Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for you to put everything you’ve learned about writing academic essays into practice with this full essay assignment, due Monday, March 23. You will come up with your own thesis, based on the prompt and the evidence you gather, write 3-5 body paragraphs to support and prove your thesis, and provide a conclusion that re-states your thesis in new language, summarizes your evidence and shows us the broader relevance (why is this important to us as a society and individuals). Specifically, you’ll be “diagnosing” Detroit’s problems and showing your reader how it would be possible cure this struggling Midwestern city of its ills. Can you do it through the Power of Context and applying the Broken Windows Theory (Gladwell) or will it take the large-scale reform and overhaul of Detroit’s vital civil institutions — its criminal justice system, its education system, its economy or its government, to name a few (LeDuff)?
My recommendation for completing the writing process for this (or any other) essay: 1) Start pulling out evidence (from the ideas and evidence presented by Gladwell or LeDuff) that you think might lead to Detroit’s renaissance; 2) Based on that evidence, come up with a working thesis that takes a strong stance that promotes the ideas of one author and disproves the other’s ideas. 3) Come up with an outline that delineates how you will structure your argument and essay. 4) Start writing! 5) Complete a draft; 6) Seek and receive feedback based on the rubric we’re using; 7) Revise and submit!
Below, you’ll find all of the relevant materials you will need to complete this assignment, including:
— The Texts: “Power of Context” and “What Killed Aiyana Stanley-Jones?”
— The Prompt (what you need to do and the questions you need to answer)
— The Rubric (how you’ll be scored and what your essay should look, sound and read like)
For help, come see us in the Writing Center! Due: Monday, March 23.
KIPP NYC Writes 