English 50 / SP 2017

In-Class Essay: Illustration

To be written in class on Thursday, 3/2

The Prompt

In her TED talk, “The Key to Success? Grit,” Angela Lee Duckworth says that the characteristic called gritis the most “significant predictor of success.” Above IQ,looks, social intelligence, and health,Duckworth suggests, gritis the factor that most impacts one’s ability to do well in school and in life.

Write an essay in which you illustrate – through the use of specific examples – the importance of having grit. You may use examples from your own observations, experiences, current events, history, or other reliable accounts.

This In-Class Essay is worth ~8% of your final grade. Here is how you should prepare:

  1. Brainstorm. You might reflect on the following questions to figure out your main points:
  2. Do you consider yourself to be “gritty”?
  3. What are some ways you have demonstrated grit in your own life?
  4. Who are some people that you think have grit?
  5. Take the best ideas from your brainstorm and review the basics of a good thesis statement (DLA C.3) and other class notes and create a thesis.
  6. Review the samplesof Illustration (handout from website) to see how to use examples to prove a point. Then, TYPEyour owndraft outlinethat begins with your thesis and includes support and details,and get comments on it during class on Tuesday, 2/28.
  7. Revise your outline, fill in the back of this sheet, and bring: this prompt and a blue book to class on Thursday, 3/2.

Requirements

#Your essay must be five paragraphs, minimum.

#Your essay must include a definition of grit that draws from Duckworth’s TED Talk in the introduction paragraph. Using that source, summarize Duckworth’s ideas about grit, and you should use this summary as a tool to transition into your thesis.

#Your thesis statement should be the last sentence of your introduction.

#In your essay, you may also choose to draw from Dweck’s “How to Help Every Child Fulfill Their Potential” or the short article we annotated together in class, “You Can Grow Your Intelligence.”

Instructions for Writing in Class

•Double-space your writing (skip every other line).

•Write the correct heading at the top of the first page.

•Use quotations appropriately.

•As with any essay you write for this class, I’m looking for a clear and specific thesis anddetailed support for that thesis.

•Leave the last fifteen minutes or so to read back your work to yourself, carefully proofreading for errors and copyediting, legibly, for last minute improvements.

I. INTRODUCTION

Hook ______

Background ______

Thesis______

II. Body Paragraph 1

Topic Sentence ______

______Evidence

______

______

II. Body Paragraph 2

Topic Sentence ______

______Evidence

______

______

II. Body Paragraph 3

Topic Sentence ______

______Evidence

______

______

V. Conclusion

Drop the mic statement

______

______