Before you construct an essay, you must have the proper materials. Proper grammar is an essential building block for all writing. Sing along as "Grammar Rock" helps strengthen your foundation in the rules of English language use.

The written word can create worlds, incite wars, cause laughter, or make tears flow.

The written word can impress. Consider the following love notes from two different wooers:

• "You are really good looking, and I like the way you smile."

• "Venus, goddess of beauty, curses the day you were born. Your eyes make sapphires lusterless, and when you smile I feel as if knighted by a queen."

We are all expected to write. But unlike mastery of spoken language, which comes naturally to most people, mastery of the written word proves a struggle for many.

The author of books, essays, and lectures, Henry Louis Gates is one of America's premier cultural commentators. He incorporates the essential elements of great writing. Take a look at an excerpt from one of his works to learn from a master of the written word.

The purpose of this program is to make the writing process simpler and a lot more fun.

Language Arts Workshop begins by reviewing parts of speech and how the essential elements of language build upon each other to create sentences, paragraphs, and finished essays. Along the way, the program covers a panoply (look that word up in the focus about the dictionary) of writing topics, such as how to keep a proper journal, the nuances of persuasive language, and the correct use of the apostrophe. You'll also find exemplary models of essays.

You'll be asked to write, rewrite, learn something new, and rewrite again. Many sections of the program end with a writing workshop where pieces can be created and stored. There, opportunities to work and rework your pieces emphasize the recursive (step-by-step) nature of writing.

But wait — there's more! (Including pages dedicated to the proper use of exclamation points!) There are games, interactive exercises, Jimi Hendrix, dead parrots, and the chance for you to share your writing with the rest of the world. And don't forget websites — lots of websites. Links to over 1,000 writing-focused websites let you examine the writing of others and learn how to make your own writing more powerful.

Good writing involves much more than putting pen to paper. From gathering ideas to the final polishing, there is a step-by-step process that all essayists follow. Different instructors call the stages different names, but no matter what they are called, the core process writing steps remain the same: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

Is writing important? Without a doubt. Good writing generally leads to good grades. Out in the real world, good, careful writing can help you get good job. "Mistakes in your resume will cost you the opportunity to advance in the employment process." So says Fortune magazine.

Even an online instant message can be more powerful with the use of strong writing.

Very few people find writing easy. The craft takes practice, patience, and discipline. Think you have the "write" stuff? All right, then — let's get started.

1. Basically Speaking: Language Arts Rudiments
   1. Nouns: Just One of Those Things
   2. Verbs: Get Moving and Just "Be"
   3. Adjectives: More Info, Please!
   4. Adverbs -- Really!
   5. Pronouns: Give It a Rest!
   6. Conjunctions: Putting It Together
   7. Prepositions: Little Things Mean a Lot
   8. Spelling -- It's Not So Tuf
   9. The Dictionary: Word Up
   10. The Thesaurus
2. Going Steady: Conjugation and Agreement
   1. Subject-Verb Agreement
   2. Antecedents: Pronouns and Verbs
   3. Shifts:Tense and Voice
   4. Collective Nouns as Subjects
   5. Case of Nouns and Pronouns
3. Have You Seen My Keys? Unlocking Sentences
   1. Sentence Patterns
   2. Simple Sentences
   3. Compound Sentences
   4. Complex Sentences
   5. Parallel Structure
   6. Phrases and Clauses
   7. Fragments and Run-on Sentences
   8. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
4. "Halt! Who Goes There?": Using Punctuation
   1. The Period
   2. The Comma
   3. Exclamation Points! And Question Marks?
   4. The Semicolon
   5. The Colon
   6. Quotation Marks
   7. Dashes and Slashes
   8. Apostrophes: Plurals versus Possessives
5. Step by Step: Writing as a Process -- Why Write?
   1. Process Writing Steps
   2. Defining Purposes for Writing
   3. Prewriting
   4. Organizing Your Thoughts
   5. Drafting
   6. Revision
   7. Editing
   8. Publishing
6. Where Do I Begin? Research Strategies
   1. Premise of Research
   2. Tools for Research
   3. Cyberspace: Using the Internet for Research
   4. Gathering Material and Keeping Track
   5. Citations
7. I Need Your Support! The Art of the Paragraph
   1. Introductions and Conclusions
   2. Topic Sentences
   3. Support Sentences
   4. Details, Details, Details
   5. Transitions between Sentences
   6. Paragraph Structure
   7. Transitions between Paragraphs
8. To Whom It May Concern: Considering Audience
   1. Defining the Audience
   2. Journals
   3. Freewriting
   4. Choosing the Appropriate Structure
   5. Usage, Diction, and Word Choice
9. The House of Style
   1. What Is Mood?
   2. What Is Tone?
   3. What Style Is Appropriate?
   4. Analyzing Your Own Style
10. Construction Zone: Drafting and Revising
    1. Revising, Editing, and Proofing
    2. Confusable Words
    3. Titles
11. The Power of Literature
    1. How Authors Choose Language
    2. Novel Structure
    3. The Literary Essay
    4. Literary Symbols
12. Story Time: Narrative Writing
    1. Writing to Express Yourself
    2. Using Descriptive Language
    3. Telling About Setting
    4. Dialogue
13. Expository Essays: Behind the Words
    1. Thesis Statements
    2. Comparison
    3. Definition and Classification
    4. Process Essays
    5. Cause and Effect
    6. Rubrics: Judging Essays
14. Prove It: Persuasive Writing
    1. Forms of Persuasion
    2. Persuasive Technique
    3. Persuasive Language
    4. Specifics and Generalizations
    5. Propaganda