Get Ready for Essay Writing - A Brave Writer's Life in Brief A Brave Writer's Life in Brief
  • Start Here
    • For Families
      Multiple Ages
    • Ages 5-7
      Beginning Writers
    • Ages 8-10
      Emerging Writers
    • Ages 11-12
      Middle School Writers
    • Ages 13-14
      High School Writers
    • Ages 15-18
      College Prep Writers
  • Digital Products
    • Core Products
    • Bundles
    • Literature Singles
    • Practice Pages
    • Homeschool Help
    • Special Offers
  • Online Classes
    • Class Descriptions
    • Class Schedule
    • Classroom
    • How Our Classes Work
    • Our Writing Coaches
    • Classes FAQ
  • Community
    • Brave Learner Home
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Calendar
    • Brave Writer's Day Off
  • Cart
  • My Account
    • My Online Classes
    • My Account
  • My Account
    • My Online Classes
    • My Account
  • Start Here

    If you’re new to Brave Writer, or are looking for the best products for your child or family, choose from below:

    • For Families
      Multiple Ages
    • Ages 5-7
      Beginning Writers
    • Ages 8-10
      Emerging Writers
    • Ages 11-12
      Middle School Writers
    • Ages 13-14
      High School Writers
    • Ages 15-18
      College Prep Writers
  • Digital Products

    If you’re already familiar with Brave Writer products, go directly to what you’re looking for:

    • Core Products
    • Bundles
    • Literature Singles
    • Practice Pages
    • Homeschool Help
    • Special Offers
  • Online Classes
    • Class Descriptions
    • Class Schedule
    • Classroom
    • How Our Classes Work
    • Our Writing Coaches
    • Classes FAQ
  • Community
    • Brave Learner Home
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Calendar
    • Brave Writer's Day Off
  • Search
  • Cart

Search Bravewriter.com

  • Home
  • Blog

A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

Thoughts from my home to yours

Get Ready for Essay Writing

Brave Writer Essay Writing

Whether you and your teen are waiting for our Essay Prep: Research and Citation class to start or you’re tackling essays on your own, check out this conversation idea that sets the stage for scholarly discourse.

Warmup Exercise

Help your kids learn the difference between a qualified statement and a sweeping statement.

Sweeping Statement

Here’s an example of a sweeping statement: 

White sugar makes kids hyperactive and unruly.

When you make a statement like the one above, the reader feels motivated to invalidate it. They want to find an exception! So they search their minds for the one kid who eats sugar all day long and is mostly a sweet, sleepy kid. 

That’s not what you want in a persuasive essay.

Qualified Statement

Instead, make a qualified statement—which invites the reader to consider if they’ve seen that correlation:

For some kids, white sugar can create hyperactivity and sometimes leads to unruly behavior.

Immediately, the reader tries to validate the argument by finding examples from their own experience that match the statement.

Qualified statements seem like they’d be less persuasive, but they are actually MORE persuasive and much more effective in academic writing.

With your student, create other examples of sweeping and qualified statements.


Essay Prep: Research and Citation

Once upon a time, students got their information from books at the library, not the internet. Remember that? One thing’s for sure, the academic terrain is different from when we were in school!

You need a refresher. Your kids need the low-down. That’s why we created Essay Prep: Research and Citation. 

This class teaches:

  • How to find reliable, essay-worthy information on the internet 
  • How to take notes and collect your research effectively 
  • The most current expectations surrounding how to format an essay 
  • How to cite sources (to avoid inadvertently plagiarizing!)
  • The trick to skilled paraphrasing 

Print the materials from this online class, and voilà! You have a handbook for all your teen’s academic writing needs until college, and without fretting over skills you’ve forgotten!


Brave Writer

This entry is filed under Help for High School, Online Classes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

« Welcome Back Julie! Plus Lessons from Spain
Friday Freewrite: Color Change »

Comments are closed.

  • Search the Blog

  • Julie Bogart
  • Welcome, I’m Julie Bogart.

    I’m a homeschooling alum -17 years, five kids. Now I run Brave Writer, the online writing and language arts program for families. More >>

    IMPORTANT: Please read our Privacy Policy.

  • New to Brave Writer? START HERE

  • FREE Resources

    • 7-Day Writing Blitz
    • Brave Writer Lifestyle Program
    • Brave Writer Sampler: Free Sample Products
    • Freewriting Prompts
    • Podcasts
  • Popular Posts

    • You have time
    • How writing is like sewing
    • Best curriculum for a 6 year old
    • Today's little unspoken homeschool secret
    • Do you like to homeschool?
    • Don't trust the schedule
    • You want to do a good job parenting?
    • If you've got a passel of kids
    • You are not a teacher
    • Natural Stages of Growth in Writing podcasts
  • Blog Topics

    • Brave Learner Home
    • Brave Writer Lifestyle
    • Classes
    • Contests/Giveaways
    • Friday Freewrite
    • High School
    • Homeschool Advice
    • Julie's Life
    • Language Arts
    • Movie Wednesday
    • Natural Stages of Growth
    • One Thing Principle
    • Our Team
    • Parenting
    • Philosophy of Education
    • Podcasts
    • Poetry Teatime
    • Products
    • Reviews
    • Speaking Schedule
    • Students
    • Writing about Writing
    • Young Writers
  • Archives

  • Brave Writer is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees (at no extra cost to you) by advertising and linking to amazon.com

    Content © Brave Writer unless otherwise stated.

What is Brave Writer?

  • Welcome to Brave Writer
  • Why Brave Writer Works
  • About Julie
  • Brave Writer Values
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Speaking Schedule

Brave Writer Program

  • Getting Started!
  • Stages of Growth in Writing
  • The Brave Writer Program
  • For Families and Students
  • Online Classes
  • Brave Writer Lifestyle

…and More!

  • Blog
  • Classroom
  • Store
  • Books in Brave Writer Programs
  • Contact Us
  • Customer Service
© 2025 Brave Writer
Privacy Policy
Children's Privacy Policy
Help Center