Anatomy of an Essay: Instructions and Readings

Todd Scott Moffett received his MFA in creative writing (fiction) from Eastern Washington University in 1989 and his BA in English from University of California, Irvine, in 1985. After working as a story editor for a production company in Hollywood and as a part-time instructor of English at Spokane Community College and UNLV, he managed the Writing Center at the College of Southern Nevada for eleven years and transitioned to a professorship in the English Department, where he has taught composition, creative writing, and literature since 2005. He has coedited a collection of short stories, In the Shadow of the Strip, and two composition textbooks, Red Rock Reader and Anatomy of an Essay. He has cowritten The Everything Writing Poetry Book, and written a grammar textbook, Reel Grammar. He has also published a number of poems, short stories, and journal articles, three of the latter being studies of character archetypes in literature. He has also self-published a number of fantasy novels and a series of fantasy baseball yearbooks. Originally from California, he currently lives in the desert southwest with his wife, Tina.

Tina D. Eliopulos is a Professor of English at College of Southern Nevada, where she has taught composition, literature, and creative writing for three decades. In 1990 she received her MFA in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University, where she studied under Ursula Hegi (thesis advisor), John Keeble, and Gillian Conoley. Prior to that, in 1987, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English (technical writing emphasis) from Boise State University. Early in her writing career she worked for a construction firm assisting in proposal writing; later, she served as both fiction and poetry editor for Red Rock Review. While with the journal, she published interviews with Alberto Ríos and Dorianne Laux. Tina has co-edited a collection of short stories about Las Vegas, In the Shadow of the Strip, and co-edited and co-written books on writing poetry and nonfiction, The Everything Poetry Book, Red Rock Reader, and Anatomy of an Essay. She has assisted multiple writers develop and edit book-length works of poetry, fiction, memoir, and creative non-fiction. Professionally, she is proudest of her classroom efforts to teach students about the writing process and its ability to give voice to their perspectives and strengthen their understanding of themselves and their community. Personally, her early life began roaming the west as a construction brat with her parents and brother, living in small communities in Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. New adventures have led her to the desert where she remains. When not teaching, editing or reading, she enjoys walks with her dog Winnie, exploring Las Vegas beyond the Strip, consuming Brit Box and Acorn mysteries, and listening to her husband talk about fantasy baseball stats (someone must).