Tutor profile: Gabrielle R.

How might you improve the following claim written for an argumentative essay? Antidepressants are effective at treating depression.

The claim is indeed argumentative. However, the claim is somewhat vague. To improve, consider adding specific sub-claims, sometimes referred to as reasons, to outline for your reader what to expect in the rest of the essay. The writer can add a "because" in order to add the sub-claims: Antidepressants are effective at treating depression because x, y, and z. Antidepressants are effective at treating depression because they are prescribed by a medical doctor, they are safe and approved by the FDA, and because they can be adjusted depending upon the patient's needs.

What are two key poetic elements used by the poet in the following couplet from Ezra Pound? The apparition of these faces in the crowd: Petals on a wet, black bough.

Imagery is the strongest poetic element in the couplet from Pound. Imagery is the use of descriptive language to create not only an image but a feeling in the reader. The word "apparition" creates a sense of the ethereal, as the image connotes transparency and other-worldliness. The faces in the crowd take on a quality that is somehow both human and beyond human. In the second line, the reader understands metaphor, that the faces, because they are not quite solid, appear as "petals," standing apart from the stark tree bark. The lines create a haunting metaphor and a stark image in the mind of the reader.

In the following sentence, what grammar errors do you see? She go to the store she likes to shop.

The errors are, first, an issue with subject-verb agreement. Subjects and verbs must agree in number. Singular subjects work with singular verb forms, and plural subjects work with plural verb forms. In this sentence, the subject (She) is singular, but the verb form chosen (go) is a plural verb form. To correct the error, use the plural form of "go" which is: goes. The second error is a run-on sentence. A run-on sentence occurs when you put two full sentences together without appropriate wording and/or punctuation to hold them together. Each sentence must have a subject, verb, and predicate. In the above, there are two subjects, "she" and "she," two main verbs "go." This means there are two sentences together. To fix the error, let each sentence stand on its own by using a period after the first sentence. She goes to the store. She likes to shop.