necessary because sighted teachers and leaders had ultimate control over the propagation of Braille resources. Many of the teachers at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth resisted learning Braille’s system because they found the tactile method of reading difficult to learn (Bullock & Galst, 2009). This resistance was symptomatic of the prevalent attitude that the blind population had to adapt to the sighted world rather than develop their own tools and methods. Over time, however, with the increasing impetus to make social contribution possible for all, teachers began to appreciate the usefulness of Braille’s system (Bullock & Galst, 2009), realizing that access to reading could help improve the productivity and integration of people with vision loss. It took approximately 30 years, but the French government eventually approved the Braille system, and it was established throughout the country (Bullock & Galst, 2009).

Although Blind people remained marginalized throughout the nineteenth century, the Braille system granted them growing opportunities for social participation. Most obviously, Braille allowed people with vision loss to read the same alphabet used by sighted people (Bullock & Galst, 2009), allowing them to participate in certain cultural experiences previously unavailable to them. Written works, such as books and poetry, had previously been inaccessible to the blind population without the aid of a reader, limiting their autonomy. As books began to be distributed in Braille, this barrier was reduced, enabling people with vision loss to access information autonomously. The closing of the gap between the abilities of blind and the sighted contributed to a gradual shift in blind people’s status, lessening the cultural perception of the blind as essentially different and facilitating greater social integration.

The Braille system also had important cultural effects beyond the sphere of written culture. Its invention later led to the development of a music notation system for the blind, although Louis Braille did not develop this system himself (Jimenez, et al., 2009). This development helped remove a cultural obstacle that had been introduced by the popularization of written musical notation in the early 1500s. While music had previously been an arena in which the blind could participate on equal footing, the transition from memory-based performance to notation-based performance meant that blind musicians were no longer able to compete with sighted musicians (Kersten, 1997). As a result, a tactile musical notation system became necessary for professional equality between blind and sighted musicians (Kersten, 1997).

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Bullock, J. D., & Galst, J. M. (2009). The Story of Louis Braille. Archives of Ophthalmology , 127(11), 1532. https://​doi.org/10.1001/​archophthalmol.2009.286.

Herron, M. (2009, May 6). Blind visionary. Retrieved from https://​eandt.theiet.org/​content/​articles/2009/05/​blind-visionary/.

Jiménez, J., Olea, J., Torres, J., Alonso, I., Harder, D., & Fischer, K. (2009). Biography of Louis Braille and Invention of the Braille Alphabet. Survey of Ophthalmology , 54(1), 142–149. https://​doi.org/10.1016/​j.survophthal.2008.10.006.

Kersten, F.G. (1997). The history and development of Braille music methodology. The Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education , 18(2). Retrieved from https://​www.jstor.org/​stable/40214926.

Mellor, C.M. (2006). Louis Braille: A touch of genius . Boston: National Braille Press.

Tombs, R. (1996). France: 1814-1914 . London: Pearson Education Ltd.

Weygand, Z. (2009). The blind in French society from the Middle Ages to the century of Louis Braille . Stanford: Stanford University Press.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

• An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
• Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
• A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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How to Write Essential Questions for ELA That Spark Curiosity and Deepen Understanding

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What Are Essential Questions?

According to Grant Wiggins, an essential question “causes genuine and relevant inquiry into big ideas.” In the same vein, Harvard professor David Perkins describes these “big questions” as inspiring wonder and curiosity about the human condition and our world.

Essential questions invite students to grapple with complexity, deepen their understanding of a topic or theme, and explore connections between a text they are reading, themselves, and the world. 

Unfortunately, classroom research shows that most of the questions that students encounter are procedural rather than exploratory. 

How To Write Effective Essential Questions for ELA

Effective essential questions invite students to use their imagination and lived experiences to explore the complexities of identity, human behavior, and decision-making. 

When students revisit essential questions over the course of a unit, in their journals and in conversation with others, they come to realize how questions can lead to new questions, as well as how literature can deepen their understanding of themselves and their world.

Generate a List of Essential Questions for Your Unit

With your work of literature and learning objectives in mind, identify 5-7 possible essential questions for your unit. Consider how they invite your students to wrestle with complexity and to engage the mind, heart, and conscience through exploration of the text and reflection on their own lived experiences. Take care that the essential questions reflect your unit and course goals, as well as the learning objectives you’ve identified. 

Test-Drive Essential Questions

After you have settled on a few possible essential questions, take them for a test drive! 

• Investigate characterization and key themes.
• Make personal and real-world connections to the book or text.  
• Explore moral dilemmas and choices.

Identify 5–7 key scenes in the text that explore , complicate , or add nuance to your unit's essential question, scenes that you would like your students to explore in small groups and as a class. 

If you can complete the following sentence starter for each scene , it’s a good sign that the essential question will work well for your text: 

This scene explores, complicates, or adds nuance to my unit essential question because . . .

Essential Question Examples for a Coming-of-Age Unit

• What makes me, me? What story do I want to tell about who I am and what matters to me? 
• What do I believe? What factors have shaped my beliefs as I’ve grown up?
• What individuals and experiences have shaped my beliefs about myself and the world around me? 
• How can growing up and experiencing adolescence impact or change an individual’s identity?
• What does it mean to grow up? When does an adolescent become an adult? 
• What does it mean to belong? How do I navigate the tension between my desire to fit in and my need to express my individuality?  

Explore all Facing History’s resources for planning a coming-of-age unit.

Essential Question Examples for a Borders & Belonging Unit

• What are the visible and invisible borders that influence our sense of identity and belonging in the world?
• What are the borders that separate “us” from “them”? Who maintains these borders? Who has the power to dismantle them?
• In what ways can cultural, linguistic, racial, socio-economic, and/or ability borders influence characters’ experiences of belonging in literature? How do characters in a work of literature navigate these borders and seek belonging?
• How can we create environments where people feel a sense of belonging without having to sacrifice their values? What role can individuals play in fostering inclusivity and acceptance?

Explore all Facing History’s resources for planning a unit on borders & belonging.

Want more help planning your next unit?

This material is adapted from Facing History’s ELA unit planning guide. Access our complete unit planning guide , including activities, templates, and more to get more support with the planning process. 

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The 5 Best Questions About Writing to Get You Into the “Write” Mindset

by Joe Bunting | 35 comments

Do you have questions about writing? Maybe you wonder, “How do I make a living as a writer?” or, “How do I write a bestselling book?”

I hear questions like this all the time, but if I'm honest, there are  good  questions about writing and there are bad ones, and the two questions above are the second type.

Which of course raises the question, what are the best questions to ask about your own writing? If you want to go from an aspiring writer to published author and maybe even best-seller, what should you be asking?

In this article, I'm going to share a list of questions aspiring writers should ask themselves if they want to accomplish their writing goals.

The Power of Questions

I first decided that I wanted to become a writer when I was seventeen years old.

I was in my room reading A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens for high school, and for some reason the main character (and supporting cast) and the story touched me so deeply that—for a moment—I felt connected.

It was one of the first books that made me feel not alone.

You see, like many kids, I was bullied in school, and it had the effect of silencing me. I didn't trust people, and I had very few friends. But for some reason, reading that book at that time, it was as if Charles Dickens had reached through 120 years of history and spoken directly to me.

In that moment, that question people always ask when you're growing up popped into my head: “What do you want to be when you grow up?

Somewhat naively, I thought, “Maybe I should do this? Maybe I should be a writer.”

Because wouldn’t it be amazing to inspire this feeling in others?

To reach through words and pages and connect with a reader so they knew they also weren't alone, that there is one person, at least, who feels like they do?

In other words, I wanted to become a writer so I could connect to others.

And by asking myself great questions—specifically these five essential questions about writing—I started to overcome writer's block and hold onto my reason to not only write, but finish my book.

And all the ones after that.

5 Good Questions for Writers

There are five questions that have been most transformative for me in my writing, and I believe they're important for you, too. Ask yourself:

1. Why do you write?

George Orwell, in an essay about why we write , said this:

[We write out of] sheer egoism. Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on the grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood, etc., etc. It is humbug to pretend this is not a motive, and a strong one…. Serious writers, I should say, are on the whole more vain and self-centered than journalists, though less interested in money.

In other words, Orwell says we write to be admired.

But honestly, I think George Orwell was wrong. Fame, admiration, self-centered vanity aren't really what we're looking for.

We write to connect to others. Writers or not.

The truth is, being known, being loved, is so much better than being admired. Being loved gives us a chance for a personal experience that changes lives.

Just look at what Amanda Palmer said :

For most of human history, artists have been part of the community. Connectors and openers, not untouchable stars. Celebrity is about a lot of people loving you from a distance. But the internet—and the content we’re freely able to share on it—is about taking it back. It’s about a few people loving you up close, and about those people being enough.

Ask yourself, “Why do you write?”

Why do you really write? Is it about fame? Vanity? Celebrity? Or is it deeper than that?

Do you write to connect?

Good writing comes from writers who pour words onto the page with their heart.

And while asking published writers craft questions like, “How did you choose your point of view?” and “How much world building do you do before writing your story?” are great interview questions to ask for writing advice, they won't necessarily give you the momentum you need to write through the tough times.

Resistance will come.

All writers experience hardship at one point or another. But when you ask the right questions, the ones that empower your writer's mindset, you will find the reason to write through the difficult parts.

And then, you'll finish your book.

2. How do you change people?

I think it's great to make money at writing. I think it's important to get paid for your work.

However, the question, “How do I make a living writing?” is the wrong question (and type of question) to ask yourself.

Instead, ask yourself how you CHANGE people with your writing. How can you change people with your stories?

Because if you can inspire transformation in readers, they will pay whatever you ask for your book.

3. What can you write that no one else can?

If you can write something unique, something different from anything else in the market, something that people also like, your fans will buy everything and anything you ask.

While there are no original stories, it's always important for writers to put their own creative twist on stories that have already been done—and that have proven their impact on readers.

If you're interviewing a writer, this could be a cool question to ask: “What have you written that no other writer could write?”

What makes your writing unique? Why can nobody else write this book?

It's also an important question to ask yourself before you write your own book.

4. How do you connect your emotions to your story?

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader,” said Robert Frost.

How do you get so deep into your characters (or else choose characters similar to you and your story) so that you can summon the emotional depth necessary to tell an entertaining and transformative story?

What this mean is how can a reader live vicariously through the main character's journey that they, like the protagonist, change after reading the book?

While plots drive the external parts of a story, the internal arcs of characters are what communicate theme. And these messages are what readers carry with them after they're done reading, and likely try to apply to their own mindsets about life.

Don't underestimate the emotional influence you can have on readers. In fact, prioritize it.

5. How can you live a story as interesting as the ones on the page?

Look at the writers you most admire. See how they took risks with their lives?

Ernest Hemingway, Mary Shelley, John Steinbeck, Virginia Woolf—they all lived lives as interesting as the ones they wrote about. Part of their marketing (their platform you might say) was based on how they lived , not just how they wrote.

The best writing comes from experience.

And so, your biggest asset as a writer comes from your experiences.

How are you going to create experiences that help you be a better writer? How will this help you connect with multiple readers, instead of one particular type of person?

What Questions Do You Bring to Your Writing?

Here are some questions I've heard from other writers:

• Why do I struggle at the end?
• What if no one connects with my art?
• What if I try to write one story and it becomes something else?
• What do I do with my fear?
• What if I’ve outgrown my story?
• Does rewriting always make your story better?

All of these are questions about writing worthy of your time and attention. However, if you want to become a writer—one with the motivation to make a career as an author—consider the five questions in this post.

These are the questions that will change your writing mindset first.

How about you? What questions are you bring to your writing? Let me know in the comments .

Pick one person you would like your writing to connect with.

Then, write something just for him or her.

Write for fifteen minutes . When you're finished, share your practice in the Pro Workshop here . And if you share, please be sure to give feedback on a few practices by your fellow writers.

Not a member? Join us here .

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

35 Comments

Hey Joe 🙂 I’m back! not sure for how long but at least for this post. I’ve been struggling for a long time and quite recently with my writing. Everyone seems to be pushing it down and inserting their opinions as fact and I’m starting to get lost in it. I might do this whenever you have a post to try to pull myself out. I hope I can keep up with my writing. Here’s my practice and thanks for the wonderful post.

It’s not easy to be a dreamer. To have so much light and imagination in your being that people notice, and shun you for it. It’s not easy to stand out from the crowd of different or flawed. It’s not easy to be different. But different is the only thing that the world needs so much but lacks greatly. Few dreamers share their dreams with the world and bend to conformity. Each instance of this is a dreadful loss, we lose something, something important.

I know it’s hard to be bullied and told to conform. The words will stick forever, growing stronger with age. “You’re not good enough, why try? You can’t win, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re not a professional, why would anyone listen to your voice, your message?”

Don’t listen to the voices inside your head. You’re so much better then they portray you. Keep going, don’t stop. We need your gift and your message. Without it the world won’t survive. Keep reading keep dreaming, don’t listen to what others say you are. Follow your heart, dream like there is no tomorrow, sing as if no one is watching. Dream on, dream on, we need your light.

I agree: it’s not about money. It’s about a compulsion to connect. But you’ve nailed my questions: 1) What do I do with my fear?–certainly not what I’m doing now, editing the life out of my finished manuscript. 2) Does rewriting make my manuscript better? I’m beginning to doubt it. I think rewriting is a fear of submission. Even though it has already won a contest, and they are waiting for my final draft.

I think writers write for different reasons. I find the strongest reason I write is to escape into my stories. I love to create. There is something amazing about becoming lost in your novel, watching a world unfold at your fingertips.

I think connection is really fulfilling after I write. The connections I make with people and their interest in my writing drives me to complete my stories and to edit them.

When I’m truly lost in my story and my characters, their emotions become evident. Its amazing to take the adventures along with my characters, to not only see, write, but also feel their emotions.

If I ever make money at this hobby I love, it will be completely incidental.

Most people want to be in the arts assuming they value the arts. So we try to be in one of the major three, painting, music or writing. Soon enough we realize that physically or mentally we are not fit to be musicians or painters or writers and we eliminate those that for some reason turn out only to be fantasies.

For me to be a painter was something that I thought I can do and I would be able to do if I put effort into it, and I went in it wholeheartedly trying to learn it the best I can and do it as much as I can even though I spent most of my adult years in something else, the sciences. But I , also, always had the urge to write but writing does not come easy as painting does. So if you ask me why I want even to try to do it, my answer is simply why not if it gives me self-fulfillment one way or another. Because writing does not come easy for me I do not do it everyday even though I wished I were able to, reason being the difficulty and frustration that I always face when I try to write.

For me Music is out of the question for many reason and I have tried dabbling in it but gave it up. Of the other two I wished writing was as easy for me as painting is, it would have been my first choice.

Just because writing doesn’t come easy doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t do it. Every time I write I struggle. It doesn’t come easy to many writers. Writing is hard work, and you have to work at it. Most writers don’t have the words flowing effortlessly off their pens or off their fingertips on to the keyboard. They must work at it. If that’s what you want to do keep at it.

Elizabeth, you are correct, any activity that is worthwhile is never easy. I think what it all amounts to is self-fulfillment more so than a money-making proposition whether it is in painting or writing. Most artists have to depend on another income, painters rarely make a living off their artwork. They work for less than a dollar an hour selling their work, and I cannot imagine a writer or a poet is able to make a living off their writing unless they are so well known and consistently in demand that the publisher pays them lump sum in advance for any work they produce. What is important is that we do this first for ourselves. Yes, if our work is appreciated and gives others enjoyment and makes their life richer then that is a wonderful accomplishment even if it is not through monetary gains. But the way I look at it to call myself a writer I need to produce work consistently and it needs to be in a quality that I am satisfied with as the artist or the writer. For me the urge to write is so strong that I keep on trying with the hope that it will become much easier through hard work and in time. But, regardless it is worth the effort.

Why not combine writing and painting? I’m not very experienced in either yet, but I know that my strengths lie in visual storytelling. I’ve always wanted to be an author as a kid, but my imagination is better at conjuring images than words. So I tell stories through pictures. Try doing comics, or writing for animation. That way your experience in visual art will help you transition to writing as well.

Thanks Miko for your suggestion. I do write a monthly newsletter that deals with art subjects. It is actually a blog rather than a newsletter but I call it a newsletter on my website, because it goes only to subscribers. A blog, as I understand it, anyone can read.

The first book in which I became thoroughly engrossed was, ‘Of Human Bondage’, by Somerset Maugham. I was in the story and it was in me and; I was moved for all time by compassion and a strong sense of injustice. From that time onwards I have wanted to write, to put into words what moves humanity and find and record the lives of characters; and what moves, connects and relates difference. I am never sure of what I am writing and how a reader will read and take it to themselves. I am not frightened to write but I am frightened of being misunderstood or failing to relate the awe and wonder of human stories: the astonishment and sheer magic of what we are – the human condition of joy and sorrow, pain and death. So, having written that, I don’t know if it makes any sense at all or that where I am coming from will be rubbished. That’s what I fear. (164)

I think you are so on point Joe, especially about why we write. Orwell was definitely wrong. Your story about reading a Tale of Two cities and feeling relieve because of finally you Dickens understood something you were hungering for, something you wanted to hear, that’s where the power of writing is. In the connections.

Thank you, for making it so explicit because now we can easily tap into this internal motivation. I’ve had one great poetry teacher that told me, “whenever you write, address it to someone, whether it’s Rilke or your father.” The takeaway: as we write, the clarity of who we want to connect with is so important. Or the writing will suffer from a lack of personality, clarity and purpose.

Hi, Joe, here is my 15 minute Practice written for the person I’m thinking of:

Marie could look back over her life and see in all clarity how she became a member of the middle classes. It wasn’t her background, she was classed as Traditional Working Class. It wasn’t her money because what she had ever had she couldn’t hang on to. It wasn’t her education either. Marie never passed a scholarship or earned a diploma or a degree. She wasn’t very attractive or well-groomed: in fact she was rather plain and not a little bit peculiar looking. Yet she was personable, articulate and had a great sense of humour and seemed, on the front of it, quite creative.

Marie was just the sort of person the Church needed and it nearly killed her. She moved from pew to ministry training, to ordination and to being the vicar of seven parishes. Then she became lost in the class gaps. Marie never fitted; couldn’t keep up, felt socially excluded by the middle class, university culture and wealth of the national church. These days she keeps in touch, but only just. She spends her time whittling wood or drinking wine in the local pub and talks frequently to anyone who will listen about the socialisation of the Christian Church. (202)

Oooo, this is a fascinating character. I like this piece as a third-person narrator giving background, but it doesn’t feel like the story got started. The good thing is, this lays out an interesting story I’d like to read more of. And if Marie is in anyway related to the person you’re thinking of, I’m sure they’d find a character like this refreshing.

Marie is no relation of the person I’m thinking of, Ariel. But it is because of the kind of person I’m thinking of: middle class, wealthy, educationally and socially well-connected, that Marie finds herself alienated, (like so many others of her class), whittling wood and drinking wine in pubs. Marie simply doesn’t fit. The Church has almost lost a priest. That is Marie’s story thus far.

Ohh I see. That honestly makes it even more intriguing.

I posed this question to myself yesterday and I realized what the problem was – I cant ( and dont from past experiences) cant writ when I am happy in a relationship. Right now I am happy. When I am unhappy I can write what I want to happen. So if I want to continue writing and I do, I need to find another way to write or another style instead of love stories. Thats my new challenge.

Hi Debra. Someone once told me that for him living and writing were counterparts. When he is unhappy he writes happy storries and whan he is happy he is able to write unhappy storries. I wish you all the best and that your happy relationship opens a the door to a new dimension of writing.

Thanks Ingo I am exploring other ways to create from nothing, we’ll see what happens

To my childish heart I know that you are scared. You think you can never do it on your own. And there is nobody who can explain to how to do it. Don’t be scared. At least you found Socrates. You discovered that you are a bit like him. Asking people strange questions. Make them feel uncomfortable. Wondering about them self. He made you wonder about yourself and question yourself, what you know. But that was ok. It was more than that. It felt great. Oida ouk eidos – I know that I know nothing. These words solaced you. To know nothing was nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary. It was fundamental. It was the first step on your journey to the truth.

Just a simple ‘thank you’, Ingo …

When I was a little girl, I would make little books out of “post it” notes and staple them together. I would have a title and “Scribble” the interior as the words. It looked so cute from what I remember. That was my 1st book. I think I have improved and have grown so much from that time……

That’s really cute! I think the whole process of kids discovering the writer in themselves is always a gem. I have fond memories myself–my “diaries” were more stories than anything else

Many thanks for your post, Joe. I write because I love it and because I would like to share my stories. I honestly admit that years back, I wanted to write for fun and money, but not for money any more. Writing is my favourite passtime. It takes my mind off every day problems and allows me to share my character’s lives. When writing, I also wish to satisfy myself by creating ‘good’ content, with choice words, descriptions, and a flowing, interesting text. To achieve this I’m constantly learning from posts on The Write Practice and dipping into manuals like The Elements of Style. Editing more than once, certainly improves my story as does re-reading it after a week or two. ! wish I could write like you, Joe, or like Hemmingway, Bronte, Steinbeck and many modern writers, too.

I haven’t done the exercise you sugggested, but will do.

The Writer and The Critic

“I am going to write a novel. I am going to write several pages a day until it is done. I will nurture my creative side with fun outings and buy pretty pens and pretty journals.” “Shut the hell up, you dumb red-head before I pimp slap you into hell.” The critic said. He pulled up a gold throne and took his place in my writing space. He smelled like crack smoke and looked like Don King mixed with Mr. T. I wrote some days and some days I procrastinated. The critic lit a smelly pipe and blew smoke in my face all day, every day. “I am writing. You should go away.” I begged, tears welling up in my brown eyes. “Bitch, I am here to stay. Turn up that reggae. I like that shit.” “Get the hell outta here, you fat pig mutha….. I hate you and what you stand for. I am going to write no matter what. It is my destiny. I am a red-headed bitch that is gonna write mutha…..and I don’t give a…..” I screamed at the obese black devil man. “I will go for awhile but I will return. It is a struggle and will always be a struggle. But one thing I hate is a woman who yells at me with confidence. I can’t handle a confident woman.” The critic whined then hauled ass. Poof, he was gone but the smell lingered. I sprayed with Glade then typed a few pages. I felt like a million bucks.

This was surprisingly moving! Part of me wants to suggest you rewrite it a couple of times, but a bigger part of me likes the “unfinished” quality of this piece.

I will not rewrite it. It is a true declaration of what my critic is like. He is a hatefilled stank mofo who I have to regulate daily. And he is capable of hitting and biting.

I have never been the kind of guy who was into reading or writing but then one day, when I hit the rock bottom of my life, I just got an idea for a story. An idea which didn’t let me sleep for countless nights till I bled it out. Given the fact that the idea was largely influenced by my experiences in personal life, I decided to name the story ‘Upset’. The word ‘upset’ has two meanings, one which means the state of anxiety, anger, guilt, etc. which summarises most of my life and the other, is an unexpected outcome of a fight which is how I hope my story ends. I am writing this story for all those people who have caused me pain, for the those boys who held me by my collar and pushed me into a wall, for those teachers who thought that I could never achieve anything in life and for those girls who rejected me for whatever reason. And don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to explain my pain to them, I am trying to hurt them back. I am not seeking to build a connection but to severe the connection between me and all of them. Writing about the helpless situations that I found myself in and the mistakes that I made on my own accord gives me a mild feeling of immoral satisfaction. I just simply do not seek anything more glorious than that from my writing.

Ironically, after reading this a dear friend asked about my trip to see BABYMETAL in Chicago last month. This is what I wrote:

BABYMETAL Live at Chicago’s House of Blues

As you know, I had been looking forward to the concert for a long time – nearly six months! The morning of the show, I woke to Doki Doki Morning.

I saw my wife off to work and our daughter off to school. I had had breakfast, shaved, and wore the outfit I had put together during my months-long wait. The outfit included the kitsune (fox) necklace I had made. The fox is BABYMETAL’s symbol.

I hopped into our new Chevy Trax, clicked OnStar and asked them to download directions to my vehicle. I listened to BABYMETAL the whole way, but I didn’t drive to the House of Blues. No way I was going to drive in “the city” on a night that was supposed to be fun! Instead, I drove to the Metra train station in Morton Grove, Illinois. I arrived and paid for my parking. Two bucks covered 24 hours, and I knew I’d be back long before then. It was about 10 a.m. I had a brief wait for the train and boarded. I didn’t get any weird looks from people, probably because I was pretty close to Chicago at that point, and there are all kinds of interesting-looking people there.

There was a Cubs game that day. (I think it was opening day, actually.) Several people on the train wore their Chicago Cubs gear, and there were even some children whose parents had pulled them out of school for the game. That made me feel good. More people at the ball game meant fewer people at the concert. Not that it would have mattered, as I found out.

Most of the passengers deboarded at Wrigley Field (home of the Cubs). I rode on. Oh, and my train ride only cost me five bucks. I wasn’t on a tight budget, and I was doing exceptionally well!

I arrived at Union Station. I pulled out my smart phone and opened the navigation app. (We live in the future!) I tapped in House of Blues and was easily guided through the streets of Chicago. Since I didn’t know where the House of Blues was, I figured I’d find it first, then pick out a nearby place to have some lunch. Very near Union Station, I passed by Al’s, a restaurant known for its Italian beef sandwiches. I wasn’t sure I wanted to walk all the way back to Al’s, but I made a mental note of it.

Before I even arrived, I saw the huge letters standing out from the side of the building declaring “House of Blues.” My heart leapt! I was nearly there!

As I approached I saw people standing outside. Not many, but some. The House of Blues was across the street from me, but looking I could see one person in a skeleton hoodie, and some others with various BABYMETAL T-shirts. Since I had no one with me, I figured I should cross the street and introduce myself. Maybe I could find a friend.

I passed the House of Blues so I could cross at the corner. Walking back toward the venue, I saw another group of people. There were more of them than in the first group I had seen. They were waiting in a roped-off queue. These were obviously the people with VIP tickets. I did not have a VIP ticket. VIP tickets cost an extra $200 and supposedly get the purchaser closer to the stage. (Because of the way the House of Blues is set up, this turned out not to be the case, making VIP tickets essentially worthless.) The purchaser does not get to meet BABYMETAL or the Kami Band (the band which plays behind the trio. Kami is a pun: Kami means “gods,” and in English the band is referred to as “The Gods of Metal.” But kami also means “hair.” Thus, the trio is backed by a hair band. Har har!). They do not get a photo of the girls (autographed or otherwise). They don’t even get a T-shirt. I wasn’t going to pay $200 just to get closer to the stage.

When I came to the first group I had spotted (three people at this point), I said, “I think I’ve found friends” and flashed a kitsune (“fox,” but also the name of the handsign BABYMETAL invented. It is a modified “devil’s horns” sign seen at other metal concerts.).

“You have,” a young woman said, and for a moment I thought she was going to take my hand. She didn’t, but she was most inviting. Introductions were made. There was Jay, an Asian man of about my age, Alex, a young man with kinky brown hair, and the young woman, Ruby. Alex immediately took over the conversation. He was very excited. He had seen BABYMETAL live before, and was certain we were in for a treat. He was an enthusiastic metalhead, and insisted BABYMETAL is very much a metal band (something which is hotly debated online). Soon enough two other people joined us. One was Mike, Ruby’s boyfriend (husband? Her “man?”). The other was Dylan, a 19-year-old from Wisconsin! Alex immediately began telling them how much they were going to enjoy the concert and how metal the band is.

“I’m not into metal,” Dylan said. “At all.” It took a moment for us to realize he was serious. It turns out Dylan enjoys electronic music. He loves the novelty of BABYMETAL, including their music. But comparisons to Metallica or Iron Maiden don’t impress him. That was when I realized what I had read about BABYMETAL fans was true: They come from all different backgrounds, and have a wide variety of tastes.

Dylan, as I’ve said, came from Wisconsin, but the Northern end of the state, almost in Minnesota. Ironically, BABYMETAL would be performing just a few miles from his home the very next day. But he had come to Chicago to see them because they would be performing at a festival, whereas they were the sole act at the House of Blues.

Mike and Ruby had come from Texas. They explained they were spending the weekend in Chicago, mostly so they could tell their friends back home that they went to Chicago for a vacation and not just to see BABYMETAL. They actually had few plans for what they would do for the rest of the weekend.

Another person joined our group, another Asian man. Jay recognized him and introduced him as Zach. Jay and Zach began talking to each other in Japanese! Here was my chance to practice a bit with them. Turns out they are both Japanese. Jay now lives in California, and Zach is working for a company in Ohio. They met at a previous BABYMETAL concert. In fact, Jay had just seen them a few days earlier in Boston. (It must be nice to have that kind of money.)

I was rapidly making friends with this group. By now others had shown up. There was a woman whose outfit left no doubt she was a BABYMETAL fan. She had brought snacks to share and games to play while waiting in line. I wondered what she would do with her backpack when we entered the venue, but it turned out they had bins for all kinds of extra gear. There was also a young man from the south side of Chicago who was being very funny. I made the mistake of saying how funny he was and for the next four or more hours he never shut up. He only had about 30 minutes of good material.

Mike had disappeared, but he returned and was talking to Ruby. They let us in on a secret (a secret which Mike admitted he wasn’t sure he wanted to share): Anyone who goes to the restaurant at the House of Blues and spends a minimum of $20 can skip ahead of the line we were in, entering immediately after the VIP line. This was our chance to get something to eat and get a good spot in the hall! All of our little group went, except for Alex. I’m not sure if he didn’t have any money, or what, but he didn’t choose to go with us.

The food was excellent (I ordered a French dip sandwich) and reasonably priced. We actually had a hard time getting to $20! Fortunately we could supplement our meal with purchases from the gift shop to make the $20. Mike bought a fedora (ala Blues Brothers) which looked great on him, and I bought some chocolate bars to share in the line, which seemed appropriate since one of BABYMETAL’s songs is Gimme Chocolate.

We only had about three more hours to wait until they opened the doors. (And another hour and a half inside before the show started, Dylan noted.) A few people walked the length of the line making videos with their cell phones as the rest of us threw up kitsune. (I don’t say kitsunes because nouns in Japanese are both singular and plural.)

Soon a white limousine drove by. “There they are!” I cried and waved a kitsune in the limo’s direction. Some waved kitsune, but others laughed, assuming I was joking. It seems reasonable to me that if you are waiting for a show featuring celebrities and a limo drives by, there is a very good chance the celebs are riding in that limo. In any case the comedian we had met was still cracking what he thought were jokes and missed the limo entirely. He apparently thought I was saying the fire hydrant across the street looked like the members of BABYMETAL.

The powers that be moved us to just behind the VIP line, then moved us again when the VIP line got long. Two girls in Japanese kawaii outfits walked by with their parents. “かわいいね！” I exclaimed.

“かわいい。かわいい、” Jay agreed.

Not long after the limo drove by, Jay showed us a Twitter post on his phone. It was from the House of Blues, and showed BABYMETAL in their street clothes rehearsing for the show.

“That means they’re right on the other side of this wall!” I said to Dylan. He and I both jumped and squealed, flapping our hands like a couple of penguin flapping their wings. An awkward moment of silence followed.

“We totally fangirled on that,” I said.

“Yeah we did,” Dylan agreed.

When the doors finally opened for our group, we were instructed to form two lines, men on the right and women on the left. This was so security could frisk us. I was surprised how casual the frisking was. The guy found my wallet, keys and phone, but did not even check my legs, socks, the small of my back or my waistband. It would be pretty easy to sneak something in. This was also where people put backpacks, etc. into the bins.

When we went into the concert hall, our little group was separated. Jay and Zach had balcony seats. I was on the main floor, and the others had a spot in the モシュシュ (mosh’sh, a word invented by BABYMETAL. It is supposed to be a mosh pit in which no one gets hurt; all of the fun and no violence. As it turns out, that is exactly what it is.). I was not as close as I had hoped, but I was as close as I could get without being in the モシュシュ. In fact, I could look over the pit, so that was a good thing.

The concert started and the excitement in the air was almost a tangible thing. I forgot to mention that Alex had suggested ear plugs, insisting the show would be extremely loud. Everyone turned down his suggestion. Dylan said he would be deaf by the time he is 30 anyway, and I said as an old guy who has listened to a lot of rock n’ roll with headphones at high volumes, it was too late for me. As it turned out, the show was not unusually loud. I’ve heard much louder concerts. I don’t know if that was because of the band or the venue.

Probably the biggest thing BABYMETAL has brought to metal is dance. Iron Maiden and Slipknot aren’t dancing around the stage, but BABYMETAL is. When they performed Karate I had my first hint that this would be an unusual concert. The song is not about karate, but rather about striving to do one’s best, even against seemingly impossible odds. At one point in the song, the three girls collapsed onto the stage. Su-metal struggled to her feet then helped the other two to stand, singing the encouraging refrain as she did. I realized there was symbolism in their dancing. This didn’t surprise me, as there is a lot of symbolism in their lyrics. (That may be the subject of another missive, if you’re interested.)

They have fun songs, of course, touching on the joys of eating chocolate or chewing bubble gum. They performed these as well. But then came a part of the show in which the stage went dark, almost (but not quite) completely black. We could hear the girls speaking in English, telling about how the Fox God (BABYMETAL comes with their own religion) instructed them to tell the world bullying must stop. Then they sang Ijime, Dame, Zettai (Bullying No More, Forever). A partial translation reads:

Those who got hurt were not only I myself,

But also those who kept watching me. It was you.

During the guitar duet, Yuimetal and Moametal engage in a stylized fight as Su-metal covers her eyes, not wanting to see bullying. She then joins in their fight, demonstrating everyone gets hurt by bullying.

I was surprised to find tears in my eyes. I hadn’t expected this concert to be emotional. But there was more to come.

For a finale, they performed The One entirely in English. This time I was outright bawling as they sang about how we are all one and that we are strongest when we are united.

The last notes of The One faded as the audience cheered. The trio exited and I was in shock. Here I was at a concert featuring three teenage girls and I was crying my eyes out. Of course I didn’t want it to end (I’m sure none of us did), so I began to shout, “アンコレ！アンコレ！(Encore! Encore!)” But the audience was very American, and began to chant “Ba-by met-al.” They didn’t even attempt the Japanese pronunciation bebimetal.

After an appropriate hiatus, the three returned and sang Road of Resistance. It was a fitting end to the concert with an inspiring sing-along portion.

When they had finished singing, Moametal said, “You make me sooo happy!” (Yes, in English!) Yuimetal followed with, “I’m so happy to see you!” Then Su-metal wrapped it all up with a nice, brief speech, also entirely in English (their English is better than my Japanese). Then they gave their signature “See you!” and exited.

After the show I reconnected with Mike and Ruby, Jay and Zach. The crowd to purchase merchandise after the show was very thick, so I didn’t bother. I figure I can get all of that stuff on Ebay anyway.

There was an after party in a sort-of private bar at the House of Blues, but it was noisy, so I didn’t stay. It was pouring rain outside, but when it had slacked off a bit I called an Uber car. I’ve driven for Uber, but this was my first time as a passenger. I think my services are slicker, just sayin’. That turned out to be the most expensive part of my experience, going just over the $20 I had spent on lunch. I went back to the train station, got in my SUV and drove home, listening to BABYMETAL the whole way.

There are some details I’ve left out, such as the fact that the interior of the House of Blues is one of the gaudiest I’ve ever seen. I may edit this someday, but right now I want to get it to you.

Thanks for being my friend and taking an interest in what interests me.

All love, Bruce

“Where’s Eaton?”

I roll my eyes. The question everyone loves to ask me and that I never have an answer to. “Really, Mom? I don’t know.”

She stops whirling at the pot over the stove. Then reaching for the sugar, she asks, “Well why don’t you ever know?”

Shouldn’t the question be, why is he never here, or, why don’t you ever know where he is? I stand up from the table. “You’ve been asking me this question since I was five. And, I always give you the same answer. No one will ever know where he is. Just accept that, Mom.” I shrug.

She whines. “Well I can’t just accept that, I care about him and he’s your brother. And he doesn’t talk to me but once a year—if that!”

I shift my weight, glancing at the bright green palm leaves swaying by the window. “I’m going to go find him.”

Mom smiles. “Conversation always goes the same way, doesn’t it?”

I turn away, holding back an eye roll. I guess that’s why they always ask me.

It’s really their fault for naming their son after the cousin they themselves could never find. Like a…modern-day pirate, or something. Or a nomad sage. Maybe I should start at the top of the hill. I’ll find him standing at cliff’s edge breathing in ocean spray. Running away from wife and children.

I slap the yellow wall on the way out. “This is ridiculous! He lives right down the street!”

“Huh?” Mom’s already moved her mind on to other things. Must be nice having children to do your dirty work.

I step into the bright sunlight, plop into my car. I start the engine and roll slowly out the gravel driveway. The sun beams off my old yellow house. I sigh, rolling down the windows. First day back home, and I’m looking for Eaton. I have to laugh.

Welcome home indeed.

This is great! I love the fascinating twist of the two Eatons and the reason why. And I like the hints of lost Eaton’s personality and the guesses of where he might be. I’m guessing lost Eaton is a frequent topic of discussion if he’s the one the narrator assumed Mom was asking about.

The line “Well I can’t just accept that, I care about him and he’s your brother. And he doesn’t talk to me but once a year—if that!” doesn’t sound quite natural and true as dialogue to me. The sentiment does, but not the words. On the flip side, you’ve done a great job of sprinkling in action and description to keep the scene moving and show us what’s going on and how the characters are responding to each other. Nicely done, and thank you for sharing!

Thanks Alice! Yes, I see what you’re saying. Thanks for pointing that out. I appreciate the feedback!

I know you’re feeling alone right now. I know you feel like no one ever could or ever will feel the way you do. I’m not here to tell you everything will get better, that God will make a way (although he will.) I’m just here to sit and listen.

Why do you feel so lonely? You’re part of a race of 6 billion people. Not even counting all those who have gone before you, or all those who are still to come. Yet isn’t it strange that out of six billion, out of the millions you share your city with, the thousands who stream past you on your way to work, the hundreds you bump shoulders and jostle with on the train, and the multitudes of colleagues in your office, you still feel so alone?

You aren’t alone. I know this sounds like a platitude, but it’s true. Going on statistics alone, at least one person – whether alive or dead, whether known to you or not – has felt the same way you’re feeling right now. And statistics don’t lie. (42% of statistics are made up on the spot.)

I want to sit here and listen. I know how it feels to have so many people talking to you (talking at you?) and not a single one of them listening. I was laid off recently. Friends, family, well-wishers from all corners of life, saturating me with texts and Facebook messages and well-meaning advice. I hear this firm still has vacancies, have you considered applying there, why don’t you become an academic? And yes, they listened at the start, to my answers to their opening questions. How are you feeling? Have you started applying? But would you want to stay there anyway? But after a while, their voices took over. And I was alone in a storm of well-meaning advice.

Hey, you just used the phrase ‘well-meaning advice’ twice in the same paragraph. That’s not good form. But that’s okay, because I’m not here to pepper you with a beautiful speech. I’m here to listen.

Why do you feel so lonely? Really dig down deep – why? Are you trapped in a family where love is in short supply? Are you stuck in a career where no one values your contributions? Do you bear all the trappings of success yet feel that something deeper inside you is missing? I don’t know what your situation is, and maybe you don’t either. After I was laid off, I was depressed for weeks, and it had nothing to do with my prospects for finding another job. But maybe putting a finger on why you feel the way you do could be the first step to finding a way out.

And that’s another thing. If you don’t want to find a way out, that’s fine too. It’s perfectly alright to feel alone. It’s perfectly alright not to want to do anything about it. I struggled so much with feelings of legitimacy when I was laid off. Almost an anxiety-inception: first you get anxious that you’ve been laid off, then you get anxious that you are anxious that you’ve been laid off. After all, shouldn’t I be moving on? There’s still so much that I have – good friends and good family and good health – so why am I still so depressed? Why can’t I just suck it up and get on with life?

I don’t know if you’ve watched the movie Inside Out, but there’s a reason why it’s one of my favourites. Because it reminds us that sadness is legitimate. It’s okay to feel sad. You don’t always have to banish her to a little chalk box in the corner so that joy can run your life instead. And it’s okay to feel lonely. You don’t have to feel like it’s only okay to feel lonely for X amount of time, before it suddenly becomes Not Okay.

I don’t know who you are, and probably never will. Yet I hope reading this helped you somehow. That you found a listening ear, even though you didn’t say a word.

Take care. And remember that you’re not alone.

This is a great list of questions! I’m going to use them in my author about page.

I found your fifth question really interesting. It touches on the one topic that I believe can’t be set in stone, that some write to explore what they can not. Others write what they know. More often than not it ends up being a hybrid of the two.

I have to say that the most interesting life of a writer I’ve come across has had to have been Tolkien. To have been in the trenches of Verdun? You see that in nearly all of his writing he stays away from any themes connected to the War, but then you have the Dead Marshes.

I used to write for the joy of losing myself in a story, for the satisfaction of the words tumbling out on to the page. Words transcribed from Voices in my head. I used to write. So it was interesting reading this article and questioning why I used to call myself a writer and why I stopped. It’s been a whole year now since the voices and the urgency stopped. Interesting ( for me at least) too t I should chose to write a reply. Maybe, just maybe that small flame can be rekindled. Thanks Joe

I write because my characters have been following me for the last twenty years and they want their story to be told this is the third attempt putting their lives on paper (in my case on computer) even though I know the ending, I’m coming close this last four chapters are proving the most challenging but I just love being in their world and knowing them, yes I feel like they are good and bad friends this is why I write

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The writer of the academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence. The beginning of the essay is a crucial first step in this process. In order to engage readers and establish your authority, the beginning of your essay has to accomplish certain business. Your beginning should introduce the essay, focus it, and orient readers.

Introduce the Essay.  The beginning lets your readers know what the essay is about, the  topic . The essay's topic does not exist in a vacuum, however; part of letting readers know what your essay is about means establishing the essay's  context , the frame within which you will approach your topic. For instance, in an essay about the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech, the context may be a particular legal theory about the speech right; it may be historical information concerning the writing of the amendment; it may be a contemporary dispute over flag burning; or it may be a question raised by the text itself. The point here is that, in establishing the essay's context, you are also limiting your topic. That is, you are framing an approach to your topic that necessarily eliminates other approaches. Thus, when you determine your context, you simultaneously narrow your topic and take a big step toward focusing your essay. Here's an example.

The paragraph goes on. But as you can see, Chopin's novel (the topic) is introduced in the context of the critical and moral controversy its publication engendered.

Focus the Essay.  Beyond introducing your topic, your beginning must also let readers know what the central issue is. What question or problem will you be thinking about? You can pose a question that will lead to your idea (in which case, your idea will be the answer to your question), or you can make a thesis statement. Or you can do both: you can ask a question and immediately suggest the answer that your essay will argue. Here's an example from an essay about Memorial Hall.

The fullness of your idea will not emerge until your conclusion, but your beginning must clearly indicate the direction your idea will take, must set your essay on that road. And whether you focus your essay by posing a question, stating a thesis, or combining these approaches, by the end of your beginning, readers should know what you're writing about, and  why —and why they might want to read on.

Orient Readers.  Orienting readers, locating them in your discussion, means providing information and explanations wherever necessary for your readers' understanding. Orienting is important throughout your essay, but it is crucial in the beginning. Readers who don't have the information they need to follow your discussion will get lost and quit reading. (Your teachers, of course, will trudge on.) Supplying the necessary information to orient your readers may be as simple as answering the journalist's questions of who, what, where, when, how, and why. It may mean providing a brief overview of events or a summary of the text you'll be analyzing. If the source text is brief, such as the First Amendment, you might just quote it. If the text is well known, your summary, for most audiences, won't need to be more than an identifying phrase or two:

Often, however, you will want to summarize your source more fully so that readers can follow your analysis of it.

Questions of Length and Order.  How long should the beginning be? The length should be proportionate to the length and complexity of the whole essay. For instance, if you're writing a five-page essay analyzing a single text, your beginning should be brief, no more than one or two paragraphs. On the other hand, it may take a couple of pages to set up a ten-page essay.

Does the business of the beginning have to be addressed in a particular order? No, but the order should be logical. Usually, for instance, the question or statement that focuses the essay comes at the end of the beginning, where it serves as the jumping-off point for the middle, or main body, of the essay. Topic and context are often intertwined, but the context may be established before the particular topic is introduced. In other words, the order in which you accomplish the business of the beginning is flexible and should be determined by your purpose.

Opening Strategies.  There is still the further question of how to start. What makes a good opening? You can start with specific facts and information, a keynote quotation, a question, an anecdote, or an image. But whatever sort of opening you choose, it should be directly related to your focus. A snappy quotation that doesn't help establish the context for your essay or that later plays no part in your thinking will only mislead readers and blur your focus. Be as direct and specific as you can be. This means you should avoid two types of openings:

• The history-of-the-world (or long-distance) opening, which aims to establish a context for the essay by getting a long running start: "Ever since the dawn of civilized life, societies have struggled to reconcile the need for change with the need for order." What are we talking about here, political revolution or a new brand of soft drink? Get to it.
• The funnel opening (a variation on the same theme), which starts with something broad and general and "funnels" its way down to a specific topic. If your essay is an argument about state-mandated prayer in public schools, don't start by generalizing about religion; start with the specific topic at hand.

Remember.  After working your way through the whole draft, testing your thinking against the evidence, perhaps changing direction or modifying the idea you started with, go back to your beginning and make sure it still provides a clear focus for the essay. Then clarify and sharpen your focus as needed. Clear, direct beginnings rarely present themselves ready-made; they must be written, and rewritten, into the sort of sharp-eyed clarity that engages readers and establishes your authority.

Copyright 1999, Patricia Kain, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

How to Write a Great Essential Question

It’s time for a Pop quiz!

Which of these is an essential question for the art room?

A. How do the arts reflect values in a culture? B. What common symbols are found in the work of the Lascaux cave painters?

If you answered A, you are right! The question is provocative, open-ended, and challenging which are all characteristics of a great essential question.

Using essential questions to drive learning in classrooms from kindergarten to college is a smart way to dive deeper into higher order thinking. Just as important, using essential questions can help students make key connections between what they are learning in the art room and apply it to their own lives and the greater world.

In addition, essential questions are a big part of the National Core Arts Standards. If you’re interested in learning more about bringing the standards into the art room, you won’t want to miss the  Implementing the National Art Standards PRO Learning Pack. Johanna Russell will show you how to easily build on your existing curriculum by utilizing the standards in your everyday teaching.

Interested in writing a few essential questions of your own? Keep these 3 characteristics in mind.

•  In addition to being provocative, open-ended, and challenging, questions should spur debate in your classroom.
• Answers to essential questions should require evidence and support.
• Essential questions should occur over and over again. Revisit them as often as possible to allow students to grow in how they think about a few core topics.

You could write some questions tailor-made to your curriculum, or you could download the free list of essential questions below!

Download Now!

Do you struggle with coming up with great essential questions? How can we help?

How do you use essential questions in your teaching?

Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

Sarah Dougherty

Sarah Dougherty, a visual arts curriculum coordinator, is a former AOEU Writer and elementary school art educator. She loves working with diverse populations to bring art into students’ homes, communities, and everyday lives.

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What is a well written answer to an essay question?

Well Focused

Be sure to answer the question completely, that is, answer all parts of the question. Avoid "padding." A lot of rambling and ranting is a sure sign that the writer doesn't really know what the right answer is and hopes that somehow, something in that overgrown jungle of words was the correct answer.

Well Organized

Don't write in a haphazard "think-as-you-go" manner. Do some planning and be sure that what you write has a clearly marked introduction which both states the point(s) you are going to make and also, if possible, how you are going to proceed. In addition, the essay should have a clearly indicated conclusion which summarizes the material covered and emphasizes your thesis or main point.

Well Supported

Do not just assert something is true, prove it. What facts, figures, examples, tests, etc. prove your point? In many cases, the difference between an A and a B as a grade is due to the effective use of supporting evidence.

Well Packaged

People who do not use conventions of language are thought of by their readers as less competent and less educated. If you need help with these or other writing skills, come to the Writing Lab

How do you write an effective essay exam?

• Read through all the questions carefully.
• Budget your time and decide which question(s) you will answer first.
• Underline the key word(s) which tell you what to do for each question.
• Choose an organizational pattern appropriate for each key word and plan your answers on scratch paper or in the margins.
• Write your answers as quickly and as legibly as you can; do not take the time to recopy.
• Begin each answer with one or two sentence thesis which summarizes your answer. If possible, phrase the statement so that it rephrases the question's essential terms into a statement (which therefore directly answers the essay question).
• Support your thesis with specific references to the material you have studied.
• Proofread your answer and correct errors in spelling and mechanics.

Specific organizational patterns and "key words"

Most essay questions will have one or more "key words" that indicate which organizational pattern you should use in your answer. The six most common organizational patterns for essay exams are definition, analysis, cause and effect, comparison/contrast, process analysis, and thesis-support.

Typical questions

• "Define X."
• "What is an X?"
• "Choose N terms from the following list and define them."

Q: "What is a fanzine?"

A: A fanzine is a magazine written, mimeographed, and distributed by and for science fiction or comic strip enthusiasts.

Avoid constructions such as "An encounter group is where ..." and "General semantics is when ... ."

• State the term to be defined.
• State the class of objects or concepts to which the term belongs.
• Differentiate the term from other members of the class by listing the term's distinguishing characteristics.

Tools you can use

• Details which describe the term
• Examples and incidents
• Comparisons to familiar terms
• Negation to state what the term is not
• Classification (i.e., break it down into parts)
• Examination of origins or causes
• Examination of results, effects, or uses

Analysis involves breaking something down into its components and discovering the parts that make up the whole.

• "Analyze X."
• "What are the components of X?"
• "What are the five different kinds of X?"
• "Discuss the different types of X."

Q: "Discuss the different services a junior college offers a community."

A: Thesis: A junior college offers the community at least three main types of educational services: vocational education for young people, continuing education for older people, and personal development for all individuals.

Outline for supporting details and examples. For example, if you were answering the example question, an outline might include:

• Vocational education
• Continuing education
• Personal development

Write the essay, describing each part or component and making transitions between each of your descriptions. Some useful transition words include:

• first, second, third, etc.
• in addition

Conclude the essay by emphasizing how each part you have described makes up the whole you have been asked to analyze.

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect involves tracing probable or known effects of a certain cause or examining one or more effects and discussing the reasonable or known cause(s).

Typical questions:

• "What are the causes of X?"
• "What led to X?"
• "Why did X occur?"
• "Why does X happen?"
• "What would be the effects of X?"

Q: "Define recession and discuss the probable effects a recession would have on today's society."

A: Thesis: A recession, which is a nationwide lull in business activity, would be detrimental to society in the following ways: it would .......A......., it would .......B......., and it would .......C....... .

The rest of the answer would explain, in some detail, the three effects: A, B, and C.

Useful transition words:

• consequently
• for this reason
• as a result

Comparison-Contrast

• "How does X differ from Y?"
• "Compare X and Y."
• "What are the advantages and disadvantages of X and Y?"

Q: "Which would you rather own—a compact car or a full-sized car?"

A: Thesis: I would own a compact car rather than a full-sized car for the following reasons: .......A......., .......B......., .......C......., and .......D....... .

Two patterns of development:

• Full-sized car

Disadvantages

• Compact car

Useful transition words

• on the other hand
• unlike A, B ...
• in the same way
• while both A and B are ..., only B ..
• nevertheless
• on the contrary
• while A is ..., B is ...
• "Describe how X is accomplished."
• "List the steps involved in X."
• "Explain what happened in X."
• "What is the procedure involved in X?"

Process (sometimes called process analysis)

This involves giving directions or telling the reader how to do something. It may involve discussing some complex procedure as a series of discrete steps. The organization is almost always chronological.

Q: "According to Richard Bolles' What Color Is Your Parachute?, what is the best procedure for finding a job?"

A: In What Color Is Your Parachute?, Richard Bolles lists seven steps that all job-hunters should follow: .....A....., .....B....., .....C....., .....D....., .....E....., .....F....., and .....G..... .

The remainder of the answer should discuss each of these seven steps in some detail.

• following this
• after, afterwards, after this
• subsequently
• simultaneously, concurrently

Thesis and Support

• "Discuss X."
• "A noted authority has said X. Do you agree or disagree?"
• "Defend or refute X."
• "Do you think that X is valid? Defend your position."

Thesis and support involves stating a clearly worded opinion or interpretation and then defending it with all the data, examples, facts, and so on that you can draw from the material you have studied.

Q: "Despite criticism, television is useful because it aids in the socializing process of our children."

A: Television hinders rather than helps in the socializing process of our children because .......A......., .......B......., and .......C....... .

The rest of the answer is devoted to developing arguments A, B, and C.

• it follows that

A. Which of the following two answers is the better one? Why?

Question: Discuss the contribution of William Morris to book design, using as an example his edition of the works of Chaucer.

a. William Morris's Chaucer was his masterpiece. It shows his interest in the Middle Ages. The type is based on medieval manuscript writing, and the decoration around the edges of the pages is like that used in medieval books. The large initial letters are typical of medieval design. Those letters were printed from woodcuts, which was the medieval way of printing. The illustrations were by Burn-Jones, one of the best artists in England at the time. Morris was able to get the most competent people to help him because he was so famous as a poet and a designer (the Morris chair) and wallpaper and other decorative items for the home. He designed the furnishings for his own home, which was widely admired among the sort of people he associated with. In this way he started the arts and crafts movement.

b. Morris's contribution to book design was to approach the problem as an artist or fine craftsman, rather than a mere printer who reproduced texts. He wanted to raise the standards of printing, which had fallen to a low point, by showing that truly beautiful books could be produced. His Chaucer was designed as a unified work of art or high craft. Since Chaucer lived in the Middle Ages, Morris decided to design a new type based on medieval script and to imitate the format of a medieval manuscript. This involved elaborate letters and large initials at the beginnings of verses, as well as wide borders of intertwined vines with leaves, fruit, and flowers in strong colors. The effect was so unusual that the book caused great excitement and inspired other printers to design beautiful rather than purely utilitarian books.

From James M. McCrimmon, Writing with a Purpose , 7th ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980), pp. 261-263.

B. How would you plan the structure of the answers to these essay exam questions?

1. Was the X Act a continuation of earlier government policies or did it represent a departure from prior philosophies?

2. What seems to be the source of aggression in human beings? What can be done to lower the level of aggression in our society?

3. Choose one character from Novel X and, with specific references to the work, show how he or she functions as an "existential hero."

4. Define briefly the systems approach to business management. Illustrate how this differs from the traditional approach.

5. What is the cosmological argument? Does it prove that God exists?

6. Civil War historian Andy Bellum once wrote, "Blahblahblah blahed a blahblah, but of course if blahblah blahblahblahed the blah, then blahblahs are not blah but blahblah." To what extent and in what ways is the statement true? How is it false?

For more information on writing exam essays for the GED, please visit our Engagement area and go to the Community Writing and Education Station (CWEST) resources.

Teaching Literary Analysis: 17 Essential Questions To Guide Your Students.

Use these 17 essential questions to guide your students through literary analysis regardless of what they’re reading. The best part? You can recycle and reuse these questions, again and again, all year long.

The key to teaching literary analysis lies in having the right tools to move beyond a solid foundation of comprehension. In other words, it’s time to help your students grab their literary excavator and dig a little deeper.

Teaching Literary Analysis to Secondary Students

Yes, it’s important to ask students for details aboutwhat they read. However, in the secondary classroom, it’s time to prepare them to analyze what they read. Yet, whether they’re afraid of being “wrong” or simply don’t know where to begin, literary analysis tends to intimidate students.

It doesn’t matter if we’re assigning students one of our favorite novels or a must-read from the literary canon; there’s nothing worse than when students’ analysis falls flat. (Bor-ing.) Instead, we want them to be able to understand how to read between the lines. To break down the text into smaller pieces and examine how each works on its own and as part of the bigger picture– I mean, story.

We don’t just want them to think about what they’re reading but think deeply about it. We want them to take part in lively conversations and well-supported critical responses. We want them to question, analyze, and understand the author’s choices and their implications.

In other words, we don’t just want them to read the text. We want them to engage with the text.

But how exactly do we help them get there?

The First Step: Asking The Essential Questions

Literary analysis is like any other skill– it takes practice. Even the brightest of students need to learn the how-tos behind analyzing a text before mastering the art. And if you’re looking to avoid reading countless literary analysis flops– we all know how painful those can be– you know you want to teach it well . So, before asking students to showcase their knowledge in assessment form (aka the feared and fretted literary analysis essay), we must teach them how to read and analyze a text. Luckily,  with the right approach, teaching literary analysis does not have to be so dreadful. (And neither do those papers.)

It all begins by asking the right questions to guide students through their literary analysis. These questions will help students dig deeper into a piece of literature as they think, discuss, and even write about the text at hand. In fact, you might just be surprised how much deeper your students can analyze a piece of literature with these 17 essential questions.

17 Essential Questions To Guide Your Students Through Literary Analysis

Whether you’re asking your students to analyze a novel, play, short story, or poem, these 17 essential questions can be a big help.

These questions serve as a springboard for students to dig deeper into the author’s choices regarding elements such as theme, character, plot, conflict, and setting. They’ll help them move beyond comprehending and summarizing a piece of literature and toward analyzing and evaluating it.

Essential Questions About Theme

There are many ways authors reveal and develop a text’s theme. Students can better identify, understand, and analyze the theme(s) with the right questions as a guide.

• What is the main subject of this text? (Psst… I always remind students that this should apply to the world beyond the text itself.)
• What is the author’s commentary/main message regarding said subject?
• Are there any instances of symbolism , repetition, juxtaposition, or irony that develop or enhance this message?

Essential Questions About Character

Once the students identify the characters, understanding them is an essential element of literary analysis. Use the following questions to help students move beyond the basics of identifying characters and, instead, seeing them as essential elements to a story.

• What does the character say and think?
• How does the character act?
• How does the character interact with other characters in the story?
• What are the characters’ motivations and values and how are they revealed throughout the story?
• How do the characters in the story develop or enhance the theme?

Essential Questions About Plot and Conflict

There’s much more to plot than simply identifying what is happening in the story. It can also serve as a way to develop the story. Therefore, students can use the following questions to analyze plot effectively.

• Is the plot revealed in chronological order, or does it begin in medias res, meaning in the middle? Why did the author choose to tell the story this way?
• What is the story’s main conflict?
• How is the conflict revealed, developed, and resolved?
• How does the conflict of the story develop or enhance the theme?

Essential Questions About Setting

Once students identify the time and place of a piece of literature– the setting– they can begin to analyze the broader role the setting serves in the text. Let’s just say it wasn’t a coincidence that Fitzgerald chose New York City and its suburbs for The Great Gatsby or that Miller set The Crucible in Salem 1692. The following questions can help students dive deeper into the story’s setting.

• Does the setting change? If so, what impact does that have on the characters?
• How does the setting affect the story’s plot?
• How does the setting affect the story’s conflict?
• How does the setting of the story develop or enhance the theme?

A Question To Get Students To See The Bigger Picture

Before saying “that’s a wrap” on literary analysis, we can’t forget to encourage students to understand that text in a broader context. In fact, this “bigger picture” thinking is what allows literary classics to remain relevant today!

Therefore, push students to see the bigger picture and analyze the author’s intentions by asking them the following question.

• How might this text serve as a mirror or window (or both) to the reader and/or modern society? (Similarly, you can also ask them to consider the significance of the piece during the time it was written.)

A Final Word On Teaching Literary Analysis

First step? Learning how to analyze a text. Next up? Writing an accompanying essay. Luckily, answers to any of the questions above (with supportive textual evidence, of course) will provide students with the foundation they need to tackle the analytical essay. 

The best part about these questions? They can be used over and over again so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Simply apply them to various texts throughout the year, and voila! You have a go-to resource for teaching literary analysis.

You can tweak the questions here and there to fit each text better or simply leave them as is! Either way, your students will walk away from the school year with a solid understanding of literary analysis. (Goal accomplished.)

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Essential Questions for Persuasive Writing

Matt has degrees in Journalism and Business and has taught a variety of courses at high schools and universities around the world.

Table of Contents

Persuasive writing is an important, but often underutilized skill in many classrooms. The ability to argue, or persuade, should be taught and developed as early as possible in order to enable students to become more critical of their own work and the work of others. This lesson highlights three essential questions students should ask themselves both as they prepare to write and as they are in the midst of putting pen to paper.

What is the purpose of my writing?

All too often, students read a prompt and begin writing immediately without taking time to closely examine the assignment and understand its potential nuances and implications. Because of this, it's vital to stress the importance of prewriting. Ideally, students will divide prewriting into two parts, namely, brainstorming and outlining.

During the prewriting process, students should be constantly focused on the overall purpose of the composition and how the structure of their outline addresses this concern. Knowing why one is writing is essential in order to create an appropriate framework for the persuasive argument that follows. There are three primary prewriting techniques students can use.

• Clustering (word web) - Students use circles and lines to connect ideas
• Listing - Students create a list of ideas and then select the best ones to use in their writing
• Free writing - Students write anything that comes to mind without worrying about correct spelling or grammar

After prewriting, students should select the best ideas and organize them into an outline. During this process, try to ensure that students are continually focused on the purpose of their task.

Who is my audience?

After coming to grips with the purpose of a composition, the next question to ask is, who is this composition intended to persuade? Writing for the wrong audience can quickly derail an otherwise sound piece of work. If the persuasive writing prompt does not specifically identify who the intended audience is, students can infer this information by using contextual clues. For example, if the prompt asks a student to give a personal opinion on a specific topic, the student should write as if s/he was trying to convince the reader why the opinion on the page is valid and worthy of consideration.

Another way to ensure that the intended audience is being addressed, is to rely on high quality and comprehensive prewriting. For timed assignments this may not be possible, but longer term tasks should clearly outline who is being written to.

What writing tools can I use to be effective?

There are several writing tools students can employ in order to increase the persuasive quality of a composition. They include:

• Connotation
• Personification
• Vivid imagery
• Personal anecdotes
• Expert testimony
• Data and statistics

Obviously, not all of these techniques can, or should, be employed in a single composition, but if used appropriately, each can add its own unique persuasive element. The key is to get students to focus on which of these tools will allow them to reach the desired objective. Whereas lower level students may need to rely more heavily on outside sources, higher-level students should be able to employ connotation and personal anecdotes effectively. Ideally, students should be able to use a balanced mix of writing techniques in order to offer the most persuasive argument possible.

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Writing Studio

Questions to ask when revising a paper.

In an effort to make our handouts more accessible, we have begun converting our PDF handouts to web pages. Download this page as a PDF: Questions to Ask When Revising a Paper Return to Writing Studio Handouts

Here are some questions to help you get started on revising a paper. Under each question are some suggested revision activities to assist you in this process.

Full descriptions of the recommended activities can be found on our Revision resource page.

Questions and Corresponding Revision Strategies

Does the writing have a clear sense of purpose.

Suggested Revision Strategies: Underline Your Main Point, Memory Draft. See also: Reverse Outline, 3×5 Note Card, Cubing

Is my paper’s main idea, or thesis, clearly stated early on (within the first paragraph, ideally)?

Suggested Revision Strategies: Reverse Outline, Talk Your Paper, Underline Your Main Point

Could I organize my ideas more logically (within a paragraph or among paragraphs)?

Suggested Revision Strategies: Reverse Outline and 3×5 Note Card. See also: Memory Draft, Read Out Loud

Are the topic sentences clearly connected to my paper’s main idea and do (most) topic sentences appear at the beginning of each paragraph?

Put differently: could someone read only the first sentence of each paragraph and thereby get a good sense of what the paper is about?

Suggested Revision Strategies: 3×5 Note Card. See also: Reverse Outline, Unpacking an Idea

Do the sentences in each paragraph relate to that paragraph’s topic sentence?

Suggested Revision Strategies: 3×5 Note Card. See also: Unpacking an Idea

Is there unnecessary repetition of certain points (an indication that the paper’s organization should be tinkered with, overhauled, etc.)?

Suggested Revision Strategies: Reverse Outline, Cubing, Read Out Loud

Is there sufficient (but not excessive) use of texts, evidence, or data?

Suggested Revision Strategies: Unpacking an Idea, Cubing, Talk Your Paper, Outside Reader

Does my paper employ effective transitional words, phrases, and sentences?

Suggested Revision Strategies: Outside Reader, Read Out Loud

Are the sentences well-worded and well-constructed?

Suggested Revision Strategies: Read Out Loud

Should some sentences be combined (for the sake of clarity, to avoid choppiness, etc.)? Should others be broken into two or more sentences, so that distinct—even if also related—ideas receive proper emphasis?

Suggested Revision Strategies: Read Out Loud, Outside Reader

Is the language precise and appropriate to the writing context?

Suggested Revision Strategies: Writing Between the Lines, Read Out Loud

Is the style authentic and engaging?

Suggested Revision Strategies: Talk Your Paper, Read Out Loud

Have I rewritten the introduction in order to remove sentences that are not essential to the set-up of my argument?

We strongly suggest removing, for instance, any “since the dawn of time” statements and others of its type that do not help to introduce your topic.

Suggested Revision Strategies: Talk Your Paper, Underline Your Main Point, Memory Draft

Have I addressed all of the questions (or parts of questions) in the assignment?

Suggested Revision Strategies: Return to the Prompt

Last revised: 07/2008| Adapted for web delivery: 05/2021

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Argumentative Writing Unit

Writing prompts, lesson plans, webinars, mentor texts and a culminating contest, all to inspire your students to tell us what matters to them.

By The Learning Network

Unit Overview

On our site, we’ve been offering teenagers ways to tell the world what they think for over 20 years. Our student writing prompt forums encourage them to weigh in on current events and issues daily, while our contests have offered an annual outlet since 2014 for formalizing those opinions into evidence-based essays.

In this unit, we’re bringing together all the resources we’ve developed along the way to help students figure out what they want to say, and how to say it effectively.

Here is what this unit offers, but we would love to hear from both teachers and students if there is more we could include. Let us know in the comments, or by writing to [email protected].

Start With Our Prompts for Argumentative Writing

How young is too young to use social media? Should students get mental health days off from school? Is $1 billion too much money for any one person to have?

These are the kinds of questions we ask every day on our site. In 2017 we published a list of 401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing categorized to provoke thinking on aspects of contemporary life from social media to sports, politics, gender issues and school. In 2021, we followed it up with 300 Questions and Images to Inspire Argument Writing , which catalogs all our argument-focused Student Opinion prompts since then, plus our more accessible Picture Prompts.

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Faulkner's Fast Five

Creating Classroom Success Stories

Everything You Need to Know About Essential Questions in Lesson Planning

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else,” Yogi Berra. We talk a lot about movement, growth, and going places in education, so it only makes sense that the analogy I’ll use for explaining essential questions and lesson planning stems from my obsession with old red trucks, right? Nonetheless, the essential question(s) should be IS the “driving force” of your lesson plan. In this post, I’ll share everything you need to know about essential questions in lesson planning.

What Is an Essential Question?

Essential questions are based on concepts that students should understand by the time they complete the lesson. Concepts are taken from and prompted by the standards. The purpose of essential questions is to drive the lesson being taught and provide a framework of focus. Essential questions present the big ideas/inquiries of an instructional lesson. Essential questions are necessary at the unit level and at the individual lesson level, as well. They are necessary for all subjects and grades.

Why Do You Need Essential Questions?

The essential questions will assist in the grand design of the lesson. If you are like me when you plan, you often have way too much material, too many ideas, and way too many pieces. I often need to eliminate and focus. Writing essential questions helps me do that. Essential questions also generate enthusiasm and sustain inquiry that invites deep, critical thinking.

How Do You Write an Essential Question?

Preferably, essential questions should provoke a thoughtful, informed answer. You’ll want to avoid questions that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” or one-word response. Thus, essential questions are open-ended and can have variations of correct answers. Consider starting questions with “how,” “why,” “when,” or “what” rather than “is” or “who.” Choose 1-5 questions. You can and should have overarching (thematic) and topical (skill-based) questions. They might also be universal or very specific.

Example from my The Great Gatsby Novel Plan :

• Not open-ended: Is this story from another place and time relevant to me?
• Revised to open-ended: How are stories from other places and times about me?

In the graphic below, the first two questions are more thematic, while the last one is specific to my English standards.

Other essential questions examples:

• In math, rather than “Is there a pattern,” revise to “How can we identify patterns” and “What do the patterns, or absence thereof, reveal?”
• In English, rather than “Is this story fiction,” revise to “How can fiction also be true?”
• In history/social studies, rather than “Is fighting bad,” revise to “What makes a cause worth fighting for or not?”
• In science, rather than “How do we measure xzy,” revise to “In what way(s) does what we measure affect how we measure?”

How Should You Use Essential Questions in Class?

Essential questions not only guide me as I create and teach lessons, but they can also be used to help students. Show the essential questions to students at the beginning of the lesson or unit, so students know the “why.” There is so much more clarity when they know the reason for the learning and where the learning is going. Then, have them reflect and answer those exact questions at the end of the lesson; this is key in really getting the most out of your essential questions because essential questions recur over time. They can and should be revisited again and again. 

In the picture below, you can see the question at the bottom of the sketch notes for my call-to-action lesson . After we take the notes and work through the exercises, I have students come back to that essential question and answer it in their own words. It is a perfect review and launch after the lesson.

Essential questions can also be used to design the culminating assignment at the end of a unit. In The Great Gatsby example from above, for the culminating project, we look at the students’ own American dreams. They research their college or career path and make a presentation on how they will achieve those dreams. Thus, the essential question drove not only questions about the novel content itself, but also led us to the final project that related to students’ lives and covered even more skills.

What Are Some Ready-to-Go Planning Tools?

Writing essential questions is something that takes time and practice, certainly, so it’s not easy to provide a ready-to-go resource or all-inclusive list of essential questions that would work for every situation. The process of writing the essential questions, though, makes me a stronger and more focused teacher. It really pushes me to ask myself what really matters and why I’m teaching what I’m teaching. That said, I do have some planning tools that might be helpful for you when you are “buckling down” to plan your units and lesson:

• Free lesson planning template
• Video tutorial for teachers on structuring a lesson plan on IGTV or Teachers Pay Teachers
• Entire catalog of teacher planners
• Tips for Planning a Unit Blog Post

Love this content? Join a group!  There are already tons of ideas, freebies, and fabulous teachers in my new groups, and joining is simple.  Just click over to the following links, answer a few questions, and voila! Thanks again for following along my classroom stories and small-business journey. I really do hope you to see you over in my new “backyards” where we can chat and share all things English and Yearbook.

Written by: Julie Faulkner, 2021

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