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How to Set SMART Writing Goals for 2024

Frederick Meyer | December 26, 2023 | 5 Comments

Happy 2024! We hope this year will be full of writing for you—and if you’re like us, you’ve even got writing goals among your New Year’s Resolutions.

One thing to consider is that not all goals are created equal . Goals can be fuzzy (“I want to write more”), over-ambitious, or have lots of other issues.

To help, people who think about this sort of thing have come up with a great system for goal-setting: SMART. Based on that system, here’s some simple advice for the goal-setting writer in each of us.

If you’re serious about your writing in 2024, check out our online writing courses . They’ll keep you accountable to concrete writing goals, with the mentorship of award-winning instructors, and in a supportive community of like-minded and passionate writers. They’re the perfect environment to get your best writing done.

SMART is an acronym, and it’s one of those cool acronyms where the word it forms describes the thing the acronym is about.

SMART is a good acronym. Not like this one.

What “SMART” Stands For

SMART is all about the properties of a good (“smart”) goal.

It stands for:

Specific. Make your goal or objective as specific as possible. Say exactly what you want to achieve in clear, concise words.
Measurable. Include a unit of measure in your goal. Be objective rather than subjective. When will your goal be achieved? How will you know it has been achieved?
Achievable. Be realistic. Ensure that your goal is feasible in terms of the resources available to you.
Relevant. Your goals should align with your values and long-term objectives.
Time-bound. Give yourself a deadline within a year. Include a timeframe such as a week, month or year, and include a specific date if possible.

( See here and here for more on these descriptions.)

A Few Examples of Non-SMART Writing Goals

Here are some draft goals (or resolutions) that might not fit within the SMART framework:

“I really want to finish my novel.” (Not specific.)
“I’ll write lots more this year.” (Not measurable.)
“I’ll write 20,000 words every week this year.” (Not achievable???)
“I feel like I should start writing again.” (Why?)
“I hereby commit that I’m going to work on my memoir until it’s finished.” (When? Not time-bound.)

A Few Examples of SMART Writing Goals

And here are some examples of draft goals or resolutions that would fit within the SMART framework:

“I will finish my novel manuscript by the end of the year.”
“I’ll set aside 15 minutes in the morning to write, at least 5 days a week.”
“I’ll have an outline of my memoir completed by July 1.”

A Few Thoughts on “Relevant” (the R in SMART Goals)

Each of these feel like good goal-setting elements in general, but what really stands out to me is R, Relevant. This is a chance to ask: What does this writing goal, resolution, project, or process mean to me ? How is it part of the life I wish to live?

This is certainly worth reflecting on. In my experience, knowing why I write can help a huge amount with the how and when.

Our reasons for writing will—of course—be different for each of us. With that in mind, I’ll offer that, in my view, having the chance to share our humanity with one another through written language is one of the great gifts of life. So whatever your reason is, I know it’s a good one.

Here’s to a wonderful and writerful 2024!

Frederick Meyer

Writing truly an amazing way to give life in the form of tangible memories or basic ideas…therapeutic for sure…to the ones conveying and the ones receiving it…my blood my brows sweat the ink to my pen!!! The countless pages in the form of sheets of many types..from paper bags to napkins to the parts of my skin for my canvas that waits to be outlined into the intensity of a kaleidoscope of emotions dying to come out…to be viewed to be felt in ensuring all types of waking UP’s inside and out every side..especially the parts that are crippled locked jammed in sick stillnesses out of fear of scaring all away leaving us in an awkward mess for doubts set out to stop anything from becoming something!!I would love to leave y’all with something I came across a year in my 3 years and 3 month prison term…when nothing could console me..the losses from being free to be a mother to my beautiful three daughter’s aja and naynay and jady..from being able to have the freedom to know I could be free even while incarcerated ..a blessing in disguise because I was dying!!! I’d lost my physical freedom my rights my luxuries.. To just be in my life’s moment’s.. In a Bible a year after not knowing how to deal with all I wanted to get back to… My life!! My girls!! This was in a separate piece of paper within the pages of the only book of life worth referring towards.(THE BIBLE)..this is what the small piece of paper said and I quote!!!” Sometimes you have to let go of all you think you cannot live without in otderTO BE ABLE TO HOLD ONTO WHAT YOU STILL GOT”end quote…it was then..right at that moment that I realized how wise words are imperative&vital and, crucial…how FREEING and helpful they can be .why its important to learn to want to understand… So its wisdom and valuable lesson’s won’t pass you by…words!!! Turned into knowledge for the very power that fuels Gods hope in order to find your way out of the bondage for pessimistic thoughts that have been like a plague…a form of cancer ..poison to your mind’s abilities& capabilities,and capacity to break out and awayyyyyy..!! and see all through!!! Yea…its not how much you write its what you write about and owning your own style of how to go about!!! Write on!!!! Right on!!! Sincerely Gypsy skigh blue!! Aka Noemi cazares MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTION… TO BE ABLE TO GIVE LIFE THROUGH WORDS TO ALL IVE EXPERIENCE… SURVIVED WHILE HAVING TO BECOME MANY COOL AND INSANE SAVAGE CHARACTERS IN order TO FINALLY FIND MY WAY TO MY THROWN IN WAITING… A CHAIR IN FRONT OF A DESK OR TABLE WHERE I MAY FINALLY SIT DOWN AND SHARE MY unbelievable MISSIONS IN LIFE!! BECAUSE ITS NO LONGER A JOURNEY.. ITS MY LIFE!! I FINALLY VALUE IT AND UNDERSTAND THE UNSPEAKABLE THE UNREFINED THE rawness OF IT ALL THATS BEEN EVER SO DEEPLY SENSITIVE… LEADING ME MANY TIMES ON THE DEFENSES MAKING IT EASY TO BELIEVE I MUST BE CRAZY… IM NOT BUT WHAT WAS DONE to me and mine AND LATER SAID AGAINST ME TO DECLARE ME FOR SURE insane !!! GOD FORBID THEY LISTEN TO ME…YEA…THAT WAS TRULY CRAZY THEY WERE UNHINGED… BUT SOME HOW THROUGH THE graceful GRACE OF GOD… I SURVIVED IT…SO PEN TO PAPERS…and this is how it soon will go…..God help me always… I’m your mess…I’m not any less….I’m More, more than I allowed myself to become… Thank God!! I’m never alone especially when I was…AMEN!! Amen!!/Amen!!

Everyday I come up with the day’s to-do list and i’ll make sure the followings feature on the list: (a)writing at least two flash fictions (b) editing an old story (c) reading online magazine ,at least two magazines (d) listening to an audio story , at least two short stories

As one who also like programming, i’d including coding as well. is this a clear SMART violation?

I have never really thought about writing stories or anything else related, I just happened to by pass this website but I’m actually considering taking it in for my goals in this coming year.

So thank you for the inspiration and happy new year!

We hope you start writing, Nshuti! Happy New Year!

SMART goals were a part of my life throughout my career as a school administrator. I had forgotten about them until I read this article. More than four years ago, I made the goal of writing every day. Not entirely smart but it is one that I have achieved. As January 1, 2024 approaches, I will got back to my roots and create my SMART goal for the year. Thanks for refreshing my memory.

How to write SMART goals

It’s easier to succeed when you have clearly defined objectives that are based in reality.

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5-second summary

Teams often fall short of meeting their goals due to a lack of consensus on the definition of success.
SMART goals use a specific set of criteria to help ensure that objectives are clearly defined and attainable within a certain timeframe.
Working through each step of creating a SMART goal can reveal instances where priorities and resources are out of alignment.

Meet Jane. She’s a product manager at a mid-sized tech company – let’s call it Techfirm, Inc. Jane has been tasked with increasing usage of Techfirm’s mobile app.

She knows she’ll need all hands on deck to make this happen, but when Jane has set team-wide goals in the past, they’ve quickly fallen off track. Nobody seemed to have a clear understanding of what success should look like; progress wasn’t monitored closely enough, and inevitably, that important objective slipped to the back burner (before toppling off the stove entirely).

That’s why, this time around, Jane plans to leverage SMART goals for setting an action plan and staying the course.

Want to get started right now?

Use our template to define the different components of your SMART goal.

What are SMART goals?

The SMART in SMART goals stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

Defining these parameters as they pertain to your goal helps ensure that your objectives are attainable within a certain time frame. This approach eliminates generalities and guesswork, sets a clear timeline, and makes it easier to track progress and identify missed milestones.

An example of a SMART-goal statement might look like this: Our goal is to [quantifiable objective] by [timeframe or deadline]. [Key players or teams] will accomplish this goal by [what steps you’ll take to achieve the goal]. Accomplishing this goal will [result or benefit].

Let’s use Jane’s objective to work through each component.

S: Specific

In order for a goal to be effective, it needs to be specific. A specific goal answers questions like:

What needs to be accomplished?
Who’s responsible for it?
What steps need to be taken to achieve it?

Thinking through these questions helps get to the heart of what you’re aiming for. Here’s an example of a specific goal Jane might come up with:

Grow the number of monthly users of Techfirm’s mobile app by optimizing our app-store listing and creating targeted social media campaigns.

M: Measurable

Don’t underestimate the outsized impact of short-term goals

Specificity is a solid start, but quantifying your goals (that is, making sure they’re measurable) makes it easier to track progress and know when you’ve reached the finish line.

Jane and her product team want to grow the number of their mobile app users – but by how much? If they get even one new signup, that’s technically positive growth – so does that mean they’re done? Same goes for their strategy – how many platforms will they advertise on?

To make this SMART objective more impactful, Jane should incorporate measurable, trackable benchmarks.

Increase the number of monthly users of Techfirm’s mobile app by 1,000 by optimizing our app-store listing and creating targeted social media campaigns for four social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

A: Achievable

This is the point in the process when you give yourself a serious reality check. Goals should be realistic – not pedestals from which you inevitably tumble. Ask yourself: is your objective something your team can reasonably accomplish?

Jane might look at her goal and realize that, given her small team and their heavy workload, creating ad campaigns for four social platforms might be biting off more than they can chew. She decides to scale back to the three social networks where she’s most likely to find new clients.

Increase the number of monthly users of Techfirm’s mobile app by 1,000 by optimizing our app-store listing and creating targeted social media campaigns for three social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Safeguarding the achievability of your goal is much easier when you’re the one setting it. However, that’s not always the case. When goals are handed down from elsewhere, make sure to communicate any restraints you may be working under. Even if you can’t shift the end goal, at least you can make your position (and any potential roadblocks) known up-front.

R: Relevant

Here’s where you need to think about the big picture. Why are you setting the goal that you’re setting? Jane knows that the app is a huge driver of customer loyalty, and that an uptick in their app usage could mean big things for the company’s bottom-line revenue goals. Now she revises her statement to reflect that context.

Grow the number of monthly users of Techfirm’s mobile app by 1,000 by optimizing our app-store listing and creating targeted social media campaigns for three social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Because mobile users tend to use our product longer, growing our app usage will ultimately increase profitability.

T: Time-bound

To properly measure success, you and your team need to be on the same page about when a goal has been reached. What’s your time horizon? When will the team start creating and implementing the tasks they’ve identified? When will they finish?

SMART goals should have time-related parameters built in, so everybody knows how to stay on track within a designated time frame.

When Jane incorporates those dates, her SMART goal is complete.

Grow the number of monthly users of Techfirm’s mobile app by 1,000 within Q1 of 2022. This will be accomplished by optimizing our app-store listing and creating targeted social media campaigns, which will begin running in February 2022, on three social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Since mobile is our primary point of conversion for paid-customer signups, growing our app usage will ultimately increase sales.

Knowing how to set goals using the SMART framework can help you succeed in setting and attaining goals, no matter how large or small.

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Article • 12 min read

SMART Goals

How to make your goals achievable.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Key Takeaways

SMART goals are S pecific, M easurable, A chievable, R elevant, and T ime-bound.
They allow you to write goals that are clear, attainable and meaningful.
Having clarity in your goal-setting provides the motivation and focus you need to be successful.

The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.– Bill Copeland

Do you ever feel like you're working hard but not getting anywhere? Maybe you see little improvement in your skills or achievements when you reflect on the last five or 10 years. Or perhaps you struggle to see how you'll fulfill your ambitions during the next few years.

Many people spend their lives drifting from one job to another, or rushing around trying to get more done while actually accomplishing very little. Setting SMART goals means you can clarify your ideas, focus your efforts, use your time and resources productively, and increase your chances of achieving what you want in life.

In this article, we'll explore what SMART goals are, and we'll look at how you can use them to achieve your objectives.

Learn how to set SMART goals with our video and transcript .

What Are SMART Goals?

SMART is an acronym that you can use to guide your goal setting. To make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be:

S pecific (simple, sensible, significant).
M easurable (meaningful, motivating).
A chievable (agreed, attainable).
R elevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
T ime bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).

Its criteria are commonly attributed to Peter Drucker's Management by Objectives concept. The first-known use of the term was in the November 1981 issue of Management Review by George T. Doran. Later, Professor Robert S. Rubin (Saint Louis University) wrote about SMART in an article for The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. He stated that SMART has come to mean different things to different people, as shown above.

Professor Rubin also noted that the definition of the SMART acronym may need updating to reflect the importance of efficacy and feedback. However, some authors have expanded it to include extra focus areas; SMARTER, for example, includes E valuated and R eviewed.

What Are the SMART Criteria?

SMART Criteria

How to Write a SMART Goal

Paul J. Meyer, businessman, author and founder of Success Motivation International , describes the characteristics of SMART goals in his 2003 book, " Attitude Is Everything: If You Want to Succeed Above and Beyond ." We'll expand on his definitions to explore how to create, develop and achieve your goals:

1. Specific

Your goal should be clear and specific, otherwise you won't be able to focus your efforts or feel truly motivated to achieve it. When drafting your goal, try to answer the five "W" questions:

What do I want to accomplish?
Why is this goal important?
Who is involved?
Where is it located?
Which resources or limits are involved?

Imagine that you are currently a marketing executive, and you'd like to become head of marketing. A specific goal could be, "I want to gain the skills and experience necessary to become head of marketing within my organization, so that I can build my career and lead a successful team."

2. Measurable

It's important to have measurable goals, so that you can track your progress and stay motivated. Assessing progress helps you to stay focused, meet your deadlines, and feel the excitement of getting closer to achieving your goal.

A measurable goal should address questions such as:

How will I know when it is accomplished?

You might measure your goal of acquiring the skills to become head of marketing by determining that you will have completed the necessary training courses and gained the relevant experience within five years' time.

3. Achievable

Your goal also needs to be realistic and attainable to be successful. In other words, it should stretch your abilities but still remain possible. When you set an achievable goal, you may be able to identify previously overlooked opportunities or resources that can bring you closer to it.

An achievable goal will usually answer questions such as:

How can I accomplish this goal?
How realistic is the goal, based on other constraints, such as financial factors?

You might need to ask yourself whether developing the skills required to become head of marketing is realistic, based on your existing experience and qualifications. For example, do you have the time to complete the required training effectively? Are the necessary resources available to you? Can you afford to do it?

Beware of setting goals that someone else has power over. For example, "Get that promotion!" depends on who else applies, and on the recruiter's decision. But "Get the experience and training that I need to be considered for that promotion" is entirely down to you.

4. Relevant

This step is about ensuring that your goal matters to you, and that it also aligns with other relevant goals. We all need support and assistance in achieving our goals, but it's important to retain control over them. So, make sure that your plans drive everyone forward, but that you're still responsible for achieving your own goal.

A relevant goal can answer "yes" to these questions:

Does this seem worthwhile?
Is this the right time?
Does this match our other efforts/needs?
Am I the right person to reach this goal?
Is it applicable in the current socio-economic environment?

You might want to gain the skills to become head of marketing within your organization, but is it the right time to undertake the required training, or work toward additional qualifications? Are you sure that you're the right person for the head of marketing role? Have you considered your partner's goals? For example, if you want to start a family, would completing training in your free time make this more difficult?

5. Time-bound

Every goal needs a target date, so that you have a deadline to focus on and something to work toward. This part of the SMART goal criteria helps to prevent everyday tasks from taking priority over your longer-term goals.

A time-bound goal will usually answer these questions:

What can I do six months from now?
What can I do six weeks from now?
What can I do today?

Gaining the skills to become head of marketing may require additional training or experience, as we mentioned earlier. How long will it take you to acquire these skills? Do you need further training, so that you're eligible for certain exams or qualifications? It's important to give yourself a realistic time frame for accomplishing the smaller goals that are necessary to achieving your final objective.

Used with Permission from The Meyer Resource Group,® Inc.

The Pros and Cons of SMART Goals

SMART is an effective tool that provides the clarity, focus and motivation you need to achieve your goals. It can also improve your ability to reach them by encouraging you to define your objectives and set a completion date. SMART goals are also easy to use by anyone, anywhere, without the need for specialist tools or training.

Various interpretations of SMART have meant that it can lose its effectiveness or be misunderstood. Some people believe that SMART doesn't work well for long-term goals because it lacks flexibility, while others suggest that it might stifle creativity. For more information on the potential weaknesses of SMART, see our article, Locke's Goal-Setting Theory .

Frequently Asked Questions About SMART Goals

What does smart stand for.

SMART stands for S pecific, M easurable, A chievable, R elevant, and T ime-bound.

What about SMARTER goals?

In this expanded acronym, the E stands for Evaluated, and the R for Reviewed.

Who invented SMART goals?

The SMART goals concept is commonly attributed to Peter Drucker, author of Management by Objectives . The first-known use of the term was in the November 1981 issue of Management Review by George T. Doran.

What’s an example of a SMART goal?

Let’s say you’re a marketing executive, and you think you'd like to become head of marketing. This is a specific goal. You might measure your goal of gaining the skills to become head of marketing by deciding it will take five years. Ask yourself whether gaining these skills is achievable , based on your existing experience and qualifications. Are you at the right point in your career? Is it relevant to what you want? Give yourself a realistic time frame for accomplishing the smaller goals that are necessary to achieving your final objective.

How do I write a SMART goal plan?

Start by asking exactly what you need to accomplish. This will make your goal specific.
Quantify your goals. Measurable goals are easier to track, so build in milestones.
Your goal should be achievable. Is this something you can do with the resources at your disposal?
Think why you’re setting this goal. How will it improve your life or career? This is what makes it relevant.
Know exactly when you’ll have reached your goal. Have a firm schedule, and stick to it.

For other goal-setting resources, see our articles, Golden Rules of Goal-Setting , Using Well-Formed Outcomes in Goal Setting , Personal Goal Setting , and Treasure Mapping .

SMART is a well-established tool that you can use to plan and achieve your goals.
While there are a number of interpretations of the acronym's meaning, the most common one is that goals should be S pecific, M easurable, A chievable, R elevant, and T ime-bound.
When you use SMART, you can create clear, attainable and meaningful goals, and develop the motivation, action plan, and support needed to achieve them.

Rubin, R. (2002). Will the Real SMART Goals Please Stand Up? [online]. Available here . [Accessed January 27, 2016.]

Meyer, Paul J. (2003). " Attitude Is Everything: If You Want to Succeed Above and Beyond ." Waco, TX: Meyer Resource Group.

Haughey, D. (2014). A Brief History of SMART Goals [online]. Available here . [Accessed January 27, 2016.]

Smart Goals Guide, (2014). Why Goal Setting Is Important [online]. Available here . [Accessed January 27, 2016.]

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SMART Goals and Objectives: Definition, Characteristics, and Examples

Setting SMART objectives and goals is an important step toward success in both personal and professional life. However, merely stating goals or purpose is insufficient; it must be SMART goal. SMART objectives and goals assist you in developing objectives that are clear, specified, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

In this article, we’ll define SMART objectives and goals, describe their qualities, and present examples to help you understand how to use them.

Content Index

What are SMART goals and objectives?

What does s.m.a.r.t. stand for, why should you clearly define smart goals and objectives, management by objectives (mbo).

Principles in setting up SMART Goals and Objectives
What is the Difference between Smart Goals and Objectives?
Importance of SMART Goals and Objectives
Advantages and disadvantage of SMART goals and objectives
SMART Objectives and Goals Examples

SMART goals and objectives are a method for establishing Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound aims. The SMART framework defines goals and objectives clearly and practically, making them more actionable and increasing the likelihood of success. SMART is an acronym that stands for SMART goal and is used to help in goal setting.

In this modern, technology-driven world, one of the most widely used words is “SMART.”

This word is utilized in many industries due to its efficiency and objectivity. The SMART technique is also a practical tool that can save relevant professionals in competitive industries like marketing, sales, advertising, market research, etc.

Smartphones, smart TVs, and other everyday items have this word prefixed to their names. We now realize that term refers to something intelligent due to its operation and technological progress.

More than just Theory: 300+ Ready-Made Survey Templates to evaluate your SMART goal and objective.

Take a few minutes to clear your head; let us analyze the SMART method to achieve SMART objectives and goals. With constant practice, it will be easier to apply this method. However, for starters, let us understand what each alphabet in the word “SMART” mean.

M-MEASURABLE

A-achievable, t-time-based.

Do you know what the importance of clearly defining objectives and goals is?

Time doesn’t pass in vain for anyone, more importantly, not for organizations or businesses. Every minute, every second, a new idea is conceptualized, and with these ideas growing, there is a growing competition out there.
Every day there is a new organization or business ready to give tough competition to its counterparts and competitors. In this competitive atmosphere, it is also essential to win customers and also understand customer satisfaction levels. Not only this, you have to constantly monitor to verify that every department in your business or organization is working efficiently, just like perfect machinery.
It may sound like a tedious process in which one question leads you to more questions , and then it seems like a never-ending story because only some know how to land their thoughts. Remember, putting down your goals and objectives on paper will help you put your thoughts and your imagination to work in reality.

To summarize it in a concise and very significant sentence: walking without objectives is like navigating without a compass.

Imagine the immensity of the open sea and you in the middle of it, it is a moment in which you do not know what to do, nor do you know the resources you can count on and much less know which side of the ocean or sea will be better to go.

The best thing is to start making some kind of effort to move forward, right? You cannot stay there; however, it is difficult to know at that stage if everything you do will have optimal results and bring you closer to the right path.

The most likely thing is that these efforts might exhaust you, and you do not know if everything you did will be worthwhile for something. On the contrary, if you know the goal you should reach, it will be easier to use your energy to achieve it once and for all.

People, groups, and systems need clear, structured, and well-defined objectives from the particular to the general. setting a goal is stated to gain a clear understanding of what needs to be delivered, and the person assessing may then judge the outcome based on defined smart criteria.

The same happens with the objectives of a company. We all have an end to this life, and we cannot get up every day thinking about facing when we are approaching the end because, in this way, there will come a time when we feel that we are not doing enough to sustain ourselves in this world.

Learn more: Demographic Segmentation .

SMART objectives are a primary way to collect feedback and communicate within the organization. SMART goal and objective is directly derived from management by objectives (M.B.O.). It was an effective way of completing tasks by prioritizing objectives.

Feedback is important because it showcases the room for improvement and is an insight into the company. Feedback includes periodic checks to measure current results vs. expected and current results vs. end objectives. The progress can be recorded by asking basic questions like:

Is the plan being executed in the right manner?
Are the efforts tangible that they are aiding the progress of the project?
Are changes required to be made to the current plan?

The SMART objective helps break down these questions and goals even further, where the scope of every milestone is measured. The SMART objective help set goals and track progress to meet the end objective.

A SMART goal helps in following through on goals and prevents getting distracted. Through these goals, different objective goals can be set up, namely:

Long term goals

Intermediate-term goals, short term goals, principles in setting up smart goals and objectives.

It is an essential task to write SMART goals and objectives and setting up them. The smart goal criteria or the principles of goal-setting theory are:

Task complexity

What is the difference between smart goals and smart objectives.

“SMART goals” and “SMART objectives” are frequently used interchangeably, although their meanings might vary depending on the context. However, in some circumstances, a difference can be made between the two. Let us analyze the distinction:

Goals are broad, all-encompassing statements that describe the desired outcome or result. They are frequently long-term and give a general framework for your activities.
These goals are clear, measurable, doable, important, and have deadlines. They use the SMART goal framework to ensure their goals are clear and improve their chances of success.
Goals concentrate on the “what” you want to accomplish and provide a precise aim to work toward.

SMART Objective

Objectives are more defined, short-term milestones that help to reach the overall aim. They are actionable steps that explain the actions and activities needed to achieve the intended result.
SMART objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. They are intended to be more specific and to provide a clear roadmap for attaining the goal.
SMART Objectives concentrate on the “how” and “when” of achieving a goal, breaking it into achievable steps.

Importance of SMART goals and objectives

SMART goals and objectives are highly important for individuals and organizations alike. Here are several reasons why they are crucial:

Clarifies end objective

Effective time management, reminds you of priorities, obliges to take action, advantages and disadvantages of smart goals and objectives.

SMART goals and objectives offer several advantages, but they also have some potential disadvantages. Let’s explore both sides:

Advantages of SMART goals and objectives

SMART goals and objectives have several advantages that make them effective. Some of the primary advantages are as follows:

They are not vague: Since SMART goals and objectives are extremely procedural, each milestone and feedback is planned and monitored in complete detail. It mitigates the factor of uncertainty.

Missed work is easy to track: Each person is given a specific responsibility; hence, when work is not completed, it is very easy to troubleshoot the gaps in delivery. It makes everyone extremely accountable, and any loss of work is easy to track.

Goals are divided into small achievable objectives: SMART goals have an end, but SMART objectives are further divided into bite-sized milestones. Hence, no matter the scale of the end goal, it is very easily achievable.

Disadvantages of SMART goals and objectives

SMART goals and objectives have several disadvantages that make them effective. Some of the primary disadvantages are as follows:

No importance to other tasks: All other work gets ignored due to the system’s rigidity. Also, there is lesser scope for innovation or trying to complete work differently because the work is milestone based.

Lots of pressure: There is immense pressure to complete work in a given time frame, making the environment extremely stressful and challenging.

Different interpretations by different people: The pressure to complete goals and objectives is open to interpretation by different people. The urgency or rigidity of the process is construed differently by different people.

LEARN ABOUT: Theoretical Research

SMART objectives and goals examples

Here are a few examples to help you strategize and define your organization’s SMART objectives and Goals :

Defining objectives requires time, patience, and the complete know-how of how an organization functions, but it needs clarity above anything else. For example, many organizations need to define clear objectives, which reflects in many ways. But with SMART objectives and methods, it is possible to define goals clearly.
To clearly define objectives, one may need to sit down and ask questions, for example, “What is that I would like my organization or business to achieve? Why do I want to achieve these targets? Do I have the necessary resources to achieve these objectives?”, among many other questions that you need to ask yourself, let’s accept it feel like this is boring and absolutely unnecessary.
Take a step back and think, do you even know how many companies have suffered bankruptcy because they didn’t feel the need to define their objectives? You might even be tempted to think that the process is a complete waste of your time. Instead of wasting your valuable time speculating and penning down your thoughts, it is advisable to get down to do some real work and start with the action plan.
While you may have decided to start functioning without a plan, there are hundreds of companies that take the target date to do it step by step and then achieve goals in a faster way, winning customers, reducing customer churn , taking away place, and even unseat everything you have already achieved. Taking action concretely and clearly understanding facts and figures will not take you anywhere. On the contrary, this will waste your time, effort, work, quality, and even your reputation in the market.
To avoid all the tragedies previously reported, do you still think this is a waste of time? Do you still believe that it is better to postpone it? If your answer is NO, congratulations! The SMART method is easier than you imagined it to be.

Learn more: Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Let us take an example to understand how SMART objectives and SMART goals help save time. Image an organization that works to remove plastic bags and similar waste from the entire city has objectives and goals defined as:

“Our goal is to make the entire city clean and free of any plastic and plastic waste.”

This goal is a little vague. However, if the objective and goal were rewritten as, “As an organization, we aim to clean the city and make it free from any plastic waste in the next two years with the help and support of our volunteers.”

The second time the goal and objective were rewritten, it had a particular timeline, the specific activity was mentioned, who would be helping the organization was clear, and what they wanted to achieve was certain.

In this manner, people who are associated with the organization know what their tasks are and what the time-bound in which they need to achieve them. This helps avoid any confusion, and activities go on smoothly without hesitation.

LEARN ABOUT: Behavioral Targeting

SMART objectives and Goals are an important part of a company’s growth. The Managers and Directors of Marketing, Sales, Human Resources, and many other areas must be fully involved in defining these goals.

For all, the growth of the company also implies personal growth. The only way to achieve this is by having order and structure clearly defining the objectives.

Do not waste more time doing actions that won’t yield the desired results. Start defining your SMART objectives and give your team enough reasons why they should get down to work as soon as possible.

Giving them a good goal is part of the motivation everyone in the organization needs. Remember increasing team productivity is always favorable and does wonders for achieving the organization’s overall growth.

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Intelligence

What smart really is, do you think of yourself as exceptionally smart.

Posted December 22, 2017

In today's society, being smart is usually associated with measures such as IQ ( Intelligence quotient ), EQ ( emotional intelligence quotient) or some similar way of calculating how smart you are. However, the world is becoming increasingly aware of the absurdity of IQ scores and how do they do not correlate with intelligence or job performance . And a high EQ too, though sometimes helpful, has been shown to have negative effects on health, academic and job outcomes. Given these paradoxical findings, how should we be thinking of our own smartness, as well as the smartness of people we teach, partner with, marry, hire, or lead?

What about the immeasurable qualities of intelligence? There are things about you that are measurable, like how well you do at math tests, and how well you perform in a particular sport. But there is a large part of your intelligence that is immeasurable, yet very impactful. Called qualia , these are private conscious experiences that you cannot describe to others. Your brain is wired to transmit these intangible messages. You feel them, yet you cannot explain them. That's what might make one designer make a red tie that stands out from the rest. Their understanding of the redness of red is different.

So what? Don't always assume that what you see is what others see. There are many of your own subtleties that you may bring to the table. For example, you might want to start a T-shirt business, and people may say there are too many others to compete with. Yet, your qualia may guide you to a unique T-shirt business that allows you to be profitable.

Does curiosity count? You may be a deeply curious person, yet you may not think of this as your intelligence. It's notable that we ignore curiosity, yet this is one of the key ingredients of intelligence. Curiosity rewards your brain , and it even helps you remember more because it stimulates memory circuits in the brain. It also influences how we make decisions . We may choose to go down one path versus another simply because we are curious.

We routinely underestimate curiosity, yet it can produce some amazing results. Take the " One Laptop Per Child " project, where children in rural Ethiopia who had never seen technology before found the on/off switch within minutes. Within five days they were using 47 apps per day per child, and they also were able to sing ABC songs within 2 weeks. Within five months, they had hacked Android without a degree in Computer Science.

So what? Qualifications can only get you so far. Often, it's a genuine curiosity that matters. Genuine curiosity can stimulate memory and help your brain make connections. Rather than be imprisoned by your qualifications, ask yourself, "What am I truly curious about?" Then pursue that further. Qualifications can open doors, but in so doing, they may inadvertently make you close the door to yourself.

You don't have to be systematic: I resisted writing my latest book in a totally systematic way because I wanted people to face the reality that my systems may be satisfying to understand, but they do not correlate with the systems in your head. Those are the systems that matter, and they may not correlate with the systems of others.

Take Kary Banks Mullis, for example, a Nobel laureate who refined our understanding of the polymerase chain reaction so that we can make synthetic DNA . Many people ignored him at first. He was the consummate explorer, and even said , "I never tired of tinkering in labs." Yet, his discovery did not come from hours of systematic work in a laboratory. It came to him while he was on a drive from Berkeley to Mendocino. He rarely consulted experts, and he was not a slave to feedback. In fact, his colleagues thought he was rather disorderly. Yet, somehow, his disorderliness led to a discovery.

So what? You may feel like you are all over the place, but like Mullis, you may actually be truly alive and in the line with a real discovery. While prescribed "methods," "feedback," and "controlled experiments" are meant to guide you, they also imprison your mind. Free thinking is every bit as valid as controlled experiments. And oftentimes, this is what allows you to make the leaps that you want. So, from time to time, face your fears about what others think of you, and ask yourself, "What do I truly want to do?" You'll be surprised by how far you have strayed from the path of your actual intelligence when you see how conformity has stopped you from being yourself. This is no harm to this if you don't hurt others in the process.

Conclusion : IQ and EQ reflect domains of intelligence, but they are not the be-all and end-all of it. Rather, your uniqueness, curiosity and freedom from authority also contribute to your intelligence. All of these dimensions of intelligence may help or hurt you. So, seek ways in which they help you. Express them. And ignore the naysayers who want to define you by conventional metrics. You can learn from others, but they should not own you or your mind simply because they have decided what intelligent is. Through your own self-discovery, you can redefine what intelligence is.

Srini Pillay, M.D. , is the author of Tinker Dabble Doodle Try: Unlock the Power of the Unfocused Mind . He is also a former Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School and current chief medical officer and co-founder of Reulay.

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The Smart Goal-Setting Process: Motivation and Empowerment Essay

Introduction, smart objectives, smart career goals.

SMART goal-setting was first introduced by Dr. Edwin Locke in the 1960s (Griffin, 2017). According to Locke, setting goals that fit into the SMART criteria provided motivation and empowerment to people, which was crucial to ensure that the goals are achieved (Griffin, 2017). Today, SMART criteria are applied to the goal-setting process in many organizations, regardless of their size and area of business. The rules are universal and can also be applied to personal goals, which makes them an excellent tool for developing a career plan.

The first criterion emphasizes that goals need to be specific and relevant to the desired outcome (Joseph, 2017). Setting general goals may reduce motivation, as the path to achieving them becomes unclear (Joseph, 2017).

In order to achieve success in pursuing a goal, there has to be a way to measure success, which is why the second point of SMART goals theory is that the goals need to be measurable (Joseph, 2017). By measuring success, it is possible to monitor the progress towards the goal, which ultimately improves motivation.

The third criterion to be applied to goals is attainability. A goal that is impossible to achieve becomes a burden rather than an opportunity, as all the efforts put in by the person will not help him or her to attain the goal. If the goal is achievable, on the other hand, it is possible to devise a clear strategy to ensure that it is reached.

The next criterion emphasizes the need for the goal to be realistic, which means that a goal has to be set with consideration of the current circumstances. If the goal is set too high comparing to the current career level, reaching it will be hardly possible.

The final stage of goal-setting is ensuring that the goals are time-bound. Setting a definite time limit by which the goal has to be achieved creates a sense of urgency, which may become a substantial motivating factor.

My ultimate aim is to become a Registered Nurse. However, there are three main stages that have to be completed before I can reach the desired position.

Stage One: Graduate from Regis Health Care Administration

The first step in my career plan is to graduate from Regis College with a degree in Health Care Administration. In order to do that, I need to complete all of the program requirements and courses, which is a specific objective. The goal can be easily measured, and the result of completing the goal will be receiving a Diploma that marks the successful ending of the course. I believe that this aim is also attainable, as I am working towards completing the course and so far my grades have been acceptable. Completing this stage of the plan is realistic, as the goal is set based on my current level of education and abilities. Finally, the expected time of completion is Summer 2018, which makes the goal time-bound.

Stage Two: Enroll in an Accelerated Nursing Program

After I receive my certificate in Health Care Administration, I will need to enroll in a nursing program to continue my nursing education. I plan on applying for an accelerated nursing program at Regis, Metro, or Denver School, which is a specific objective. Acceptance into the program will be the ultimate measure of success, which means that the goal is measurable. It is also attainable and realistic, as it is the next step after I graduate from my HCA program; I am aware of the requirements of these schools and believe that I can attain the results needed for acceptance. Finally, the anticipated start of the program is in Fall 2018, which sets a specific time limit for the goal.

Stage Three: Work as an RN in Sandalwood Rehabilitation Center

The ultimate goal of my career plan is to achieve an RN position at Sandalwood Rehabilitation Center, where I currently work as a CNA. This aim is specific, as it mentions the position and place of work. The goal is also measurable, as I will know when I receive this position. The goal is attainable, as I have been successful in my work here so far and I believe that upon completion of the nursing course, I will be accepted to work as an RN. The aim is also realistic as I understand the requirements of the position and the path to achieving certification. Finally, the time limit of the goal will be estimated as soon as I complete the second stage of the plan, as it depends on the length of the nursing program that I will complete. As soon as I receive the certification, I believe it will take me up to six months to gain an RN position.

Overall, I believe that separating my career plan into three SMART goals is a useful practice to gain more understanding of how to achieve the ultimate career aim. SMART goal-setting ensures that the goals are not unrealistic, which provides more motivation to work towards the goals. I feel that my current abilities and the chosen path of development will help me to reach my final goal and to receive an RN position at Sandalwood Rehabilitation Center.

Griffin, D. (2017). The SMART goal-setting process . Web.

Joseph, C. (2017). Elements of S.M.A.R.T. goal setting . Web.

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IvyPanda. (2024, April 18). The Smart Goal-Setting Process: Motivation and Empowerment. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-smart-goal-setting-process/

"The Smart Goal-Setting Process: Motivation and Empowerment." IvyPanda , 18 Apr. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/the-smart-goal-setting-process/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'The Smart Goal-Setting Process: Motivation and Empowerment'. 18 April.

IvyPanda . 2024. "The Smart Goal-Setting Process: Motivation and Empowerment." April 18, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-smart-goal-setting-process/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Smart Goal-Setting Process: Motivation and Empowerment." April 18, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-smart-goal-setting-process/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Smart Goal-Setting Process: Motivation and Empowerment." April 18, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-smart-goal-setting-process/.

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What are SMART Goals in Performance Management?

Performance Management, Supercharged

Creating an effective performance management framework is arguably one of the more challenging aspects of people management. The definition of success varies from role to role, progress can be difficult to measure, and managers need to be equipped to give useful, regular feedback. Not to mention, rating performance is an inherently subjective task, which requires your company to set rating standards and ensure they’re being used consistently and fairly.

This is where an important performance management tool comes in — SMART goals. SMART goals can be part of your performance management process as a way to:

Create transparency
Motivate employees
Improve performance
Measure progress
Gauge overall performance

Let’s take a closer look at the SMART method of goal setting and how it can be used in performance management.

What is a SMART goal?

Think about the last time you set a goal outside of work. Maybe you decided it was time to complete an advanced degree or go on a dream vacation. After choosing your goal, you decided which university to attend or set a budget for your vacation. Then, you set a timeline for completing the degree or chose the dates for your trip. Guess what? You just set a SMART goal: it’s specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. It is not vague, hard to measure, unrealistic, unnecessary, or lacking a timeline. The SMART method for goal-setting is effective both personally and professionally and can apply to both immediate and future goals. When it comes to performance management, SMART goals can be used to measure progress, identify strengths and weaknesses, provide feedback, and gauge employee performance over time. They’re an excellent way to ensure employees are on track with both short-term projects and long-term professional goals.

The Start of SMART Goals

SMART is an acronym coined in a 1981 article by George T. Doran outlining an effective goal-setting process. According to Doran, goals are necessary to communicate both the overall mission of an organization and to support that mission with ‘quantitative support’ in the form of concrete goals.

SMART goals can serve as an employee engagement tool, too. Creating SMART goals collaboratively between managers and employees builds trust, clear objectives enable employees to be successful, and goal alignment shows employees how their work is part of business success. There’s even evidence to show that setting difficult goals inspires us to put in more effort to meet them.

Goals also motivate employees, a key factor in employee engagement . We’re motivated to get through the difficult parts of reaching our goals — whether that’s studying, saving money, or the tedious parts of a project at work — because we know it will pay off in the end.

Suffice to say, SMART goals have tons of uses and tried-and-true benefits. Let’s look at each term in the acronym with performance management — and one account manager’s SMART goal — in mind.

Here’s the goal to remember: An account manager met with their department head and set a goal to retain 85% or more of their existing accounts and add 50 new accounts by their next annual performance review.

SMART goals are specific and clear, reducing confusion for employees, managers, and even other colleagues and giving employees focus and direction. Specificity also helps managers evaluate their direct reports’ performance more objectively. With vague goals, it can be hard to say if the employee fell short or exceeded expectations, but with specific goals, it will be evident.

For the account manager in our SMART performance goal example, there’s no question about what constitutes success. They knew exactly what was expected of them to both meet and exceed the goal. If the account manager retained 92% of their accounts and added 55 new accounts, it’s clear that they crushed their goal.

A vague goal, like “retain most accounts and add new accounts,” could have resulted in lower client retention and acquisition since the account manager wouldn’t have had exact numbers to work toward. Or, it could have downplayed just how well the account manager performed that year and the company may have missed a chance to recognize their work.

SMART goals are measurable and their progress can be tracked. Measurable goals have several uses in performance management:

Show if employees are on track, ahead, or behind in completing goals
Similarly, show the margins by which employees exceeded or fell short of the goal
Indicate strengths and potential areas of improvement
Compare past and peer performance

For the account manager in our example, measuring goal progress helped them stay on target and motivated them to push past their goal. It also provided opportunities for their manager to give helpful feedback when needed and recognition when they exceeded expectations.

SMART goals are achievable while still challenging employees. Achievable goals are those that employees have the tools, support, time, and expertise to reach. Goals that are too hard to reach can end up making employees feel discouraged and hurt their performance. On the other hand, attainable goals can be motivating and inspire employees to continue working toward goals in the future.

The account manager in our example set goals that were slightly higher than the previous years’ but not quite as high as the goals of their more experienced colleagues. They were able to retain and attract clients with a combination of resources that included personalized demos, marketing videos, and their teammates’ knowledge.

SMART goals are relevant, aligning with professional development goals, role responsibilities, departmental duties, or business objectives. Relevant goals are important for several reasons:

Keep employees focused and engaged
Contribute to big-picture goals for the individual, department, or business
Explain why the goal is important to achieve
Help managers give useful, actionable performance feedback

In our example, the account manager’s goal contributes to department and business goals for client retention and new business. Visibility into that goal alignment, plus the employee’s own knowledge that they can achieve and exceed their goals, helps them stay connected to and focused on the goal.

SMART goals are timely, or time-bound, with a start date and completion deadline. With a set timeline, there’s no confusion about when the goal needs to be met. Time-bound goals provide opportunities for managers to check in with their employees and help them stay on track. It’ll also be clear to managers during performance reviews if their report tends to complete goals early, on time, or behind schedule.

The account manager in our example was given one year to reach their goal. At each annual review, they set new goals based on past performance so goals remain timely. Thanks to the SMART method, account managers can steadily work toward their goal instead of rushing to make their target at the end of the year.

Technology, Performance Management, and SMART Goals

You can easily manage SMART goals with the help of a performance management system . These software solutions give employees and managers easy-to-use digital tools to align and record goals, keep track of progress and past goals, provide updates and feedback, and recognize achievements. Plus, the added benefit of great software is a robust set of analytics that can reveal performance management trends, highlight high performers, and unlock insights so you can build the best possible performance management strategy.

ClearCompany’s Performance, Engagement, and Goals Suite has everything you need to implement SMART goal systems and use them during review cycles:

Goal Planning and Alignment to set transparent SMART goals and provide updates
Prebuilt and customizable performance review templates that incorporate the goals set in the platform
Completion tracking and automatic notifications to help HR complete review cycles efficiently and perform fewer manual tasks

Practice setting goals and completing a performance review during a demo with the ClearCompany experts — sign up for your personalized demo today .

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Home » Blog » How To Write SMART Learning Objectives & Outcomes

How To Write SMART Learning Objectives & Outcomes

As a methodology first created for business management, SMART has since been adapted across numerous fields, including education. SMART objectives offer a structured framework to help educators design effective learning goals that are clear, focused, and reachable. They ensure that learners can understand what is expected from them, fostering a more efficient and meaningful learning experience.

What are SMART Learning Objectives?

The SMART framework breaks down learning objectives into five key characteristics: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Each characteristic plays a pivotal role in creating a comprehensive learning goal that is practical, attainable, and aligned with overall educational targets.

George T. Doran first proposed the SMART framework in the November 1981 issue of Management Review . In his initial formulation, Doran’s A stood for “assignable,” meaning a task that can meaningfully be given to a specified individual. His R stood for “realistic,” a concept now captured by the latter-day “achievable” component.

In its current form, the framework offers a set of criteria that can be applied to any learning methodology to ensure that its content and assessment systems are fit for purpose.

The learning objective should be well-defined, clear, and unambiguous. Instead of setting a broad or generic goal, educators should aim to specify what the learner will achieve upon successful completion of the course or lesson.

Another way to think of this is to consider what the learner will be able to do or understand, having completed the course, that they couldn’t have done or understood beforehand. How will it change their work life, skillset, or understanding?

The objective must include criteria for measuring progress and outcome. This ensures that the learner’s progress can be tracked, and the effectiveness of the learning process can be evaluated.

With eLearning content , there are numerous ways to measure progress and comprehension, including completion percentages, internal quizzes, and final assessments. Various interactive tools allow for gamifying the process of measurement with puzzles and challenges that can be inserted into the course material to maintain interest and gauge understanding.

The learning objective should be realistic and attainable. While ambitious goals can be motivational, they should not be so challenging as to be unattainable, which might lead to frustration or discouragement.

Stepped courses with modules for complete beginners, intermediate-level learners and experts can help ensure that the student completes a course at a level they can manage. Courses should avoid being too lengthy or complicated, or the end goal can begin to seem unreachable.

Break down your course materials into slides, lessons, and modules to motivate students to persist, and reward completion stages with badges, congratulations, or other markers of success.

The objective should align with the learner’s broader educational or professional goals, ensuring the learning process is meaningful and applicable to their overall development. This is particularly important in mandatory training courses such as fire and safety training, first aid or DEI courses.

By tailoring courses to the day-to-day situations your students and employees will face, you will increase engagement.

If a course has an in-person element, make sure it incorporates time for students to discuss how each lesson relates to their own life or work. Lively discussions will follow, and the relevance of the topic will hit home.

Each objective should have a defined timeline, offering a clear deadline for when the learning goal should be achieved. This enhances motivation and allows progress tracking over time.

Run many trials of your courses and time how long it takes the average student to complete the various modules, then tweak the content and design accordingly. Experience has shown that an individual module should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete.

Another good idea is to give students a realistic notion of how long each part of the course will take to finish. This will allow them to allocate sufficient time for completion, without having to interrupt their flow.

Step-by-Step Guide to Writing SMART Learning Objectives

Creating SMART learning objectives involves six critical steps – an initial definitional stage and then one step for each concept in the SMART framework. By following these steps methodically, you’ll ensure your courses are well-designed and fit for purpose.

Step 1: Identify Desired Outcome(s)

Before setting an objective, identify the desired learning outcomes of the lesson or course. What should learners know or be able to do by the end? It’s a good idea to specify this up front to set expectations.

When you’ve devised the course, you can run tests and examine the achieved outcomes. Do they match your intentions when designing the course? If not, a rethink may be required.

Step 2: Be Specific

Use action verbs to precisely define what the learner will achieve. Clearly state the scope of the objective to eliminate ambiguity.

Here’s an example of a poorly written course objective:

“Students will gain an understanding of the basics of social media marketing.”

And here’s that objective written with more specificity (with action verbs in bold):

“Students will appreciate the different audiences of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, understand the marketing objectives that can be achieved using each one, and will practise using some marketing techniques to make best use of each medium.”

Step 3: Ensure Objectives are Measurable

Define clear, quantifiable criteria to evaluate progress and success. You might establish various methods of assessment, including quizzes, projects, or discussions.

Be very transparent upfront about what constitutes an excellent, good, or acceptable “pass mark.” While some courses pass or fail only (driver’s tests, for example), others have gradations of achievement.

It can be difficult to quantify comprehension of a complex topic with multiple choice questions, so if it is vital that students gain an in-depth knowledge of a complex subject, then it is better to include a project, in-person assessment or written essay.

Without some sort of measurable outcome, there’s a danger students can complete courses as “lip service” to the notion of education, without really learning anything.

Step 4: Ensure Objectives are Achievable

Consider the resources available and the learners’ current capabilities when setting objectives. This ensures that the goals are challenging but within reach.

It can be helpful to run a “pre-assessment” test or questionnaire to gauge current comprehension level. If you do so, make sure you stress that there is no good or bad level of achievement; you are simply trying to identify a place to begin.

Match your course materials to the age, reading level and/or educational level of your students. Don’t use overly complicated language when simpler terms will do.

Step 5: Ensure Objectives are Relevant/Personalised

Align the learning objectives with the overall goals of the course and the individual learner’s needs. This ensures the learning process is valuable and beneficial for the learner.

Online systems allow for a high degree of learning personalisation of courses, including offering modules in a range of languages or including various optional extras.

As well as making the course content fit students’ needs, you need to make sure the outcomes match what they’ll be able to use in their employment or day-to-day lives.

For instance, if you were teaching a course in beer-making in a microbrewery setting, but most of your students were likely to work in commercial breweries, it would be wise to tailor the outcomes to include those very different environments.

Step 6: Establish Deadlines/Timeframes

Set clear deadlines for each objective. Balance the time constraints with the scope of the objective to ensure it’s feasible within the given timeframe. This may involve a degree of trial and error as you’re designing the course.

There’s little more frustrating than being told a course must be completed in one hour, only to find that its quizzes are so lengthy and challenging that it takes twice as long to finish.

Examples of SMART Learning Objectives

Here are examples of SMART objectives in different settings:

Classroom Setting

“In this semester, students will improve their writing skills by composing and revising at least three essays, with each essay receiving a score of 70% or higher.”

Note that there is room for variation in this objective – some students may complete three essays while others may do more. 70% is an ambitious but not unrealistic goal if your student intake has been pre-selected for basic literacy.

Online Courses

“By the end of this 20-hour online photography course, participants will produce a portfolio of ten high-quality photographs demonstrating mastery of advanced lighting techniques.”

This course may use advanced photo analytics to judge whether specific lessons about dynamic range, composition, colour, focus and subject choice have been adhered to and demonstrated.

What’s especially good about this objective is that it specifies the completion time (20 hours) and work volume (ten photos) very precisely.

Professional Development

“Within six months, team members will complete an advanced project management course, implement new strategies in their work, and show a 20% decrease in project overruns.”

Although the 20% overrun reduction may prove ambitious, it’s likely that the course organisers have researched the difference between the effect on deadlines of trained versus untrained teams.

“Within six months” is time-bound, but allows some wriggle room, for learners who can complete their coursework more quickly. The objective promises real professional and personal development.

Each of the above examples is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Benefits of Using SMART Learning Objectives

Enhanced focus and clarity.

SMART objectives provide clear and concise goals, aiding learners in understanding exactly what is expected. They ensure that a higher percentage of learners engage with course materials and see courses through to completion.

Improved Measurement and Assessment

Because they’re measurable, SMART objectives make progress tracking and outcome assessment easier and more effective. It becomes easier to demonstrate the efficacy of a course, and to identify places where materials can be improved in future iterations.

Increased Motivation and Engagement

Achievable and time-bound objectives motivate and engage learners by providing clear goals and a sense of urgency. They can foster a spirit of friendly rivalry too, as team members compete with one another to gain the best completion scores.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing SMART Objectives

Here are some of the frequent pitfalls course creators face:

Avoid vague or overly broad objectives that fail to clearly state what is expected from the learner. These will not inspire excitement and may lead to students feeling adrift as they work through the course materials.
Avoid objectives without measurable criteria that offer no way to evaluate success. Neither the course creator nor the student is well-served by a course with no objective measure of achievement.
Avoid irrelevant content that students won’t be able to incorporate within their lives or working environment. If elements add to completion time but don’t contribute to course objectives, the content should be left out.
Lastly, steer clear of unattainable or unrealistic goals that may frustrate or discourage learners. This will reduce engagement and can cause you to receive poor reviews of your courses.

Strategies for Implementing and Monitoring SMART Objectives

Methods for effective implementation include:

Incorporating objectives into lesson planning and making sure they are at the forefront when designing a course.
Tracking progress and adjusting as necessary. Run numerous trials of your courses in the design stage, including participants at various levels of prior subject knowledge.
Providing regular feedback and support to learners. Take stock at various points during your course, either with recaps (for an online course) or in-person discussions of “what we’ve learned so far.” This helps learners feel they’re keeping up.

SMART is Objectively Better

Creating SMART learning objectives plays an important role in enhancing educational effectiveness. It enables learners to understand expectations, focus their efforts, and measure their progress.

As an eLearning company , Skillshub is committed to creating efficient and impactful learning experiences.

We incorporate these principles into our learning modules, providing a well-rounded eLearning platform and approach that caters to each learner’s unique needs and abilities.

Join us today to elevate your learning experience!

Sean McPheat

Sean is the CEO of Skillshub. He’s a published author and has been featured on CNN, BBC and ITV as a leading authority in the learning and development industry. Sean is responsible for the vision and strategy at Skillshub, helping to ensure innovation within the company.

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“What Is an Academic Essay?”

Overview (a.k.a. TLDR)

Different professors define the academic essay differently.
Thesis (main point)
Supporting evidence (properly cited)
Counterarguments
Your academic essay is knowledge that you create for the learning community of which you’re a member (a.k.a. the academy).

As a student in Core classes, especially in COR 102, you can expect that at least some of the major work in the course will entail writing academic essays. That term, academic essay , might sound as if it’s referring to a specific writing genre. That’s because it is. An academic essay is not a short story, an electronic game design document, a lesson plan, or a scientific lab report. It’s something else. What exactly is it, though? That depends, to some extent, on how the professor who has asked you to write an academic essay has chosen to define it. As Kathy Duffin posits in an essay written for the Writing Center at Harvard University, while an academic essay may “vary in expression from discipline to discipline,” it “should show us a mind developing a thesis, supporting that thesis with evidence, deftly anticipating objections or counterarguments, and maintaining the momentum of discovery.”

Even though Duffin’s essay is more than 20 years old, I still find her description interesting for a few reasons, one of which being the way that she has sandwiched, so to speak, some established content requirements of academic essays in between two broad intellectual functions of the academic essay. Here’s what I see:

When Duffin writes that an academic essay “should show us a mind,” she is identifying an important quality in many essay forms, not just academic essays: a sense of a mind at work. This is an important consideration, as it frames an academic essay as an attempt to understand something and to share that understanding. Essay is, in fact, also a verb; to essay is to try or attempt.

The established content requirements are as follows:

a thesis (which Duffin describes also as a “purpose” and “motive”)
evidence in support of the thesis, and
an anticipation of objections or counterarguments

Duffin caps this all off with something about “maintaining the momentum of discovery.” Honestly, I’m not positive that I know what this means, but my guess is that it means an academic essay will construct and advance a new way of knowing the essay topic, a way that makes this process seem worth the writer’s and the reader’s time.

Again, your professor may or may not define academic essays as Duffin does. The only thing I would add to the above is a reminder that the academic essays you write in COR 102 and other courses represent knowledge that you’re creating within and for the academy —another word for Champlain College, an academic institution. You’re creating knowledge for a community of learners, a community of which you, your professor, and your peers are members. Keeping this conceptualization of your academic essay in mind may help you appreciate such other common elements of academic essays as voice , citations , and essay format.

Duffin, Kathy. “Overview of the Academic Essay.” Harvard College Writing Center, Harvard U., 1998, https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/overview-academic-essay Accessed 29 July 2020.

Quick tip about citing sources in MLA style

What’s a thesis, sample mla essays.

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What Does It Mean to Be Smart: A Comprehensive Explanation

Sanju Pradeepa

Have you ever heard someone say they are “smart?” What did they mean? To some, being smart means being able to think quickly and solve complex problems. To others, it means having deep knowledge of certain subject matters. Still, other people might relate the term to creativity and innovation.

So what does it mean to be smart? It means that you are able to think analytically and apply knowledge to solve problems. It also means that you can understand and be aware of the complexities of the world and the people in it.

What does it mean to be smart.

Being smart is more than just having a good grade point average or a high IQ score. It’s about being able to think critically, solve problems, and make sound decisions. Being smart means understanding the world around you and embracing the power of learning new things.

Having a high IQ score or being academically successful is certainly part of being smart. But it’s also about having the ability to take what you’ve learned and apply it in new situations. It’s about understanding how different pieces of information fit together and how to use them to your advantage. It’s also about being able to form relationships, communicate effectively, and understand others’ perspectives.

Smart people are adept problem solvers who have the capacity to think objectively while applying logic and imagination to their work. They often possess an impressive memory, and they know how to use technology as well as traditional methods in order to research answers to complex questions. In short, being smart means having the ability to think deeply and effectively in order to understand complex topics and problems.

Characteristics of Being Smart

There are plenty more ways to describe your smartness. People in this world are born in different ways that set them apart from one another. They demonstrate their smarts in a variety of ways as a result of the number of experiences, knowledge, skills they possess and also through unfair advantages .

Smart people are usually good problem solvers, thinkers, and have a generally positive attitude . They are also excellent communicators and are able to articulate their opinions clearly and calmly.

Being smart is not about having all the answers or knowing the latest trends by heart. It’s about staying curious, open-minded , and aware. Smart people are independent learners who don’t just wait for instructions; they look for solutions.

These traits and behaviors can be developed and improved:

Develop critical thinking skills: try to view events from different perspectives, never take anything for granted, question values, and challenge assumptions.
Broaden your horizons: read books beyond your comfort zone ; explore different cultures via travel or research; watch TED talks.
Have an open mind: don’t judge or criticize until you understand the other person’s point of view or the logical basis of the argument they are making (even if it conflicts with yours).
Stay organized: make lists of tasks or goals you want to achieve in order to stay on top of them instead of feeling overwhelmed due to a lack of direction .
Continually strive for knowledge: learn something new every day by reading articles, listening to podcasts, or enrolling in classes or workshops that help you expand your knowledge base and help improve your skillset.

Let’s see.

1. Improving Analytical Thinking

Analytical thinking involves breaking down a problem into individual pieces to see how they relate to each other and to the larger issue. You must also be open-minded, taking data from different sources and perspectives before coming to a conclusion or solution.

It is also important because it allows us to make better, more informed decisions by looking at all of the facts and evidence. It also helps us identify potential problems before they occur, as well as develop solutions to those problems. Also, it enables us to assess the effectiveness of current systems and procedures so that we may make changes as necessary.

Finally, analytical thinking is essential for problem-solving. It’s not enough just to observe a problem; you must be able to identify the various components of the problem and come up with a plan of action that will solve it in an effective manner. Being able to think analytically will help you identify the best solution more quickly and efficiently.

2. Strengthening Problem Solving and Creativity

Not only are learning and education important for being smart, but also having the ability to solve problems and be creative in your thinking. In order to strengthen your problem-solving skills, it’s important to assess the challenges you’re facing, break down the issue, and come up with a plan of attack. Being able to identify potential solutions and evaluate their success can help you tackle problems more efficiently.

Furthermore, creativity is an essential component of being smart. It’s important to think outside the box and explore different paths that can lead to success. With creativity, you can come up with innovative solutions and approaches that others may not have considered. This allows you to leverage your knowledge and skills in more powerful ways. Additionally, fostering a creative mindset allows you to become more comfortable with failure, which encourages you to keep trying different approaches until you find one that works for you.

Fortunately, there are many ways you can increase your problem-solving and creativity skills:

Take on difficult tasks. By tackling tough problems on a regular basis, it forces you to use analytical thinking and evaluate multiple possibilities.
Practice open-ended questions. Open-ended questions help stimulate critical thinking by encouraging more complex answers from those around you.
Try new activities. Expand your horizons by engaging in new activities that can help foster creativity, like drawing or writing poetry.
Spend time brainstorming – Brainstorming is an effective way of identifying new concepts and potential solutions that could address an issue

3. Developing Self-Awareness

Have you ever found yourself in a situation and realized afterwards that you haven’t quite handled it the best way? Well, being smart means having the self-awareness to recognize when that’s happened and why.

It’s important to be self-aware. It helps you see your own strengths and weaknesses and set realistic goals for yourself. It leads to greater self-confidence and improved decision-making. And if you fall short of achieving your goals, it can help you stay motivated to continue working hard until you do succeed.

Self-awareness comes from understanding your feelings, needs, beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors basically everything that makes up who you are. To develop it:

Take the time to reflect on yourself think about how your decisions are affecting the people around you and what drives your behavior.
Make an effort to become more aware of how other people perceive you; ask for feedback from trusted peers or mentors.
Identify any negative patterns in thinking or behavior that may be holding you back.
Celebrate successes (no matter how small) and learn from mistakes.
Practice mindfulness exercises such as yoga or meditation.

By developing self-awareness, it will be easier for you to understand what drives your thought processes so that you can make smarter decisions in everything from work tasks to personal relationships.

4. Building Interpersonal Skills

In addition to having a good grasp of facts and knowledge, being smart also means having good interpersonal skills . This can include things such as:

Active listening: being able to understand the conversation that’s going on around you and actively participating in it.
Empathy means being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand their perspective.
Flexibility: being able to adjust your thinking based on changing circumstances or different points of view
Open-Mindedness: Being willing to consider new ideas, approaches, and thoughts before making a decision or forming an opinion.
Problem-Solving: Being able to identify problems and come up with creative solutions quickly and efficiently.
Resilience : being able to bounce back from adversity or setbacks with grace and strength

Good interpersonal skills are essential for success in any field, whether you’re in business, education, or the arts. Smartness isn’t just about memorizing facts; it’s also about knowing how to work with others and get along well in life.

The Advantages of Being Smart

Being smart has lots of advantages you can access new experiences, think more deeply, and find solutions to problems quickly. Here are some of the benefits of having a high IQ or being smart:

“Education is not the learning of the facts, but the training of the mind to think.” Albert Einstein

Having good cognitive skills can make you more successful in school and get better grades, making you eligible for higher-level coursework or advanced degrees. This can open up opportunities for higher-paying jobs with great benefits.

Smart people often have great careers. Smart people are typically more creative and able to solve complex problems, which makes them more desirable candidates for jobs that require creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

Personal Growth.

Smart people tend to be more aware of their own emotions and the emotions of others, which helps them navigate relationships better. They can also be creative when finding solutions to personal problems and obstacles they may face in life.

Ultimately, the advantages of being smart boil down to having a greater understanding of the world around you and being able to use this knowledge to your advantage. Being smarter leads to greater success in school, work, and personal relationships, so it’s worth taking the time to increase your intelligence.

What does it mean to be smart? It means that you are able to think analytically and apply knowledge to solve problems. It also means that you can understand and be aware of the complexities of the world and the people in it.

Being smart doesn’t just mean having a high IQ or excelling in academics. Being smart means being able to understand and find solutions to complex issues, even when there are no right answers.

At its core, intelligence is an incredibly complex and nuanced concept. Being smart is a multifaceted skill set that requires the right combination of knowledge, problem-solving skills, and life experience. Ultimately, the best way to become more intelligent is to continually challenge yourself and strive to understand the world around you.

5 Ways Smart People Sabotage Their Success by Alice Boyes from Harvard Business Review
Can You Make Yourself Smarter? BY Dan Hurely – The New York Times Magazine
What Does It Mean to Be Smart? by Robert J. Sternberg , from ascd.org

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Street Smarts vs. Book Smarts: The Figured World of Smartness in the Lives of Marginalized, Urban Youth

Published: 03 March 2007
Volume 39 , pages 145–166, ( 2007 )

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Beth Hatt 1

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How smartness is defined within schools contributes to low academic achievement by poor and racial/ethnic minority students. Using Holland et al.’s ( 1998 ) [Holland, D., Lachicotte, W., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (Eds.) (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.] concept of “figured worlds,” this paper explores the “figuring” of smartness through the perspectives of marginalized youth. The youth made key distinctions between being book smart vs. street smart. This distinction is a direct challenge by the youth to the dominant discourse of smartness or “book smarts” as it operates in schools. To the youth, “street smarts” are more important because they are connected to being able to maneuver through structures in their lives such as poverty, the police, street culture, and abusive “others.” This distinction is key because street smarts stress agency in countering social structures whereas, for many of the youth, book smarts represented those structures, such as receiving a high school diploma. Implications for schools and pedagogy are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Nuusa Faamoe and all of the youth for allowing me to come into the classroom and learn from their perspectives and stories. George Noblit, Bryan Brayboy, and the anonymous reviewers provided insightful comments and/or feedback, which I appreciate very much.

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Department of Educational Administration and Foundations, Illinois State University, CB#5900, Normal, IL, 61790, USA

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Correspondence to Beth Hatt .

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B.A. earned from Indiana University – Bloomington, Masters and Ph.D. earned from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Beth Hatt Fis an Assistant Professor of Educational Administration and Foundations at Illinois State University where she teaches research methods and social foundations of education. Her current research explores smartness as a cultural construct in schools and the media.

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Hatt, B. Street Smarts vs. Book Smarts: The Figured World of Smartness in the Lives of Marginalized, Urban Youth. Urban Rev 39 , 145–166 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-007-0047-9

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Definition of essay

(Entry 1 of 2)

Definition of essay (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

composition

attempt , try , endeavor , essay , strive mean to make an effort to accomplish an end.

attempt stresses the initiation or beginning of an effort.

try is often close to attempt but may stress effort or experiment made in the hope of testing or proving something.

endeavor heightens the implications of exertion and difficulty.

essay implies difficulty but also suggests tentative trying or experimenting.

strive implies great exertion against great difficulty and specifically suggests persistent effort.

Examples of essay in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'essay.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Middle French essai , ultimately from Late Latin exagium act of weighing, from Latin ex- + agere to drive — more at agent

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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“Essay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/essay. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

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Frequently asked questions

What is an essay.

An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

Frequently asked questions: Writing an essay

For a stronger conclusion paragraph, avoid including:

Important evidence or analysis that wasn’t mentioned in the main body
Generic concluding phrases (e.g. “In conclusion…”)
Weak statements that undermine your argument (e.g. “There are good points on both sides of this issue.”)

Your conclusion should leave the reader with a strong, decisive impression of your work.

Your essay’s conclusion should contain:

A rephrased version of your overall thesis
A brief review of the key points you made in the main body
An indication of why your argument matters

The conclusion may also reflect on the broader implications of your argument, showing how your ideas could applied to other contexts or debates.

The conclusion paragraph of an essay is usually shorter than the introduction . As a rule, it shouldn’t take up more than 10–15% of the text.

The “hook” is the first sentence of your essay introduction . It should lead the reader into your essay, giving a sense of why it’s interesting.

To write a good hook, avoid overly broad statements or long, dense sentences. Try to start with something clear, concise and catchy that will spark your reader’s curiosity.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

Let’s say you’re writing a five-paragraph essay about the environmental impacts of dietary choices. Here are three examples of topic sentences you could use for each of the three body paragraphs :

Research has shown that the meat industry has severe environmental impacts.
However, many plant-based foods are also produced in environmentally damaging ways.
It’s important to consider not only what type of diet we eat, but where our food comes from and how it is produced.

Each of these sentences expresses one main idea – by listing them in order, we can see the overall structure of the essay at a glance. Each paragraph will expand on the topic sentence with relevant detail, evidence, and arguments.

The topic sentence usually comes at the very start of the paragraph .

However, sometimes you might start with a transition sentence to summarize what was discussed in previous paragraphs, followed by the topic sentence that expresses the focus of the current paragraph.

Topic sentences help keep your writing focused and guide the reader through your argument.

In an essay or paper , each paragraph should focus on a single idea. By stating the main idea in the topic sentence, you clarify what the paragraph is about for both yourself and your reader.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

It gives your writing direction and focus.
It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

Ask a question about your topic .
Write your initial answer.
Develop your answer by including reasons.
Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

An essay isn’t just a loose collection of facts and ideas. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument (summarized in your thesis statement ) that every part of the essay relates to.

The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

The vast majority of essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Almost all academic writing involves building up an argument, though other types of essay might be assigned in composition classes.

Essays can present arguments about all kinds of different topics. For example:

In a literary analysis essay, you might make an argument for a specific interpretation of a text
In a history essay, you might present an argument for the importance of a particular event
In a politics essay, you might argue for the validity of a certain political theory

At high school and in composition classes at university, you’ll often be told to write a specific type of essay , but you might also just be given prompts.

Look for keywords in these prompts that suggest a certain approach: The word “explain” suggests you should write an expository essay , while the word “describe” implies a descriptive essay . An argumentative essay might be prompted with the word “assess” or “argue.”

In rhetorical analysis , a claim is something the author wants the audience to believe. A support is the evidence or appeal they use to convince the reader to believe the claim. A warrant is the (often implicit) assumption that links the support with the claim.

Logos appeals to the audience’s reason, building up logical arguments . Ethos appeals to the speaker’s status or authority, making the audience more likely to trust them. Pathos appeals to the emotions, trying to make the audience feel angry or sympathetic, for example.

Collectively, these three appeals are sometimes called the rhetorical triangle . They are central to rhetorical analysis , though a piece of rhetoric might not necessarily use all of them.

The term “text” in a rhetorical analysis essay refers to whatever object you’re analyzing. It’s frequently a piece of writing or a speech, but it doesn’t have to be. For example, you could also treat an advertisement or political cartoon as a text.

The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to explain the effect a piece of writing or oratory has on its audience, how successful it is, and the devices and appeals it uses to achieve its goals.

Unlike a standard argumentative essay , it’s less about taking a position on the arguments presented, and more about exploring how they are constructed.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

If you have to hand in your essay outline , you may be given specific guidelines stating whether you have to use full sentences. If you’re not sure, ask your supervisor.

When writing an essay outline for yourself, the choice is yours. Some students find it helpful to write out their ideas in full sentences, while others prefer to summarize them in short phrases.

You will sometimes be asked to hand in an essay outline before you start writing your essay . Your supervisor wants to see that you have a clear idea of your structure so that writing will go smoothly.

Even when you do not have to hand it in, writing an essay outline is an important part of the writing process . It’s a good idea to write one (as informally as you like) to clarify your structure for yourself whenever you are working on an essay.

Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:

The alternating method, where you compare your subjects side by side according to one specific aspect at a time.
The block method, where you cover each subject separately in its entirety.

It’s also possible to combine both methods, for example by writing a full paragraph on each of your topics and then a final paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric.

Your subjects might be very different or quite similar, but it’s important that there be meaningful grounds for comparison . You can probably describe many differences between a cat and a bicycle, but there isn’t really any connection between them to justify the comparison.

You’ll have to write a thesis statement explaining the central point you want to make in your essay , so be sure to know in advance what connects your subjects and makes them worth comparing.

Some essay prompts include the keywords “compare” and/or “contrast.” In these cases, an essay structured around comparing and contrasting is the appropriate response.

Comparing and contrasting is also a useful approach in all kinds of academic writing : You might compare different studies in a literature review , weigh up different arguments in an argumentative essay , or consider different theoretical approaches in a theoretical framework .

The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

If you’re not given a specific prompt for your descriptive essay , think about places and objects you know well, that you can think of interesting ways to describe, or that have strong personal significance for you.

The best kind of object for a descriptive essay is one specific enough that you can describe its particular features in detail—don’t choose something too vague or general.

If you’re not given much guidance on what your narrative essay should be about, consider the context and scope of the assignment. What kind of story is relevant, interesting, and possible to tell within the word count?

The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to reflect on a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

Don’t worry too much if your topic seems unoriginal. The point of a narrative essay is how you tell the story and the point you make with it, not the subject of the story itself.

Narrative essays are usually assigned as writing exercises at high school or in university composition classes. They may also form part of a university application.

When you are prompted to tell a story about your own life or experiences, a narrative essay is usually the right response.

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

An expository essay is a common assignment in high-school and university composition classes. It might be assigned as coursework, in class, or as part of an exam.

Sometimes you might not be told explicitly to write an expository essay. Look out for prompts containing keywords like “explain” and “define.” An expository essay is usually the right response to these prompts.

An expository essay is a broad form that varies in length according to the scope of the assignment.

Expository essays are often assigned as a writing exercise or as part of an exam, in which case a five-paragraph essay of around 800 words may be appropriate.

You’ll usually be given guidelines regarding length; if you’re not sure, ask.

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127 big fancy words to sound smart and boost your eloquence

Karolina Assi

Everyone wants to sound smart and come across as someone that can express their thoughts eloquently. And even though you might have this fantastic ability in your native language, you may feel limited doing this in English if you’re beginning your journey in expanding your vocabulary with unusual or rarer words.

Fortunately, the English language has thousands of big words that will make you sound instantly more eloquent and knowledgeable.

These words will help you express yourself in a more elegant way by substituting the basic, everyday words with their more fancy synonyms. Learning those “big” words in English is also a great way to impress those around you - whether it’s at school, at work, or during your next date.

To help you take your English vocabulary to the next level, we’re prepared a list of 120+ big words to sound smart, with their meaning and an example of how to use them in context.

The do’s and don'ts of using big words in English

Throwing in a few fancy words into your conversations or monologue is a good idea to sound more eloquent and impress everyone around you.

It’s also a great way to sound smart when you don’t know what to say on a specific topic but want to make a good impression and appear more knowledgeable than you are (like this English student during his literature class ).

But there’s a fine line between using fancy words that truly make you sound eloquent and those that make you sound like you’re trying too hard.

Sometimes, using big words to sound smart may backfire, especially if you don’t really know what they mean. Then, you may end up saying something that makes no sense and leaving everyone in the room perplexed. Plus, using complex words you don’t understand can make you sound pompous - so tread the line between careful and carefree.

Use them only if you truly understand their meaning and know what context to use them in. But don’t use them mindlessly as it will result in an opposite effect to what you intended.

Aside from learning those fancy words and their meaning, another challenge lies in their pronunciation. If you choose those big words that are also hard to pronounce , like “epitome” or “niche,” you might end up saying something that makes everyone laugh (it wouldn’t be such a bad scenario!).

The point is: if you’re going to use fancy words to sound smart, learn their meaning, understand how to use them in context, and practice their pronunciation first.

Big words to sound smart and their meaning

The smartest way of sounding more eloquent when expressing yourself in English is to change basic, everyday words for their fancier versions. For instance, instead of saying “very big,” say “massive.” Instead of saying “detailed.” say “granular,” and instead of saying “not interesting,” say “banal.”

See? Using the word “granular” in a sentence will inevitably add more elegance to your speech and make you appear more fluent and eloquent.

The words we’ve chosen to include in the tables below follow this exact principle. Most of them are just a fancier version of a basic, simple word you’d normally use. Others are words used in a professional or academic setting that simply add more articulacy to your statement.

Fancy words you can use at work

The question isn’t whether you should learn a couple of fancy words you can use at work to impress your boss and coworkers. The question is, how do you use them without coming across as a pompous know-it-all, irritating everyone around you?

Well, it’s all about using them wisely. Don’t cram 10 fancy words into a simple sentence just to sound smarter. Only use them when they help you get your message across. If they don’t bring any value to your sentence, simply don’t use them.

In other words - don’t force it! Be natural.

With that said, here are some big words you can use at work.

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Clever words you might use academically

The academic setting does not only encourage you to sound smart. It forces you to. To get higher grades and convince your professors of your knowledge and eloquence, you need to elevate your vocabulary.

Whether it’s in written or spoken assignments, these words will help you express yourself in a more intelligent and elegant way while impressing your colleagues and professors.

Big interesting words you might use socially

Being the smartest person among your friends is surely a great boost for your ego. It can help you gain their approval, receive compliments, and maybe even get a date or two while hanging out at the bar with your friends.

But the other side of the coin is that using overly sophisticated words in a casual, social setting can make you appear pretentious and out of place. That’s why you need to be careful and not overdo it! If you do, you might only end up humiliating yourself, and that’s a terrible place to be in.

Here are 20+ big words in English you can use in social situations with their meaning and an example of a sentence you could say.

Impressive words you might use romantically

Even if you’re not a very romantic person, some occasions require a bit of romanticism. Using elegant words in your expressions of love and affection can make your romantic conversations and gestures more special and memorable.

Still, don’t use big words if you don’t mean them! You should always be sincere and genuine in your expressions. Remember that words hold tremendous power in inspiring emotions in those who receive them.

With that said, here are 30 big words you can use in a romantic setting to express your love and affection for your significant other or to take your relationship with the person you’re currently dating to the next level (congrats!).

Sophisticated words you might use when discussing art and literature

Are you an art or literature? These two areas often require eloquent vocabulary to describe them. At least, that is the sort of language that people expect to hear from someone who’s an avid reader and art connoisseur.

You might want to express how the allegory in that poem made you feel or the way the plot of the book has enthralled you to keep reading but lack the right words to do it. If so, here’s a list of 20+ words you can use to talk about art and literature in different contexts.

Fancy words you might use when talking about your hobbies

When talking about our hobbies, we want to come across as more knowledgeable than others. After all, they’re our special interests, and we naturally possess a greater deal of expertise in these areas.

Whether you’re into literature, movies, or sports, here are some fancy words you can use to describe your interests.

Make the Thesaurus your new best friend

In this article, we’ve only covered 126 big words. Understandably, we can’t include all the fancy words you might need in one article. There are simply too many!

But luckily, there’s a free online tool you can use to find the synonyms of everyday words to expand your vocabulary and make yourself sound smarter.

Can you take a guess?

That’s right - it’s the online Thesaurus . You’ve surely heard about it from your English teacher, but in case you haven’t, Thesaurus is a dictionary of synonyms and related concepts. It’s a great way to find synonyms of different words to spice up your oral or written statements and avoid repeating the same old boring words time and time again.

Choose your words wisely

Whether you’re using simple, everyday words in casual conversations or those big, fancy words in a professional or academic environment, remember one thing: words have power.

They’re spells that you cast (there’s a reason why it’s called “spelling”) onto yourself and those who you speak them to. The words you speak inspire emotions and shape how other people perceive you. But they also influence your own emotions and shape how you perceive yourself.

So choose them wisely.

Learn more about the fascinating English language on our English language blog here.

January 31, 2024

15 of the longest words in English and how to pronounce them

May 23, 2023

127 business English phrases for great business conversations

January 31, 2023

252 of the hardest English words to pronounce and spell

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Meaning of essay in English

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I want to finish off this essay before I go to bed .
His essay was full of spelling errors .
Have you given that essay in yet ?
Have you handed in your history essay yet ?
I'd like to discuss the first point in your essay.
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composition
dissertation
essay question
peer review
go after someone
go all out idiom
go down swinging/fighting idiom
go for it idiom
go for someone
shoot the works idiom
smarten (someone/something) up
smarten up your act idiom
square the circle idiom
step on the gas idiom

essay | American Dictionary

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to be so busy that you do not have time to do anything else

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What is the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse?

It almost time! Millions of Americans across the country Monday are preparing to witness the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse as it passes over portions of Mexico, the United States and Canada.

It's a sight to behold and people have now long been eagerly awaiting what will be their only chance until 2044 to witness totality, whereby the moon will completely block the sun's disc, ushering in uncharacteristic darkness.

That being said, many are curious on what makes the solar eclipse special and how is it different from a lunar eclipse.

The total solar eclipse is today: Get the latest forecast and everything you need to know

What is an eclipse?

An eclipse occurs when any celestial object like a moon or a planet passes between two other bodies, obscuring the view of objects like the sun, according to NASA .

What is a solar eclipse?

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon comes in between the Earth and the sun, blocking its light from reaching our planet, leading to a period of darkness lasting several minutes. The resulting "totality," whereby observers can see the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere, known as the corona, presents a spectacular sight for viewers and confuses animals – causing nocturnal creatures to stir and bird and insects to fall silent.

Partial eclipses, when some part of the sun remains visible, are the most common, making total eclipses a rare sight.

What is a lunar eclipse?

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon and the sun are on exact opposite sides of Earth. When this happens, Earth blocks the sunlight that normally reaches the moon. Instead of that sunlight hitting the moon’s surface, Earth's shadow falls on it.

Lunar eclipses are often also referred to the "blood moon" because when the Earth's shadow covers the moon, it often produces a red color. The coloration happens because a bit of reddish sunlight still reaches the moon's surface, even though it's in Earth's shadow.

Difference between lunar eclipse and solar eclipse

The major difference between the two eclipses is in the positioning of the sun, the moon and the Earth and the longevity of the phenomenon, according to NASA.

A lunar eclipse can last for a few hours, while a solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes. Solar eclipses also rarely occur, while lunar eclipses are comparatively more frequent. While at least two partial lunar eclipses happen every year, total lunar eclipses are still rare, says NASA.

Another major difference between the two is that for lunar eclipses, no special glasses or gizmos are needed to view the spectacle and one can directly stare at the moon. However, for solar eclipses, it is pertinent to wear proper viewing glasses and take the necessary safety precautions because the powerful rays of the sun can burn and damage your retinas.

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era

She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

Author Interviews

Legendary editor marty baron describes his 'collision of power' with trump and bezos.

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

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Making Sense of Smartness in the Context of Smart Devices and Smart
Careless usage of the term smart in today's world leads to wondering whether it means anything beyond involving a currently impressive application of IT. This paper characterizes smart and smartness in relation to describing, analyzing, and designing smart devices and systems. Examples of nominally smart devices and systems and principles that support thinking about smartness lead to a ...
How to Set SMART Writing Goals for 2024
A Few Examples of SMART Writing Goals. And here are some examples of draft goals or resolutions that would fit within the SMART framework: "I will finish my novel manuscript by the end of the year.". "I'll set aside 15 minutes in the morning to write, at least 5 days a week.". "I'll have an outline of my memoir completed by July 1
How to write SMART goals (with examples)
This approach eliminates generalities and guesswork, sets a clear timeline, and makes it easier to track progress and identify missed milestones. An example of a SMART-goal statement might look like this: Our goal is to [quantifiable objective] by [timeframe or deadline]. [Key players or teams] will accomplish this goal by [what steps you'll ...
How To Write SMART Goals in 5 Steps (With Examples)
The SMART Goals image shows the acronym SMART down the left side of the image. Next to each letter is the word that correlates to each letter and the definition of each part. On the right side of the image are simple icons of a target, a sheet of paper and an arrow, a mountain scene with a flag, a pencil with a checkmark and squiggles, and a ...
How to write SMART goals, with examples
SMART is an acronym that you can use to guide your goal setting. To make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be: S pecific (simple, sensible, significant). M easurable (meaningful, motivating). A chievable (agreed, attainable). R elevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
SMART Goals and Objectives: Definition, Characteristics ...
The SMART framework defines goals and objectives clearly and practically, making them more actionable and increasing the likelihood of success. SMART is an acronym that stands for SMART goal and is used to help in goal setting. In this modern, technology-driven world, one of the most widely used words is "SMART.".
Smart Definition & Meaning
How to use smart in a sentence. having or showing a high degree of mental ability : intelligent, bright; witty, clever; rude or impolite in a bold and disrespectful way… See the full definition
What Smart Really Is
Source: Ian Schneider/Unsplash. In today's society, being smart is usually associated with measures such as IQ ( Intelligence quotient ), EQ ( emotional intelligence quotient) or some similar way ...
The SMART Goal-Setting Process
SMART goal-setting was first introduced by Dr. Edwin Locke in the 1960s (Griffin, 2017). According to Locke, setting goals that fit into the SMART criteria provided motivation and empowerment to people, which was crucial to ensure that the goals are achieved (Griffin, 2017). Today, SMART criteria are applied to the goal-setting process in many ...
What are SMART Goals in Performance Management?
SMART goals can be part of your performance management process as a way to: Create transparency. Motivate employees. Improve performance. Measure progress. Gauge overall performance. Let's take a closer look at the SMART method of goal setting and how it can be used in performance management.
Writing SMART Learning Objectives & Outcomes (with Examples)
The SMART framework breaks down learning objectives into five key characteristics: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Each characteristic plays a pivotal role in creating a comprehensive learning goal that is practical, attainable, and aligned with overall educational targets.
The Significance of SMART Goals: [Essay Example], 629 words
Definition and Explanation of SMART Goals. SMART goals are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Specific goals are clear and well-defined, measurable goals track progress, achievable goals are realistic, relevant goals align with one's values and aspirations, and time-bound goals have a set deadline for ...
"What Is an Academic Essay?"
Overview (a.k.a. TLDR) Different professors define the academic essay differently. Common elements: Thesis (main point) Supporting evidence (properly cited) Counterarguments Your academic essay is knowledge that you create for the learning community of which you're a member (a.k.a. the academy). Discussion As a student in Core classes, especially in COR 102, you can expect that ...
What Does It Mean to Be Smart: A Comprehensive Explanation
Being smart is more than just having a good grade point average or a high IQ score. It's about being able to think critically, solve problems, and make sound decisions. Being smart means understanding the world around you and embracing the power of learning new things. Having a high IQ score or being academically successful is certainly part ...
Street Smarts vs. Book Smarts: The Figured World of ...
How smartness is defined within schools contributes to low academic achievement by poor and racial/ethnic minority students. Using Holland et al.'s (1998) [Holland, D., Lachicotte, W., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (Eds.) (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.] concept of "figured worlds," this paper explores the "figuring" of smartness ...
Smart Work and Hard Work: Definitions, Differences and Tips
Many professionals use a mix of smart work and hard work to complete quality work within deadlines. The ability to balance working smart and working hard is a valuable skill that can help you excel professionally. In this article, we define working smart and working hard, explain the differences between the two and provide tips for working smart.
SMART Goal Essay
A plan to further my professional development beyond MGMT1001 through the establishment of improved SMART goals. This analysis will be utilized in order to identify key characteristics to facilitate growth throughout my time at the university and within the professional workforce. 1. Self-reflection.
Essay Definition & Meaning
The meaning of ESSAY is an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view. How to use essay in a sentence. ... — Jack Smart, ... Share the Definition of essay on Twitter Twitter. Kids Definition. essay. 1 of 2 verb. es· say e-ˈsā ˈes-ˌā
What is an essay?
An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates. In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills. Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative: you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence ...
Essay
essay, an analytic, interpretative, or critical literary composition usually much shorter and less systematic and formal than a dissertation or thesis and usually dealing with its subject from a limited and often personal point of view. Some early treatises—such as those of Cicero on the pleasantness of old age or on the art of "divination ...
Big words to sound smart: 127 fancy words to boost eloquence
Big words to sound smart and their meaning. The smartest way of sounding more eloquent when expressing yourself in English is to change basic, everyday words for their fancier versions. For instance, instead of saying "very big," say "massive.". Instead of saying "detailed." say "granular," and instead of saying "not ...
ESSAY
ESSAY definition: 1. a short piece of writing on a particular subject, especially one done by students as part of the…. Learn more.
Solar vs. lunar eclipse: The different types of eclipses, explained
The major difference between the solar eclipse and the lunar eclipse is the positioning of the sun, the moon and the earth, according to NASA.
Smart City Essay for Students and Children in English
February 13, 2024 by Prasanna. Essay on Smart City: Smart cities are defined as the concept of rapid urbanization and its contribution to the development and improvement of socio-economic activities of the society. The idea of smart cities requires some specific elements and highlights some models of implemented smart solutions in the world.
NPR responds after editor says it has 'lost America's trust' : NPR
Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in ...
An NPR editor who wrote a critical essay on the company has ...
NEW YORK (AP) — A National Public Radio editor who wrote an essay criticizing his employer for promoting liberal views resigned on Wednesday, a day after it was revealed that he had been suspended.