What does it take to write a good essay? This book covers the basics of grammar, sentence construction, and paragraphs, and then outlines how to plan and write an essay. You will find writing prompts, vocabulary lists, and editing exercises (with suggested answers).

This text was written to accompany the online course of the same name, the first of two courses offered by College Writing Programs of the University of California, Berkeley through edX.org. For students in the course, this book offers additional ways to practice writing, editing, and reviewing the materials. However, the materials here are independent of the course, and function as an effective study of the essay writing process.