The Humble Essay
"Sadly, this book lacks almost everything you'll find in any respectable introduction to college composition.  It lacks attractive graphics, for example, along with plastic divider tabs, questions for discussion, tips on Internet research, tips for avoiding ESL errors, and much more. It has no DVD, no interactive website."You may ask why this book lacks so many of the usual ingredients. That's a fair question, and it has a simple answer -- you don't need all that stuff. To learn how to write college essays, you only need a few simple ingredients."First you need some sensible guidelines, perhaps from a simple, unassuming book for actual students. It's also a good idea to find someone who's better at writing than you are, someone who can help you apply these sensible guidelines and who can check your progress with at least nominal credibility. A writing professor comes to mind."The most important ingredient, however, is simply to write, and write a lot, so you can see for yourself what it means to put those guidelines into practice. Learning to write essays is like learning to French kiss. Reading about it will only take you so far. To learn how to actually do it, you have to actually do it, again and again. That's the main thing....Roy K. Humble, M.A., from the Introduction, "What This Book Sadly Lacks"