In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: Though you may want to jump right into your college essay, you should know exactly what is asked of you before you even open up that blank Word Document. Carefully read the prompt and see what type of essay your teacher wants you to write, specific information to include, how many words are required, and how much research is required for the essay. Consult your rubric to know exactly what your teacher is expecting. Here are some things you should be very clear about before you begin: Word count. If your essay only needs to be 500 words long, it will be very different from an essay that needs to be 2,000 words long since you may need to be more specific. Be aware of the word requirement and stick to it, or at least within 10% of it. You don't want to weary your teacher by writing an essay that is much longer than required, or much shorter than required. The amount and type of required research. Some classes will require you to write a paper that is heavily based on outside research you've done. Others will require you to use the course materials, like novels, or textbooks, for the basis of your paper, and to draw your own conclusions, though almost every good essay is based on solid research. If you have any questions, talk to your teacher well before the day the assignment is due to clarify any concerns you may have. There are many different types of essays you may have to write in college, and it's good to be aware of the variety of essays out there so you know what is expected of you. Here are the basic types of essays that you should master: The persuasive/argumentative essay. This essay will ask you to persuade your readers to see your perspective on an issue. For example, an essay showing readers all the reasons why personal handguns should be banned will be a persuasive essay. The analytical essay. This type of essay is most common in literature courses. This essay will ask you to read a work and to analyze the words, themes, characters, and meaning using your own ideas as well as other scholarly sources for the topic. The expository essay. This type of essay will pick a process or situation and will explain the important aspects of this subject, such as describing the daily lives of college students. The research essay. This essay will ask you to dig deeper into a topic by researching it and informing your readers of its history, uses, or relevance. The compare and contrast essay. This type of essay will ask you to compare and contrast two topics and to show how they are similar or different. For example, an essay analyzing all of the similarities and differences between living in New York City and Los Angeles is a compare and contrast essay. Are you writing for your professor, for your classmates, for experts in your field, or for people who are new to the subject? If you're writing for experts in the field, then you don't have to define basic terms and can use a more advanced vocabulary, but if you're writing for people who don't know much about the topic, like analyzing a film for readers who haven't seen it, then you'll have to give more basic details. Ask your teacher if you're not sure how to answer what your audience should be. If you're writing a research paper on a topic that may be esoteric or unfamiliar to your readers, then you'll have to explain the research you've found in great detail. What is your purpose in writing the essay? Is it to inform, to entertain, to persuade, to define, to compare and contrast, to analyze, to synthesize, or to tell a story? Knowing your purpose right away can help you frame your argument and reach the right people in the right way. For example, if your goal is to persuade people, you'll have to develop a logical argument with compelling main points that convince your readers to see your point of view. If your purpose is to analyze something, like a poem or a play, then you'll have to provide compelling in-text evidence that supports your ideas. If your goal is to compare and contrast, then you'll have to be knowledgeable about the differences and similarities of two topics. If your purpose is to inform, then you'll have to thoroughly study a topic and help your readers understand it better. Tone is another important aspect of writing a successful college essay. For most essays, your tone should be professional, detached, and informative. If you use too much biased language to try to convince your research, then you won't sound authoritative. If you use slang or write in the first person, then you won't sound professional. But if you're writing a personal essay (for a course on writing a memoir, for example), then you'll get to use more comfortable, informal language. Your tone is your attitude toward the subject you're presenting. Is your tone detached, amused, slightly cynical, suspicious, or more passionate? Whatever the tone is, it has to be appropriate to the subject matter. If you're writing an essay about stem-cell research, for example, your tone should be objective and detached; if you were writing an essay about online dating, you could take a more amused or playful tone.
Summary: Have a crystal-clear understanding of the assignment. Master the different types of essays. Define your audience. Define your purpose. Manage your tone.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: If you don't have state unemployment, apply for a free retraining program at the local Job Services office. Your company may need someone to stay late or come in on the weekends. Be their go-to person. Post an ad on Craigslist or Fiver.com saying your services are available to repair computers, move large items, cater, paint, rake leaves, dog walk or anything else. You may be surprised about how many people are looking for an extra hand. These sites are notoriously strict about who they let in; however, once you get on their list, you may have a consistent weekend income. Go through your house with a fine-toothed comb. Plan to sell everything that isn't essential to cover your expenses. Don't ask them to give you money, unless absolutely necessary. However, they might need a hand doing something or know of a part-time position that's available. Transcription, marketing, survey taking, website editing and other jobs are available online with low overhead costs. Check that the job is legitimate before giving financial information.
Summary: Register for unemployment or cash in on unemployment insurance if you've just been laid off. Apply to work overtime. Turn your talents into money. Join a dog sitting, baby-sitting or house-sitting site. Sell your possessions on Craigslist or eBay. Ask for a helping hand from friends. Look for work online.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: You can make an ice pack using two parts water and one part alcohol. The alcohol will prevent the water from completely freezing. To start, mix your water and rubbing alcohol together in a mixing bowl. Two parts water to one part alcohol means for every two units of water, there should be one unit of alcohol. For example, if you're using two cups of water, use one cup of alcohol. If you don't have rubbing alcohol, you can pick some up at a drug store. Be sure to keep the rubbing alcohol mixture away from infants and small children. Rubbing alcohol can be dangerous when ingested and may irritate the eyes. Choose a Ziploc bag that's the right size for the ice pack you want. Pour the water and alcohol mixture into the bag. Go slowly to avoid spilling any of the mixture. You may want to lay a towel down below where you're adding the water alcohol mixture to catch any that accidentally drips. It's a good idea to double bag for added strength. This will not diminish the effectiveness of the ice pack. Plastic bags should also be kept out of reach of children, and used as part of an ice pack only when supervised. Plastic bags pose a suffocation risk to unattended children. You want to make sure there is no air in the bag before you freeze it. Use your hands to press out any excess air before zipping the bag closed. If you have a vacuum sealer, use this to remove excess air from the bag. Place the bag in the refrigerator. In about 12 hours, it should be semi-frozen. You can now use the ice pack to ice anywhere you're sore.
Summary:
Mix the water and rubbing alcohol. Add the mixture to a Ziploc bag. Remove any excess air. Refrigerate the bag for 12 hours.