Language and Writing
All writers in this collection speak for themselves—and themselves alone.
Kiera Butler, a senior editor at Mother Jones, asks author and food linguist Dan Jurafsky to analyze the menu at Taco Bell.
Process Analysis • Language & Writing • Mixed Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Demian Farnworth, a contributor to CopyBlogger, gives advice on composing effective sentences.
Process Analysis • Language & Writing • Second Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
In this humorous essay, Garrison Keillor examines the long forgotten art of writing letters. Published in 1987, this essay predates e-communication and creates a longing for a simpler time.
Process Analysis • Language & Writing • Mixed Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
CEO Kyle Wiens explains the correlation between someone's grammar competence and that person's readiness for professional life.
Cause & Effect • Language & Writing • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Award-winning writer and editor Jason Heller (of the science-fiction genres) evaluates a variety of formulas, or rules, for literary success.
Classification & Division • Language & Writing • Third Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
John Kaag, a professor of philosophy and expository writing, explains how his mother's constant and consistent criticisms of his essays affected his writing.
Cause & Effect • Language & Writing • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, explores how people think and how that thinking process is often unclear to the audience.
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Cause & Effect • Language & Writing • Mixed Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Former Presidential speechwriter John Pollack points out the function of analogies in American politics.
Analogy • Language & Writing • Third Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Jacob Gershman, who covers law for the Wall Street Journal, explains how a single adverb can change a court's interpretation of the law.
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Example & Illustration • Language & Writing • Third Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
This article suggests that focused, expressive writing can lead to greater insight and personal satisfaction, which means that everyone with a journal will one day see the light of their own lives.
Process Analysis • Language & Writing • Mixed Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author