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- QUESTION
age Requirements
3 pages
Point Value
50
Percentage of Final Grade
9 %
Essay structure: Provide an introduction that ends in a thesis, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
In your introductory paragraph: (Should only be one paragraph long and no longer than half a page.)
What is your personal process for brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising the final draft of an essay? You can include details such as which methods work best for you or not so well and how you feel about writing each step of the way.
Then define “argument” in your own words. Please do not quote from an outside source or plagiarize unintentionally.In your thesis answer the following 2 part question in one sentence:
Which essay (you wrote for this class) did you argue the best? Provide one specific reason why.
Which essay (you wrote for this class) did you argue the least well? Provide one specific reason why.
my best--> Flow States in Extreme Sports Athletes
my worst-->epilogue to plato's caveIn your body paragraphs, make sure to
Support your thesis by quoting sentences from your own writing in your own actual graded essays for this class.
Please do not quote from Dr. Kwas comments on your essays.
Use first person (In Essay one, I wrote, “XX”).
Make sure to follow up each quotation with a 4-5 sentence explanation of how it supports your topic sentence claim.Note: Unlike the other essays, no outline has been provided since one of the challenges is to see if you can structure your own essay independently. Dr. Kwa highly recommends that you create and follow an outline for this final.
ESSAY ORGANIZATION REQUIREMENTS
1) Introduction:
Try to start your essay with a hook that grab’s the reader’s attention.
Then follow the specific essay prompt instructions on what to put in your introduction.
Avoid inserting quotations; summarize the content instead in your own words.
Make sure to have a transition sentence before your thesis introducing any additional texts or information the reader will need to understand the thesis that has not already been covered.
Thesis is one sentence long and is the last sentence of your introduction.2) Thesis formation: The thesis should subdivide into the same number of points as your total number of body paragraphs. If you have two body paragraphs, your thesis would subdivide into two points. Thesis needs to be the last sentence of your introduction. The thesis should fully answer the essay question so that it is not off-topic. It should also be specific, concise, and arguable.
3) Body Paragraph Organization and Unity: Each body paragraph should discussion one idea that supports the thesis; in other words, body paragraphs should not repeat ideas from previous paragraphs and should not contain more than one main idea.
4) Topic and Concluding Sentences: Each body paragraph must begin with a topic sentence that tells the reader which thesis idea that paragraph will be about and can add supportive reasoning or details. Each body paragraph will end with a concluding sentence that sums up what the paragraph argued but in more detail than the topic sentence.
5) Quotations: You will need to support any assertions you make with a discussion of quotations from the texts assigned. All quotations should have an introductory phrase and should use the following MLA format: Bierlein writes, “XX” (24). Avoid putting quotations in the introduction; save them for your body paragraphs.
6) Quotation Analysis: All quotations should be followed by 4-5 or more sentences that provide a detailed explanation of how the quotation supports your body paragraph’s main idea and thesis.
7) Title: Divided into two parts separated by a colon. Centered. Double-spaced like your heading and the rest of your paper. Capitalize all key words. Should be a fragment. Not underlined or in boldface. No period at the end of the title. Your title should not just copy the title of this essay prompt or the title of the readings. Example:
Essay Topic: Your Two Thesis Ideas
8) Conclusion: A place for you to summarize your thesis and add last reflections on your topic.
9) Essay formatting: Use MLA format. For help, see Purdue University OWL website and click on the MLA section.
10) Number of Paragraphs for all Essays except Research Paper: In order to pass, your essay must have an introduction that ends in a thesis statement, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
| Subject | Essay Writing | Pages | 3 | Style | APA |
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Answer
The Aspects of an Essay: My Best and Worst
Writing an essay is perhaps one of the most exhaustive yet ecstatically satisfying tasks in college for me today. I not only enjoy, but also love the process that comes along with writing and editing an essay. This process includes – but is not limited to – brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising the final draft of an essay. First, I always ensure that I have understood the topic that I am about to brainstorm on. Afterwards, after a good rest and a cup of coffee, I write down every idea that comes to my mind as I narrow down my ideas into a mind map, picking ideas that resonates with what I want. Subsequently, I present the outline of the essay I am going to write so that I can organize my ideas succinctly. After finishing the first draft, I ensure that I take some time off my paper so that I can revise it with a fresh point of view after which I proofread for errors. An argument, basically, is a statement – sometimes referred to as the premise – that highlights the level of truthfulness of a conclusion. One of the best essays I have written so far for this class – The Zone and the Voice – was an ecstatic experience as I could relate with the findings. On the other hand, the worst essay that I have written is Allegory of the Cave: The Light versus the Darkness, majorly because of the complexity of the philosophical writing. This paper seeks to analyze both essays as I draw arguments from both of them.
My best essay, The Zone and the Voice, was an analysis of one of Steven Kotler’s masterpiece – The Rise of Superman. This phenomenal piece of art describes a transcendental state of mind that could open a door way to excellent performance, a revelation that I could easily relate with. In the essay, I illustrate how I could understand the ideologies of different super-humanlike athletes as my experiences resonates with the thoughts. In the paper, I write “a loose German shepherd… chased me for miles as I was surprised with my ability to outrun him and jump over a small river,” which was a somewhat a risky ordeal. Moreover, this essay illustrates the aspect of silencing of one’s conscious mind and thus maximizing their focus. It was intriguing for me to learn how several athletes have managed to use their minds as a switch and achieve treats that passed their abilities – something that has happened to me unconsciously. The day I was chased by a dog, I lost all sense of thought as my body became an ultimate running machine with only one focus, to outrun and loose the dog. Perhaps this was the meditation that Kotler illustrates; that which “unleashes the perceptive powers of the brain.” Furthermore, the aspect of the flow that manifests from an athlete’s intuition, directing them to the solution, was also relatable to me. Sometimes I feel the exact same intuition driving me towards something, that on a normal occasion, I would shy away from doing. This essay was definitely the best essays that I have written in this course, evident with how much I could relate with the information and thus write flawlessly about the same.
On the other hand, my worst essay, Allegory of the Cave: The Light versus the Darkness, was an allegorical paper with different meanings, making it a little complex for me. In the essay, I write “actions and characters are usually used as symbols, which can be used to make symbolic meaning.” In as much as such revelations intrigues me and leaves me in awe, this particular reading by Plato was too complicated for me. I faintly understood certain aspects of the reading such as the “imitation” or the “photocopy” of the world that is represented through the shadows in the reading. Nonetheless, my essay documented the accurate allegorical meanings of the dark caves and the chained prisoners. What is more, I could come around the idea of those people who broke from the dark ignorant world but I did not understand how they could not help those who were still in bondage of the same darkness. In as much as the aspects of this readings were phenomenal, I find it difficult interpreting hidden meanings because they are, in most cases, ambiguous and with various meanings from one person to another. From the essay, I wrote about a topic I am not well equipped on as I tried familiarizing myself with a somewhat diverse meaning of one simple idea. Therefore, it was quite a hard to write and it also took a lot of time, both in reading and in analyzing the book.
In conclusion, it is evident how I enjoy writing essays – especially those that I can relate with or those that are easy to come around. I use the simple process of brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising the final draft of an essay. This paper has documented two essays that I have written in the past; my best and the worst. As documented in the text, I enjoyed writing Kotler’s text due to its preciseness and familiarity of content – I could easily relate with the ideas in the text. On the other hand, it was quite difficult to understand and document my knowledge on Plato’s allegorical work. I often find difficulty analyzing allegories due to the ambiguity in meaning that they can bring out, depending on personality and context.
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