The Writing Guide

No need to wander all over campus looking for help or, more tiresome yet, search for the rhetoric handbook that mysteriously disappeared from the shelves ages ago. Linking to resources at academic institutions (and to other resources) across the US, the site provides quick, easy access to instruction in all phases of the writing process, from creating a thesis for an academic essay

It allows you to present your own thinking and your own position on a particular topic. An essay assignment is generally not used to test your mastery of factual information, but rather to assess the strength of your critical thinking and your ability to put that thinking into a persuasive written form.