formal essay
Your third in-class essay should focus on two of the following essays from the textbook or the URL’s posted on Moodle:
Jessica Bennett “The Flip Side of Internet Fame”
Jean M. Twenge “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”
Moira Donegan “I Started the Media Men List”
Michael McGough “A Mass Shooter’s Name Is Part of the Story”
Mona Charen “Don’t Name Mass Shooters”
Jared Diamond “The Last Americans”
Stephen Jay Gould “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs”
Assignment:
Create an argument analyzing how one of these two texts impacts your reading of the other. Consider responding to one of the following questions:
How does the 1st text help you understand the 2nd text?
How does the 1st text help you see something new in the 2nd text?
How does the 1st text reveal something missing in the 2nd text?
How does the 1st text reveal problems in the 2nd text?
The following outline is recommended for your organization. This pattern follows the same pattern suggested for your second out of class essay. I recommend 2 points of comparison, for a total of 4 support paragraphs. That would be a total of 6 paragraphs for your essay, including your intro and conclusion. Please state a clear argument and your points of comparison in your thesis.
(author doing the influencing)
Author A = ______________________ Author B = _______________________________
(points should come from Author A):
Point 1 _________________________ Point 2: _______________________________
1) Introduction
2) Support focusing on how Author A _____________ analyzes Point 1 ________________
3) Support focusing on applying Author A ___________’s analysis of Point 1 _______________ to Author B_________________
4) Support focusing on how Author A _____________ analyzes Point 2 ________________
5) Support focusing on the impact of Author A ___________’s analysis of Point 2 _______________ to Author B_________________
6) Conclusion (over)
Important Reminders:
A successful essay should include the following:
Clear thesis stating argument and areas of support; thesis responds to the assignment
Well-developed support that accurately represents and analyzes reading (with quotes)
Logical organization with topic sentences and transitions
Well-developed introduction and conclusion
Few grammar errors
