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How to Write a Common Application Transfer Essay

how to write a college transfer application

First, boot up your computer. Now write.

Well, actually, it’s a little more complicated than that, but it’s still not as difficult as you might imagine. This essay differs from your first college essay, because it has slightly less of a focus on your personality. Why do you have to write this essay? There is no secret answer. The college wants to know why you’re motivated to attend that particular school rather than just carrying on at your current one.

What’s Your Reason?

“I hate my current college,” is definitely not a good answer. You should never say anything negative about your current school. Chances are, you have valid reasons for a transfer even if you weren’t quite happy, and it’s important to highlight these rather than complain.

For example, class sizes at your current school might have been too big, so your professors were unable to pay any attention to your needs. Don’t voice the criticism. Instead, say something like this, “I was impressed with the smaller, more tightly-knit classes in X College, and I believe I would benefit from the enhanced opportunity for interaction with teachers and fellow students.”

Perhaps you’ve decided to change your major, and your current college doesn’t offer the courses you want to take. You may have decided to get some academic credits at a community college because it’s cheaper, and now you want to move to one of the big league colleges to benefit from its reputation as a leading learning institution. Maybe you’ve been studying out of town but would like to be nearer to old friends and family, or you might have fallen in love with a certain college because the professors are famous experts in their field.

The reasons why you think going to a new college is likely to be a good move will probably take up quite a lot of your essay, but even if your reasons are simple, they should be clearly written, be positive, and be valid. Your previous college isn’t working out for some reason. Why do you think that transferring offers a solution?

Should You Mention Academic Difficulties?

If some of your grades have been less than stellar, you should explain why this happened, but remember to take responsibility. Blaming others for poor performance doesn’t show you to be a responsible and mature student. If you found a subject confusing or difficult, or you lost your cool in the exam room and blanked out, say so. Then explain what you have done to overcome the problem. This shows you’re determined to succeed, and you won’t let anything stand in your way.

What Are Your Objectives?

When we have just graduated from high school, we often aren’t quite sure what we want to do with our lives. After a year or two at college, however, we have a much clearer picture. As you did in your first college admission essay, you will want to write what you want to achieve in life and how you plan to do this. The people who read your essay want to know whether their college will meet your needs and whether you’ll fit in OK.

Tips from the Experts

Here’s what many of the experts on transfer aplications say you should and should not do:

You SHOULD

Read instructions carefully, stick to deadlines and remain within the recommended word count.
Structure your writing well, with a thesis, supporting information, and conclusion.
Stay focussed. You have to say the most important things about your transfer in a limited number of words.
Back up your reasoning. What happened to make you think in a certain way? Did someone say something to inspire you? Did something significant happen that caused you to form an idea?
Show what you want by putting it in context, rather than just saying what you want.
Grab attention with a compelling first paragraph.
Proofread carefully, and if possible, get someone in the know to double-check.

You SHOULDN’T

Regurgitate hackneyed phrases just because you think they will impress. They won’t.
Dish up information that is fully covered elsewhere in your application.
Fake it till you make it or tell lies. Be yourself.
Wander away from the point you are trying to make.
Use “big” words because you think it’s impressive. Keep it simple.
Do it in a hurry at the last moment. You could blow your chance.

Need More Help? Here’s an Outline

1. Use an anecdote to show how you became interested in your field of study.

2. Talk about the positive experiences you had at college so far.

3. Say why you feel you would benefit from a move to the new college. Back this up with examples and your own reasoning.

4. What do you want from your new college? How will it help you to succeed? What do you ultimately want to achieve?

5. Tie it all together with a concluding paragraph.

The Best Ways to End a Letter

When it comes to ending letters, most of us already know about using “Yours Sincerely” and “Yours Faithfully.” When I was at school, we were told to sign off friendly letters with the former, and business letters with the latter, but nowadays, opinions seem to have changed. Many people say “Yours Sincerely” is too formal, even for business purposes, and since email seems to have its own etiquette, everyone is a bit confused as to the best way to sign off a letter or email.

Most people seem to feel not offering any salutation at the end of a message is a trifle too abrupt. Personally, I don’t mind, but I have come across people who are offended when I fail to use a closing phrase, so I’m a little more cautious these days.

With a little help from experience and Uncle Google, I’ve tracked down a whole bunch of tips on how to close a letter. As I suspected, it’s all about context.

Formal Business Letters

I still like “Yours Faithfully” in this context, especially when you’re writing a formal letter. However, it does seem a little stilted for email sign-offs, even formal ones.

After doing a bit of reading, I found most people don’t mind “Regards” or “Best Regards.” I can’t sincerely offer “best” regards to absolutely everyone. Surely some people have to get second-best regards, so I settle for “Regards” and hope for the best.

There are forms of the “Regards” sign-off that irritate me, but not everyone else, so presumably it’s acceptable. “Warmest Regards” or “Warm Regards” strikes me as slightly patronizing and insincere, especially when it comes from someone who can’t possibly have any feelings, warm or otherwise, about me. As for “Kind Regards,” I may not be in need of kindness, and there are better ways to show it if I am. I certainly wouldn’t use any of these for a job application letter, even in email format. Thanking the reader for considering my application seems courteous, and I’d follow it with the traditional “Yours Faithfully,” because it’s a safe bet.

Informal and Semi-Formal Business Emails

Intra and inter-office email is the norm these days. Your boss will email you an instruction, a colleague will ask you for help via email, or you may have received something that’s helpful to you. Sometimes you deal with emails from suppliers’ reps with whom you have a friendly business relationship, or you may be dealing with regular clients in a relatively friendly and informal context.

You can be a lot more relaxed now, but not too relaxed. Apparently, “Cheers” is becoming quite popular, and some use “Warmly,” “Best” or “Very Best.” I will be unashamedly biased here. None of these is particularly appropriate. “Cheers” is plain silly, and sounds like you’re about to hit the bar rather than the boardroom, “Warmly” just sounds wrong, and the last two could at least have been followed by a “Regards.” It just looks lazy.

“Thank You,” “Thanks” and “Thanks Again” proved to be surprisingly controversial. Although most people agreed they were fine if you were thanking someone for something they’d already done, many said thanking someone after asking them for something was patronizing.

I disagree. I used to have a colleague who used to sign off “Thanking You in Advance,” and I used to think it terribly clever, if stuffy. I still think if you know someone is going to work because of what you asked them to do, it’s polite to thank them. It’s your call.

You can be reasonably creative with informal business mails. There’s nothing wrong with “Congratulations on clinching that deal!” or “Wishing you every success in your new venture.” If relationships are friendly enough, and the occasion is appropriate, a heartfelt “You’re an angel, thanks a million,” may be appropriate. That’s the key. Keep it appropriate. “xxoooxx” is NOT appropriate for a business letter.

Friendly Letters

Now that we’ve discussed the idea of sign-offs being appropriate, you’ll understand what I mean when I say these need to be appropriate too. You wouldn’t sign a letter to your Aunty June “xxxoooxxx,” if you’ve only met her twice in your life and she’s finally sent you a birthday present for the first time. “Yours Sincerely” is perfect for this distant contact.

Your letter is presumably not all about you, so personalizing your greeting shows you care. What are you wishing this person? “Hope you have a great European holiday,” “Happy to hear you’re settled. Enjoy it!”, “Thinking of you,” and “Wishing you luck with the exams!” are only a sampling of your options. Perhaps you have something to thank them for. “Thanks for everything,” may be unoriginal, but at least it shows appreciation. Your mom, on the other hand, may settle for nothing less than “Lots of love,” “Tons of love,” or other greetings conveying enormous amounts of love.

The days of signing off friendly letters to people you know well with “Yours Sincerely” have been left behind together with chalk boards and other educational antiquities. Be creative! Be sincere! Give your friend, family member or romantic interest your very best wishes for whatever situation they’re in or express how you feel about them. Do you want to give your friend a virtual hug? “Hugs” is a lovely sign-off, at least I think so…

(Photo courtesy of Martin)

The Best Words to Describe Yourself in an Interview

Your job interview places you in quite a dilemma. You can’t be overly modest and put yourself down, but you also can’t brag like crazy, or you’ll end up looking egotistical. You’ll be asked a lot of questions about yourself. Which words should you use?

Recruiters do like to see a touch of modesty. There’s something about a know-it-all that sets anyone’s teeth on edge. The company will also want to know how you’ll fit in with bosses and colleagues. They’ll be looking for qualitative information that isn’t to be found in your resume. Here are some statements that recruiters love:

“I am eager to learn.”
“I am determined.”
“I never give up until I get something right.”
“I get on well with all kinds of people.”
“I like to keep a positive attitude.”
“Hard work doesn’t bother me. I actually like it.”
“I enjoy facing challenges.”
“I like everything I do to be well-organized.”

Of course, if any of these statements don’t apply, you shouldn’t use them. If you get the job, people will soon see you weren’t being truthful. The above statements apply to any job and they indicate you’ll be a cheerful, hardworking employee. But there are a few extras you can mention in specific types of jobs.

Best Words for Customer-Service, Sales or Marketing Interviews

Let’s be frank, not everyone is suited for customer service. No matter what company is interviewing you, they will want to know you’ll be good for their image. That means looking neat, but not overdressed, having good posture, being pleasant, and being well-spoken. Try these lines to describe yourself if questions arise where you can utilize them.

“I can keep my cool under pressure.”
“I don’t easily lose my temper.”
“I’m good at multi-tasking.”
“I enjoy meeting new people every day.”
“I love making people’s day.”
“I believe customers are the most important part of any business.”
“If necessary, I can be assertive without being rude.”

Do you get where this is going? Recruiters want to know you can handle having two people waiting for you while the phone is ringing, and another customer is being unreasonable and rude, while still being unruffled.

They also want to know you’re an organizer. Can you keep track of several tasks for specific customers in a disciplined way? For example, a sales rep may get a call, have to get information, call back, record the order, get the order dispatched, correctly invoiced, and call the customer again to follow up. They must do this for several customers at once, so things can get pretty chaotic unless they’re smart organizers.

In marketing, they also want to know you’re people-oriented and organized, but they’ll want to know more about the creative aspects too. Try these options for describing yourself:

“I love turning great ideas into reality.”
“I’ve done a few freelance projects, and I’ve brought my portfolio.”
“I find people and their opinions fascinating.”
“I really enjoy reading about and learning from marketing success stories.”

Best Words for Accounting or Administrative Interviews

Apart from the things we looked at in the generic statements, there are some extra statements recruiters like.

“I’m a perfectionist.”
“Organizing data so that it makes sense is rewarding for me.”
“I’m a methodical person.”
“I like working systematically.”

As you can see, you’re demonstrating a different set of qualities. You like getting things done in a calm and organized way. You crunch away at your work according to a specific system, and you like being part of that system because it results in useful, condensed information of some sort.

Best Words for Management Interviews

I’m going to be brutally honest here. Most of us do not walk out of college into highly-paid managerial jobs, and if you don’t know what to say at the interview, you’re not ready. Besides, there are more kinds of managers than you can shake a stick at, and each of them requires different personal qualities.

I’ve interviewed a lot of people for minor managerial posts, and all I can say is it depends on your skill, experience, expectations (salary, etc.) and whether you’ll fit into the organization’s management style. How you dress for your interview matters a lot. Play safe and stick to understated, yet smart clothing. Ladies, not too much makeup or perfume please; my apologies if this offends you, but this is the real world.

Be true to Yourself

If you don’t feel you can honestly say any of these things, don’t. You must be able to back your statements up with evidence from your life. “I’m very determined. For example, I….”

You should also ask yourself whether you’ll be happy in a job where you have to pretend to be someone other than who you really are and whether you’ll even be able to do it. You probably won’t. What do you get? Short service and a bad reputation are the two things no future employer is going to like. Look to a field you’ll enjoy and excel at instead.

10 Great Pieces of Advice About Editing

If you’re lucky, you know someone who can act as your editor, but most of us end up having to edit our own editing. There’s just one problem: it’s really hard to spot mistakes you made yourself. You might think some commercial editing software can help you, and although I’ll admit some of these are pretty good at picking up certain errors, none of them will find them all. You can believe me. I’ve tried a lot of them with hope in my heart. To test them, I feed them work I know is packed with errors, and I still haven’t found one able to find all of them. I guess this leads me to my first piece of advice:

Never Trust Editing Software

It’s actually quite comforting to know there are some things a machine can’t do effectively: writing is one of them, editing is another. Don’t rely on spell checkers, grammar checkers or any other writing programs to catch all of your errors. At least your eyes and your brain will never be made redundant by a machine. The Matrix needs us.

Let It Lie for a While

The worst possible time to try and edit something you’ve written is right after you write it. I find the greater the distance in time between me and my written work, the more effectively I’m able to edit it. It’s as if it becomes someone else’s work. I can read it impartially and with fresh eyes, picking out mistakes I previously missed. 24 hours is the absolute minimum, and 48 hours is even better. Do I practice what I preach? Ahem…

Read It Aloud

Yes, I know it feels dorky. Just pretend you’re a TV news reader or the narrator for a documentary. Put on your best “announcer” voice and read it as if it were a script. You can also have a program read it to you with the Word Counter proofread feature. (If you don’t see it above the text area, go to “options” and then click on “buttons”) Does anything make you falter? Are there sentences that sound weird? Did you need to pause at a place where there was no punctuation mark? These are areas that probably need tweaking, even if you can’t actually put your finger on the reason why they’re wrong.

Trust Your Instincts

It gets harder when you’re editing someone else’s work. You don’t want to offend them by making unnecessary changes. Sometimes, things are said in a way you wouldn’t have done it. Is it wrong? Maybe not, but I’d still advise an adjustment. When I edit, I can’t always say exactly why I changed this or that sentence, but in time, I’ve learned that my instincts are often right. It’s better to make an unnecessary change than to skip a change just because you aren’t sure how to explain it.

Track Changes

When editing another person’s work, track changes so they can decide if they want to accept your judgment or not. Then create a “clean” version (after saving the “changes tracked” one), and check again. I often find I pick up additional errors. Don’t ask me why. Maybe one doesn’t see everything the first time around. With your own work, there’s no need to track changes, but the final proofread rule still applies.

Look out for Ambiguity

You can be ambiguous without actually making a grammatical error. You know what you meant. Did you say what you meant? Imagine you know nothing about the topic and are reading about it for the first time. Does it make sense?

Pay Extra Attention to Long Sentences

The longer the sentence, the more likely it’ll contain an error. Have you put a comma where a period would be better? Is your thought presented in a crisp, clear way, or have you become tangled up in your own words?

Does Everything You Have Written Contribute?

When writing an essay, you’re trying to get a point across. Anything that doesn’t actually contribute to the point is redundant. Even in creative writing, there has to be a reason for everything you have said. You could be contributing to the atmosphere or providing background, but if what you’ve said does not contribute something, it’s just padding that waters down your prose.

Beware of Punctuation

It’s worth studying how to use punctuation marks. Commas, semi-colons, colons and dashes are often used incorrectly. Have you used them correctly? When in doubt, check. If you’re still not sure, rephrase.

Know Your Vices

When editing your own work, it’s good to know what mistakes you commonly make. Since you probably make them without even realizing it, have someone who knows their stuff give some of your writing a look over to point them out. Ask questions and learn to identify your slips. You’ll probably find your slips a few times before the lesson sinks in.

(Photo courtesy of Matt Hampel)

How Many Words Is War and Peace?

Leo Tolstoy’s historical novel on the Napoleonic invasion of Russia has become a byword for long books. If someone talks about doing something in the time it takes to read War and Peace, you can be sure that they mean it’s going to take quite a long time, and if your teacher comments that he or she wanted an essay from you, not War and Peace, your essay was way too long.

War and Peace is considered Tolstoy’s masterwork and a significant contribution to literature, but I must admit that though I’ve tried a couple of times, I’ve never made it through the whole thing. The philosophical passages that make up much of the book are heavy going. If you have read this book, give yourself a medal and a pat on the back. You deserve it.

How many words are there in War and Peace?

War and Peace has 587,287 words, making it more than ten times longer than your NaNoWriMo novel. Tolstoy completed his first draft in 1863, but he later spent three years rewriting most of it. One would think after spending so much time on one book, Tolstoy would have been too exhausted to write anymore, but he went on to write Ana Karenina, which was published in 1877, as well as several other novels.

Is War and Peace the longest novel ever?

Remembering War and Peace was written as a four-volume set with two epilogs, it’s fair if we include some series. If we do that, we come across several famously lengthy stories. The Harry Potter series consists of more than one million words. The word count for the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan takes the record: 4,410,036 words! Just imagine writing more than four million words.

Did you think that The Lord of the Rings would be near the top of the list? Think again! Tolkien managed to write his classic in “just” 481,103 words. If it’s one of your favorites, you now know something about it that you didn’t know before.

How Heavy Is War and Peace?

The actual weight of the book depends on the edition and whether or not it’s paperback or hardback. As the above photo shows, the hardback version can weigh almost 4 pounds (3 lbs, 14 oz). Of course, paperbacks would weigh much less.

How Many Pages is War and Peace?

The 587,287 words in War and Peace end up being 1,215 pages. Again, the page number will vary from edition to edition due to different sized pages and print used.

Translating War and Peace

Tolstoy was, of course, a Russian author, so for us to be able to read his novel, it first had to be translated into English. This was done for the first time in 1885 by Clara Bell, who translated it from the French version. This re-translated translation was far from perfect, and ten further translations into English have been done since.

War and Peace has been translated into German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, Korean, Albanian and Czech. You must respect all these brave translators; what a massive job to tackle!

Interestingly, a large portion of the book is written in French, but at the time, the nobility in Russia often spoke French as a matter of course, and some of them could barely speak Russian.

Is War and Peace a novel?

Tolstoy himself said his book was not really a novel in the truest sense of the word. Although he has woven fictional characters into the narrative, he carefully researched real-life events by interviewing people and reading first-hand accounts of the French invasion of Russia. Only the first half of War and Peace deals with fictional characters; the rest consists mostly of essays on war, power, and history.

Tolstoy didn’t agree with the way military history is recorded and tried to get closer to the real events by portraying them through the eyes of real and fictional characters. The names of over 160 people who lived during that time are mentioned in his work.

What makes Tolstoy so special as a writer?

Apart from having written an extremely long book, Tolstoy was admired for his writing style. Just as movie cameras give us an overview of a scene, pan in, and pan out, so Tolstoy took readers from the “big picture” to the personal experiences of his characters and back again. This style of writing was relatively new, and Tolstoy is considered to be its master. In addition, he wanted people to be able to accurately visualize scenes, so he included a wealth of detail.

In the last part of his book, where he increasingly looked at philosophies and facts, he managed to weave his essays into the story. Some abridged versions have taken these, and the second part of the epilog, which consisted solely of essays, out.

Is it literary sacrilege to edit Tolstoy? Well, it’s a long book, and not all of it is really a “story.” Even when Tolstoy was still alive, abridged versions of his work were produced, presumably with his permission.

A little more about the man behind War and Peace

Tolstoy was born Lev Nikolayevitch Tolstoy in 1828. He was born into the privileged aristocratic class and had the title of Count. In his younger days, he was a typical, dissolute aristocrat, but his first-hand experience of war, his travels, and his reading led him to a spiritual crisis and reawakening. He became a fervent Christian and a pacifist whose works inspired the likes of Gandhi. He died in 1910 at the ripe old age of 82.

(Photo courtest of Jill Clardy)

Can You Start a Sentence With “But?”

Today, I am here to set you free from one of the shibboleths of grammar. You will be liberated! I certainly was. At school, we were taught you should never, ever, under any circumstances start a sentence with a conjunction. That rules out starting sentences with either “and” or “but” when writing. I faithfully learned the rule. I became positively angry when I read books in which otherwise excellent writers seemed to make this faux pas. How could they be so sloppy?

One day, I decided to settle the matter once and for all. I would find an authoritative reference to back up what I had learned, and I would send it to someone who had just argued you can start a sentence with “but.”

Being Wrong Can Make You Happy

Once I started to check, I quickly realized I was going to be proved wrong. People, including some of the greatest writers of all time, have been starting sentences with “and” and “but” for hundreds of years. Of course, there are style guides that discourage it, but it’s perfectly acceptable to begin a sentence with “but” when writing. I was thrilled! That very day, I started peppering my writing with sentences starting with conjunctions. But one shouldn’t go overboard! See what I did there? Hah!

Using any stylistic quirk too frequently spoils your writing. By all means, start sentences with “but” from time to time, but remember that “but” also belongs after a comma. I did it again, didn’t I?

When Should You Consider Starting a Sentence With “But”?

“Contrary to what your high school English teacher told you, there’s no reason not to begin a sentence with but or and; in fact, these words often make a sentence more forceful and graceful. They are almost always better than beginning with however or additionally.” (Professor Jack Lynch, Associate Professor of English, Rutgers University, New Jersey)

Thank you, professor! I’ll admit to using “however,” but being lazy, I really do prefer the word “but” to begin a sentence when given a choice. “Additionally” is just awful, and I flinch every time I start a sentence with it. It seems so pompous!

The professor also confirms starting with the conjunction can make your writing more forceful. Remember, you don’t always want to be forceful. Sometimes sentence flow is more appropriate. But a choppy “but” at the start of a sentence certainly does seem to add emphasis when that’s what you’re looking for.

People Are Going to Argue This With You

Just as I once was a firm believer in the “never start a sentence with and or but” non-rule, you’ll come across enslaved souls who have been taught the very same non-rule. Where can they turn for confirmation and comfort? The Bible is always a good place. Refer them to Genesis Chapter 1 for sentences starting with “and.”

For a sentence starting with “but,” you may have to read a little further – all the way to Genesis 8:1: “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.”

Looking around online, I see some arguing that using the Bible as a work of English literature is pushing the envelope. I beg to differ, but perhaps as the world’s greatest bestseller, it’s a bit too commercial for them. Let’s take them to the real authority: the notoriously stuffy and pedantic, Fowler’s Modern English Usage. It’s seen as the authoritative book on English Grammar, and if they won’t believe it, they’re never going to believe anyone.

If they’re trying to find a comeback, you can always help them out. But they won’t be impressed with the reference you give them because I’m ready to bet you anything they’ve never have heard of Quackenbos!

“A sentence should not commence with the conjunctions and, for, but, or however…. ” (George Payn Quackenbos, An Advanced Course of Composition and Rhetoric, 1854)

Let’s sum up that argument, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. We have the Bible, a host of brilliant writers, and Fowler’s Modern English Usage vs… Quackenbos. I’ll see your Quackenbos and I’ll raise you an Albert Einstein. Oops, we’ve gone from law to poker. Please pardon the mixed metaphors. Of course, Shakespeare also occasionally mixed metaphors, but we’ll go into that another time, shall we?

Why Were Students Taught This Non-Rule Rule?

Why were we taught this non-rule rule about not starting sentences with conjunctions? Several authorities seem to think it was done to prevent school kids from writing as they often talk:

“I went to my friend’s house yesterday. And we decided to go to the mall. And while we were there we saw a whole bunch of our friends. And they were just hanging out like we were. And because we didn’t have any money that was all we could do, really.”

“But then John said he’d had a birthday, and we could all go for ice creams. But when we got to the ice-cream parlor, he found that he had left his wallet at home. But that didn’t stop us from having a good time together while teasing John that he owed us an ice-cream.”

You have to admit, that’s a bit much. So to close, we quote Oscar Wilde, “Everything in moderation, including moderation.”

What Are Mnemonics? (With Examples)

Mnemonics quite possibly got me through college. If you don’t use mnemonics yet, you should consider doing so. This method is one of the best ways to memorize large chunks of information in an abbreviated form that triggers your memory.

Mnemonics can be acronyms or they can be little rhymes or mental images, and they’re used as a way to remember things. Did you ever learn the rhyme: “Thirty days hath September, April, June and November? All the rest have thirty-one excepting February alone…?” If you know the rhyme, you’ll always be able to remember how many days there are in any given month and you are already using mnemonics.

That’s quite a complex mnemonic. Most of them are much easier and shorter. In fact, they can consist of a single “word” or a sentence in which the first letter of every word prompts the memory. A mnemonic can even be a mental image you use to call up information.

How can mnemonics help you in your studies? Have you ever noticed how difficult it can be to remember absolutely everything about a topic when under the pressure of answering exam questions? Sometimes, we forget to mention things we actually know, and because we omit these points, we lose marks. What a waste!

Remembering in the Correct Order

Sometimes, we not only have to remember a whole lot of things, but we also have to remember them in the right order. For example, if we are asked to list the planets of the solar system from the nearest to the sun to the furthest, we have to remember that Mercury is the closest, followed by Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (even though it’s no longer a planet, but that’s another discussion).

That’s nine things to remember in the correct order! Is there an easy way? Take the first letter of every planet name, and we have “M,V,E,M,J,S,U,N and P”. That doesn’t make a word, but we could make a sentence in which each word starts with the letters we want in the correct order. You can get creative and make up your own sentence, or you can just remember this famous one: “My Very Easy Method: Just Set Up Nine Planets!”

In the exam room, you simply use your rough work paper to jot down the first letter of every word, and from there, it’s easy to get 100% for that question.

Remember Keywords for Longer Answers

Essay questions can be challenging, and your teachers will be looking for several points in your answer. If you have mnemonics to help you, you’ll be able to remember all the information you should cover. How can you describe the topics you need to discuss using only one word? Clearly, you need to pick out a keyword that will tell you what to write about in each paragraph.

As an example, business students might be asked what factors characterize effective goal-setting. There’s a common mnemonic that works for that. Goals should be SMART. The letters stand for: “Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound”. Now you can write a paragraph about each of these characteristics and walk away with full marks!

Making Mental Associations

This really depends on you and your frame of reference. What do you think of when you hear a specific word? If something springs to mind, it can be a great way to learn and remember terminology or strange words.

When I was studying environmental science, I had to learn the Latin names of hundreds of plants. One of them, Wachendorfia thyrsiflora, is a plant that grows near water. It also has pretty flowers. How did I remember it? Well, I called it “Washerwoman thirsty flowers” in my own mind, which means more than two decades later, I still remember the Latin name of this plant as well as its preferred habitat. Simple prompts like “sounds like a disease” can help you to remember complex terminology by association.

Pictures and Songss

Some people like to compose a picture in their minds or associate information with their favorite songs. In the end, whatever gets your memory triggered so that you can spit out the appropriate information on demand is just fine!

When I had to learn the elements on the periodic table in the correct order, I simply made up a sort of a song that went: “HHe (said like a laugh, and reminding me that the first two elements are Hydrogen and Helium). Li Bee! BCNOFNe! (exclaimed in various tones of voice)” and so on. It was like a rhyme, and saying it made me chuckle, so remembering all those elements in the correct order wasn’t difficult at all.

You can use whatever nudges your memory, rings your bells, or blows your hair back. Learning to use mnemonics is actually great fun, and it makes taking tests much easier. It doesn’t replace learning, but it does help you to remember all the things you did learn when you need to. Best of all, there are no rules. I’ll even admit to composing a few mnemonics that were actually insults to some of my teachers. They never knew about it, and they still liked my exam answers.

Go forth! Enjoy yourself, and I’m willing to bet you’ll love the way mnemonics make remembering a breeze.

What Is a Paradox?

If you have two pet dogs, you have a paradox (pair of dogs). Groan! Alright, alright, I’ll stop trying to be punny, and I’ll take this question a little more seriously. Simply put, a paradox is a statement that seems to contradict itself, but could very well be true. I adore paradoxes because they often make you do a double-take after you read the words.

Examples of Paradox

Here’s an example of a paradox. Someone says, “I’m a compulsive liar, you know.” That’s an interesting piece of information. Do you believe someone who says that? If someone is a compulsive liar, they won’t tell the truth unless they absolutely have to. So, if they say they are a compulsive liar, is that a lie unto itself meaning that they really aren’t a compulsive liar? I’m going to stop even thinking about that one because my brain might go into a continuous loop from which it will never escape. I’m getting a headache already!

Literary Pardoxes

Sometimes, paradoxes are used in literature to make us think about something. For example, in George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, the ruling animals tell us, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” In the story, the farm animals overthrow the farmer and take over the farm in order to be “equal,” but ultimately, a few of them end up with all the power. This allegorical story and the quote we just looked at illustrate the paradox of so-called social equality. We can claim it exists, but there will always be those who have an advantage over others.

Have you ever heard the paradoxical saying “I must be cruel to be kind?” Sure you have! What you probably didn’t know was that this saying is one of the many lines we’ve borrowed from Shakespeare’s plays to use in everyday language. Although it sounds like a contradiction in terms, it really can be true. Sometimes we have to do something that people really won’t like in order to help them.

Oxymorons as Paradoxes

No! Don’t run away! There’s nothing complicated about oxymorons, they’re simply words or phrases that contain a contradiction in terms. For instance, “bittersweet” is an oxymoron, and it’s also a paradox.

A crash landing is also a paradox if you think about it. Surely, you either crash or you land. How can you do both? Nevertheless, we know the meaning of the term even though it seems to defy logic. The same goes for a near miss. If you nearly missed something, you must have missed it, right? But this term is used to indicate a near hit!

How about an escaped prisoner? If someone has escaped, they are surely no longer a prisoner, at least for the time being. But instead of even thinking about how illogical this word combination is, we rush to lock all our doors if we hear that an escaped prisoner has been spotted in our neighborhood.

Then, of course, there are those who say that “military intelligence” is an oxymoron, but I won’t risk annoying the armed forces by agreeing with that, at least, not in public.

Everyday Paradoxes

We’re confronted by paradoxes every day of our lives. How often have you seen an advertisement that says “Buy now and save!”? That’s a paradox. If you buy, you spend, and if you spend, you’re not saving. We know that they really mean you’ll pay less than you otherwise would.

Have you heard about “fighting for peace?” It seems like a crazy idea. As long as you’re fighting, you’re making war, not peace! However, if you are fighting against an army or organization that has caused a lot of unrest around the world, you really could be fighting for peace, paradoxical as it may sound.

When you discuss a hilarious comedy, you might tell your friends it was seriously funny. Paradox! But it doesn’t confuse them in the least. They go and watch the comedy in the expectation of a really good laugh.

Do you like seafood? Next time you order up a plate of jumbo shrimp, remember to give the paradox a little acknowledgment. Shrimps are pretty small, in fact, they’re famous for it. But jumbo shrimps are, at least, bigger than other shrimps, even if they are still quite small.

I could go on — we can call somebody a “nobody.” We might “act naturally” when we’re playing a hoax on someone, or we might remind someone that “less is more.” Look out for everyday paradoxes; you’ll come across more of them than you ever expected.

Scientific Paradoxes

Did you know it takes more hot water to make cold water hot than it takes cold water to make hot water cold? It really does. That’s why we run the hot water first when filling a bathtub. This is a very simple paradox, and there is an easily understandable reason for it, but there are much more complex ones. You’ll find paradoxes in astrophysics, quantum mechanics, biology, chemistry, linguistics, and even mathematics. No matter what field you study, you will come across paradoxes to boggle your mind and make life seem just a bit weirder and more wonderful. I think paradoxes are really interesting, which makes them fun. What do you think?

(Photo courtesy of Anders Sandberg)

100 Shakespeare Quotes You Might Hear Today

Shakespeare, he’s terribly highbrow isn’t he? And besides, it’s all in archaic English that we just don’t use any more. If we were to go around quoting Shakespeare, people would think us pretentious – or would they?

The truth is that Shakespeare was the HBO of the times. He wrote entertaining plays for the masses and played on themes such as sex, murder, mystery, magic and politics. His work was the 17th century equivalent of “Game of Thrones,” except that the girls weren’t as gorgeous because the morals of the times forbade women from treading the boards as thespians. Yes, “thespians.” Look it up if you must!

I can just hear people discussing the latest play,

“Didst thou see the latest play by Shakespeare?”

“Yes, but it was the same old thing: sex and violence followed by more sex and violence. What, I ask thee, are we to make of the shocking entertainments of modern times, prithee?”

“Methinks it should have an age restriction!”

The popularity of Shakespeare through the centuries caused people to quote him, and today, we spout quotes and idioms from his plays without even realizing their origins. If you ever say any of the following, you’re quoting the bard. Even if you don’t personally use these words, there’s a good chance you know exactly what the mean because they are used so often to this day.

Dead as a Doornail

“Look on me well: I have eat no meat these five days; yet, come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more.” (Henry VI part 2)

That was written in 1592, but the bard was hardly being original. The saying had been around since 1350, if not earlier. Would it have stayed alive without Shakespeare? Probably not!

Method in the Madness

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in it…” (Hamlet)

And by the way, if you use the word “gunk” please give a nod to Shakespeare, who, in the same act, had Hamlet speaking of “eyes full of gunk.”

Out of the Jaws of Death

Unlike “dead as a doornail,” it seems this is completely original. There are no written references to this phrase before Twelfth Night (1602). It certainly caught on, and to this day, we refer to the “jaws of death.” It’s certainly an exciting story, complete with cops, pirates, bigwigs, and cases of mistaken identity. But I won’t spoil it for you…

We Have Seen Better Days

Did I mention Shakespeare also wrote comedies? “As You Like It” was a complete side-splitter back in 1599, and everyone was probably quoting bits of it and giggling like crazy just as we quote our favorite comedians today. Nowadays, saying you’ve seen better days isn’t even thought of as funny. Maybe the joke got stale or we lost the context.

Wild Goose Chase

“Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose?”

This quote comes from “Romeo and Juliet,” and it probably referred to a horse race of some kind, though how geese got involved in a horse race is beyond me.

Good Riddance

I don’t have to give you the quote in context because that’s all it consisted of. It comes from the play ‘Trolius and Cressida,” and it has been taken up by bands such as Green Day. We use it with reference to unpleasant people of any description as soon as they offer to go away and leave us alone.

Fair Play

“Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle, and I would call it fair play.” (The Tempest)

Of course, we use this phrase in sport and gambling far more often than we use it in politics these days. Could it be that politics isn’t even expected to play fair? Let’s not even go there. I’m sure it never was.

Lie Low

You know how it is: sometimes lying low is the best solution, and that’s just what Antonio in the play “Much Ado About Nothing” thought.

“If he could right himself with quarreling, some of us would lie low.”

Yes, I know people like that, too.

It Was Greek to Me…

Have you ever said this after a particularly baffling lecture at school? In the play “Julius Caesar,” Casca was equally baffled:

“Nay, an I tell you that, Ill ne’er look you i’ the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me.”

I Must Be Cruel to Be Kind

Again, we quote from Shakespeare, and this time, it’s Hamlet:

“So, again, good night. I must be cruel only to be kind. Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.”

I bet you didn’t even know that was an erudite quote. Mind you, as I pointed out before, Shakespeare was considered a bit racy, so you don’t have to feel like too much of a nerd if you quote him habitually.

Apart from popular phrases such as “Be-all and end-all” (Macbeth), “Break the ice” (Taming of the Shrew), “Heart of Gold” (Henry V), “Kill with Kindness” (Taming of the Shrew) and even “Knock, knock. Who’s there?” (Macbeth), we also have Shakespeare to thank for the continued use of certain popular words. “Puke” is just one of them. Who said Shakespeare was highbrow?

A List of Common Shakespeare Quotes and Sayings

All’s Well That Ends Well

“All’s well that ends well.”

As You Like It

“Forever and a day”
“Puking”
“Too much of a good thing”

Cymbeline

“Not slept one wink”

Hamlet

“As pure as the driven snow”
“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
“Conscience does make cowards of us all.”
“Dog will have his day”
“In my heart of hearts”
“In my mind’s eye”
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
“Own flesh and blood”
“Rant”
“There’s method in the madness.”
“There’s the rub.”
“This above all, to thine own self be true.”

Henry IV

“Discretion is the better part of valour.”
“Eaten out of house and home”
“Give the devil his due”
“Ill wind which blows no man to good”
“Send him packing”
“Set my teeth on edge”
“The game is afoot.”

Henry V

“A heart of gold”
“Swagger”

Henry VI

“As dead as a doornail”
“Faint-hearted”
“Fight till the last gasp”
“Mum’s the word”

Henry VIII

“For goodness sake”

Julius Caesar

“A dish fit for the gods”
“Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.”
“Fight fire with fire.”
“It was Greek to me.”
“Live long day”

King John

“Elbow Room”
“Play fast and loose”

King Lear

“Fie, foh, and fum, I smell the blood of a British man.”
“Full circle”
“More sinned against than sinning”

Love’s Labour’s Lost

“Obscene”
“Naked truth”
“Zany”

Macbeth

“All our yesterdays”
“Assassination”
“Come what come may”
“Crack of doom”
“Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”
“Knock knock, who’s there?”
“Milk of human kindness”
“One fell swoop”
“The be all and the end all”

The Merchant of Venice

“All that glitters is not gold.”
“In the twinkling of an eye”
“Love is blind.”
“Own flesh and blood”
“Pound of flesh”
“Truth will out”
“With bated breath”

The Merry Wives of Windsor

“As good luck would have it”
“Laughing stock”
“The world’s mine oyster”
“What the dickens”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

“Fancy-free”
“Swagger”
“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

Much Ado About Nothing

“As merry as the day is long”
“Lie low”

Othello

“Addiction”
“Foregone conclusion”
“Jealousy is the green-eyed monster.”
“Neither here nor there”
“Vanish into thin air”
“Wear your heart on your sleeve.”

Richard II

“Spotless reputation”

Romeo and Juliet

“Star-crossed lovers”
“Wild goose chase”

The Taming of the Shrew

“All of a sudden”
“Bedazzled”
“Break the ice”
“Cold comfort”
“Kill with kindness”
“Refuse to budge an inch.”

The Tempest

“Brave new world”
“In a pickle”
“Melted into thin air”
“Such stuff as dreams are made on”

Titus Andronicus

“Devil Incarnate”

Troilus and Cressida

“Fashionable”
“Good riddance”

Twelfth Night

“If music be the food of love, play on.”
“In stitches”
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.”

The Winter’s Tale

“Set your teeth on edge”

Effect vs Affect: Tricks to Remember the Difference

This may not be the most important blog post you’ll ever read in your life, but it can teach you a lesson a lot of other people don’t seem to have grasped, and prevent you from looking unprofessional when writing to or for people who do actually know the difference between effect and affect.

I’m actually quite forgiving about the confusion between these similar-sounding but completely different words. I’m willing to accept perfectly intelligent people are capable of little language vices, but not everyone has my forbearance, and your teachers (and maybe your bosses) are likely to pick up your mistake if you confuse these two words. It just makes you look a bit less intelligent than you really are when you mix them up. So let’s see how you can put your best foot forward by getting it right every time.

Are You Affected by the Law of Cause and Effect?

This little subheading is a dead giveaway and might even be enough to effectively teach this lesson. Here are a few more examples for you:

The effects of hard drugs affect a person’s ability to succeed.
The storm had a negative effect on businesses and farms in the areas that were affected by the heavy rain.
He was powerfully affected by the special effects because he thought they were real.
What is the effect of the changes in the writing job market, and how will they affect you?

As we can see, both words refer to the consequence of an action or event, but one, “affect” is always a verb, while “effect” is usually a noun. Sometimes, it can be a verb, but it is seldom used in this way. Take a look at these examples:

We will need to change people’s attitudes if we hope to effect change.
I hope to effect an upgrade in my standard of living.

In these examples, “effect” is an action that causes a consequence. You can remember the difference between “affect” and “effect” by bearing in mind that to be “affected” by something is the passive result of something else happening, while “effecting” something is an action in itself.

Cheats and Shortcuts

If you find that a bit hard to remember, just use “effect” as a noun. You can test this by putting the word “the” in front of it. If it works, you’re looking at a noun. For instance:

…the effect.
…the negative (or positive) effect.
…the powerful effect.

All of these come from our examples, and we can see that they make some kind of sense, but now try putting “the” where “affect” is the correct word.

… hard drugs the affect a person’s…
… that were the affected by the heavy rain.
.. he was the affected by…

It doesn’t make sense, does it? That’s because “affect” is never a noun.

Do you need another trick to help you remember which word is a noun and which one is a verb? Try this simple method to jog your memory.

Use any word ending in “aven” to help you remember. I can only think of three:

Haven
Raven
Maven

Choose whichever you prefer. Here’s what it will help you remember:

A = affect

V = verb

E = effect

N = noun

Since “effect” is so seldom used as a verb, this little trick should see you through 99% of the time. For the 1% of the time that “effect” is a verb, remembering the active role it plays will answer the question.

Another way of remembering it is to remember that “a” comes first in the alphabet. You have to have an action (verb) before you have a reaction, so “a” will be a verb.

A Couple of Other Uses for “Affect”

Just to round things off, we’ll look at other contexts for “affect.” It can mean acting in a way you don’t feel or putting on some kind of a show for the benefit of others.

I affected a knowledgeable air as I watched the incomprehensible presentation.
He has false, affected manners that really irritate me.

Fortunately only one of these bucks the system, and then it isn’t working as a noun, but as an adjective. So now you know which of these words is which, and you won’t get caught out again. Go to the top of the class!