Similes:

Creative writing is all about describing things. Details make a good read, and the more creative you are with your words, the smarter you sound.

Now, similes are used to describe something by using either the word "like" or "as." Here are a few good examples of similes:

• Like twinkling stars burning millions of miles away, Jane's eyes bedewed her face with soft tears of joy at her boyfriend's proposal.
• Jumping around like a kangaroo on caffeine, Michael seemed too full of energy to be still enough for his shot.
• Running faster than she ever thought possible, Hannah slammed her body into the thief like a wrecking ball, knocking him out cold as his head ricocheted off the lid of the nearby dumpster.
• Yawning with exhaustion, Jack made his way to bed as slowly as a herd of turtles.

When you use similes, ensure they make sense, because here are a few examples of really bad similes:

• Her perfect butt backed up into him like the garbage truck passing their house.
• She was as tall as a 5'4ft tree.
• His cologne was a pungent and memorable as a skunk's scent.

Hilariously, these similes have all been used in essays, and these essays have all gotten very poor grades. Don't use similes unless you know what you want to do with them.

Thesis Statements:

Thesis statements are, by far, one of the hardest sentences to write for an essay. In one sentence, one has to encompass every subject that they will touch upon in their paper. It's hard, but not impossible.

The main points of a thesis statement can be summed up in two points:
1. The topic of your essay- what the essay is discussing.
2. What the main points of the essay are- what each paragraph will be talking about.

An example of this from a paper I wrote on "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams:
    In the play "The Glass Menagerie," each character is slightly mad in their own individual way, and though some characters are able to work past their madness, some are not.

In this thesis, the subjects are the characters of "The Glass Menagerie" and the point of the essay is how each character is crazy and which characters are able to move past their insanity. Each character should have their own paragraph detailing how they are insane and then two paragraphs on which characters are and are not able to move one from their madness.

I got an "A" on this paper, and this was back in junior year of High School.

Ensuring that you are discussing that which is in your thesis statement, you are able to get a better grade.

Synonyms of Common Words:

In any good essay, using a variety of words give the paper a little spice. It makes it look and sound a bit more sophisticated, and professors can appreciate this.


Here is a list of 5 relatively common words and their more sophisticated counterparts:

1. Going: departing, taking flight, exiting, disappearing, leaving,
                  planning, scheming, plotting, operating, functioning.

2. Said: explained, yelled, cried, begged, murmured, whispered, suggested, moaned, growled, screamed, snapped, declared, denounced, shouted, giggled, barked, whined, complained, etc.

3.Only: merely, simply, just, barely,
            solitary, lone, single.

4. Get: obtain, acquire, steal, find, secure, gain, borrow,
            understand, grasp, comprehend, follow, perceive, learn,
           cause, initiate, begin/began, induce, urge, persuade.

5. Close: end, silence, final, complete
               nearby, local, adjacent, neighboring,
               intimate, familiar, attached, devoted, dear, loving, friendly
               similar, alike, comparable.

Allowing yourself to use different synonyms for common words increases the intelligence of your paper. Take note of the words you use, and change the ones you use the most.