I finally transferred a bunch of old credits and enrolled in a local college. I'm only two semesters away from my B.A. in communications! But getting to this point wasn't easy. I was super stressed about the slew of essays and PR, marketing, and promo materials I'd have to write.

My professor was reassuring. She told me that the point of writing essays is to teach me to clarify ideas, analyze source material, and develop critical judgment. It's the key to confidence and success in the classroom, in the workplace, and in my life.

Then she mentioned Grammarly. It's not just a glorified spell-checker, she said, but a sophisticated AI-powered writing assistant helping both novice writers and professionals alike compose clear, engaging, mistake-free writing.

Grammarly catches run-on sentences, checks grammar and punctuation, offers suggestions for clarity and conciseness—and, yes, it does check spelling. But the features don't stop there. Grammarly can also suggest restructuring long run-on sentences, flag the passive voice, and so much more.

I had to admit it sounded good. And when my professor told me there's a free version to download that I could use with Microsoft Word, I was sold.

I downloaded Grammarly's desktop app, the Grammarly browser extension, and the Grammarly Keyboard on my mobile device. In all these product offerings except the Grammarly Keyboard, I can set writing goals tailored to my needs. Some of these customizable goals include audience (general, knowledgeable, or expert) and formality (informal, neutral, or formal). As a student going into communications, this is a game-changer: I can shift my writing easily from an academic audience for an essay to a professional audience for a business email or a press release.

Grammarly was so excellent that after two weeks, I upgraded to Grammarly Premium. Premium includes advanced features and suggestions such as a plagiarism checker, clarity-focused sentence rewrites, fluency suggestions, and a tone detector that helps my writing come across just as I intend.

Grammarlytakes care of the details while I focus on shaping, polishing, and perfecting my essays.

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Here are a few top tips for essay writing with Grammarly:

1. Don't skimp on brainstorming.

Collect your thoughts before you begin writing. Generate as many thesis ideas that are potentially pertinent to your essay. Outline the piece, collect evidence, identify, organize, and select only the themes that support your essay's structure.

2. Embrace the first draft.

After preparing your content, it's time to roll up your sleeves and churn out the first draft. Remember that this is your first draft, not your final draft, so you can give yourself the freedom to make mistakes.

3. Seek out another pair of eyes.

After focusing intently on a topic for hours, it's easy to lose your perspective. That's why it's a smart idea to share your writing with someone else before sending it to a teacher, editor, or colleague. A fresh perspective can illuminate things you've missed or that require elaboration. If you don't have a buddy who'll give it a quick read-through, close the doc, take a break, and pick it up the next morning.

4. Revise with care.

Pay attention to both word choice and clarity. Remove common mistakes such as run-on sentences, fragments, the passive voice, and word redundancies. (This is where Grammarly helps—I wasn't aware of how often I used to use really, actually, and great.) I've also found that during this stage, Grammarly helps me hone my writing and ensure my sentences are clear and concise.

5. Proofread.

When it's time for the final polish, Grammarly examines formatting issues, catches grammatical mistakes, and helps you tighten up loose ends by flagging misspelled words.

It's a fact: Our writing says a lot about us—which means that when our writing is honed and professional, it can go a long way. Whether it's in polishing an essay or writing a cover letter, Grammarlyhelps writers present their best—and most persuasive—selves to the world.

If you want to start writing like a pro, I'd highly recommend Grammarly.


Start writing like a pro today: Click this link now to try Grammarly for free!



I finally transferred a bunch of old credits and enrolled in a local college. I'm only two semesters away from my B.A. in communications! But getting to this point wasn't easy. I was super stressed about the slew of essays and PR, marketing, and promo materials I'd have to write.

My professor was reassuring. She told me that the point of writing essays is to teach me to clarify ideas, analyze source material, and develop critical judgment. It's the key to confidence and success in the classroom, in the workplace, and in my life.

Then she mentioned Grammarly. It's not just a glorified spell-checker, she said, but a sophisticated AI-powered writing assistant helping both novice writers and professionals alike compose clear, engaging, mistake-free writing.

Grammarly catches run-on sentences, checks grammar and punctuation, offers suggestions for clarity and conciseness—and, yes, it does check spelling. But the features don't stop there. Grammarly can also suggest restructuring long run-on sentences, flag the passive voice, and so much more.

I had to admit it sounded good. And when my professor told me there's a free version to download that I could use with Microsoft Word, I was sold.

I downloaded Grammarly's desktop app, the Grammarly browser extension, and the Grammarly Keyboard on my mobile device. In all these product offerings except the Grammarly Keyboard, I can set writing goals tailored to my needs. Some of these customizable goals include audience (general, knowledgeable, or expert) and formality (informal, neutral, or formal). As a student going into communications, this is a game-changer: I can shift my writing easily from an academic audience for an essay to a professional audience for a business email or a press release.

Grammarly was so excellent that after two weeks, I upgraded to Grammarly Premium. Premium includes advanced features and suggestions such as a plagiarism checker, clarity-focused sentence rewrites, fluency suggestions, and a tone detector that helps my writing come across just as I intend.

Grammarlytakes care of the details while I focus on shaping, polishing, and perfecting my essays.

Here are a few top tips for essay writing with Grammarly:

1. Don't skimp on brainstorming.

Collect your thoughts before you begin writing. Generate as many thesis ideas that are potentially pertinent to your essay. Outline the piece, collect evidence, identify, organize, and select only the themes that support your essay's structure.

2. Embrace the first draft.

After preparing your content, it's time to roll up your sleeves and churn out the first draft. Remember that this is your first draft, not your final draft, so you can give yourself the freedom to make mistakes.

3. Seek out another pair of eyes.

After focusing intently on a topic for hours, it's easy to lose your perspective. That's why it's a smart idea to share your writing with someone else before sending it to a teacher, editor, or colleague. A fresh perspective can illuminate things you've missed or that require elaboration. If you don't have a buddy who'll give it a quick read-through, close the doc, take a break, and pick it up the next morning.

4. Revise with care.

Pay attention to both word choice and clarity. Remove common mistakes such as run-on sentences, fragments, the passive voice, and word redundancies. (This is where Grammarly helps—I wasn't aware of how often I used to use really, actually, and great.) I've also found that during this stage, Grammarly helps me hone my writing and ensure my sentences are clear and concise.

5. Proofread.

When it's time for the final polish, Grammarly examines formatting issues, catches grammatical mistakes, and helps you tighten up loose ends by flagging misspelled words.

It's a fact: Our writing says a lot about us—which means that when our writing is honed and professional, it can go a long way. Whether it's in polishing an essay or writing a cover letter, Grammarlyhelps writers present their best—and most persuasive—selves to the world.

If you want to start writing like a pro, I'd highly recommend Grammarly.


Start writing like a pro today: Click this link now to try Grammarly for free!

I finally transferred a bunch of old credits and enrolled in a local college. I'm only two semesters away from my B.A. in communications! But getting to this point wasn't easy. I was super stressed about the slew of essays and PR, marketing, and promo materials I'd have to write.

My professor was reassuring. She told me that the point of writing essays is to teach me to clarify ideas, analyze source material, and develop critical judgment. It's the key to confidence and success in the classroom, in the workplace, and in my life.

Then she mentioned Grammarly. It's not just a glorified spell-checker, she said, but a sophisticated AI-powered writing assistant helping both novice writers and professionals alike compose clear, engaging, mistake-free writing.

Grammarly catches run-on sentences, checks grammar and punctuation, offers suggestions for clarity and conciseness—and, yes, it does check spelling. But the features don't stop there. Grammarly can also suggest restructuring long run-on sentences, flag the passive voice, and so much more.

I had to admit it sounded good. And when my professor told me there's a free version to download that I could use with Microsoft Word, I was sold.

I downloaded Grammarly's desktop app, the Grammarly browser extension, and the Grammarly Keyboard on my mobile device. In all these product offerings except the Grammarly Keyboard, I can set writing goals tailored to my needs. Some of these customizable goals include audience (general, knowledgeable, or expert) and formality (informal, neutral, or formal). As a student going into communications, this is a game-changer: I can shift my writing easily from an academic audience for an essay to a professional audience for a business email or a press release.

Grammarly was so excellent that after two weeks, I upgraded to Grammarly Premium. Premium includes advanced features and suggestions such as a plagiarism checker, clarity-focused sentence rewrites, fluency suggestions, and a tone detector that helps my writing come across just as I intend.

Grammarlytakes care of the details while I focus on shaping, polishing, and perfecting my essays.

Here are a few top tips for essay writing with Grammarly:

1. Don't skimp on brainstorming.

Collect your thoughts before you begin writing. Generate as many thesis ideas that are potentially pertinent to your essay. Outline the piece, collect evidence, identify, organize, and select only the themes that support your essay's structure.

2. Embrace the first draft.

After preparing your content, it's time to roll up your sleeves and churn out the first draft. Remember that this is your first draft, not your final draft, so you can give yourself the freedom to make mistakes.

3. Seek out another pair of eyes.

After focusing intently on a topic for hours, it's easy to lose your perspective. That's why it's a smart idea to share your writing with someone else before sending it to a teacher, editor, or colleague. A fresh perspective can illuminate things you've missed or that require elaboration. If you don't have a buddy who'll give it a quick read-through, close the doc, take a break, and pick it up the next morning.

4. Revise with care.

Pay attention to both word choice and clarity. Remove common mistakes such as run-on sentences, fragments, the passive voice, and word redundancies. (This is where Grammarly helps—I wasn't aware of how often I used to use really, actually, and great.) I've also found that during this stage, Grammarly helps me hone my writing and ensure my sentences are clear and concise.

5. Proofread.

When it's time for the final polish, Grammarly examines formatting issues, catches grammatical mistakes, and helps you tighten up loose ends by flagging misspelled words.

It's a fact: Our writing says a lot about us—which means that when our writing is honed and professional, it can go a long way. Whether it's in polishing an essay or writing a cover letter, Grammarlyhelps writers present their best—and most persuasive—selves to the world.

If you want to start writing like a pro, I'd highly recommend Grammarly.


Start writing like a pro today: Click this link now to try Grammarly for free!

MUSIC

RELEASE RADAR | New Video from Molly Chapman

Plus Premieres from Devin Kennedy, Elle Belle, and Oshima Brothers

Turn on the tunes and pour the bubbly, it's finally time for the weekend!

RELEASE RADAR is here to give you the breakdown of your top singles, albums, and videos to check out as you head into your weekend. Get ready to jam out with some of our favorite up-and-coming artists, plus celebrate new stuff from those you already know and love.

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Oscars 2018 Preview: Best Picture

Get Caught Up on This Year's Nominees

Call Me by Your Name Movie Clip - Dance Party (2017) | Movieclips Indie

Yesterday the Academy revealed their nominees for the 2018 Oscars. In case you're not caught up, here's Popdust's previews of the Best Picture candidates:


The Phantom Thread

It's been a decade since the Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Day-Lewis and Johnny Greenwood dream team got together to make a film, and while The Phantom Thread may not be quite as seismic as There Will Be Blood, it's made with just as much quality and finesse. Methodical, detailed, and imbued with significance in every smallest moment of run time, it's also the film that pushed Day-Lewis to retire from acting, which makes The Phantom Thread worth watching on two fronts. For a more in-depth look, check out my review.


Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

For my money, Martin McDonagh is one of Europe's most talented dramatists alive today. Three Billboards plays like a stage show—small scale, modest production value, dialogue-driven, etc—and possesses the qualities of McDonagh's best works: icky moral dilemmas, harsh characters, every variation on sh*t, piss and c*nt. Perhaps no other film this year is as tightly written.


The Shape of Water

Not since Beauty and the Beast itself has a film concerning bestiality (or whatever the monster version of that term would be) garnered so much critical acclaim as The Shape of Water. Like much of Guillermo del Toro's work, Water is beautifully colored and shot, but lacks depth in its writing. In spite of an emotional climax that amounts to the sort of "he loves me for who I really am" sentiment most common to teenage dramas and rom-coms, The Shape of Water has been reeling in praise and Critics' Choice Awards. Plus, the monster character looks a lot like an Oscar statue up close, so that bodes well.


Lady Bird

In tone and style, Greta Gerwig may be the closest equivalent to Woody Allen for the millennial generation. The character of Lady Bird, played by Saiorse Ronan, feels like a culmination of all the other pseudo-Gerwig protagonists of past films—Mistress America and Maggie's Plan come to mind—and the story a culmination of that character. It's also really funny.


Get Out

I remember listening to the October 29, 2013 episode of Pete Holmes' podcast, when Jordan Peele, his featured guest, mentioned a script he was working out: a sort of comedy-horror film called 'Get Out'. He played it off as being early-stage and, frankly, I wasn't too interested in a movie with such a bland title from the Key & Peele guy. Evidently, I did a misread. Get Out isn't perfect—the acting is fine, it's (intentionally) corny, and it plays the Easter eggs meta-game with little regard for subtlety (He drives a Lincoln? Just hammer it into my skull why don't you?). But its concept is, basically, perfect—unique, hilarious, social commentary turned on its head—which is particularly refreshing in our age of sequels, revivals and rehashes. There's also never been a movie more suited to its cultural moment.


Dunkirk

Dunkirk is another pique Christopher Nolan picture—heavy, shot in expensive film, meant for only the largest of IMAX theaters. Its subject—the battles at Dunkirk during the Second World War—is so significant in 20th century history that it's surprising how few films have gone there before. Most importantly, in addition to all the other young British actors you can think of, it non-ironically features Harry Styles in a dramatic role.


The Post

If every Hollywood movie ever made had a group baby together, it might look something like The Post. The product of three of the industry's most accomplished and least objectionable figures—Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg—with a current events tie-in and leftist political appeal, The Post may just be the most normal movie ever made, for better and for worse.


Darkest Hour

Faced with the fate of his nation—whether to fight or surrender to the seemingly unstoppable Nazi Blitzkreig—Winston Churchill steps out of his private car on the way to Parliament, and takes the Tube for the first time in his life. Of course, no single bit of this sequence occurred in real life, but even as you're sitting knowing that, the pure emotion of the scene compels you to just let it happen. Such is the tension of Darkest Hour: it's Hollywood-ization without remorse, though the product itself is a terribly compelling drama.


Call Me By Your Name

Starring the point guard of this author's middle school Safe Haven basketball team, Call Me By Your Name is beautifully deep and uncomplicated. Much more compelling than what the film is actually about—a teen summer romance, queerness, coming-of-age—is how it handles the minute-to-minute interactions and shifts in its characters. For more, read my review here.


For continuing Oscars coverage, stay tuned for Popdust's predictions and review of the show.