Creative Written Work

Can be any work you did which is creative and written. The following are just suggestions. Use your own creativity to practice what you wish to work on.

  • Write an intro to a paper using the technique of claiming your subject is important.
  • Write an intro to a paper using the technique of claiming your subject is misunderstood, misrepresented, and/or neglected.
  • Write an intro to a paper using the technique of talking about your credentials.
  • Write an intro to a paper using the technique of beginning with a story or anecdote.
  • Write an intro using a number of these techniques.
  • Write some footnotes. (Boring, yes, but good exercise. This is also very easy.)
  • Write some practice sentences that are compound sentences. Example: "Darwin was a scientist, and he wrote many books." Read this page for a discussion of the compound sentence.
  • Write some practice sentences that are complex sentences.
  • Write some sentences using one or two dashes. Before doing this consider, googling "using dash sentence" for tips.
  • Imitate your favorite writer in a few paragraphs.
  • Get a book or article you like and make a list of sentence starters the author uses. These are the word or words that begin a sentence. Photocopy the pages you wish to imitate. Circle the sentence starters you like. Write a number of sentences of your own using these sentence starters. Staple the photocopy together with your work.
  • Do a comma splice exercise by clicking this link and printing your results.
  • Fix the run-on sentences in this exercise and turn in your results.
  • Google "run on sentences" and "fused sentences" and "comma splice" and find exercises to do, or make up your own exercises like this: write an incorrect sentence, and then underneath it correct the error. Example: "I went home I ate lunch." (incorrect fused sentence) "I went home. I ate lunch." (correct) or "I went home, and I ate lunch." (correct)

Suggestions for Essay Topics

Essay topics in this class are assigned. I prefer not to receive essays for extra credit. These are some of the topics we have considered in previous classes.

  • The dangers of cell phones.
  • The value of vitamin E.
  • Why did J.D. Salinger disappear?
  • A biography of your favorite writer, musician, or actor.
  • Why is fluoride harmful?
  • Why is thermography so much safer and more accurate than mammography?
  • Why is health insurance not universal in the United States?
  • Should guns be banned?
  • What is rhodiola rosea?
  • What is plasma cosmology?
  • Who is Tom Van Flandern?
  • What are the benefits of learning another language?
  • What are the advantages of using a midwife?
  • Ray Kurzweil argues we can live forever in his book FANTASTIC VOYAGE. Is he right?
  • What is interval training and why is it good?
  • What is the best diet for a weight lifter?
  • Are UFO's real?
  • What happens in a seance?
  • Why did Balzac drink so much coffee?
  • How does birth order impact personality?