Essays

The Right Prompt

Lauren Wong | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Homework, Essays, Students Unprepared, Writing, Palo Alto High School, English, The Campanile, Teen News
Lauren Wong

We are unprepared for a future where writing more often than not consists of quick reports and write-ups, persuasive pitches and creative presentations -- in other words, a world that does not require an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

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Too Personal Statements: Too Outside the Box?

Liz Davis | Posted 05.06.2012

Read More: College Admissions, College, Liberal Arts, Essays, College Applications, Liberal Arts Essays, College Essays, Liberal Arts Admissions, College News
Liz Davis

How do future generations of college applicants make their essays stand out? Be part of the five percent: the cream of the crop, the monotony-breakers or the next Hemingway.

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Moms, Writing, and Guilt: Don't Get in Your Own Way

Holly Robinson | Posted 01.14.2012

Read More: Writers' Retreats, Grace Paley, Freelancing, Working Mothers, Ladies' Home Journal, Fiction, Time to Write, Motherhood, Parents, Essays, Writers Retreats, Day Care, How to Make a Living as a Writer, Writing First Novel, Books News
Holly Robinson

Writing, alas, is not that exciting, seen from the outside, and there's no simple recipe for getting it done -- especially if you're a mother.

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Is Cursive ... Cursed?

Ellen Siminoff | Posted 01.11.2012

Read More: Essays, Essay Writing, Learning, Cursive, Education News
Ellen Siminoff

As more and more things can be done electronically, cursive -- and even printing to some degree -- are going by the wayside. The question is: Is this really a bad thing?

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Discouraging Internet Plagiarism

Ellen Siminoff | Posted 12.28.2011

Read More: Studying, Plagiarism, Internet, Essays, Education, Education News
Ellen Siminoff

It's important for educators to accept that this is a real and widespread issue, and to bring it up themselves in the classroom rather than just sweep it under the rug and hope no one goes snooping for it.

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PICTURE: Every Essay Ever Written

Posted 12.05.2011

Read More: Funny Papers, Video, Funny Pictures, Writing Papers, Writing Essays, Every Essay Ever Written, Academics, Urlesque, Essays, Papers, School, Students, Comedy News

Every student has been there: it's the night before a deadline and you're sitting at your desk wracking your brain to throw together an essay that loo...

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Interview With Journalist Jenna M. McKnight, Editor of 9/11 Through Our Eyes

Teddy Wayne | Posted 11.09.2011

Read More: September 11, Jenna M. McKnight, Citizen Journalism, 9/11 Anniversary, 9/11, Essays, September 11 Anniversary, September 11th, Decade After 9/11 - Viewpoints, Media News
Teddy Wayne

On September 16, 2001, Jenna M. McKnight, then a newspaper reporter in Indiana, sent a letter to a few dozen friends and family members, asking for their responses to September 11.

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Go Big or Go Home: Why the Mainstream Successes of The Debt and Our Idiot Brother Matter

Scott Mendelson | Posted 11.07.2011

Read More: Sam Worthington, Paul Rudd, Brad Pitt, Box Office Misc, Essays, Sean Penn, Our Idiot Brother, Helen Mirren, Jessica Chaistan, Tree of Life, The Debt, King's Speech, Terrence Malick, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

While there are many reasons to praise the $14 million six-day opening of The Debt, the most surprising thing about it is that Focus Features debuted the film wide enough to achieve that kind of opening in the first place.

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Dirty Dancing Remake: Original's Feminism, Liberalism Would Be 'Daring' Today

Scott Mendelson | Posted 10.31.2011

Read More: Feminism, Jerry Orbach, News Commentary, Dirty Dancing, Lionsgate, Essays, Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Movie Remakes, Politics, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

Last month, Lionsgate announced plans to indeed remake Dirty Dancing. With pretty much every beloved 80s film going under the remake knife, it was only a matter of time before the adventures of Johnny and Baby got the revamp treatment.

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Because They Are Not Gay! What 'Forcing' Bert And Ernie To Get Married Teaches Us About Homophobia

Scott Mendelson | Posted 10.12.2011

Read More: Politics, Homosexuality, Sesame Street, Gay Rights, News Commentary, Bert and Ernie, Essays, Gender Roles, Culture News
Scott Mendelson

Bert and Ernie are just friends. I know that because the producers of Sesame Street told me so. Does the gay rights movement really want to be seen as forcing two men to get married irrespective of their actual say in the matter?

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Happily Never After: The Sad (and Sexist?) Rush to Cast Some of Our Most Promising Young Actresses as Fairy Tale Princesses

Scott Mendelson | Posted 09.27.2011

Read More: Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, Gender Roles, Sexism, Essays, Amanda Seyfried, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Chloe Moretz, Disney, Lily Collins, Snow White, Emma Watson, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

If recent developments are any indication, Hollywood has a genuine desire to roll back the progress clock and turn young female actresses into fairy tale princesses.

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Won't Be SPOILED Again... Why I No Longer Read Roger Ebert's Review Prior to Seeing the Movie

Scott Mendelson | Posted 09.06.2011

Read More: Entertainment, Roger Ebert, Spoilers, Essays, X-Men: First Class, Super 8, Criticism, Movies, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

I still trust Roger Ebert as a film critic. But sadly, I no longer trust him not to ruin the surprises on a whim. I will read Roger Ebert's reviews for as long as he writes them. But I no longer read them before I see a given film.

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Is 3D Dying or Just Leveling Off?

Scott Mendelson | Posted 08.03.2011

Read More: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Essays. News Commentary, Essays, Green Lantern, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Imax, 3d, Captain America, Business, Summer 2011, Kung Fu Panda 2, Technology News
Scott Mendelson

About 18 months after Avatar turned everyone into a 3D fanatic, the 'cool' factor is wearing off, as audiences are realizing that most 3D isn't going to blow their minds or take them to another world of immersion.

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Comparing Bridesmaids to The Hangover Isn't Sexist, Just Inaccurate and Lazy

Scott Mendelson | Posted 07.18.2011

Read More: Hangover, Hangover 2, Gender Roles, Commentary, Entertainment, Movies, Bridesmaids, Essays, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

Other than the fact that they are both technically comedies, Bridesmaids and The Hangover have absolutely nothing in common whatsoever.

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You Say Slump, I Say 'Smaller Movies With Legs'

Scott Mendelson | Posted 06.20.2011

Read More: Lincoln Lawyer, Insidious, Hanna, Box Office, Rango, Essays, Box Office 2011, Source Code, Limitless, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

When you look at the numbers on a movie-by-movie basis, you notice something wonderful. A flood of mid-budget, adult-skewed movies have opened at or above expectations. That's the Hollywood we claim we want, so why are we complaining?

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Would the MPAA Prefer a Female Character Not Be 'Into' Sex Scene?

Scott Mendelson | Posted 05.26.2011

Read More: Pg-13, Emily Browning, Sucker Punch, Mpaa, Zach Snyder, Jon Hamm, Warner Bros, Sexism, Essays, Sucker Punch Rating, Sucker Punch Sex Scene, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

There's a choice quote in this Emily Browning interview over at Nylon Magazine that merits a mention. Its implications are shocking.

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No Slump Then, No Slump Now! Why Comparing Cumulative Weekend Box Office Makes No Sense

Scott Mendelson | Posted 05.26.2011

Read More: Slump, Alice in Wonderland, 2005, Box Office Misc, Batman Begins, Lord of the Rings, Essays, 2011, Shrek 2, Avatar, Battle: Los Angeles, Box Office Weekend Slump, Box Office Slump, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

There is a reason I never discuss how well a respective weekend performed compared to the same weekend last year or the year before. It's irrelevant.

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Artistic Comeback? From Where? Matthew McConaughey's Best Films, Post-Stardom

Scott Mendelson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Lincoln Lawyer, Contact, Matthew McConaughey, Jodie Foster, Essays, Sahara, Robert Zemeckis, Lionsgate, u571, Edtv, Frailty, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

Much of the babbling over this weekends The Lincoln Lawyer has been about the idea that the well-reviewed legal thriller represents some kind of artistic reawakening for Mr. Matthew McConaughey.

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Writers, Writing on Writing: The Best American Essays 2010

Joe Woodward | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: The Best American Essays, Ian McEwan, Michel De Montaigne, Writers, Nathanael West, Christopher Hitchens, Essays, Books News
Joe Woodward

These 21 essays "defy" rather than "define" the sometimes accused staid genre of the essay -- writing that can be too dry and too full of argument.

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Interview With Jane Borden, Author of I Totally Meant to Do That

Teddy Wayne | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: The South, Humor, Books, Jane Borden, Memoir, Essays, New York, Comedy, North Carolina, Books News
Teddy Wayne

We spoke with Jane about Southern etiquette, why screaming outside Port Authority in the middle of the night is her favorite New York moment, and the lighter side of Stockholm Syndrome.

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As Arnold Schwarzenegger Plans His Comeback, a Look Back at His Best Films

Scott Mendelson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Politics, Entertainment, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Movies, California, Essays, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger has officially announced that he is returning to acting, it is perhaps as good a time as any to look back at some of his better works of would-be art.

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A Question of Empathy: Justin Bieber and the Difference Between Anti-Abortion and Anti-Choice

Scott Mendelson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Justin Bieber Abortion, Abortion, Conservative, Essays, Healthcare, Justin Bieber, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

Mr. Bieber may be opposed to abortion, but he shows a willingness to concede that not all things are black and white, and one cannot condemn what you do not understand.

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Why Wonder Woman Belongs on Television, Where Female Superheroes Thrive

Scott Mendelson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: DC Comics, Entertainment, Warner Bros, Tv, Sexism, Essays, David E. Kelly, Nbc, Wonder Woman, Feminism, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

2011-02-03-WW.png Television has been a gold mine for three-dimensional female characters for the last twenty years.

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2011: The Year 3D Kills Mainstream Moviegoing?

Scott Mendelson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Entertainment, Pirates of the Caribbean, Essays, Green Lantern, Thor, 3d, Harry Potter, 2011, Movies, Cars 2, Entertainment News
Scott Mendelson

Just as film-goers have decided that maybe they don't want to pay the $5 surcharge and wear glasses, studios have so much 3D product coming your way that you may no longer have the choice to see these films in 2D theaters.

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Scribd Editor's Pick: Eat Pray Drive by Helen Winslow Black

Tammy H. Nam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Authors, Scribd, Independent Writers, Memoirs, Women Writers, Essays, Eat Pray Drive, Scribd Editor's Pick, Helen Winslow Black, Video, Books News
Tammy H. Nam

I'm surprised Black hasn't been picked up by a major publisher already, not just because she's an incredibly talented writer, which she is, but because her stories are so universally appealing and... well... human.

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