English Essentials: Recent Episodes
Alfred Siha, D.Ed.
Welcome to the English Essentials podcast, a comprehensive writing curriculum focusing on grammar, developing your writing, and mastering college-level writing composition. The lessons and materials provided have been taught and tested in real college classrooms for years and have helped thousands of students finally solve the most puzzling grammar questions, develop confidence in their own writing process and style, engage with and appreciate a variety of English dialects, explore culture(s), compose compelling narratives, skillfully enter research-based conversations, and construct and deliver compelling arguments.
Be careful to modify correctly! In this episode, learn about the dangers of misplaced modifyers.
This episode explores the concept of modification and how to use that to enhance your writing.
The semi-colon is a powerful tool. In this episode, learn how to harness the power of the semi-colon.
The simple sentence is the most basic building block of the English language. Check out details of these three simple pieces in this episode.
English grammar makes us all feel a certain way. Listen to how real students feel about grammar.
Conclude this level of writing with a project that asks you to create some new writing, some revised writing, and a creative piece.
Take a look at student examples of the local community argument essay, along with feedback and comments.
A common place to find arguments is in the letter to the editors section in newspapers. Let's take a look in this episode.
This episode examines the importance of understanding the communities in which we reside.
This episode gives an overview of the concept of cause and effect and how it can lead to uncovering problems.
Writing a clear research question is one way to improve your research assignment and process. Learn more in this episode.
Research is an active, dynamic process and this episode highlights the important position you take when engaging in the research process.
Now that you've explored the different discourses in the English language and are able to write clear definitions, you are ready for your comparison essay assignment.
Definitions can be complicated. This episode will introduce you to different considerations you must account for when writing a definition of a concept.
When making a comparison, a useful way to organize your thoughts is by using the points of comparison method, which you will see in this episode.
Check out real student examples of the personal narrative essay, along with feedback and comments, in this episode.
At the heart of any good story is a compelling conflict. This episode will explore how to use conflict to propel your storytelling forward.
A common writing assignment at this level is the narrative essay. This episode will introduce you to the art and appeal of storytelling.
Thesis statements are vital to your essay and this episode demonstrates how to use them to your advantage.
This episode makes use of a funnel technique when creating essay introductions, ensuring your audience will hooked and will know what the essay is about.
In this episode, learn a bit more about the writing process and how to implement your own.
In this episode, you will begin work on a final creative project that helps you reflect on your experiences in this course.
Get a closer look at the solution argument essay through these real student examples, complete with live feedback and comments. Standard definition video.
Get a closer look at the solution argument essay through these real student examples, complete with live feedback and comments. High definition video.
This episode showcases a tool to assist you in developing deeper and meaningful solutions.
It is time to solve your problem. This episode will guide you through the process of creating an effective argument.
Use live feedback on real student examples of the problem analysis essay to inspire and guide your writing in this episode. Standard definition video.
Use live feedback on real student examples of the problem analysis essay to inspire and guide your writing in this episode. High definition video.
Now that you have identified a problem, it is time to write an analysis. This episode will showcase the assignment details.
In this episode, you will use a tool to help you fact-check the world around you, locating important problems, and working towards a solution.
Analyzing problems (and eventually working towards solutions) is an important part of being an active writer, community member, and citizen. This episode will guide you in the process of making sense of problems around you.
Research is an invaluable skill. This episode will orient you to how to approach research, developing research questions, and setting yourself up for a fulfilling research experience.
This episode includes several real student narrative essay with live feedback and comments. Use these examples to help guide your own narrative writing. Standard definition video.
This episode includes several real student narrative essay with live feedback and comments. Use these examples to help guide your own narrative writing. High definition video.
Conflict is at the heart of any good narrative and this episode will show you a few types of conflict that can propel your narratives forward.
Narrative writing and storytelling may just be the oldest form of human communication. In this post you will learn how to harness the power of narrative writing to convey rich meaning to your audience.
In this episode, you will see several real student examples of the exploratory essay and my thoughts and feedback on each. Use these to guide your writing. Standard definition video.
In this episode, you will see several real student examples of the exploratory essay and my thoughts and feedback on each. Use these to guide your writing. High definition video.
Now that you have a solid understanding of the exploratory process, try your hand at writing an exploratory essay. In this episode, you will get an overview of the exploratory essay assignment that focuses on defining the term "culture."
Exploratory writing gives you an opportunity to wrestle with large, fluid topics and eventually come to a better understanding, conclusion, or definition. This episode will orient you to the process of exploration in preparation for the exploratory writing assignment. Standard definition video.
Exploratory writing gives you an opportunity to wrestle with large, fluid topics and eventually come to a better understanding, conclusion, or definition. This episode will orient you to the process of exploration in preparation for the exploratory writing assignment. High definition video.
When writing, it is necessary to know your purpose and your audience. Learn how to adapt to different purposes and appeal to a variety of audiences in this episode.
Essay introductions are an important tool to start of your essays with a bang. Learn how to hook the reader and guide them into the rest of your essay in this episode.
In this episode, you will learn how to write compelling and effective thesis statements.
In this episode, hear from real college students who have gone through the learning process with these materials.