Good writing starts
with a clear idea.
Explore essays about school, friendship, family, literature, history, science, and the world around you. Find a topic, study an example, and develop your own voice.
Browse all 534 examples & lessonsLearning to listen.
Finding my voice.
I had spent the evening preparing what I would say. Only when the discussion began did I realize that having an answer was different from hearing the question.
A small moment can reveal a change in thinking. Show the detail, then explore what it means.
Explain what changed in the writer’s thinking.
Ideas for many kinds of writing.
Good examples open doors.
424 essay examples, with explanations and practice exercises.
What Makes a Good Friend?
An argumentative essay about why reliability, respect, and room for disagreement matter more to friendship than the size of a social circle.
Should Students Wear School Uniforms?
A qualified argument that schools should prefer clear dress codes and require uniforms only when a school-specific evaluation shows that their benefits justify their costs and restrictions.
The Great Gatsby’s American Dream and the Cost of Reinvention
An interpretation of how Gatsby’s ambition, wealth, and pursuit of Daisy expose the limits of the American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel.
Is Space Exploration Worth the Cost?
An argument that space exploration merits public investment when it is pursued for measurable scientific and practical purposes, while recognizing that it must compete with urgent needs on Earth.
Should Schools Give Students More Opportunities to Play Sports?
An argumentative essay defending broader, more accessible school sports and physical-activity opportunities while distinguishing established health benefits from unsupported claims about grades or guaranteed character development.
Learning to Ask for Help
An illustrative reflective essay about a student who learns that independence can include seeking help, without giving up responsibility for their own work.
How Food Can Preserve Family History
An explanatory essay on how a Smithsonian family-food activity uses objects and conversation to explore identity and migration, while showing why one family's food traditions cannot stand for an entire culture.
Should Schools Ban Cellphones? Weighing Focus Against Digital Skills
An argument for restricting personal cellphone use during lessons while preserving instructional, practical, and emergency access—and for judging policy by its effects rather than assuming a ban solves every problem.
Civil Rights Activism and Government Action, 1940–1980
An evidence-based argument that civil rights activism was a major driver of federal action between 1940 and 1980, while recognizing the independent roles of courts, Congress, and the limits of legal change.
Don’t just see
the revision.
Understand it.
Better writing comes from knowing what to change — and why it helps.
Work on your paragraphs ↗“The story shows that friendship is important.”
“By returning to help after their disagreement, the character shows that loyalty can survive an honest difference of opinion.”
Why it worksA specific action supports an interpretation. The reader can see how the writer reached the claim.
Make the next draft easier.
How to write a thesis that gives your essay direction
Move from a broad subject to a focused claim your paragraphs can support.
Turn summary into analysis
Keep the evidence, then explain what it lets the reader understand.
Build an outline around what each paragraph needs to do
Organize ideas by function, then check that evidence and explanation support the same purpose.