Honors English Essay Writing (or: How to Write Damn-near Anything)

In high school I was lucky enough to have had the toughest Honors English teacher on the planet, Mrs. Starr Whitney.  She was demanding, critical, thorough, and, above all, excellent.  I didn't appreciate her one bit until I was in college and realized that very few of my peers could write a really sharp research paper.  She empowered me with an advantage over many other students. Not being stressed-out or intimidated about the HOWs of writing papers frees you to focus entirely on the WHATs of your topics, giving you an academic edge. I recently found my Honors English Notebook and felt nostalgic and grateful, so I have decided to share the process of writing a persuasive essay or thesis paper.

What this teacher expected of us was simple and in no way negotiable.  Here were our expectations quoted directly from the notebook:

"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." ~Nelson Mandela

First post on the blog!

Why this blog??  Well,.....usually my content and subject matter have a specific direction, a purpose, parameters, ...restrictions.  This, my friend, this is freedom!  As a writer, this should be easy. Then again, anyone who's ever picked up a pen in an attempt to write something meaningful knows that daunting and cold return stare of a blank sheet of paper or blank screen. 

So I got to thinking....again...and I started reading through copious amounts of past writings.  I read through everything I could get my hands on: past emails, past journals, past love stories, past drama.  I laughed, I gasped, I cringed, and most importantly,